Winter STEM Ideas

*Previously published by Defined Learning.

Stuck inside? During the cold months of winter, it is easy to get bogged down by the weather, gray skies, and cold temperatures. Whether we are at home or in school, we can engage learners in meaningful STEM learning that reflects the winter months.

Students can get involved in winter STEM learning through inquiry and engineering design challenges. These opportunities allow learners the chance to fuel their curiosity on different topics and continue to apply their creative problem solving skills throughout the year.

With many schools engaging in remote learning, the ideas shared in this post can be implemented in school or at home. Think of the ways you might explore the cold or build a better winter gadget as a part of STEM learning.

Explore the Cold

Think of all the cold weather things that students can explore during the winter months. This is a great time for inquiry-based learning and the discovery of why things are the way they are in winter. This ongoing exploration can start by generating a list of winter questions:

• What do snowflakes really look like?
• Why do animals hibernate in the winter?
• What makes cars slide on the ice?
• How long does winter last?
• Where does the word blizzard come from?
• Does the winter season look different across the globe? Why?
  

Students can explore these STEM-related topics independently, with a partner, or with the entire class. These can be posted to your class website or displayed on a wall in your classroom. Uncovering the answers to these questions can be an opportunity for students to engage in research, discussion, and experimentation. It might even be the springboard into a project-based learning experience or a genius hour opportunity for students. Students can share the answers to the questions by creating a video, blogging, or building a model. The open-ended nature of inquiry-based learning means that students can show their understanding in a way that fits their knowledge, skills, and interests.

Build It Better

Setting up engineering design challenges for students is a great way to keep their minds thinking and their hands actively working. Building something better allows students to reflect on things that already exist (products, experiences, processes) and figure out ways to improve them.

• Slippery Sledding - With a layer of fresh snow, the kids are heading outside for a sled ride. Bundle up and grab your sleds or snowboards. Why do some sleds work better than others? Research (and try out!) different types of sleds or snowboards. Which materials work best? Plastic, metal, or something else? What shape makes for the smoothest ride? Sketch and design a better sled or snowboard. Students can even build a prototype as a part of the design process.
• Shovel It - When the heavy snows come, it is time to bring out the shovel or maybe the snow blower. What features make shoveling the snow easier? How many different types of snow shovel designs exist? What makes one shovel more efficient over another? Can you design one that looks better, is easier to grip, or lighter when lifted? What could you add to a snow blower to make it run more smoothly? All of these design components can be researched and considered within the engineering design process.
   
• Snow Fort - Once all that snow is piled up from shoveling, take advantage and build a snow fort. Surely, we all remember doing this as a child or with our own children. Snow forts can come in many shapes and sizes. You can build an igloo with snow bricks or dig a tunnel into a snowy dome. The possibilities are endless for learners who want to create a fun spot for winter. Expand on this activity and have students sketch and design a model for a snow fort. What shape will it have? How many people will fit inside? (This could be practical or a snowy “dream” house.) Infuse some math and have students include the dimensions for the fort. Tap into some technology tools and have students use Sketches School or Paper to create their images digitally. Student designs can be posted on the class website or even shared on social media.

Of course, STEM learning can be explored all year long. Design challenges and exploration in science, technology, engineering, and math can happen no matter the weather. Keep the STEM learners in your life engaged by incorporating these opportunities into the classroom this month!

Integrating STEM and SEL: 5 Benefits For Your Students

*This post was previously published by Carly & Adam. 

A first grade teacher welcomes her students back to the classroom. She is excited to have a busy space, full of learners talking, working, and playing. Her excitement is balanced with concern as she knows that many students are nervous to return to school and some may be coming for the first time in a long time. She has planned fun icebreaker activities, reading lessons, and cooperative learning tasks. Not only does she want to build a sense of classroom community, but she also wants to welcome students into a safe, collaborative, and enjoyable learning environment. 

She plans to do several read alouds with a focus on starting a new school year, making new friends, and how to work together. She shares the book The Name Jar and other stories that help students develop self-awareness that is important at the first grade level. She has planned some getting to know you activities where students communicate with one another and share their interests. She understands that building relationships are critical in school and in life. These students work together on some problem-solving tasks.

