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Summer is slowly drawing to an end, so it time to start planning and focusing on the 2016-2017 school year. I am SO excited to start the year and share with my students some of the amazing things I have been planning over the summer. Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I attended the NSTA STEM Forum here in Denver. Presenters from all over the world came to share their ideas of what STEM education can look like. Here are a few of the highlights! 5. Learning STEM is a Social Endeavor The keynote speaker was Derek Muller of the youtube channel Veritasium. A physics educator from Australia, Derek has spent his professional career studying how educational technology can be used to teach students. His findings were fascinated. He has found that having people share their ideas (and misconceptions) and then showing the answer is very effective. This is because it allows us to engage with our learning rather than being passive. We want to know if our idea is right or if others are. This is definitely a strategy I have used in my own classroom and will focus on using more in the future.
4. Bigfoot Might Just be Real A few years ago, my team and I taught students about Pseudoscience with a lesson on Cryptozoology. We thought it was a fun way to engage kids in the difference between fact and fiction. I was surprised when I saw a session on the evolution of Bigfoot, so I decided to check it out. The presentation focus on whether a creature like big foot could have evolved. As students learned about 10 essential question about evolution (based on this book), kids learned about the latest scientific theory of Bigfoot. I was super impressed with the presenter who had great instructional strategies. By the end, I was more open to the idea that Bigfoot just might have evolved. 3. Twitter makes for Great Learning I have been on twitter for quite a while now, but never saw the big appeal. Until this conference, I thought it was just a lot of random noise. However, at the conference, using the hashtag #STEMForum gave me an opportunity to learn what others were seeing and doing. I started following many teachers who were at the conference and now each day as I scroll through my treats I am finding new and exciting ideas about science, stem, and nature! I may be coming late to the game, but I'm glad I finally showed up! 2. Maker Ed is gaining traction The Maker Movement has received a lot of notice lately across social media and educational circles. I had heard about it, seen a few examples, but was still not sure what it was all about. (Honestly reminded me of STEM education about 5 years ago). Then, during the Forum, I went to a couple of great sessions on what Maker Ed is, why it matters, and how to execute it! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we do a lot of maker ed in our "hammer room" each year. The most interesting notion that I gained from learning about Maker Ed movement is that it is about creating anything--music, poetry, prototypes, programs, etc. A lot of my own engineering philosophy matches exactly! It is becoming a force in education--MIT even allows Maker Portfolios now as part of their application process! Want to learn more? Visit Makered.org! 1. Giving is better than receiving My favorite part of the STEM Forum was presenting to other teachers. This year I gave two presentations which were both very well attended. The first presentation "PBL Start to Finish" filled a huge meeting room at the convention center and the energy in the room was amazing. It was fun to see people light up at the possibility of doing this kind of learning with their students in their own classroom. The second presentation "Engineering Deeper Scientific Understanding" was fun as people got excited about different projects I had done with my students. It was very fulfilling to give back to teachers and see them get excited!
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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!) |
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