Sometimes the best resources are in your own building! Especially at a time when health protocols, expenses, and time prevent us from taking field trips. As an added benefit, my students got to meet and interact with new adults in our building.

Recently, I invited our school’s marketing team to my AP Computer Science Principles class to share how they use data to inform decisions. It was fascinating to see the back-end analytics and options provided by social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. They explained how they use engagement data to identify what audiences they are reaching and when. It surprised the students to hear there are industry standards for when the best time is to post and how often to post. This was an awesome application of our theme, “Data Tells a Story,” and also provided opportunity for a larger discussion about marketing and being influenced by social media.

Another great on-campus resource is your network administrator. While visiting my cyber security class, our network administrator showed us the server room and explained the hardware. She was also able to show the students how she tracks and monitors our network traffic. The students asked a lot of questions about how much of what they do online the school can see, and we had great discussions about protecting yourself online.

Related: virtual field trips are also a great option. We just kicked off our 6th grade robotics unit with a tour of the Amazon Fulfillment Center. Amazon Future Engineer does an awesome job!