From left, Allen LaPorte Jr., Isabelle Miron, Cole Heverin, Mrs. Jennifer Rhoads, Emily Francis, and Brielle Gorcheck.
Thu, Dec 6th 2018 04:45 pm
This is the first year that technology teacher Jennifer Rhoads has taught at North Tonawanda, and so far she and her students are having a great time. Not only are they getting to problem-solve with ozobots and drones, it is helping them to bring real world problem-solving challenges to life with engineering solutions. They also learn about collaboration while encouraging them to be creative.
"This is new for the sixth graders," said Rhoads. "It is a program that runs for a trimester and it is a STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math) course. Students can get a third of their middle school credit as a sixth grader. Which is awesome."
Rhoads also works with the fourth and fifth graders instructing them in two- to three-week mini-units in engineering, design and problem-solving. Her classes focus on the four Cs: Critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. She said the feedback has been great.
"I have a lot of parents tell me how their kids talk about technology all the time. It is great because they are solving problems and they are being successful working together as a group," Rhoads said.