Summary of Project and Impact

I firmly believe that the peer to peer integration is needed at Phoenix Osborn because this

is something that we have not been implemented. This district tends to focus more on the

traditional approach in the classroom with few group activities. The peer to peer experience and

integration of technology allows students new opportunities and connections to develop in the

classroom. The first project I will be working on in the classroom is all about how light and

energy affect us today and how we use it to our benefit. I believe that this first project is

important to the curriculum because this will allow us to fully use the peer to peer approach and

technology integration in the classroom as a learning tool. This will be an opportunity to see how

much it impacts the learning process of the students in the classroom and if students become

more excited to learn and understand new concepts. Not only will this be a good tool to gauge

the peer to peer experience, but it can also facilitate students critical thinking skills into how else

could we use energy? My job in this is that I will not be lecturing but rather doing brief

overviews and letting students experience and figure things out together. This will allow students

to think about the problems that they see, engage with other students, and critically think about

what they are learning. My focus in this project is to facilitate engaging discussions and ask

questions that help stimulate the critical thinking skills of my students.

Some of the projects within this curriculum we will be working on will be spending a day or

more if needed focusing on what types of energy exist in earths system. We will learn some of

the different types of energy by doing hands on activities and peer to peer approach in the

classroom. In this scenario I will have multiple tables set up for group stations set up with

different types of energy such as mechanical, heat, light, sound, and electrical energy stations.
The materials at each station will be directly related to the types of energy table at their station.

This will allow students to experience, touch, and see the different types of energy that they use

in their everyday life. This is an incredibly important project because it allows students to

understand how energy works in the world around them and critically think about all the tools,

they use every day. This project allows students to see and feel firsthand how some of the most

important tools are used, there relation to energy, and how these tools benefit us currently. This

project also allows students to think about the big picture ideas such as what types of energy we

use now that many years ago scientists didn’t understand, and how does that affect us today.

Student Impact

The number of students that will be directly impacted will be the 19 students in my class

every period which totals to 95 students every year. If I round this up every three to five years, I

could potentially be impacting 300-500 students which is a massive impact on the lives of

students. The ability to impact almost 100 students every year could be life changing to many of

those students, especially the ones that struggle in the science areas. I believe that my approach

in the science classroom could change student’s perception on how challenging this content has

to be and actually show students that learning can be fun. By applying the use of project-based

activities in my classroom this allows students to become more engaged in the content and make

learning a fun process instead of something that is forced. I believe that I can not only impact

students’ interest in the subject area but their motivation and excitement in the classroom too.

Teacher Impact

This project would impact myself as a teacher because I have the opportunity to impact

many of my students now and in the future. This project also allows me to engage my students

and improve my skills as a teacher. As a teacher I consider myself some who is forever learning
and growing and doing projects such as these helps me continue to grow my skills. As I continue

to grow my skills, I can learn how to impact each student individually over time and make a

larger impact on the lives of my students. My role in this project is to guide students to the

answers in a way that allows them to think about things effectively and critically. I want students

to see how science effects them inside the classroom but also out in the real world as well. This

project will also allow me to understand how to utilize the time we have in the classroom in the

most efficient way and help me in that area of growth.

This project will also allow me to collaborate and work with other teachers in different content

areas by using the technology for additional related lesson plans. I would be able to work with

other teachers in different content areas and help increase the amount of critical thinking

exercises that are in other content area lesson plans in order to consistently reinforce the

importance of critical thinking and education over time.

Community Impact

I can impact the community through this project by inviting guest speakers to come and

talk to us. Students can better understand how people in the real-world have jobs relating to

energy and how that affects them. This allows students to get an inside look at the driving

question stated above and expands on that topic. Not only does having a guest speaker come

impact the students but it impacts the community because we all get to engage in dialogue and

collaborate in the classroom. Inviting people from the community could directly impact the

students understanding on this specific topic and help them to gain a better understanding of how

the content they are learning relates to the real world, which in turn leads to students becoming

more engaged in the topic. The guest speakers would be able to bring related props or tools to

give students a hands on look into how energy is used.