For my Science and Global Change Practicum I focused on the transmission of natural and physical science in my position as a Technology Instructor at Lavner Education. As a Technology Instructor I taught kids aged 7-12 various coding and game design concepts. Through programs such as Roblox Studio (Roblox’s creator application), Scratch (an introductory coding language) and others I encouraged kids to be creative in producing their own projects. The point of the camp was obviously to educate our campers with all of the basics of each topic, so that they could continue to dream up awesome environments without any of our help. However, in this camp I also always placed emphasis on encouraging each of my campers so that they left with inspiration and confidence in themselves.

I had originally found this position working at Montclair State University as a summer job and continued on with it as I really enjoyed my experience. There are many educational summer camps such as this one, as well as an educational course that can be taken through the University of Maryland that teaches robotics to a local class for any future scholars who are interested in this kind of practicum (or even just job).

My position was fulfilled online on zoom due to the pandemic and this only emphasized the importance of my understanding of computer software and how to communicate its ideas. Not only did I have to be an expert in the topics I was teaching, but I needed to know how to troubleshoot zoom on any computer that a student may have.

My daily tasks included following a hour-by-hour curriculum, predetermined for the camps, during which I switched between direct instruction and open exploration. During the open projects, students were given general project outlines to fulfill in any way they want. If any camper has questions about how to bring their ideas to life I step in and show them how. Intermittently I guide the whole group through direct tutorials such as, how to make a spinning platform in roblox studio. Skills like these teach campers how to make any object spin and how to use “hinge constraints”. Through instructional sessions like these we are able to show them how to make specific parts of their world come to life, but also give them the skills to create anything else that comes to their imagination.

This work has affected my overall communication skills and my appreciation of kids. To control eight 10 year olds who have the full power of the internet directly in front of them takes lots of patience and interaction which makes it impossible not to get to know and love the students. Through this experience I was able to connect scientific concepts into so many other parts of life for the kids. I was able to use the basic concepts of scientific method to inform campers on how to problem solve any scientific situation.

While this experience hasn’t directly changed any of my future plans, I certainly spent much more time as a camp counselor than I expected and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than expected as well. However, this experience in both the technical and corporate industries has given me the confidence to apply teamwork skills to any environment comfortably. The skills that I gained are ones that I will use for the rest of my life and are invaluable to my overall career path. Whether it be communicating with kids or communicating professionally I have gained useful knowledge that I can apply in many areas of life.

Finally, the education of our youth is one of the most important aspects of societies moving forward. As the entire world becomes more and more interconnected through the internet, it is extremely important for everyone to become technologically literate and I feel honored to be able to pass along this incredible knowledge.

Last modified: 10 May 2022