Last week, Shaler Area Elementary School hosted a Remake Learning event and the Simulator was center stage along with the school’s STEM program for the primary schools and their “Engin” program.
This is Tim Bottegal. He is a very tech savvy 6th grader. Here he is helping out with running the simulator at the Remake Learning event while Mike was out taking to visitors about the Simulator. He’s a fantastic Flight Director in training.
We interrupt your adventuring to give a quick shout-out to Admiral Sai (a.k.a. mild-mannered Todd Lichtenwalter) of the IKS Artemis Charger and his great new mission blog.
Read all about the master craftsman behind the Artemis Charger’s bridge…
… students designing a new form of government in the mission Succession…
… and much more!
Check it out at http://toddlich.wix.com/ciceic#!blog/jn3cs
There’s something magical that we take for granted far too often. We’re so immersed in it every day that we rarely step back and realize just how unusual it is.
The Dream Flight Adventures community—the wizards behind the green curtains—are really a varied bunch. We have science teachers, coaches, tech instructors, museum directors, gifted and talented coordinators, entrepreneurs, principals, Trekkies, PhDs, roboticists, and scout masters all working together to create unparalleled educational adventures for our children. It’s truly humbling to see this great group of friends push the envelope in education day in and day out.
Earlier this week these heroes met at the IKS Dreamcatcher for our second formal Community of Practice Meeting.
Attendees: Scott Ross and Mike Kaleta from Baldwin-Whitehall; Brian Colgan from Burrell; Heather Oros and Mike Penn from Shaler Area; Jamie Harris, Dr. Melissa Tamburrino, Jeff DerVanik, Kristin Brown, and Barry Plowman from Penn Hills… and one very interested security guard (see below)!
The meeting was a huge success. We talked about lots of nuts and bolts, how to’s and what not to’s, missions, and lots of other interesting stuff. Some of the bigger topics were the YMCA at Baldwin, how to schedule missions most effectively, ideas for new missions, and ways to better open simulators to birthday events and other community interests.
Everyone got a poster for each of the missions and four sets of crew cards… but most importantly we are a bunch of friends who all do the same awesome things in lots of different places. Exactly what a Community of Practice should be!
And this brings us to the security guard. When Mike Penn first arrived at Penn Hills Elementary he had to give his driver’s license to be scanned in. During that process his phone’s ring tone rang (it’s a sound clip from Star Trek: The Next Generation – Worf saying “We are being hailed Sir, Priority One message coming in on a secure channel.”) The security guard whipped his head around and said something like “Year two, Episode 5.” When Mike explained that he was there to visit the simulator he became even more enthusiastic. He had never been invited to see it, so Mike of course invited him to come up and check it out!
He was enthralled with the whole thing—he was like one of the kids who immediately was a real crew member on the bridge of the Enterprise NCC-1701-D ready to fight the Borg. It was great sharing the magic with him!
Stay tuned for more updates—there’s never a dull moment onboard this fleet. Until next time…
Mike Kaleta at the IKS Highlander continues to crank out one great hands-on learning adventure after another. Today we’re pleased to showcase a Maelstrom mission run with Harrison Middle School’s ELL students…
… and a Cable Car Design Challange in the Mission Ops lab:
Students in Ms. Rogiero’s Gifted and Enrichment Services program at J. E. Harrison Middle School had a great opportunity to participate in an engineering unit designed by Asset STEM Education. These students applied knowledge they have learned through their science and social studies curriculum to design a cable car transportation system for a city. This exciting hands-on unit integrated physics, economics, city planning, and the engineering design process while the students learned what goes into being a transportation engineer.
Take a minute to watch the Mission Ops Highlights:
Yesterday Mike Penn and Heather Oros hosted an inservice day for around 100 teachers in Shaler Area School District on their simulator, the IKS Titan.
The teachers attended in groups by grade and specialty. They received a general briefing just like a student would and were assigned a job. Then they “flew” through a sampling of many missions and environments.
They were just as enthusiastic as the kids are! We heard many positive comments. Many of the teachers commented on how they didn’t really understand the simulator until now and that this inservice gave them valuable insight into what their students do and why they are so excited.
There will be lots of brainstorming about how they can use the simulator to bring more relevance and realism their curriculum.
