Last week was my final week in the school as part of my internship. As I announced that I was leaving to my six different classes, I was met with a lot of resistance and questions. My students complained that it was not fair that I was leaving and asked me why I had to go already. Even the class that caused me the most trouble and stress had a tough time accepting that I was leaving. The experience was both sad and touching for me, because I was also feeling a little resistant about leaving these classes with whom I had spent the past semester (or for two of the classes, year). Saying goodbye to my students and my mentor teacher made me think about how much my understanding of and approach to teaching had changed through my internship experience.
When I began my internship, I knew that teaching was hard, but I don't think I realized just how hard it was. There were several days during this internship where I left school feeling run down and frustrated, wondering if I was ever going to get the hang of things. Whether it was students that refused to listen to me, a concept that they just couldn't seem to grasp, or technology issues that prevented me from presenting an important component of my lesson, some days just went completely wrong. These days made me appreciate the importance of patience, empathy, and flexibility. I learned to stay calm when students were aggravating me, I learned to look for external factors that may be impacting a kid's ability to engage with my lessons, and I learned to always have a back up plan. Basically, I began to approach bad days as a lesson on how to be a better educator in the future. If I expect my students to come up with solutions when they encounter a problem, I should be doing the same thing. This internship helped me to be a better problem solver.
Despite how it feels on the bad days, though, most days were not bad. On the good days, my passion for helping others understand science was reinforced. I got to see over and over again how great it is for a student's eyes to light up in understanding and curiosity. I watched students become filled to the brim with questions about how things worked and a desire to learn more than I had time to teach them. I laughed more times that I can count at my students' cleverness and ingenuity. I felt my heart warm as I watched students work with each other to figure out a problem, rather than ask me. I swelled with pride when a student who was previously uninterested in science raised his hand and correctly answered a question that no one else could figure out. On the good days, I learned how amazing it is to be a teacher.
Teaching can be unpredictable and exciting, draining and rewarding. Regardless of what we, as teacher, are covering in the classroom, we are also learning daily from our students. A day that I am not learning while in the classroom is a day that I am not being an effective teacher. This is the most important lesson I learned from my internship. Overall, my internship was an excellent and rewarding experience. I adored my kids and am so grateful that I was placed with such an open-minded and supportive mentor teacher. I will carry the things that I learned and the experiences that I had over the past several months with me as I continue to move through life and the world of education.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017
Teacher of Promise | Internship Reflection 9
On April 7th, I was invited to be a part of the Maryland Department of Education's Teacher of Promise Institute. I received this invitation because had the honor of being nominated as a 2017 Teacher of Promise in Maryland. The Teachers of Promise program was created by the Maryland Department of Education to recognize prospective teachers who were performing well in their university programs and to provide them with resources and mentors to help them transition into their first year in the classroom. The Teacher of Promise Institute is an event that brings the Teacher of Promise nominees together with experienced mentor teachers who have been chosen as Teachers of Year in Maryland. During the event, attendees hear from various individuals in the education field, including the Maryland Board of Education Superintendent. In addition, Teachers of Promise get the opportunity to ask questions of their mentors about how to approach the first year of teaching.
While at this event, I had the opportunity to speak with several other prospective teachers and veteran teachers (including my media specialist from middle school, see left). It was a great experience to get perspectives from students in other programs as well as to speak with teachers who had been in the classroom for several years. Three of the speakers during the event were previous National Teachers of the Year. All of these teachers had a lot of great advice to share, despite having very different experiences with and approaches to teaching. This taught me that there are a lot of paths to being a successful teacher and making a difference for your students. The one thing that these teachers did have in common was their love for teaching and their students. This thread carried through the whole event. It was clear that in order to make progress in the classroom, you had to really care. In a later discussion, my mentor and I discussed how inspiring this was to hear.
I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to be a part of this event. The Teacher of Promise institute helped me to build professional connections, ask questions that would help any first year teacher, and to get exposed to exemplary teaching practices. I hope the the Maryland Department of Education is able to continue providing this program for prospective teachers.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Change of Heart | Internship Reflection 8
After being in the classroom with the same sets of students for several months, you may feel as though you have a fairly good grasp on those students' personalities, abilities, and needs in the classroom. By the end of March, I had been working with a gifted and talented 9th grade Biology class for 7 months. I was confident that I knew what to expect from each student. Despite this class being at the GT level, there was a student in the class who had spent most of the previous 7 months being minimally engaged with the class. His test scores were lower than average, he wouldn't turn in completed classwork, and he rarely would participate in class discussions without being called on directly.
However, at the end of March, we were getting into the genetics unit which was proving to be popular with many of the students, including this particular one. Suddenly, this student was not only completing all of his work, but he was doing so correctly and was often the first one done. He always had answers for me when I asked questions to the class and even began asking his own questions to further understand the material. During one class period, he finished his work so early, that I gave him an additional assignment to complete, which he did excitedly and without complaint.
