What is The Flying Classroom?

The Flying Classroom is a K-8 integrative STEM+ supplemental curriculum. While Flying Classroom includes standards and principles aligned to STEM, it also includes correlated activities to geography, informational literacy, writing, art and social studies. Students work to develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity skills as they navigate through the expedition content. Each of the lessons within the Flying Classroom are based on the global expeditions of Captain Barrington Irving. What sets the Flying Classroom apart from other STEM educational products? First, the Flying Classroom is based on the global adventures and expeditions of Captain Barrington Irving. Barrington Irving became the youngest person (and first African American) to fly solo around the world at the age of 23. Secondly, the Flying Classroom is a STEM instructional tool that leads teachers through implementing relevant STEM integrative instruction with students. The Flying Classroom’s curriculum is cutting-edge and real-time. With an average of three-five months from filming the expedition to the upload of completed expedition lessons, Lead Explorers (Teachers) are able to access and investigate current global challenges aligned to national/state standards. Lastly, the Flying Classroom provides the opportunity for students to engage in current events that impact our-ever changing global society; enhancing the relevancy of the content and conceptual understandings of students.

How is the Flying Classroom accessed?

The Flying Classroom is accessed through an online platform. Lead Explorers (teachers) are provided with a unique password and username to access the expedition lessons. Weekly usage reports are available for monitoring the fidelity of implementation of Flying Classroom.

What is the model for the Flying Classroom curriculum?

The curriculum within the Flying Classroom is referred to as "Expeditions". Each expedition has three lessons, they are Engage, Explore and Innovate. Within each lesson teachers use the three-part workshop model (opening, work-time and closing) to navigate their students through the content. Within innovate, students engage in a problem-solving process, and/or engineering design model, to create a prototype of a new invention to assist Captain Irving with solving a problem that has been identified during his expedition. The expeditions encourage critical thinking skills and aim to develop self-efficacy in students.

Is the Flying Classroom aligned to standards?

Yes, the Flying Classroom is aligned to national/state standards that include Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Math and Reading and Technology Standards (ISTE). As school districts and individual schools across the country implement Flying Classroom state correlations are added to the Flying Classroom platform if a state does not implement national standards.

Does the Flying Classroom offer professional learning?

The Flying Classroom offers professional learning that is tailored to the individual educational group’s needs and request. The professional learning for Flying Classroom seeks to cover diverse topics from what is STEM to the engineering design process to the effective implementation of the program. In addition, the Flying Classroom equips teachers with the ability to gradually release the instruction from teacher to students, creating self-regulated learners. Lead Explorer Expeditions are the core of the Flying Classroom professional learning experiences. During this unique professional learning experience, lead explorers engage in a real-world STEM task that is based on an expedition from the Flying Classroom. Lead Explorers have performed a survey on a 300 lb. tiger, build aquaponics systems and gone dumpster diving to examine food waste. Each uniquely designed Lead Explorer Expedition is tailored to the preferences of the Lead Explorers implementing the Flying Classroom. At the request of our customers we also offer a coaching model called “STEM Lead Explorer Collaborative” in which Lead Explorers are provided one-to-one guidance, modeled lessons and pre/post conferences to discuss pedagogical practices related to successful implementation of the Flying Classroom and STEM+.

What else does the Flying Classroom offer?

The Flying Classroom also offers

  • Captain Barrington Irving Speaking Series
  • STEM Expos and Festivals
  • STEM Toolkits (customized material/resource packages)
  • Materials Packages
  • Helicopter Fly-In Events
  • Lead Explorer Expeditions
  • STEM Partnership Development

About Us

The Flying Classroom is a supplemental PK-12, digital STEM+ curriculum aligned to national/state standards and based on the global expeditions of Captain Irving.

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