These activities will help students develop and learn together, fostering collaboration skills along with building new knowledge. When combined, these activities also connect two important instructional ideas, teaching STEM and providing a foundation for social emotional learning in school.

STEM education and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) have many common components that align including: 

• Teamwork: the importance of working as a team but also recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses. 

• Relationship Skills and Self-Awareness: the challenge of developing an awareness of others while continuing to build confidence in yourself. 

• Social Awareness: the reward of having positive relationships and the hard work that goes with creating them. 

• Responsible Decision-Making: the understanding that the choices you make have consequences for yourself and those around you.

It makes sense to provide instruction that can build skills in both STEM and SEL. These two paths may seem different in some ways, but they have many strategies in common. STEM and SEL can work together to accomplish similar goals. When taught in alignment, students can reap the benefits of this integrated approach. 

Here’s a closer look at the 5 benefits of integrating STEM and SEL:

 1. Promotes Academic Growth

Students who are struggling with their own social emotional development may be coming to school, but they aren’t necessarily ready to learn. When we find ways to address social emotional needs in the classroom, we can remove those barriers to learning and promote academic growth. If we can fill some of their social and emotional needs through teaching social skills, then students can begin to attack the content in STEM and other subject areas.

In the classroom: The first grade teacher used read alouds to engage students in the topics of empathy, reputation, and growth mindset. In turn, when she planned a read aloud STEM challenge for her class after reading The Bad Seed, she hoped that she would see students activating those skills. Since the students have also discussed working together and solving problems, they were able to use that knowledge when the teacher challenged them to design, build, and test a seed home for The Bad Seed. This challenge has allowed students to recognize their strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose. Because the students learned the skills to be self-aware and effective in small group settings, they were able to succeed in the challenge.

2. Offers Hands-on Connections
When hands-on opportunities are embedded in content learning, students are more engaged and can better grasp the information. As we provide social emotional learning strategies for communication and organizational skills, students can practice them within the STEM learning tasks we design, in turn giving them a hands-on experience connected to their social emotional development.

In the classroom: In a kindergarten classroom, the teacher talked with her students about self-management. She read the story My Magic Breath. The story teaches students to use mindful breathing strategies when they need to calm down. The class made their own pendulums with markers, string, and tape to practice different breathing techniques. Now the students have a physical tool to help them to practice their breathing with something they designed and built themselves!

3. Provides Practical Application

We can equip our students with skills to communicate, collaborate, and make responsible decisions, but if we don’t give them the chance to practice these skills, we are missing a big opportunity. Engaging in a science experiment or a building challenge requires teamwork. Problem-solving can provide practical application for students who are developing their social emotional learning strategies.

In the classroom: A class of 4th graders has been working on responsible decision-making skills and their teacher is encouraging them to utilize different strategies to stay focused to meet their goals. In a small group, they create a plan for cleaning up and improving the school grounds. The students work together, using their personal strengths, to increase the success of the group as a whole. Their project requires STEM skills like design, innovation, and engineering, but also self-awareness, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.

4. Increase Positive Interactions

Part of social emotional wellness means being able to connect with others in a positive way, communicating, and building relationships with those around you. Students need to practice navigating these interactions and using the right language to engage with others. These are a natural part of work in STEM and makerspaces, as students work with others to design, construct, and give feedback to one another.

In the classroom: The second-grade class is trying their first engineering design challenge. The teacher has assigned each student a role (team captain, materials manager, head architect, and testing supervisor). The students embrace their roles and work collaboratively to accomplish their challenges. Once teams have completed one iteration of their design, they move around the room and provide feedback to their peers, building positive communication skills and deepening understanding in the classroom. 

5. Build Skills For Life

As students learn social emotional skills alongside skills in science, technology, engineering, and math, they are preparing for daily interactions with others, but also for potential careers. While some careers may function in isolation, most require positive interpersonal skills and working with a team. Opportunities in STEM offer the chance to build the skills which will help them in school, career, community, and beyond. 

In the classroom: Within the STEM lab, you’ll rarely hear anyone say, “Why do I need to learn this?!?” Students understand that solving problems and working together are a part of life. They see it in action when they are challenged to construct new living spaces, design new contraptions, and take steps toward coding. STEM learning experiences allow them to better understand themselves and others which will benefit them during all stages of their life.
STEM and SEL are building blocks. When stacked together they can create a strong foundation for our students. The benefits of incorporating these two instructional areas exist for both students and for teachers. SEL isn’t something extra that we need to teach. It’s not the latest “add-on.” It is the foundation on which we have been planning STEM learning all along!

