Every Thursday on the EiE Blog, we bring you tips and tricks that help you teach your best.

During every Engineering is Elementary (EiE) professional development workshop, we ask teachers to wear their “Student Hats” while they work through the hands-on engineering activities, just the way their students will. Afterwards, they put on their “Teacher Hats” to reflect on the experience. Recently, during the “Teacher Hat” debrief, one teacher raised her hand, looking concerned. “Do my students HAVE to work in teams?” she asked. “I think there’ll be too many behavior issues. It will detract from the content of the lessons.”

Great question. SHOULD you allow your students to work through EiE activities independently?

Every Engineering is Elementary unit includes four lessons. Lesson #4  is a hands-on design challenge that engages students in designing and building a technology: a windmill, alarm circuit, knee brace, and so on. When I faciliate EiE professional development workshops, participants often ask me: “Do I HAVE to teach all four lessons? Can't I just skip to Lesson 4?"