There are a lot of factors that can affect a student's performance in the classroom. Many of those factors occur outside of the classroom and are out of the teacher's control. This student made me realize that I should never make assumptions about student behavior, regardless of how long I have known them. If I always have high expectations for every student, there is always room for them to grow and improve. There is also a huge benefit to finding what interests students and allowing them the freedom to explore those interests.
However, at the end of March, we were getting into the genetics unit which was proving to be popular with many of the students, including this particular one. Suddenly, this student was not only completing all of his work, but he was doing so correctly and was often the first one done. He always had answers for me when I asked questions to the class and even began asking his own questions to further understand the material. During one class period, he finished his work so early, that I gave him an additional assignment to complete, which he did excitedly and without complaint.
There are a lot of factors that can affect a student's performance in the classroom. Many of those factors occur outside of the classroom and are out of the teacher's control. This student made me realize that I should never make assumptions about student behavior, regardless of how long I have known them. If I always have high expectations for every student, there is always room for them to grow and improve. There is also a huge benefit to finding what interests students and allowing them the freedom to explore those interests.
Unexpected Results | Internship Reflection 7
In a previous blog, I discussed implementing a positive reinforcement strategy using tickets in one of my classes to improve classroom behavior. This strategy would allow students to earn tickets for good behavior that they could exchange for rewards. As expected, after introducing the tickets at the beginning of March, students became invested in earning tickets, often asking what they needed to do to earn tickets. While the strategy did not work for all students (particularly the most disruptive ones), many students did embrace the idea of earning tickets. In order to allow students to keep track of the amount of tickets they earned, I created a "scoreboard" that listed ever student in the class and how many tickets they had earned. At the end of each class, I would adjust the scoreboard to reflect current ticket amounts. If students exchanged their tickets for rewards, I would decrease their ticket number on the scoreboard.
A surprising result of this was that many students seemed to be more interested in having the highest number on the scoreboard than receiving a reward. I would announce when students had enough tickets to buy a snack, but many students expressed that they would rather "save up" their tickets, despite the fact that there was not reward that cost more than the number of tickets they currently had. It seems like the motivation for many students was in the form of competition rather than tangible reward.
This unexpected reaction from my students made me aware that I could likely increase engagement in the classroom by introducing activities based around games/competitions. I am hesitant to pit students against each other because I would rather encourage personal growth, but this particular class seems to enjoy the challenge of trying to be the best in the class.
A surprising result of this was that many students seemed to be more interested in having the highest number on the scoreboard than receiving a reward. I would announce when students had enough tickets to buy a snack, but many students expressed that they would rather "save up" their tickets, despite the fact that there was not reward that cost more than the number of tickets they currently had. It seems like the motivation for many students was in the form of competition rather than tangible reward.
This unexpected reaction from my students made me aware that I could likely increase engagement in the classroom by introducing activities based around games/competitions. I am hesitant to pit students against each other because I would rather encourage personal growth, but this particular class seems to enjoy the challenge of trying to be the best in the class.
Too Much Independence | Internship Reflection 6
In the senior-level Biomedical Innovations (BI) PLTW class that I work with, a lot of the classwork focuses around providing the students with problems to solve on their own or, more recently, having them come up with their own problem that needs solving. At the end of this course, the curriculum has students develop and implement their own independent project for which they pick a biomedical topic and find a solution to a problem. Students are given the opportunity to do a research study, a fundraising event, an internship, and more. On the surface, the freedom of this project seems like an excellent way to get students engaged with science by allowing them to research something in which they are interested. However, in practice, students who are not used to taking so much responsibility for their own learning (and the demonstration of that learning) get overwhelmed by the openended-ness of an independent project of this type.
In March, we spent the majority of time in BI helping students plan, research, and implement their projects. After receiving a lot of push back from the students, I began developing extra scaffolding activities that would provide structure to the project that students were floundering without. For instance, I noticed that the students were really good at providing feedback for each other, so I had students get into groups and take turns describing their vision for the project. Afterwards, other students in the group would ask questions and make suggestions for moving forward. I also used drills at the beginning of class to ask questions that would help students complete sections of their projects. For one drill, I asked students to create a list of steps (shorter than 10 items) that it would take to implement their project. After creating this list, students had an outline for the methods section of their project. Breaking daunting parts of the project up into small pieces was a much more successful strategy for students who did not have experience with this amount of independence in the classroom.
What this experience made me realize is that it is important to get students engaged in independent learning from an early age so that they are comfortable with this sort of projects at the end of their secondary school career. If the seniors in my BI class had been engaged in inquiry and project-based learning throughout their educational experience, they may not have needed as much scaffolding during this course. But regardless of the age, it is beneficial to stay aware of the students' needs in the classroom and to be flexible enough to provide extra support when needed.