Fostering a STEM Mindset

 This post was previously published on the CORI website.

“I really think our game should focus on adding and subtracting decimals,” one student suggests. “I think that might be a little challenging. Maybe we should just focus on rounding decimals since that’s what we have been working on mostly in class,” shares another.  “I like that idea. Can we all come to an agreement on that?”

This was part of a conversation that I recently overheard in a fifth-grade classroom, where students were working together to design and build board games. All the games needed to include relevant math content, as well as different characteristics of gaming. Students engaged in meaningful conversation as a part of the engineering design process. They shared ideas and politely disagreed. Each student’s voice provided value to the group, allowing them to work collaboratively on the task. 

“Can I add that maybe we could use the adding and subtracting like Daniel said as like a “power up“ within the game?” one student offered. “Ooh, I like that idea. Then we are making a game that everyone can play, but there are also ways to make things a little bit harder” says one student as she high-fived her teammate. “What do you guys think about creating cards for the game? I’d like to design those and you guys can start on constructing the game board.”

The conversations between the students were rich and focused. They made decisions and solved problems in a collaborative spirit that allowed them to fully engage in the task. Together, the team worked to design and build their game board using recyclable materials and art supplies from their classroom STEM cart. They activated their imaginations and skillfully used their resources to create aspects of the game that reinforced math concepts. The group incorporated their challenge cards and wrote instructions for how their game was to be played, all while infusing their math knowledge as the primary content for the game. 

Mindset in action

Students in this classroom example are demonstrating a STEM mindset in action. They are working to accomplish a common goal that requires collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity. Students are thinking flexibly about the problem in front of them, but also activating their personal experiences to enhance their project. 

When this type of mindset is cultivated in a classroom, it is evident through student conversations like this one. As students are presented challenges, they utilize their collective skills and strengths to analyze and solve problems. This mindset can be developed in any classroom and at any age. With personalization, perseverance, and patience, we can foster this mindset in our students, setting them up for success in school and beyond.

Developing the mindset

 A STEM mindset is flexible and curious and is often thought of as “outside the box” thinking. A STEM mindset is challenging, as learners wonder about problems that aren’t always easily solved. It includes things like combining ideas to create new things and taking apart things to find out how they work. 

This mindset is not something that you can force upon learners, but rather something that you guide students towards. With support, we can encourage our learners to explore new materials, tackle big challenges, and extend their thinking beyond what is possible.

Developing a STEM mindset can be difficult for some, both students and teachers alike. It requires grappling with ideas and experiencing failure, things that are not comfortable for many. As learners encounter setbacks, they build resilience, rebounding into new learning. As teachers experience challenges, they rethink their instruction and reimagine ways to engage students in STEM learning.

For some students, STEM experiences are when they have the chance to thrive. It is when they get to try new things (and then try some more). It is often when students get to access different types of learning modalities, beyond what occurs within traditional courses. The nature of STEM learning represents possibilities for creativity and innovation.

Experiencing failure

In schools where students engage in STEM learning, things don’t always turn out the way they were planned. And that is OK!  Groups of students engage in an engineering design challenge or conduct an experiment—sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. STEM learning can be messy and unconventional. It may require trial and error.  Students may encounter obstacles or find shortcuts. It is likely that at some point, they will fail. How students respond to that failure is a part of the STEM mindset.

John Dewey said, “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks, learns quite as much from his failures that from his successes.” This is a tough lesson for kids to learn. Failing and bouncing back from that failure is critical to a STEM mindset, and to life. 

STEM learning is meant to be open ended, which is why learners encounter stumbling blocks and experience failed experiments or designs. In authentic STEM experiences, there shouldn’t be one anticipated endpoint or product of this learning. It is what the learners construct it to be.

Where STEM thrives

Learning spaces that embrace STEM are places where students say:

I wonder how that works? 

What if we would combine these two materials? 

Can I try that? 

What can we create together?  

As we work to foster a STEM mindset within our students, we welcome these questions of curiosity and exploration. We invite students to get messy, learn new things, and explore new materials. Through their exploration, a mindset of discovery and creativity will thrive!

