How do you learn to teach something new? They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Videos will never replace the first-hand experience you get in a professional development workshop, where you interact with a facilitator, share ideas with other teachers, and try out classroom activities. Still, videos are increasingly popular as a way to demonstrate teaching practices because they can capture the complexity of a bustling classroom.

The music world has the Grammys. TV has the Emmys. But have you heard of the “Eddies?” That’s what the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) calls its annual prize for excellent curriculum design.

EiE staff often ask elementary teachers what they think about the prospect of teaching their students engineering. The word “terrified” turns up in a striking number of answers. But with the release of the Next Generation Science Standards, and with new science standards being implemented in many states, more teachers are finding they have to confront the terror. And they’re discovering that engineering is a very friendly monster.

 

You’ve heard of the multiplier effect, where an initial investment has a bigger-than-expected result. It works for our national economy, where every dollar spent in the manufacturing sector generates $1.35 in economic activity. It can also work in our schools.

When elementary teachers attend our professional development workshops, we wrap up by asking, “What OTHER resources would be helpful to you?” Teachers often tell us they want a tool that shows exactly what hands-on engineering will look like in their classrooms, and also how lesson materials should be prepared. They ask for videos.