High school seniors, in October, right after lunch.  As teachers, we understand what this means as far as classroom dynamics go for about the first 5 to 10 minutes of class.  Students go off campus, load up on sugars and carbohydrates, chat in the parking lot with friends, conjure up the next plan for the weekend events, commentary on social media, and have a moment of disconnect from the demands of performing on AP assignments and exams and college preparation as well as maintaining a work-school-home balance.

It was this class that prompted the utilization of Color Code as I recognized a disconnect with clique-like groups that had formed throughout the last several years of their education.  High schoolers do tend to connect with those who have similarities such as athletics, academics, extracurriculars, work schedules, and hobbies, but they lack skills to work in collaborative teams that are outside their norm.  I witnessed groups of students always leaning towards their comfort group without thinking through how many different perspectives might lead to a greater outcome and build socio-emotional skills in others and as future leaders. 

As we shifted into project development, this collaborative disconnection remained important for me to overcome and began to think through ways to differentiate the class into working groups.  It was Color Code that offered the platform to bring the class together and implement strategies that encouraged students to reach across the aisle and understand how personality characteristics can impact collaborative work and build skills for college and career readiness.  

To introduce the idea of an experiential learning project and working in collaborative groups, I used water bottle rocketry as the means to deliver Color Code.  After having my seniors (and juniors in a different class) take the free assessment, we split into teams of like colors to discuss our differences and also begin to understand the perspectives and similarities of others that we may not have understood previously.  Students then received a colored dot to place onto their student badge (required) so that there was a visual representation for the remainder of the school year. 

The first step of the design build was intentional grouping of same personality color groups, which engaged students in working with others that they would not normally select. Knowing full well that the Reds and Blues would likely break out the rulers, calculators, and draft their designs, the Yellows would likely be the last group to finish and have a non-functioning rocket that looked really pretty, and the Whites would have a horrible time getting going on their design. It took a room tour for two groups of Whites to look at other projects and see where to begin. Blues and Whites experienced struggles working together.  In fact, there were times where students created their own representation and then brought it to the group as an addition instead of a cohesive and collaborative plan.  As suspected, my prediction was true. The Reds had the highest flying and functioning rocket, and the Whites, well, I can’t even recall if it left the ground, because its paint (many layers at that) was still drying.  

The reflection piece was the most pertinent for growing students in this process.  It set the stage for a large collaborative project that would be their final STEM capstone.  They learned from one another and began to understand the skills that people bring to a group and lessened the hesitation of working with those that they didn’t know or value.  Students learned how to value one another differently and were able to set clear expectations of their teammates based on their personality color.  

This was a reminder of the importance of creating classroom structures, even for seniors, that offered an environment that was inclusive of all ideas and captured the skills of all learners.  As we send students off into a world that is full of people with lots of different skills, I hope that this process inspired them to reach out to others, different from themselves, who offer a great deal of knowledge and value to any collaborative team.         

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Machin Norris is an 11th year STEM/STEAM/STEMM educator in northern Colorado.  With a background in Agricultural Education from Colorado State University as well as a former Emergency Medical Technician, she has developed her passion of aerospace and environmental education via experiences with the Space Foundation, Space Center Houston, the National Air and Space Museum, National Geographic, and the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship.  Norris is a believer in experiential and transformational science education specific to strengthening skills of underserved, underrepresented, and at-risk students.  Color Code, alongside mentorship, has offered her a platform to develop effective teams in and outside her classroom and encourage student growth in self-efficacy and agency.