In March, we spent the majority of time in BI helping students plan, research, and implement their projects. After receiving a lot of push back from the students, I began developing extra scaffolding activities that would provide structure to the project that students were floundering without. For instance, I noticed that the students were really good at providing feedback for each other, so I had students get into groups and take turns describing their vision for the project. Afterwards, other students in the group would ask questions and make suggestions for moving forward. I also used drills at the beginning of class to ask questions that would help students complete sections of their projects. For one drill, I asked students to create a list of steps (shorter than 10 items) that it would take to implement their project. After creating this list, students had an outline for the methods section of their project. Breaking daunting parts of the project up into small pieces was a much more successful strategy for students who did not have experience with this amount of independence in the classroom.
What this experience made me realize is that it is important to get students engaged in independent learning from an early age so that they are comfortable with this sort of projects at the end of their secondary school career. If the seniors in my BI class had been engaged in inquiry and project-based learning throughout their educational experience, they may not have needed as much scaffolding during this course. But regardless of the age, it is beneficial to stay aware of the students' needs in the classroom and to be flexible enough to provide extra support when needed.
Monday, April 17, 2017
On My Own | Internship Reflection 5
During the first week of March, my mentor teacher was absent for several days because of a fall in the classroom. For these days, I had to manage and instruct the classroom on my own. The first day or two were particularly difficult because we had not prepared for my mentor teacher to be out, so I was scrambling to make sure that I had all of the copies and resources I needed to complete all of the lessons. My university mentor was also scheduled to come in to observe one of my lesson during these days, which added to the stress.
Fortunately, I was able to coordinate with other professionals in the school to make sure that I had everything I needed. Through email and text message, I coordinated with other teachers to get access to copiers and supply rooms so that by the time my students entered the classroom, everything was ready to go. For the most part, I was able to run through the lessons smoothly and keep the instruction moving forward, despite my mentor teacher not being there.
One thing that I noticed during this time was the dramatic difference in behavior between the two classes I had been with all year and the four classes I had only just met at the beginning of the semester. The two classes I had been working with all year didn't change their behavior much, despite my mentor teacher being out. They were still very respectful and completed the work I assigned to them. On the other hand, the classes with which I hadn't had as much time to build relationships acted up much more while my mentor teacher was out. They did not respect my authority as much and spent much more time off task during the lesson. This experience helped me to realize how important it is to build relationships with students early in the year in order to set a tone and expectations for the class. Having an environment of mutual respect is a key component of a well managed classroom.
Fortunately, I was able to coordinate with other professionals in the school to make sure that I had everything I needed. Through email and text message, I coordinated with other teachers to get access to copiers and supply rooms so that by the time my students entered the classroom, everything was ready to go. For the most part, I was able to run through the lessons smoothly and keep the instruction moving forward, despite my mentor teacher not being there.
One thing that I noticed during this time was the dramatic difference in behavior between the two classes I had been with all year and the four classes I had only just met at the beginning of the semester. The two classes I had been working with all year didn't change their behavior much, despite my mentor teacher being out. They were still very respectful and completed the work I assigned to them. On the other hand, the classes with which I hadn't had as much time to build relationships acted up much more while my mentor teacher was out. They did not respect my authority as much and spent much more time off task during the lesson. This experience helped me to realize how important it is to build relationships with students early in the year in order to set a tone and expectations for the class. Having an environment of mutual respect is a key component of a well managed classroom.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Positive Reinforcement? | Internship Reflection 4
As February was coming to a close, I had begun gathering data for the action research project I had been assigned to complete for the MAT program. I had decided to introduce a positive reinforcement system based on tickets for the class in which I struggle most with classroom management. The tickets would be earned by doing good things and they could use the tickets to "buy" rewards. My goal was to reward good behaviors rather than spending so much time punishing bad behaviors in order to encourage students to be less disruptive and stay on task.
I had spent the past few weeks observing the students' behaviors in the normal classroom without the tickets and taking down data. During the final week in February, it was time to explain to the class how the ticketing system would work and begin giving out tickets for good behaviors. I started out the class discussion by having students identify what they thought could be improved about their classroom behavior, what behaviors they thought were good behaviors, and what rewards they would like to receive for demonstrating good behaviors. This conversation had two goals. 1) It helped me to focus on certain behaviors and get an idea of what sorts of rewards would be effective external motivators. 2) Allowing the students to provide their input would hopefully make them feel like they were part of the process and provide them with more incentive to cooperate.
Surprisingly, the students' responses to this discussion were overwhelmingly negative. One particularly disruptive student expressed that she didn't think this would make any difference in the class' behavior. Another student seemed skeptical that I would follow through on my promise of rewards.
I had anticipated a positive reaction or at least apathy from the students, so it surprised me to hear them being so cynical. At this point, I explained to them that I was taking this system seriously because it was an expectation of my own classes. While it is not typically a good idea to introduce bias when completing a research study, I felt like it was important to let students know that I was committed to following through with this project. In other words, my bark was not going to be bigger than my bite. Upon hearing this, the students seemed to be more accepting and willing to participate.
