Getting students excited about STEM

Many school districts struggle with how to expand students’ interest, excitement, and achievement in STEM. Without the right approach, however, the result is often random acts of STEM that do little to show students how fascinating or relevant these subjects really are.

Unlike the science and math classes of yesteryear, STEM is not about reading from textbooks or memorizing facts and formulas. STEM is about doing. It’s about helping students to develop a deep understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and giving them ample opportunities to apply that learning. Creativity, communication, and innovation are essential pillars of this journey.

Here are a few of the strategies we’ve implemented to give students hands-on, inquiry-based STEM learning experiences that are preparing them for college and careers.

4 Things All Project-Based Learning Teachers Should Do

Gone are the days when students were expected to sit passively at desks while teachers lectured endlessly, expecting children to soak up the information being thrown at them.

In today’s educational environment, students are expected to collaborate, think critically, and work together to develop innovative projects and answers to complex questions. To support this mission, many schools have begun to take part in a practice known as Project-Based Learning (PBL).

PBL allows teachers to expose students to a wide variety of 21^st Century skills, and allows students to interact with curriculum in a way that is engaging, authentic, and fun!

Making a shift from traditional forms of learning to PBL can be challenging. PBL can require a lot of prep work on the part of the teacher. But the gains in student engagement and achievement are immeasurable. Here are four steps to help you create a Project Based-Learning classroom.

Here’s how to encourage more girls to pursue science and math careers

Women remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. In the field of engineering, for example, women earned fewer than 20 percent of doctorates in 2014.

Such gaps, however, are not the result of differences in intellectual ability. Girls currently make up over half of the United States’ gifted student population. If girls have the smarts needed for success in STEM, then what factors explain why they don’t pursue education and careers in these fields?

Teaching STEM This Fall? Here Are Some Things To Do in July

In my years teaching middle school science, summer was always an ideal time to kick back and let my mind drift over events of the previous school year. Inevitably, ideas for changes and improvements drifted to the surface as I thought about what went great and not so well.

Since STEM is a relatively new initiative, summer is the ideal time to think through some ways to ratchet up your success in the coming school year. And if you’re a new STEM teacher, this is a perfect time to dive in and wrap your head around what you’ll be doing so you’ll get off to a great STEM start.

Here are some of my suggestions for what you could be doing in July to prepare for the beginning of school in August or September.

4 ways EdTech can bridge the gap with future careers

With the rapid changes that are affecting the job market every day, the expectation for school to prepare students for real life is becoming harder and harder to live up to. How are teachers supposed to make children ready for their future careers when the facts they are teaching will no longer be true and the technology they are using will already be old by the time they finish?

It is a daunting task, but technology, even if it risks being obsolete by the time they graduate, can be an invaluable tool to help the students of today become the workers of tomorrow. Let’s explore how.

Beyond the screen: how the classroom experience will evolve

When we think of technology in the classroom, the first image that comes to mind is probably a room full of students staring at screens all day, raising legitimate concerns about their eyesight, lack of meaningful interaction with other people, and for the younger ones, even about their brain development.

But technology, including the devices and apps used in education, is not only advancing, it is changing form, so the stereotype no longer has to be true. Interacting with a screen is only a part of the experience EdTech has to offer: from artificial intelligence to mixed reality, education technology has left the limited space of the screen behind and is acquiring a role in the classroom that is not just larger, but also more varied.

The 10 Essential STEM Teaching Practices

Many of my middle school students were natural scientists. They loved to explore, invent, build, figure things out and be actively engaged in their learning. While they would tolerate working with a fake scenario (“A space alien has just landed and . . .”) they were most engaged when dealing with problems that real scientists and engineers were working on.

Environmental issues were among their favorites; they wanted to make the world a better place.

That’s reason enough to be a STEM advocate! Kids need a place where they can get together to learn how to approach and solve problems they care about.

A Summer’s Worth of STEM PD/Prep Ideas!

School is out or soon will be for summer – a time when most teachers can kick back and take full advantage of a sun-and-fun break. No more thinking about students and school, right? Wrong! (You knew that. Teachers are always learning.)

In my years teaching middle school science, summer was an ideal time to pause, take a deep breath or two, and let my mind wander over lessons and learning that took place during the previous school year. Inevitably, ideas for changes and improvements drifted to the surface as I thought about things that went great and . . well, not so great.

7 Valuable Roles for STEM Teacher Leaders

I’m passionate about teacher leadership. I deeply believe that well-informed and skilled teacher leaders are the most valuable assets we have in our schools, districts, and states.

In the STEM education arena, teacher leaders are particularly crucial. All STEM teachers can be classroom leaders, but every school and district needs to invest time and resources into developing STEM Teacher Leaders (STLs – an acronym I just concocted) to take on additional roles and responsibilities.

Elementary Engineering: An Early Start on STEM

America’s Got Talent!, acclaims a popular TV show – and it goes on to spotlight an assortment of talented performing artists (and a few who should probably consider other paths). But does America have STEM talent? Of course! We have STEM talent aplenty, but are we taking full advantage of it? Are we good at unearthing this valuable human resource?

Many leaders say “no” and point out that in our own American universities, more foreign students graduate in STEM fields than do American students. Where are our talented, capable students? Our nation’s workforce needs innovative STEM workers as fast as we can produce them.