As the summer winds down, and you’re planning to begin another school year, the feelings are usually mixed, aren’t they? The anticipation of a fresh start is energizing, but the end of wearing pajamas all day just ’cause you can feels like a loss to be mourned!
My advice: focus on the positive. The beginning of the year brings with it a chance to set a new tone and reconnect with all the things that made you love teaching in the first place, and I know that can sometimes be a hard thing to keep hold of with all the pressures in and out of the classroom today. The reason I became obsessed with STEM Challenges is because it did help me find that idealist I once was. It made me feel like a good teacher again. I could see it in my students’ faces, and that’s why you find almost the whole of this blog devoted to STEM Challenges. I want you, and your students, to find the joy in teaching and learning again. So with that, here are my:
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In the event you prefer to read the Top 10 list, the video is transcribed below. Links mentioned in the video are included following the transcription.
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Video Transcription
Hi. I’m Kerry from Feel Good Teaching
and back to school is just around the corner, and the perfect way to start your
school year right is with STEM challenges. Think that idea sounds just a little
bit nuts? Well, get ready to agree with me. Here are my top 10 reasons to start
the school year with STEM challenges.
and back to school is just around the corner, and the perfect way to start your
school year right is with STEM challenges. Think that idea sounds just a little
bit nuts? Well, get ready to agree with me. Here are my top 10 reasons to start
the school year with STEM challenges.
10
STEM challenges are a great way to
practice your routines and procedures. You’ll have your quiet down signal, your
transition from one activity to the next, how to work appropriately in a team,
how to manage materials, where those materials belong, and so forth.
practice your routines and procedures. You’ll have your quiet down signal, your
transition from one activity to the next, how to work appropriately in a team,
how to manage materials, where those materials belong, and so forth.
9
I have to confess I can’t stand
ice-breaker activities, most of them. They always just feel a little bit too
forced and a little bit cheesy, but STEM challenges actually feel like a really
natural way to get to know your classmates. And for those of us with a little
bit of social anxiety, STEM challenges are a really nice distraction because
you really can’t focus on all your stress when you’re trying to complete the
task at hand.
ice-breaker activities, most of them. They always just feel a little bit too
forced and a little bit cheesy, but STEM challenges actually feel like a really
natural way to get to know your classmates. And for those of us with a little
bit of social anxiety, STEM challenges are a really nice distraction because
you really can’t focus on all your stress when you’re trying to complete the
task at hand.
8
STEM challenges are highly engaging.
I like to say they are brain-busting work disguised as fun. It really sets the
tone for the school year. Your students right off the bat are going to know
that your class is an exciting place where new adventures are going to be
happening all the time and it’s not going to be just paper/pencil tasks all the
time. This is a classroom where multiple intelligences are honored.
I like to say they are brain-busting work disguised as fun. It really sets the
tone for the school year. Your students right off the bat are going to know
that your class is an exciting place where new adventures are going to be
happening all the time and it’s not going to be just paper/pencil tasks all the
time. This is a classroom where multiple intelligences are honored.
7
STEM challenges are standards based.
You’re going to cover your next-gen science standards for engineering as well
as many other subject areas, and I’m not just talking science, technology,
engineering, and math. It’s usually entirely possible to integrate some ELA,
and sometimes even social studies, PE, and other subject areas. You’d be
surprised.
You’re going to cover your next-gen science standards for engineering as well
as many other subject areas, and I’m not just talking science, technology,
engineering, and math. It’s usually entirely possible to integrate some ELA,
and sometimes even social studies, PE, and other subject areas. You’d be
surprised.
6
STEM challenges help you get to know
your kids quickly. As you’re walking around observing the students working in
teams, you’re going to notice a lot of talents emerging that might take you
weeks to discover otherwise. You’re going to find your leaders, you’re going to
see how students handle frustration, you’re going to see who works well in
teams and who might need a little extra support there, and maybe you’ll even
discover one or two creative geniuses.
your kids quickly. As you’re walking around observing the students working in
teams, you’re going to notice a lot of talents emerging that might take you
weeks to discover otherwise. You’re going to find your leaders, you’re going to
see how students handle frustration, you’re going to see who works well in
teams and who might need a little extra support there, and maybe you’ll even
discover one or two creative geniuses.
5
STEM challenges are a great way to
develop growth mindset skills. You want your classroom to feel like a place
that’s safe to try, fail, and try again. STEM challenges are a great way to
practice these skills, because if you are setting up challenges that are
challenging, then at some point the students are going to experience
frustration and indeed failure. I think it’s so important that we establish
that fail is not a four letter word in our classroom. It’s a learning
experience. It’s really nothing more than a data point that we observe, and we
analyze, and we move forward trying to address it in the next iteration of that
design.
develop growth mindset skills. You want your classroom to feel like a place
that’s safe to try, fail, and try again. STEM challenges are a great way to
practice these skills, because if you are setting up challenges that are
challenging, then at some point the students are going to experience
frustration and indeed failure. I think it’s so important that we establish
that fail is not a four letter word in our classroom. It’s a learning
experience. It’s really nothing more than a data point that we observe, and we
analyze, and we move forward trying to address it in the next iteration of that
design.