The whole experience showed me that how important it is that students trust that you will do what you say you will do. I've always heard how important follow-through can be when dealing with discipline in the classroom. This conversation showed me how much of an impact not following through can have on students.
I had spent the past few weeks observing the students' behaviors in the normal classroom without the tickets and taking down data. During the final week in February, it was time to explain to the class how the ticketing system would work and begin giving out tickets for good behaviors. I started out the class discussion by having students identify what they thought could be improved about their classroom behavior, what behaviors they thought were good behaviors, and what rewards they would like to receive for demonstrating good behaviors. This conversation had two goals. 1) It helped me to focus on certain behaviors and get an idea of what sorts of rewards would be effective external motivators. 2) Allowing the students to provide their input would hopefully make them feel like they were part of the process and provide them with more incentive to cooperate.
Surprisingly, the students' responses to this discussion were overwhelmingly negative. One particularly disruptive student expressed that she didn't think this would make any difference in the class' behavior. Another student seemed skeptical that I would follow through on my promise of rewards.
I had anticipated a positive reaction or at least apathy from the students, so it surprised me to hear them being so cynical. At this point, I explained to them that I was taking this system seriously because it was an expectation of my own classes. While it is not typically a good idea to introduce bias when completing a research study, I felt like it was important to let students know that I was committed to following through with this project. In other words, my bark was not going to be bigger than my bite. Upon hearing this, the students seemed to be more accepting and willing to participate.
The whole experience showed me that how important it is that students trust that you will do what you say you will do. I've always heard how important follow-through can be when dealing with discipline in the classroom. This conversation showed me how much of an impact not following through can have on students.
Time Mangement | Internship Reflection 3
Time management is an important aspect for teachers to have in a variety of aspects of the job. It is good to be able to manage time while planning instruction in order to make sure you have all of the resources you need for a lesson. It is important to make sure you allot yourself enough time to get grades in during a reasonable window of time. Finally, it is beneficial to be able to manage your time during instruction to ensure that you are spending an appropriate amount of time during each part of the lesson.
In the middle of February, I had a lesson during which I was observed. For this lesson, I had students use various art supplies to make physical models of the different phases of mitosis as a group. When planning this lesson, I was concerned about getting through the lesson at a reasonable pace and making it to the final activity. From previous experiences in the classroom, I had realized that activities involving art supplies have a tendency to stretch much longer than necessary and end up not getting finished. To counteract this, I made the plan to use an online countdown clock to keep myself and my students on track with the activity.
I broke the lesson down into tasks that would take small amounts of time to complete. For instance, I gave my students two minutes to get into groups of four and move to a station. I gave students 10 minutes to research their phase and fill out their planning sheet. I even set an amount of time during which the groups were supposed to obtain all of their supplies.
When it came time to implement the lesson, it became clear immediately how helpful the countdown clock was. At first, students didn't pay much attention to how much time they had. However, as the timer went off and I moved quickly to the next step, they began to learn that they needed to figure out how to budget their time to stay on track. By the third or fourth task, students were getting the hang of the process. As a result, the lesson moved steadily forward and we were able to spend time discussing the final activity.
Since this lesson, I have used the clock multiple times in my lesson to ensure that I don't lose track of time, but also to help students learn to manage their own time. This is a strategy I intended to use frequently in my own classroom.
In the middle of February, I had a lesson during which I was observed. For this lesson, I had students use various art supplies to make physical models of the different phases of mitosis as a group. When planning this lesson, I was concerned about getting through the lesson at a reasonable pace and making it to the final activity. From previous experiences in the classroom, I had realized that activities involving art supplies have a tendency to stretch much longer than necessary and end up not getting finished. To counteract this, I made the plan to use an online countdown clock to keep myself and my students on track with the activity.
I broke the lesson down into tasks that would take small amounts of time to complete. For instance, I gave my students two minutes to get into groups of four and move to a station. I gave students 10 minutes to research their phase and fill out their planning sheet. I even set an amount of time during which the groups were supposed to obtain all of their supplies.
When it came time to implement the lesson, it became clear immediately how helpful the countdown clock was. At first, students didn't pay much attention to how much time they had. However, as the timer went off and I moved quickly to the next step, they began to learn that they needed to figure out how to budget their time to stay on track. By the third or fourth task, students were getting the hang of the process. As a result, the lesson moved steadily forward and we were able to spend time discussing the final activity.
Since this lesson, I have used the clock multiple times in my lesson to ensure that I don't lose track of time, but also to help students learn to manage their own time. This is a strategy I intended to use frequently in my own classroom.
Engaging with Technology | Internship Reflection 2
During the second weekend in February, I got the chance to see how effective lesson planning can drastically impact and improve classroom management issues. For some background, I have a 9th grade Standard Biology class which includes several students who consistently disrupt and derail the class during instruction. On top of that, a large percentage of the class regularly has trouble engaging with the content and as a result, performance is often low on assessments. My mentor teacher and I had been trying a variety of strategies to keep students on task and focused on the work that they were given.
