On behalf our your moderators, welcome to #3rdchat. We are excited to have @dailystem serving as our guest moderator this evening.
Please introduce yourself and tell us where you are joining us from.
A1: Ss love being creative and being able to "create" without being told what to make. They especially love if they get to collaborate with their peers. #3rdchat
A1. Students love STEM because they are not learning skills in isolation. They also like that STEM provides a learning experience that is authentic. #3rdchat
A1 and intro : Jessica from Calgary. Kids love STEM so much because it’s the exact opposite of worksheets. Engaging. Purposeful. Interactive. Same reason I love STEM too. #3rdchat#stem
A2: Our most successful STEM project was collaborating with a local zoo to design a new habitat for growing bears. It was an amazing learning opportunity! #3rdchat
A2: My favorite one to do with my class is a Lemonade STEM lab where the students try to make the best recipe for lemonade and then advertise it! #3rdchat
A2: I had my students create their characters from a novel based off of their character traits in the novel. It was amazing to see what they came up with! For 6 students to come up with similar ideas of their character, but so different. Not to mention the excitement! #3rdchat
A2: I have found that the most successful activities/lessons are those that I don't really have a "plan" for. I can give the Ss a problem or question and materials and they run with it and always come up with amazing products. #3rdchat#sycamoreyr2
A2 I taught a Storybook Stem class this summer. I connected picture books to STEM activities. The favorite activities were building roller coasters and making marble runs #3rdchat
A2: I love doing STEM projects that tie in to our reading series. One project is bridge building with various materials. I can narrow the focus to strength, structure, or any solution to the problem presented in the story. #3rdchat
A2: I taught a Structures of Life unit. Students observe the structures of plants, insects, crayfish, and human anatomy. Plants and critters occupied the classroom for weeks. The students made connections between organisms. Lots of inquiry in the unit. #3rdchat
A2: I had my students create their characters from a novel based off of their character traits in the novel. It was amazing to see what they came up with! For 6 students to come up with similar ideas of their character, but so different. Not to mention the excitement! #3rdchat
It was! We had to learn about what the bears would need to thrive. Had to embed area and perimeter concepts. Students built a model to share ideas and created a digital presentation for the representative from the zoo to take back to the board. #3rdchat
A2 : I'm not a teacher - I'm an employed SWengineer who volunteers my time at our local school. The science teacher and I modified the curriculum to incorporate Lego Mindstorms on an every Friday basis to teach gear reduction, velocity, position and programming.
#3rdchat
One of my best activities included bringing in a bunch of pennies for my students to figure out how many it would take to cover the floor, i'll because of a question in class!
#3rdchat
A2 We design our own animals using the design process with the restriction of explaining how it would actually survive and thrive in the wild. Kid Inventor Day is also a fabulous day that turned into a month for my class two years ago! #3rdchat
A2 We design our own animals using the design process with the restriction of explaining how it would actually survive and thrive in the wild. Kid Inventor Day is also a fabulous day that turned into a month for my class two years ago! #3rdchat
A3: My biggest failure is not taking perfect opportunities to use STEM in the classroom when the students were asking such excellent questions. Taking advantage of those teachable moments should never slip by. #3rdchat
A3: My biggest failure is trying to put STEM in a box. I tried these challenges that really had nothing to do with what we were learning and had no relevance for the kids. Sure it was fun, but it didn't help us move our learning forward. #3rdchat
A3: Failures implementing STEM were due to not making time to prepare. Even though students are observing and exploring, I need to make sure that resources are ready and inquiry is intentional. #3rdchat
A3: My biggest failure is trying to put STEM in a box. I tried these challenges that really had nothing to do with what we were learning and had no relevance for the kids. Sure it was fun, but it didn't help us move our learning forward. #3rdchat
A3 Trying to force it. I have found that STEM is best when you let your kids be the guide. The learning needs to be authentic and connected to your content. #3rdchat
Ditto! Ideas need time to marinate. I have cut lessons short. The energy may not be as good the next day. Sometimes you can not recreate a good learning moment. #3rdchat
