A recap video of our week at Space Camp and a special thank you to Honeywell & Space Camp for inspiring teachers like us!
Want to experience Space Camp? Apply for the Honeywell program! Or, consider taking a group of students to SpaceCamp!
It’s easy to sit back and wish for things. It’s easy to blame others as to why things aren’t happening. It’s easy to think, well, if A, B, and C could occur, I would accomplish my own goal. It sometimes even feels like blaming others is ‘doing something.” Except it’s not. When there is something we want to change, there is only one way to make it happen. Keep going.
Life circumstances. Too much too do. Not enough support. Too many obstacles. Budget deficits. Stuff that’s always there.
What if all of our energy went toward the things we can change, the things we can do something about, and the things we will make happen. What if we made a choice to focus on being “Not-A-Quitter,” instead of seeing the bazillion of little obstacles that overwhelm us?
One thing would happen. We wouldn’t quit. Then something else might happen. We might even succeed.
I’m home now. I’ve unpacked. My mind? It’s filled with memories, new experiences, and forever connected with 15 people from around the world that I had the pleasure to get to know at Honeywell Educator’s Advanced Space Academy at Space Camp this past week. I’m not sure I can put our experience into words. What do I know for sure? I’m forever changed as a teacher and person because of this experience. This is what it’s all about. We do things as teachers and if we open our minds enough, it will change us forever. It will make us better teachers and make learning better for our students.
This week?
I climbed up and jumped off a 32 foot pole.
I performed experiments in the Space Station.
I stood under THE orbiter “Atlantis” as it is being retired.
I embraced every second of mind-blowing, inspirational fun that is Space Camp.
I dove in the Underwater Astronaut Training tank.
…and I took Virtual Von Braun, paper-rocket scientist extraordinaire with me!
I built and programmed a robot.
I flew the space shuttle.
I received a “Space Camp Challenge Coin” along with the rest of my team that I will carry with me forever.
But, the best part of this week?
I met 15 other teachers whose passion for space science, for learning, and for life has forever inspired me and for whose collaboration I am completely grateful.
I will never, ever be able to express my gratitude to Honeywell, the US Space and Rocket Center, Kennedy Space Center, and Space Camp for this experience. I just hope they can read this or watch our team video to know that they have insured that every student I have in my classroom will experience STEM education the way it is meant to be experienced. Real life. Authentic. Built on dreams. Inspiring the future. Innovating to make the world a better place. Finding your own gifts and talents and sharing them to improve the lives of others.
Want to experience Space Camp? Apply for the Honeywell program! Or, consider taking a group of students to SpaceCamp!
This may be one of my new favorite quotes by Theodore Roosevelt. It was in a presentation given at Kennedy Space Center. The photo was taken in the Saturn V center at the Lunar Experience. What if “Dare Mighty Things” was your classroom motto?
*Create a “Dare Mighty Things” Wall. Ask your students to write examples of things they’ve tried to do on the wall.
*Develop a “Dare Mighty Things” log. Use a notebook and put photos of inspirational people who have failed all over the front. When students take a risk, let them write about it in the class notebook.
*Create “I Dare To Do Mighty Things” Stickers. Use printable labels and put the text on them. If you see a kid take a risk, give him or her a sticker. Don’t just celebrate “success” in your classroom, celebrate events, even failures, that came from risks.
*Designs a “We Dare to Do Mightly Things” Bulletin board. Ask each student to bring in a photo of themself doing something they failed at, find risky, or met a challenge in. Include photos of yourself doing ‘mighty things’ too.
You know that feeling when you have a group of people to collaborate with who share the same passions, interests, and goals as you do? There’s nothing like it. Our team, Team Kennedy, on Cocoa Beach tonight in our flight suits. That excitement? It’s real.
This experience, in which teamwork is so important has made me think about collaboration. Collaboration is not about competition, outdoing each other, keeping our “good stuff” to ourselves, pointing fingers, or laying blame. True collaboration? It’s about the feeling in this photo. It’s about doing something together, sharing in the journey, and walking down to the beach in your flight suit because you are a team.
In our schools, we need this kind of collaboration. Not only open doors, but open minds. To learn from each other, to build on each other’s strengths, and to reach as high as we can, together. No matter what the tasks are that we face each day in our classrooms, we are not alone. We are in this together.