Interested in developing a STEM mindset with your students? Check out the cool cardboard materials from Cori.

What's in Your Makerspace?

 Educators often reach out and ask for a list of materials when they’re getting started with a makerspace or STEM/STEAM program. I often hesitate to provide a list, because I believe every space should be unique.  With the opportunity to visit lots of spaces, each is a bit different--different set-up, different areas of interest, different feeling. That's what is great about a space that allows you to connect, collaborate, and apply your creativity in different ways.

 After the start up of STEAM Maker spaces into school districts that I worked on, I learned one important thing – that the materials you put in your space should be based on the needs and interests of your students. The ideas and experiences should be co-created with the students you serve. 

I understand that those just beginning this work may need a little jumpstart, so I created a blog post several years ago with makerspace items from A to Z. The list is often shared on social media and many teachers have reached out saying how helpful it has been. Whether starting a new maker space in your school or developing stem learning centers for your classroom, having a basic materials list is helpful. (especially for those writing grants or vying for budget items from school and district leaders.)

I figured that it was about time to update the original list and make it a bit more comprehensive, I reached out to my friend (and one of the most creative makers I know), Chris Woods.  You know Chris as @DailySTEM. His social media posts, podcast, and book have been an inspiration to me and many. We collaborated on this list in an effort to include a wide variety of items that we know kids love and educators need. It includes consumable items like glue and markers, as well as donated recyclable items like cardboard and plastic containers. The list also includes tools and tech items, like Hummingbird robotics and Makedo. 

While this is not an exhaustive list, we think it is a good start for maker educators and STEM enthusiasts. If you think we missed anything, add your comment below! 

Happy #MakerMonday!

Incorporating SEL into Your Interview Process

It is that time of year when school districts will be starting the interviewing process. Whether looking to add new teachers to the team or anyone from classroom assistants to school and district leaders, the process may likely include new and different interview questions. In response to the last year teaching and learning in a global pandemic, interview teams will be looking to see how you have been able to thrive during these challenging circumstances. Furthermore, schools will want to know how you supported students during a time when building relationships and fostering well being has been more important than ever. 

When preparing for interview season, consider the following questions with a focus on social emotional development:

What classroom practices have you implemented in the last year to build empathy and understanding in your students?

How have Random Acts of Kindness (or a similar experience) been used in your school? How did you contribute to its development? 

What do you do to ensure the ongoing social emotional development of your students? 

What do you believe are the essential components of social emotional learning? 

What SEL resources have you found to be the most beneficial? 

What strategies would you suggest to a student who was having difficult with self-regulation in the classroom? 

How do you develop social awareness within your students? 

What do you do personally to practice self care and social emotional development? 

The social emotional development of our students (and ourselves) is so important. When we are bringing new people onto our team, we need to have conversations, (starting during the interview process) that communicates SEL as a primary goal within the school system. What SEL questions have you asked interview candidates? As an interviewee, have you been asked any questions regarding social emotional learning in schools?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

ReplyForward

The Gift of Time

The Gift of Time

Earlier this month we gained an hour of daylight with the change over to Daylight Savings Time. I love this change and the fact that it's still light out after dinner when my kids and I take our dog for a walk.  While it is still dark in the morning when we wake up, the later sunset in the evening is truly a blessing as our family can play outside take advantage of that extra time together.

Later in the month, we all received an unexpected gift of time, courtesy of the virus that is changing our world as we know it.  We now have this abundance of time.  The exterior factors that once governed the time and influenced many of our day-to-day decisions are no longer in effect for many of us.  Time isn't dictating when we need to get up in the morning, the time we needed to spend at work and school, the time we had to be at practices or events.  All of that has somehow been pushed aside.  Without the constraints of time, we now have choices to make on how we are going to use this gift.

Think about that.  How many times have you said, "If only I had more time."

I need more time to finish my work.  

There's never enough time to . . . 

If only there was an extra hour in the day.

If I had more time, I could . . .

Well, now you can.  We've all been given this gift of time.  

You can start that project that you've been putting off.  You can reach out to that person you've been missing.  You can spend the time doing whatever it is that you need to.  It's your time.

