Shaler Area teacher a fellow in Harvard University program
Shaler Area teacher Cari Kelm is one of less than 30 educators serving as fellows in the Pittsburgh cohort of Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero initiative Agency by Design.
Ms. Kelm, STEAM coordinatior at Shaler Area, has been focusing on maker-centered learning since 2015 with the launch of Shaler Area’s K-3 STEAM programs Project ENGIN and Project Caboose. Ms. Kelm incorporates the core capacities, or thinking routines, developed through Project Zero’s Agency by Design into her classes with the goal of making the thinking process visible, and once visible, able to be evaluated.
Supported by the Abundance Foundation, Agency by Design (AbD) is a multiyear research initiative at Project Zero investigating the promises, practices, and pedagogies of maker-centered learning experiences.
In 2016, Agency by Design began a second phase of work to explore how maker-centered learning can have broad-scale and long-term relevance in education by developing documentation and assessment strategies. As part of the Pittsburgh fellows cohort, Ms. Kelm’s work at the primary level will be integral to this research.
Ms. Kelm will be presenting her work at the Project Zero Perspectives conference May 12-13, 2017 in Pittsburgh. The conference’s theme Making-Innovating-Learning will explore the attributes of effective learning environments, with a special focus on creativity, the arts, and the maker movement.