During this particular week, there was a day which was shortened due to inclement weather. Because the lesson that we had planned would not work with a shortened class period, the students were given a back-up activity where they were allowed to use computers to complete an online scavenger hunt about African American scientists for Black History Month. Once the activity began, the students were noticeably quieter, and even the students who typically provided the most disruptions were on task.
It was clear that something about this activity hit the sweet spot for these kids by getting the interested in the work we were asking them to do. It wasn't initially clear if it was the content of the activity or the mode through which the activity was completed, but something was working. Most likely, it was both.
In the following weeks, we continued to try different activities using computers which had varying degrees of success, but nearly every time students were given the opportunity to complete an assignment on the computer, they were more engaged than if we gave them a paper worksheet. This has helped me as I continue to plan lessons for this class.
As a final thought, I've noticed that it can be tempting with a class that is difficult to not want to give them much freedom in the fear that they will be even more disruptive. However, for this class, it seems that when we allow them to take charge of their own learning, especially when computers are involved, they are more successful than when we plan lessons with less freedom.
During this particular week, there was a day which was shortened due to inclement weather. Because the lesson that we had planned would not work with a shortened class period, the students were given a back-up activity where they were allowed to use computers to complete an online scavenger hunt about African American scientists for Black History Month. Once the activity began, the students were noticeably quieter, and even the students who typically provided the most disruptions were on task.
It was clear that something about this activity hit the sweet spot for these kids by getting the interested in the work we were asking them to do. It wasn't initially clear if it was the content of the activity or the mode through which the activity was completed, but something was working. Most likely, it was both.
In the following weeks, we continued to try different activities using computers which had varying degrees of success, but nearly every time students were given the opportunity to complete an assignment on the computer, they were more engaged than if we gave them a paper worksheet. This has helped me as I continue to plan lessons for this class.
As a final thought, I've noticed that it can be tempting with a class that is difficult to not want to give them much freedom in the fear that they will be even more disruptive. However, for this class, it seems that when we allow them to take charge of their own learning, especially when computers are involved, they are more successful than when we plan lessons with less freedom.
Flexibility and Curiosity | Internship Reflection 1
For the first reflection from my official internship during my final semester of my MAT program, I sat down in front of a camera to discuss two separate instances in the classroom where I had to figure out how to be flexible to meet my students needs while in the middle of instruction. In the first instance, I changed the way an activity was completed when my students came to class with low energy. In the second instance, I had a student ask a lot of questions about a tangential concept in the middle of class, so I found a video resource online to point him towards to help satiate his curiosity.
Watch my reflection on February 7th here:
Watch my reflection on February 7th here:
Sunday, March 19, 2017
STEM Parking Lot Speech
As I finish up with my course on issues in STEM education, I'd like to reevaluate my "parking lot speech" on STEM education. If I were given a few short minutes to describe why STEM education is important, I would say something along these lines:
STEM education is pivotal to creating a well-balanced education for any student. First, the content covered in science, technology, education, and math are relevant to all individual in modern society on a nearly constant bases. Especially with the prevalence of technology in our daily lives, it is more important than ever for students to be educated in and interested in learning about how things work in the world around them.
On top of the content, however, effective STEM education also provides students with an opportunity to build many of the "21st-century skills" that are imperative for them to have as the move into the workplace. Skills like critical thinking and collaboration are highly valued among employers because they increase productivity and efficiency. Skills like creativity and problem solving that are cultivated in problem-based stem courses help to propel new innovations and the invention of new technologies. STEM education is important for living in the world that we are currently in, but it is also vital for creating an even better future.
At the beginning of this course, I recorded myself giving a similar parking lot speech, which can be found here at this link.
Over this semester, I have had the experience of looking specifically at many reasonings for why STEM education is important and also the issues that are currently facing STEM education. My parking lot speech has become more succinct and focused around current and future needs for effective STEM education. My newer speech is more focused on the importance of STEM skills in the workplace and general life. I think this is because it has become apparent how access to resources for STEM education often hinge on how well the resources will prepare students for the future. When discussing STEM education with a parent or an administrator, I think it would be important to make it clear that I am looking out for my students' futures.
As I continue to have more experience with STEM education, I am confident that my speech will continue to shift and evolve to become more effective, but I think I will always emphasize how both the content and the skills that are learned through STEM education positively impact students as they grow and enter into their adult lives.
STEM education is pivotal to creating a well-balanced education for any student. First, the content covered in science, technology, education, and math are relevant to all individual in modern society on a nearly constant bases. Especially with the prevalence of technology in our daily lives, it is more important than ever for students to be educated in and interested in learning about how things work in the world around them.
On top of the content, however, effective STEM education also provides students with an opportunity to build many of the "21st-century skills" that are imperative for them to have as the move into the workplace. Skills like critical thinking and collaboration are highly valued among employers because they increase productivity and efficiency. Skills like creativity and problem solving that are cultivated in problem-based stem courses help to propel new innovations and the invention of new technologies. STEM education is important for living in the world that we are currently in, but it is also vital for creating an even better future.
