Our Spring Semester is Coming to an End!

    Hi my name is Natalie and I am one of the STEM Developers for Learning Places. Well our spring semester is almost over and I think that we have done an excellent job of preparing ourselves for the summer. Overall this semester has been alot of fun and I have learned alot. Inquiry was our big theme for this semester and I think that I have the best understanding about it now. Our goal was to create a curriculum based on inquiry to teach to our community sites in the summer. I am excited to to teach and present all of activities,(our hard work), to the kids, and I know they will enjoy it. Being in Learning Places this semester has meant alot to me, it means alot to me because I feel like I am a part of something that is great, and I got paid for it! I have a great job.

    I have several favorites, and most exciting activities that I love doing, and think the kids will enjoy the most. The create your own flower/plant activities were alot of fun and gave me a chance to use my imagination and be creative, which is an important part of inquiry. Our sand activities were good hands-on activities that I enjoyed, and that the kids would enjoy because it was messy and fun but you still learned things about sand that you never knew. We also worked on optics which I thought was fun too. During this semester we had seversl visitors come and talk to us. One of my favorite visitors was the blind woman who came and tought us how we could change our curriculum to being appropriate for kids with diabilities. She impressed me alot because she helped us so much and I could not believe that she was blind!

    Another big part of this semester was our character development and SCANS. Our supervisors helped us learn what are strenghts are and how to execute them in our teaching skills. Learning what my strengths were really helped me to become a better teacher and person. Knowing what your strengths are can help to lean how to communicate to people in different situations, and how to handle task when you are working in groups, which is a big part of being in Learning Places. In my opinion I think that this was one of the best semesters Learning Places has ever had. Being in this group has helped me on so many levels and it was alot fun. Learning Places is ready for the summer.