MUS Outreach Reflection [Samantha Brown]

The outreach at Montecito Union School (MUS) was a helpful classroom experience. 

It was an example setting, a computer lab with plenty of space and scientific resources for students to utilize, and enthusiastic students who were familiar with an activity that required their full attention. 

Observations that were helpful during the facilitation process:

One of the teachers (from the first group) used the slow-motion video recorder on an Ipad to show her students how their pennyships descended.

Engaged teachers made keeping the students focused much easier. I really appreciated when teachers assisted in monitoring students behaviors.

The script was really dynamic as well as the activity and both made engaging students easy.

The creative element allowed for free-flowing ideas and challenges to occur without feeling unachievable for students.

Additional points of reflections during the facilitation process:

Cooperation was hard to achieve among students, which seems counterintuitive due to the fact that kids engage each other at places like the playground.

Curious what this would look like in an underfurnished classroom setting, in other words in a different type of classroom setting like a library.

Repetition made the flow of the activity more natural with each class group. 

I appreciated the switch in the third iteration for the last class, because it became apparent that students had individualistic tendencies which leaned toward standing out from their counterparts.