At the beginning of this course, I recorded myself giving a similar parking lot speech, which can be found here at this link.
Over this semester, I have had the experience of looking specifically at many reasonings for why STEM education is important and also the issues that are currently facing STEM education. My parking lot speech has become more succinct and focused around current and future needs for effective STEM education. My newer speech is more focused on the importance of STEM skills in the workplace and general life. I think this is because it has become apparent how access to resources for STEM education often hinge on how well the resources will prepare students for the future. When discussing STEM education with a parent or an administrator, I think it would be important to make it clear that I am looking out for my students' futures.
As I continue to have more experience with STEM education, I am confident that my speech will continue to shift and evolve to become more effective, but I think I will always emphasize how both the content and the skills that are learned through STEM education positively impact students as they grow and enter into their adult lives.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
STEM Issues Project | Planning Part 3
After completing my research and taking time to flesh out more details of the project, I completed the planning process of my project. The final planning sheet can be found at this link.
I'm excited about this project because there are so many possibilities for it to having a meaningful impact on my students. I'd like to find a way to implement it during the next school year.
I'm excited about this project because there are so many possibilities for it to having a meaningful impact on my students. I'd like to find a way to implement it during the next school year.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
STEM Issues Project | Planning Step 2
Last week, I spent time researching and developing a plan to bring mentors into my biology classroom. While this was an interesting and meaningful project that could be implemented, I had been thinking about a different type of project that more closely aligned with my own interests and goals. After discussing these two potential projects with my instructors, I chose to change directions and pursue the project in which I was more interest: student-produced online educational videos.
Educational video is a concept that I have been interested in and excited about for several years. I have consumed a large amount of educational video personally and have even tried my hand at making some content. YouTube channels like Crash Course, SciShow, MinutePhysics, the Brain Scoop, and more inspire me to find new and more interesting ways to present content to my students and to the world. This type of educational content is often more accessible to students that getting information from a textbook or a lecture. Concepts can be demonstrated visually though video in a way that can't be done with text and speech.
In addition to consuming educational video, creating educational video is also an engaging process. There are so many steps that content producers have to go through to create a video that help them to get a more thorough understanding of the topic and get even more excited about it. Because of this, I would love to implement a project in my classroom where I have my students learn about online educational content and then produce some content of their own. I am currently in the process of researching how this type of project has been previously implemented in classrooms and how to assess the effectiveness of this type of activity.
In the Project Planning Sheet I have outlined the project, the proposed timeline, and my key stakeholders. In the next week, I need to do more research on trends in educational video production in the classroom. Once that research is done, I will have a more complete plan to present to administrators in order to potentially make this project a reality.
Educational video is a concept that I have been interested in and excited about for several years. I have consumed a large amount of educational video personally and have even tried my hand at making some content. YouTube channels like Crash Course, SciShow, MinutePhysics, the Brain Scoop, and more inspire me to find new and more interesting ways to present content to my students and to the world. This type of educational content is often more accessible to students that getting information from a textbook or a lecture. Concepts can be demonstrated visually though video in a way that can't be done with text and speech.
In addition to consuming educational video, creating educational video is also an engaging process. There are so many steps that content producers have to go through to create a video that help them to get a more thorough understanding of the topic and get even more excited about it. Because of this, I would love to implement a project in my classroom where I have my students learn about online educational content and then produce some content of their own. I am currently in the process of researching how this type of project has been previously implemented in classrooms and how to assess the effectiveness of this type of activity.
In the Project Planning Sheet I have outlined the project, the proposed timeline, and my key stakeholders. In the next week, I need to do more research on trends in educational video production in the classroom. Once that research is done, I will have a more complete plan to present to administrators in order to potentially make this project a reality.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
STEM Issues Project - Planning Step 1
Within ED 690, we are developing a research project to examine one particular issue within STEM education. Because I found community involvement such an interesting topic last week, I have decided to stick with it for this project and explore the concept of implementing some sort of mentorship program in the classroom. This program would bring in members of the community (either people in STEM careers or students from university in STEM majors) to act as mentors and role models for my students.
With the help of this Project Planning Sheet, I will be developing this project further to determine how I would both implement it and assess it's effectiveness.
With the help of this Project Planning Sheet, I will be developing this project further to determine how I would both implement it and assess it's effectiveness.
Monday, February 20, 2017
STEM Issues - Community Involvement
While all of the STEM issues that were discussed during the past week were important, I was particularly interested in the one I was assigned: increasing community involvement. It is possible that my interest was peaked because I spent more time reading about it, but when looking at the other issues (society and STEM learning, workforce needs, integrative STEM education, etc.), many seemed to be related to or influenced, at least in part, by the issue of community involvement.
