3D Printing In Elementary Schools

Welcome From The CAST Floor

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Welcome to American Book Company Spotlight for Success. I'm your host, Danielle Pintozi, and joining us we have Erica and Sandy. We are at the CAST conference in Kentucky, Louisville, and we're just gonna see what brings Sandy and Erica to Cast today.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

We are digital learning coaches and our district, which means that we do a lot of different things working with teachers to implement technology in their classrooms. So any kind of technology at all, they can call and use us as resources to enhance their lessons or give them new ideas or help implement new technology technology hardware or software or curriculums or anything.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

So we come here to get more ideas and share those out with our teachers who aren't able to come to these conferences, maybe. We do bring some of our people with us, our library and media specialists are here, and we have a group of Tech and Innovation Academy teachers from our district that are here today and came yesterday. So we come to get ideas. We also presented yesterday and we presented this morning.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

What'd y'all present? Um I spoke about our grant that we received from CAS last year. On we have put mobile 3D printing stations in all of our elementary schools, and how we're implementing that and um integrating that in K-12 to all of our curriculum, and then today.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

And then this morning I presented on Lego Science. So Lego Education came out with science curriculum last year, new kids. And so I presented on that and how we are using that in our schools and going in and helping teachers teach science lessons with whole Lego.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Can you talk more specific of how you use those resources in your schools?

unknown 1:51

Yeah.

Career Paths Into Edtech Coaching

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yeah, so our 3D printers we use a lot just co-curricular type things. You can really do a 3D printing project with anything, and the beautiful thing is that when you're designing 3D prints, um there's a lot of math involved, there's science, there's I mean basically just anything. Um 3D printing is not just 3D printing for fun, but like a lot of manufacturing happens in an additive manufacturing space now, and so Kentucky's greatest exports are manufacturing exports, and so we want to make sure that our students are ready for the workforce immediately out of high school if that's what they choose to do. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

What got y'all started in your current roles?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

So I was a teacher in the classroom for years teaching chemistry and biology, and then um in 2010, our district in Woodford County was the first district in the state of Kentucky to go one-to-one with technology in the classroom. We had iPads in our classrooms. Um we are now Chromebook based now. So as I was doing that pilot, that led me into this role. So a couple of years after that, after going and using that technology in my class, I became a they called us a technology integration specialist then.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

So I started out as a math and engineering teacher, and I actually came into the classroom after staying home with my kids for 15 years. And when I came into the classroom, it was like, hey, here's your Chromebook, teach math on the internet, and I was like, that is not how I was trained at all. And I had an amazing mentor who held my hand in how to use that technology in my math classroom, and it just became a passion of mine, and then I was given this opportunity to come and help other teachers, like that teacher helped me, and I just love it. I enjoy it so much.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

That's awesome. Just being able to use technology in the classroom like that, and kind of just picking backing off that.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

I think um our district has done a really good job of embracing AI. We never shut it down. We have used it, we have tried to become as knowledgeable as we can, and we train our teachers on ways that it'll make their life easier and why they should use it to save them time in the classroom, but we're also teaching our kids how to use it and use it appropriately. I think it's they have to use it, it's the future, so it's here, and um, so it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Yeah, I think that that's one of the challenges that I have seen is there are so many teachers in so many districts that are like we don't want AI because then kids cheat and then they aren't learning, and then there's a lot, but really if they are. If they are, but if you are if you take that perspective of how can we use this better and how can we make sure that our students are using it to their advantage and not just to replace their learning? Um, that's and in my mind it's getting that message out that it's not a bad thing, it's not gonna kill education, it's not gonna kill jobs, it's how it's how you use it, yeah, is what is so important.

Conference Gratitude And Sign Off

SPEAKER_02 4:58

I totally agree with that. Um just before we close out, is there anything you'd like to share with the cast community? We love coming, we're always glad to come for your learning from everyone else while we're here. So well, thank you so much for coming on our podcast. Um we hope you enjoy the rest of your conference and thank you. Thank you so much. Have a great day.