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I have spent the past week serving as a teacher facilitator during the first ever DU STEM Summer Institute. It was an amazing week to reflect on the power of our STEM model, be grateful that I have been part of it for the past five years, and see the infectious enthusiasm of the new teachers who were learning the model. Here are some of the powerful learnings I took away from this week!
The world is full of problems--and solutions. Since I became a STEM teacher, I have started to see the world as a place full of problems that just haven't been solved yet. It has changed the frustration I use to feel as a member of our community into a sense of empowerment. We can solve our problems--if we are creative and put in the work! The majority of our week was spent engaging in an adult learner PBL around creating sustainable businesses and then learning how to plan them for our students. On Monday morning, I sat through to presentations by businesses in Denver who had gone green. As I listened, I scrambled to keep up as idea after idea for new PBL's came up in their presentations. How do we recycle unusual items? How do we build culture in existing organizations? How do we monetize our beliefs? Theses were just a few of the ideas that came up. Be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage. The best learning of this week's institute occurred when we were learning along side the participants, not leading from the front of the room. After completing an adult learner PBL, motivation was there for them to engage in the process. My sessions on creating websites where we sat side by side and thought through how it could look left learners empowered. By the end of Friday, participants left with viable PBL ideas because they had someone to ask them questions and provide just in time feedback to build success. These principles are just as important for students in the classrooms. We lead the best learning when we are vulnerable and authentic. Throughout the week, I shared a long series of failures that I have survived as a STEM teacher. A trash PBL that went oh so wrong, the lessons learned from switching to the NGSS while the state assesses the CAS, and many others provided participants with the permission needed to try and fail. When I reflect on how my practice has grown over the past five years in real ways, it drives others to see that it will be ok to fail. There is always something more to learn. As I sat and listened to other teachers and administrators through out the week, I learned so many amazing things. I pledged to focus on building more authentic business partnerships when I heard about the ones others were using. I refocused on being purposeful about the creation of inquiry opportunities as I saw this come to life. I got curious at using 3D printing as a vehicle for math. Now I have some great things to learn this summer as I wait for my new students. Reflection provides energy to move forward with purpose. As I interacted with many teachers just starting this journey, I was able to reflect on how much I have grown in the past five years. It helped me to find passion, energy and excitement to start planning for the fall and make next year even better! (after a few weeks at the pool, traveling, and enjoying mom time, of course!)
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Clean water is something that we take for granted in the United States. Each day, we turn on our faucets and assume that the water coming out is safe for us to drink. But is it? For the community of Flint, MI this assumption was rocked when they faced high lead levels after there was a change in the source of their water. Click the video below to learn about it: This problem was the basis for our Summer STEM Ignition PBL. During the week of June 6th, new students to STEM Lab and STEM Launch engaged with many learning opportunities to answer the question "How do we ensure our water is safe to drink?" During the week, we had guest speakers, conducted science experiments, went on a field experience to a waste water and drinking water facility and then created solutions to answer the problem. Click on THIS LINK to see what we did! On Friday, students presented to a panel of water quality experts. They introduced their solutions with a sales pitch and then showed an iMovie introduction to the solution. They then gave a detailed description of their prototype. Curious about other solutions? Check out our full playlist of iMovies HERE.
How would you solve this problem? Leave some ideas in the comments below! Students in the twenty-first century are presenting original content all over the place. From Instagram to You Tube to blogs to class presentations, students are putting their thinking out there. Put how do we teach them to take pride in what they produce? Each spring we finish the year in my classroom with a Design Your Own PBL. Students select a problem and create an engineering solution to it. At the end of their learning, student produce a tri-fold board to show off their thinking. Over the years I have learned many lessons that help students to make these boards a work of pride. Lesson #1: Create the presentation along the way At each step in the process of this learning experience, students were required to submit a typed final draft of their work. Then, at the end of the project, all students had to do was print their work off to put on the final presentation boards. If students are creating a power point or a prezi, they can create their presentation at each step along the way too! Lesson #2: Plan for aesthetic appeal Students are wildly creative and will take great pride in creating--if we give them the proper tools, time and space. For this presentation, we use the Cricut to make titles, encourage the students to consider how they will make their work pop, and ask how they will help the audience visualize what they are trying to communicate. From there, it is all them. This year students created hand drawn logos, made lions from paper scraps, and developed many ways to accent their work. Lesson #3: Practice Makes Perfect Before students present to their audience, have them practice, practice, and practice some more. In our classroom, we present to each other and give "grows" (areas to improve) and "glows" (areas that are already awesome.) My goal as a teacher is to hear each student present along the way too. If I can't do it in person, I have them video their presentation on an I-Pod or phone so I can give them virtual feedback as well. Lesson #4: Use anchor charts for students to reference along the way As we begin presentations, we create a chart together of what all should be in the presentation. It is then hung in a prominent location so that students can refer to it early and often to make sure they are meeting the criteria. To generate the list, it works well to hand out the presentation rubric for students to analyze. Lesson #5: Provide Exemplars
Students create what we model for them. Provide students exemplars so that they know what you are expecting them to produce. If you are doing a new project with students, you may have to create the exemplar so that they know what you are looking for. After completing a successful project, ask students to keep examples for your next group of students or take lots and lots of pictures! |
AuthorMrs. Noffsinger is the 8th Grade Science and Engineering educator. Archives
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis, r.nial.bradshaw