My experience finding a digital planning tool in We.org’s teaching

How did I get there?

Before selecting a particular skill and resource, I want to discuss how I got to choosing the WE Are Innovators: Inclusive and Sustainable Innovation lesson plan for elementary school students. I Started by scrolling down the homepage to WE Virtual Learning Center. After clicking that box, it led me to the We Schools site.

Now on the We Schools site; I then clicked the sidebar Lesson Packages & Supporting Resources. scrolling and clicking see more on Browse by Skills, then clicking Reflection: Applying New Knowledge. After opening that link, I scrolled down until I opened the WE Are Innovators: Inclusive and Sustainable Innovation lesson plan.

What did I find?

While this is a project to make students learn about sustainability by researching and creating their own conclusions, there is a handout linked at the end of the lesson plan. I could modify this handout to create a digital form for students to brainstorm for an assignment. To begin, I change the What area of innovation will I focus on? section to be a checklist of the units that the class is covering that would be marked beforehand. The What are my key due dates? section provides one location for students to keep track of each assignments variety of dates so they can organize their time efficiently. Two questions, the What problem am I trying to solve? and Why is it important to me? would be merged into one section stating: What is the assignment? Under this tab, I would state the title of the assignment as well as a three-point objective with additional directions for what students would need to accomplish.

As for the rest of the form, it would remain largely unchanged. I would delete the What could the hazards or safety risk be? section as it would not apply for most assignments. The rest of the tabs however serve a variety of functions for students. The What do I already know about the problem? section would simply be renamed to What do I already know about the topic?, thus allowing students to collect their previous knowledge before an assignment. As for the next three sections, the What ideas could help to solve this problem? is the section for students to list their needed research concepts and links. The How will my idea work? section is where students plan the structure of the assignment interlaced with their research. What materials or resources will I need? encompasses what physical or digital tools and programs will be used to present their project. As for the What challenges or problems could I face? How will I resolve them? section, this will act as a catalogue for any research, writing, or technical difficulties that they can then e-mail their educator about.

In short, this modified worksheet should make distributing assignments uniform. The ability for students to brainstorm and organize their work in one space tis the perfect blend of organizational synergy.

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