Another Grandparent's Day

I have to admit, I love grandparent's day. Yes, it's a dog and pony show, it's crowded, it's hot, and you can't really do a lesson. But for some reason, I love it.

I use this day to let the students show off their talents, and awe their grandparents. So this year, my 8th grade students were explaining our Stormwater unit. The students did an awesome job, describing the issue, our driving question, the brainstorming process, the data we have collected, and the tools we've been using. I didn't give the students a heads-up that this was happening, and their answers were very thought-out and informative.

Then came the technology demonstration. I showed the students and grandparents some presentations from high school students http://prezi.com/ov4ijwediv1e/elastic-and-inelastic-collisons-by-alex-krasne/ so that they could see an example of what their final projects might look like. I also gave a demonstration on Google Earth. The students were fully engaged, but the grandparents had mixed reactions.

I often try to imagine what people are thinking, by looking at their faces and body language. (Okay, I admit that I do this with more than people, like animals at the zoo or fish at the aquarium). I can create complete conversations in these situations that do not actually take place, and probably are very far from what is actually going on (especially with the animals!) My pretend conversations were in full force today!

There were some grandparents who I would imagine were thinking that we are comletely off our rockers. They didn't learn this way, why are we doing all of these crazy things? Seriously, bowling, car crashes, techno music? Is this what my grandchild is learning about?!

Then there were the grandparents who were in awe. They loved the creativity, the math-science connection, and technology. As many of the students do, the grandparents wanted to put in their address in Google Earth to find their house. We took a trip to the Eiffel Tower. I even had a granparent who needed directions to somewhere she was going this weekend, so we did a tour. Several asked where they could download it!

So all in all, it was another amazing grandparents day. Next year, students will be presenting their own STEM presentations. And maybe some grandparents will join in the fun!