You can clean out that closet that you've been saying you would.  You can watch that old movie with your spouse.  You can read that extra chapter at night with the kids.  You can play that extra-long board game as a family.  Because there's time. 

There's time to do something for yourself--to take that bubble bath or read that trashy novel.  There's time to try a new recipe or take a long walk.  There's time to take extra good care of yourself and those around you.

Even though we are separated by distance, take the time to connect with those who matter most.  Take the time to reach out to a neighbor in need, to a former student, to a colleague.  Send a personal note to your best friend in another state.  Call your favorite aunt to say hello.  Set up a regular time for your kids to FaceTime their grandparents.  

Be intentional about making time to connect with others in whatever way works best for you--but take the time.

We can use our time to make a difference.  What are you doing with this gift of time?

#GrandparentProject

I had to have a very difficult conversation with my mom yesterday.  She's 71.  She's a retail worker in a neighborhood store.  She's a friend, a wife, a mom, and probably her most beloved role, she's a grammy.

Most weeks, she drives out to our house (about 20 minutes away) and spends time with my sons, ages 5 and 7.  She plays WWE wrestlers with them.  She chases them around in our yard.  She walks them to the park.  She learns the names on all their Pokemon cards.  She reads books with them.  

She sneaks them extra treats like most grandparents do.  She lets them stay up later than they should.  She doesn't get mad when they break the rules.  

Together, they make slime with them and play board games.  They build Lego creations and have impromptu dance parties in the living room.  They have cereal for dinner.

My children cherish this time and can't wait to know when Grammy is coming to visit.  In turn, I know my mom looks forward to this time more than anything.  

My mom is active, but she is not always the picture of health.  She's in that over 70 age bracket that puts her in a vulnerable position, especially when it comes to my children and COVID19.  If it is possible that my kids could carry the virus and pass it onto her, then we could be putting her in danger.  

I can't do that.

I had to tell my mom that it was not a good idea for her to come out and see the kids for a little while.  I had to deny her the complete joy that I know she gets when she sees my boys.  While we believe that is the best way to proceed right now, it felt horrible, to say the least.

Since that conversation, I have been reflecting a lot about the grammies, nanas, paps, and poppas of the world.  While they are worried about their own health and wellness, they are also being separated from some of the people that they love the most.  Being with their grandkids brings them so much joy and often keeps them motivated to stay healthy.

How are you staying connected to grandparents and relatives in your family?  Here are some of the things that you can do while your kids are at home and separated from loved ones.

1. Facetime-- As you are figuring out your schedule for the "new normal" add in time to Facetime a grandparent or loved one each day.  Make that connection.  Revel in the smiles and check in with the people that matter.

Make this time meaningful for your kids and your family.  My boys are generating questions that they are going to ask Grammy when then talk to her today:

• What do you like to do when you get bored at home?
• Was school ever closed like this when you were little?
• Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?
• If you could safely travel anywhere right now, where would you go?

I'm planning to extend this idea as the days go on and have my kids interview my mom.  I'm thinking about all the generational things that my kids can learn from her, while also building a sense of family history.

• Where did you go to school when you were my age?
• Did you have a favorite subject? favorite teacher?
• What activities did you like to do when you were little?
• Did your family go on vacation when you were in elementary school? Where did you go?
• What things do you remember doing with your grandparents? 

2.  Pen Pals--Keep your kids' minds sharp (and their older loved ones too) by writing letters to family members.  This can certainly be an email, but the idea of traditional letter writing allows kids to practice some academic skills at home, too.

Here are some things my boys are going to write (and draw):

• My favorite thing to do with Grammy
• The funniest thing Grammy ever did
• What Grammy would do if she hit the lottery

3. "Play" Together--This is a challenge to do from a distance, but think creatively.  Create videos to share with one another.  Can grandparents share a magic trick or cooking tip with the kids?  Can the kids tell jokes or teach their grandparents how to code a robot? Send videos back and forth as another way to stay connected. 

I'm sure there are lots of other ideas that we can try, but my family is going to start here.  I will continue to post more ideas on how to stay connected.  We are going to do one thing each day to connect with the loved ones who feel so far away right now.  I know this will help my kids during this time of uncertainty, but it will also help my mom.  It will help all of the grandparents out there who are craving time with the little people in their lives.  What will you do stay safe and stay connected?