At it's heart, the issue of increasing community involvement in STEM education encourages connections to be formed with entities outside of the school. These entities could be parents, organizations, businesses, policy-makers, and more. The point of community involvement is to create a network of support for students and to place their learning in the context of the world outside of education in order to provide a more meaningful learning experience. Increasing community involvement benefits the students, but it also can benefit the community by producing individuals who are better prepared to serve the community in STEM related ways.
As far as the connection with other issues is concerned, by increasing community involvement, you can mediate some of the concerns about society's opinions of STEM learning. Bringing in STEM professionals from the field can help to provide role models for students who may have never had interaction with people in a STEM career before. This could be particularly beneficial for underrepresented groups like minority, female, and disabled students.
Increasing community involvement in the form of connecting with STEM professionals or STEM-related businesses and organizations can also provide the opportunity for integrative STEM education. There have been many examples recently of schools participating with outside organizations to provide students with STEM instruction in the form of challenges and problem-solving activities. This type of learning often reaches students who may struggle with finding context for content covered in traditional classrooms.
Finally, when organizations get involved with STEM learning, real change can be seen on the educational policy and funding front. Organizations dedicated towards providing better STEM resources for students can mobilize communities to affect legislation and can often do work of their own to provide schools with resources they would not have the budget for otherwise.
As a whole, I think by increasing community involvement in STEM education can have a positive impact on many of the different concerns that the education world is currently facing. It is important to have support for students in STEM courses coming from outside of the school system, especially since connections of these sort are often mutually beneficial. For this reason, community involvement greatly interests me.
At it's heart, the issue of increasing community involvement in STEM education encourages connections to be formed with entities outside of the school. These entities could be parents, organizations, businesses, policy-makers, and more. The point of community involvement is to create a network of support for students and to place their learning in the context of the world outside of education in order to provide a more meaningful learning experience. Increasing community involvement benefits the students, but it also can benefit the community by producing individuals who are better prepared to serve the community in STEM related ways.
As far as the connection with other issues is concerned, by increasing community involvement, you can mediate some of the concerns about society's opinions of STEM learning. Bringing in STEM professionals from the field can help to provide role models for students who may have never had interaction with people in a STEM career before. This could be particularly beneficial for underrepresented groups like minority, female, and disabled students.
Increasing community involvement in the form of connecting with STEM professionals or STEM-related businesses and organizations can also provide the opportunity for integrative STEM education. There have been many examples recently of schools participating with outside organizations to provide students with STEM instruction in the form of challenges and problem-solving activities. This type of learning often reaches students who may struggle with finding context for content covered in traditional classrooms.
Finally, when organizations get involved with STEM learning, real change can be seen on the educational policy and funding front. Organizations dedicated towards providing better STEM resources for students can mobilize communities to affect legislation and can often do work of their own to provide schools with resources they would not have the budget for otherwise.
As a whole, I think by increasing community involvement in STEM education can have a positive impact on many of the different concerns that the education world is currently facing. It is important to have support for students in STEM courses coming from outside of the school system, especially since connections of these sort are often mutually beneficial. For this reason, community involvement greatly interests me.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
One Minute Importance of STEM Education
In this linked audio clip, I took a minute to explain why I consider STEM education to be important.
Listen here.
Listen here.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
The Importance of STEM Education
This week marks the beginning of the last semester of my MAT program. One of the courses I am taking during this final semester focuses on issues in STEM education. During this first week, we've been asked to answer three questions related to STEM education from our own perspective and then return to our responses after doing some research and add in additional thoughts that we developed through exposing ourselves to other perspectives. The following are my responses to the three prompts. Anything added after I did research will be marked as "Additional thoughts."
1) How would you describe STEM education to a friend or family member in informal conversation?
On the most basic level, STEM education involves teaching kids about science, technology, engineering, and math. These four areas are key for students to know in today's world and often rely heavily on each other. In addition to just teaching the content of these subjects, however, STEM courses encourage the development of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and more in students. Current STEM education often revolves around finding solutions to problems that are relevant to the world outside of education. This problem solving process involves finding out information about a topic that is already known and researched, then developing solutions by extending upon that newly acquired knowledge. The final thing that STEM education does is it provides students with an understanding of the scientific process and an appreciation for how we as a society gain and disseminate knowledge. Ultimately, STEM education is multifaceted, challenging, and impactful when correctly implemented.
Additional thoughts: In his article for Huffington Post, Mason (2016) discusses the use of technology in the form of phones in the classroom. During my initial response, one thing I neglected to mention was that good STEM classrooms also teach students how to utilize current technology correctly. In the article, Mason describes students creating apps for smartphones to solve problems (2016). Today in my own class, I had my students use their phones to take pictures of what they were seeing in the microscope so that they could more easily share what they observed with the class. STEM classrooms give students the ability to learn about and use technology in appropriate ways to facilitate their learning.
2) Why do you think STEM education is (or is not) important?
