Have you ever heard a kid ask, “But how will I use this in the real world?” Maybe you even asked that question yourself back in the day? This disconnect creates disengagement for a lot of kids, but that’s just the way these systems were designed — and that’s a big part of the broken system that needs to be changed.
Luckily, there are amazing teachers like Angela Forino out there, a third-grade teacher at Reynoldsburg City Schools who has spent the last few years working on the Smart Teynoldsburg Project, a program endeavoring to make social studies activities more engaging and real-world.
In Ohio, third-grade history standards are all about local history. So, the program is designed to help kids relate that history curriculum to what’s going on now or what’s coming in the future. It’s not an easy task, but it can completely change the way a kid sees the subject.
We unbox:
Envisioning the future of your city to troubleshoot problems
The cardboard challenge
Incorporating new processes into existing programs
Working towards the United Nations global goals
Relating to these goals throughout each day
Co-spaces
The modification and sharing phases
The struggles with this work
Resources:
Smart Reynoldsburg Project: https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20190422/reynoldsburg-school-board-oks-more-than-1m-worth-of-summer-projects