...Not all #STEM is rocket science. Much of STEM is just exploring the backyard or building something. If we start there, the rest falls into place! #3rdchat
A3: Finding ways to push a student forward who has started to become frustated. Every once in a while I get a student who breaks down and I need to remind them there isn't just one answer and it's okay to fail. #3rdchat
...Not all #STEM is rocket science. Much of STEM is just exploring the backyard or building something. If we start there, the rest falls into place! #3rdchat
A4: I actually ask for donations of recyclables. I think it’s a valuable lesson for the students in using resources that are right at their feet! #3rdchat
We designed first. Plans included habitat, diet, life cycle etc. The children received feedback from other children and myself. Then they created the creatures using our maker cart. This often lead right back to the planning stage. I definitely recommend this activity. #3rdchat
A4: I actually ask for donations of recyclables. I think it’s a valuable lesson for the students in using resources that are right at their feet! #3rdchat
A4: We use a lot of recyclable material. Our 3rd grade team has a collection of cardboard, random empty food boxes, and I'm currently collecting water bottles for a STEM project we are doing Friday. #3rdchat
A3 I tried a newspaper table challenge and invited @UhtredtheViking in that day . It wasn’t a fail necessarily, but we were certainly all learning together. I think it was still worthwhile & the struggle pushed our feedback and collaboration skills! #3rdchat
A4: We used old cardboard boxes and other leftover things from around the school to design habitats for our classroom rats. The kids loved this! They made mazes, and tunnels and little rooms and obstacles for the rats to run through. #3rdchat
A5: Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure has a really neat Rube Goldberg machine that helps him make breakfast in the morning. I always show this to my students before we make Rube Goldberg Leprechaun traps. #3rdchat
A5 Big Hero 6, Moana and Inside Out actually all have STEM projects written all over them in my opinion. Oh and the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. #3rdchat
A5: Keep in mind that many of the great #STEM clips from some of these movies show up on YouTube and you can put into a playlist to have ready for showing in class! #3rdchat
Yes!!! I want to bring in some inspiration from Big Hero 6 this year. I’ve had my children design their own island(s) of personality at the start of the year. Huge success! #3rdchat
Donna seems to be trying hard to guess my favorite #STEM movie...no one has mentioned it yet...its an older disney movie...not animated...based on a book #3rdchat
A6: My hope for STEM is that it can be easily integrated with any core subject and not built into a specific time block. I'm not there yet, but I hope to be some day! #3rdchat
A6: I love how STEM keeps including different subject areas like writing, reading, and art. I hope it helps students see that learnin happens all the time not just inside the classroom walls. #3rdchat
A6: I'm hoping STEM education is embedded throughout curriculum and subject areas - In Middle School and HS I would love to see blended classes instead of separate #3rdchat
So hopefully through a lot of these questions (& answers) you've seen that #STEM isn't just something we do once in a while (like a diet or standardized testing).
Make #STEM your everyday mindset!
#3rdchat
A7: I would invite my wife’s cousin Danny. He works for NASA. I would love for him to talk to the students about gravitational forces in our Matter and Motion Unit. #3rdchat
A7: I would love to invite @neiltyson into our classroom when we study our solar system. He has an amazing way of explaining things and has quite a sense of humor. He would be a hit with the kids! #3rdchat
A7 Benjamin Franklin! I am fascinated by his life. He was involved in so many different things and looked for ways to improve the quality of life for others #3rdchat
A6 I hope that STEM in the classrooms can remedy problems and improve quality of life in our communities. The potential social justice component appeals to me. Also, this purposeful work will encourage the children to grow up valuing STEM jobs/ tasks. #3rdchat
A7: I would invite my wife’s cousin Danny. He works for NASA. I would love for him to talk to the students about gravitational forces in our Matter and Motion Unit. #3rdchat
Please join us next week with guest moderators @MrsBarnett_Tchr and @KristinOropeza as they lead a #3rdchat discussion about Using Ed-Tech to Help Diverse learners.
Please join us next week with guest moderators @MrsBarnett_Tchr and @KristinOropeza as they lead a #3rdchat discussion about Using Ed-Tech to Help Diverse learners.
I had the opportunity to see the documentary "Most Likely to Succeed" it's about a school in San Diego that teaches outside the box - definitely recommend it #3rdchat