4
Which brings me to my next point. You
might have formative assessments to do where you are working with students
one-on-one. What do you do with the rest of the students in your class during
that time? This is the perfect time for a second iteration of a design
challenge. The reason I recommend doing a second iteration during assessments
rather than just doing a brand new challenge on that day is that the students
will already be familiar with their criteria and constraints list, and because
they know what they’re supposed to be doing they will be more engaged, and they
will be less likely to need to interrupt you with any sorts of questions.
might have formative assessments to do where you are working with students
one-on-one. What do you do with the rest of the students in your class during
that time? This is the perfect time for a second iteration of a design
challenge. The reason I recommend doing a second iteration during assessments
rather than just doing a brand new challenge on that day is that the students
will already be familiar with their criteria and constraints list, and because
they know what they’re supposed to be doing they will be more engaged, and they
will be less likely to need to interrupt you with any sorts of questions.
3
Now if you like to have class
meetings to develop your classroom community, STEM challenges are going to be a
great generator of topics for these meetings. Some things that might come up
are how to deal with conflict within teams; how to make sure you’re listening
to everybody on your team and selecting ideas to move forward with fairly; and
maybe even strategies for how to handle frustration or failure when things
aren’t going well with your designs.
meetings to develop your classroom community, STEM challenges are going to be a
great generator of topics for these meetings. Some things that might come up
are how to deal with conflict within teams; how to make sure you’re listening
to everybody on your team and selecting ideas to move forward with fairly; and
maybe even strategies for how to handle frustration or failure when things
aren’t going well with your designs.
2
This is one of my favorite reasons.
Students love STEM challenges and this means when their parents ask, “How
was school today? What did you do?”, they’re going to have some pretty
amazing stories to tell them right at the beginning of the school year. That’s going to make you look pretty good,
which is always nice, but there’s an even better benefit. Once you get bitten
by the STEM challenge bug, you’re probably going to want to do STEM challenges
at least once a week. That means you’re going to need a lot of materials. If
your students are going home every day telling their parents how amazing STEM
challenges are, that’s going to work out really well for you when you send home
a request letter to parents asking for donations of STEM challenge materials
like pipe cleaners, masking tape, and foil. And I don’t know about you, but
free pipe cleaners make me want to do a little happy dance.
Students love STEM challenges and this means when their parents ask, “How
was school today? What did you do?”, they’re going to have some pretty
amazing stories to tell them right at the beginning of the school year. That’s going to make you look pretty good,
which is always nice, but there’s an even better benefit. Once you get bitten
by the STEM challenge bug, you’re probably going to want to do STEM challenges
at least once a week. That means you’re going to need a lot of materials. If
your students are going home every day telling their parents how amazing STEM
challenges are, that’s going to work out really well for you when you send home
a request letter to parents asking for donations of STEM challenge materials
like pipe cleaners, masking tape, and foil. And I don’t know about you, but
free pipe cleaners make me want to do a little happy dance.
1
But the best reason to start your year
with STEM challenges is actually for you. STEM challenges have produced more
feel-good teaching moments in my career than really any other type of activity.
You know those moments, those ones that make you remember why you became a
teacher in the first place. Those moments where you look out on your class and
the student groups are huddled in, completely focused and engaged in what
they’re doing, unaware at how much problem solving and critical thinking, and
flat out work they’re doing because it’s just so interesting to them. When you
walk up and you actually speak to the students in their groups about what
they’re doing, their eyes are lit up with discovery. Those moments where
students who might not be very successful in the traditional school tasks, paper/pencil
tasks, have created something incredible that their peers are stunned by and so
impressed, and they have that moment to shine and to feel like they belong in
the school. That pride that swells up in you because you made this opportunity
available to these students, and they showed up, and they invested, and they
did the work.
with STEM challenges is actually for you. STEM challenges have produced more
feel-good teaching moments in my career than really any other type of activity.
You know those moments, those ones that make you remember why you became a
teacher in the first place. Those moments where you look out on your class and
the student groups are huddled in, completely focused and engaged in what
they’re doing, unaware at how much problem solving and critical thinking, and
flat out work they’re doing because it’s just so interesting to them. When you
walk up and you actually speak to the students in their groups about what
they’re doing, their eyes are lit up with discovery. Those moments where
students who might not be very successful in the traditional school tasks, paper/pencil
tasks, have created something incredible that their peers are stunned by and so
impressed, and they have that moment to shine and to feel like they belong in
the school. That pride that swells up in you because you made this opportunity
available to these students, and they showed up, and they invested, and they
did the work.
Some challenges aren’t magic, but
they’re pretty darn close. The good news is STEM challenges are a lot easier to
implement than you may think. I’ve created a library of video resources for you
and that includes some professional development, best practices, as well as
specific challenge walk-throughs, and I’ve got more on the way. I even have a
bundle of back to school challenges both in printable and in digital for those paperless
one-to-one classrooms that you can use with Google slides.
they’re pretty darn close. The good news is STEM challenges are a lot easier to
implement than you may think. I’ve created a library of video resources for you
and that includes some professional development, best practices, as well as
specific challenge walk-throughs, and I’ve got more on the way. I even have a
bundle of back to school challenges both in printable and in digital for those paperless
one-to-one classrooms that you can use with Google slides.
Now you don’t have to do one of my STEM challenges, but I hope I have convinced you to
do some STEM challenges for
back to school, and let me know how it goes. Please follow or subscribe if
you’re not already so you don’t miss any STEM challenge videos this year. Until
next time, have a fabulous week and may your school year be packed with feel
good teaching moments. Bye.
back to school, and let me know how it goes. Please follow or subscribe if
you’re not already so you don’t miss any STEM challenge videos this year. Until
next time, have a fabulous week and may your school year be packed with feel
good teaching moments. Bye.
