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Blatt, Wood County BOE visit Hamilton STEAM class

By Gwen Sour 4 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Student-built robotics and cube projects gave West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt and members of the Wood County Board of Education a look at hands-on learning Thursday at Hamilton Middle School.

The visitors stopped in Katie Tyre's STEAM class, where projects combine science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics with opportunities for students to design, build and work together.

Students were finishing wooden cube puzzles they had designed and constructed. The assignment also required them to create digital versions of their toys using Tinkercad and produce commercials promoting their creations.

Students who had completed that work could build Wigglebots, small contraptions assembled from provided materials and equipped with batteries, motors and markers. As the robots vibrate across a surface, the markers create artwork.

"They build a little robot contraption, however they would like out of the given materials, attach a little battery and motor to it, put some markers on it, and it will wiggle around on their table and make a piece of art for them," Tyre said.

Blatt said she wanted to visit a middle school after participating in several elementary school events, including read-alouds and PBS programming.

"Let's find something that we can go spend some time in a middle school and see what those students are doing," Blatt said of planning the visit.

Watching students work, Blatt said she was impressed by their understanding of their projects and the additional skills incorporated into the assignments.

"These kids are really engaged and they completely understand what they're building, how they're doing it," Blatt said.

She said creating products and developing commercials introduces students to different phases of entrepreneurship, including how to promote and sell what they have made.

For Tyre, the projects also provide opportunities to connect scientific concepts with practical decisions.

Another assignment challenges students to design and build miniature golf courses after learning about Newton's laws of motion. Tyre sets out supplies, assigns a price to each item and gives students a budget, requiring them to use math as they decide how to construct their courses.

"I set out every supply you can possibly imagine and price each one so they do some math along the way and have a budget and they build it and create it all and they love it," Tyre said.

The project includes a day for students to play the courses. Teachers and administrators also participate in a classroom tournament using pingpong balls.

The activities include written work to help students demonstrate what they have learned. Along with miniature golf, Tyre's class builds towers from noodles and marshmallows while studying skyscrapers.

Sixth grader Avery Lee said the hands-on projects make learning enjoyable and challenge the brain. Lee identified the miniature golf course as a favorite class project and also enjoyed interacting with the classroom's bearded dragons.

Wood County Schools Superintendent Christie Willis said students' enthusiasm reflected the balance between structure and creativity in the assignments.

"They had parameters, but they had also some creativity to it, and I think that really kept their interest," Willis said.

Willis said the district was excited to show Blatt what students were accomplishing.

"Wood County Schools is honored to have Superintendent Blatt with us today," she said.

Blatt said activities that require students to think, build and collaborate offer opportunities beyond memorization or looking at a screen. Working in teams and pairs is an important part of that learning, she said.

She also connected engagement with classroom management, saying students sometimes experience difficulties when they are bored, insufficiently challenged or struggling.

With activities that accommodate different levels and allow students to work with partners, Blatt said, "it just creates an environment where everyone can kind of move at their own pace and also learn from each other."

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