All interested Administrators and Flight Directors are invited to our next Dream Flight Adventures Simulator Community of Practice Meeting.
Monday, May 9, 10:00am-2:00pm.
The meeting will be held in the IKS Dreamcatcher at Penn Hills Elementary, 1079 Jefferson Road Pittsburgh, PA 15235
Lunch will be provided (Paneras boxed lunches).
The Shaler Area School District was awarded a generous grant from the Grable Foundation to strengthen our Simulator Community of Practice. Within this grant each of the Pittsburgh area simulators are eligible for financial assistance to set up simulator based clubs, summer camps and after school activities. There is also $600 for equipment upgrades for your simulators. This and other topics will be on the agenda.
Please see the attached flyer for more info.
Please RSVP by May 3.
Hello troops,
We’re constantly receiving videos from our simulators around the globe—fantastic footage of students tackling important problems in high-stakes missions. We’ve tried to share most of these videos here on our blog, but today we’ve carved out a special spot on our website to showcase them.
And while we’re at it, here’s a brand new one from the IKS Highlander featuring Operation Rx.
Baldwin graduate and Duquesne Pharmacy student, Natalie Turin, along with Mrs. Rogiero and Mr. Kaleta at Harrison Middle School ran a special mission in the Mission Ops classroom during the month of March. Operation Rx is a unit Natalie designed herself to help promote the medical sciences and provide students with an understanding of the work put into diagnosing and treating patients with medical conditions. This Health enrichment mission used topics like body systems, equations and conversions, and scientific properties. Operation Rx acted as an extension of the Pandemic mission which was has been running for 6th Grade Health Students throughout the year.
Congratulations to the IKS Highlander crew and flight directors for another fantastic example of hands-on experiential learning!!
And to top us off, here’s a great video from the IKS Artemis Charger in Venezuela:
Attention: 8th Grade Science Students at J.E. Harrison Middle School have completed the Contaminant Mission and Mission Ops Experience. This Mission connected to their Unit on Human Impacts on Earth Systems. Students worked to solve the mystery surrounding a river system and the polluted waters impact on the environment.
During their Mission Ops Experience they learned Sustainability via Aquaponics… using Fish to grow food! As well as designing and engineering residential Rain Barrels.
Take a few minutes to see how it all played out.
Happy Easter from everyone here at Dream Flight Adventures!
Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder what all this white stuff is.
Here are a few quick updates from the community:
Our first edition of our new Community of Practice newsletter is hot off the presses. It’s the perfect place to learn about the latest and greatest in simulator-based experiential education. We’ll be sharing news from the community, best practices, and tips and tricks to maximize the impact of your simulator program. If you’d like to receive future newsletters, simply sign up.
It’s hard to believe that it was only three years ago when all this magic began, with the launch of the IKS Titan at Shaler Area School District on March 20, 2013. It’s absolutely a dream come true!
The Titan’s huge success has led to the installation of five other full immersion simulator classrooms in schools and museums on two continents!
The IKS Highlander team at Harrison Middle School have partnered with their local YMCA to bring you a fantastic day camp this summer!
For those interested, here’s the full brochure. Grab your spot while they’re still available.
And last but not least, we’re pleased to announce that Dream Flight Adventures is featured in a new book about STEAM learning.
STEAM Makers, by Jacie Maslyk, is a detailed study of successful programs that teach Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.
That’s all for now. Happy Easter everyone!
This just in from the IKS Highlander’s Mission Ops lab:
Operation Rx is an extension of the Pandemic Mission for 6th Grade Gifted Students at J. E. Harrison Middle School. A Sneak Peak into the scenario…
Students are working the midnight shift as a pharmacist at J. E. Harrison Community Hospital. The attending physician, Dr. Sandra Cheeks, who accompanies the students on all medical rounds and who signs off on all orders has been on vacation in Texas all week. The students had expected her back and became concerned when she did not show up at the hospital. Suddenly, they receive an URGENT page to dial 274. Dr. Cheeks called saying her flight has been delayed and she will not be back tonight. A new patient with a complicated case in on the way to the hospital. The students will fly solo and handle the patient’s care… TO BE CONTINUED…
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