While I believe it is important for students to learn about each of the four topics in STEM, I think it is even more important that students be involved in STEM education in order to develop the skills that it teaches. Students learn how to acquire knowledge from previous research as well as how to acquire knowledge through developing their own studies. They learn the importance of asking questions and refining their work to make it better. By working with all of the STEM fields, students develop a better understanding that each of the subjects work with each other and none of them exist in a bubble on their own. Well developed STEM education encourages collaboration through group projects, which is a critical skill to have in any STEM field. Through these skills, STEM education prepares students to be successful careers involving science, technology, engineering, and math. More crucial however, is that students learn to be more critical consumers of scientific content. It is imperative that we help students learn what makes research credible in a world where they have endless information at their finger tips, but also endless misrepresentations of research or facts.
Additional thoughts: It's not new news that the US often underperforms on tests compared to other countries in areas like math and science. DeAngelis (2014) reports in an article for Wired that US students also have trouble matching other countries in their problem solving ability. This further supports my claim that the critical thinking and problem solving taught by STEM education is a huge part of what makes it so important. DeAngeles also mentions that problem solving is a skill that is necessary to have in all professions, STEM related or otherwise. This is why all students benefit from having STEM education, even if their passion lies elsewhere.
3) What is the value of incorporating or enhancing STEM in public education.
As I've mentioned in my previous responses, well developed STEM education can impact students' lives in many ways. It can help them be more successful as they enter into careers and it can make them better consumers of information. In addition to positively impacting the students, having individuals in the world who have a good grasp on STEM-related knowledge and skills will positively impact both the nation and the world. As we continue to try to fight climate change, make advancements in medicine, develop more efficient and sustainable products, and create more cutting edge technology, society needs people who are creative and innovative thinkers. We also need people who are educated and excited about working in these fields. Investing in quality STEM education for all students means investing in a better future.
Additional thoughts: In my initial response, I left out the problems with diversity in STEM fields. Women and minorities are both underrepresented in STEM fields and that does not seem to have improved significantly in the past several years (Bidwell, 2015). The classes I work with are all entirely made up of minority students, predominantly African American. According to Bidwell, not only has the percentage of African American students self-reporting interest in STEM fields not increased, it has actually decreased drastically since 2000 (2015). For this reason, we need to improve how we teach STEM in public education and find ways to help minority students overcome the hurdles that have been keeping them out of the STEM fields. Better outreach and support systems need to be put it place to help each and every student get the STEM education that they deserve by providing them with the opportunities and resources that they need.
In addition to doing research on STEM education through reading articles, I also went to Twitter and asked my followers to tell me what they thought about STEM education. This was my initial post:
Just like the STEM fields do not exist outside of one another, none of those fields exist separate from the humanities. In every day life, technology and engineering are intertwined with subjects like economics, sociology, and art. When we teach like each subject exists in its own vacuum, we do a major disservice to our students and limit their understanding. In a TEDx talk by Bushnell and Gradman (2014), they discuss how they took STEM and pushed it outside of the box by creating a STEM carnival that combined STEM curriculum with the arts. This is a fascinating look at how the presentation of STEM concepts can be made so much richer by adding in creativity.
In my opinion, it is incredibly important to spend time and resources developing appropriate, complex, and engaging STEM education to encourage the next generation of students to not only learn about STEM subjects, but also to excited about them in a way that is long lasting and meaningful.
TEDx Talks. (2014, Jan 22). From STEM to STEAM: Brent Bushnell and Eric Gradman at TEDxManhattanBeach [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0rAbylCphUk
DeAngeles, S. F. (2014). Why STEM? Success Starts With Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving Skills. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/06/stem-success-starts-critical-thinking-problem-solving-skills/
Mason, R. (2016). Student Solutions to Global Problems: STEM Education in South Carolina. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randal-mason/student-solutions-to-glob_b_8591808.html
1) How would you describe STEM education to a friend or family member in informal conversation?
On the most basic level, STEM education involves teaching kids about science, technology, engineering, and math. These four areas are key for students to know in today's world and often rely heavily on each other. In addition to just teaching the content of these subjects, however, STEM courses encourage the development of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and more in students. Current STEM education often revolves around finding solutions to problems that are relevant to the world outside of education. This problem solving process involves finding out information about a topic that is already known and researched, then developing solutions by extending upon that newly acquired knowledge. The final thing that STEM education does is it provides students with an understanding of the scientific process and an appreciation for how we as a society gain and disseminate knowledge. Ultimately, STEM education is multifaceted, challenging, and impactful when correctly implemented.
Additional thoughts: In his article for Huffington Post, Mason (2016) discusses the use of technology in the form of phones in the classroom. During my initial response, one thing I neglected to mention was that good STEM classrooms also teach students how to utilize current technology correctly. In the article, Mason describes students creating apps for smartphones to solve problems (2016). Today in my own class, I had my students use their phones to take pictures of what they were seeing in the microscope so that they could more easily share what they observed with the class. STEM classrooms give students the ability to learn about and use technology in appropriate ways to facilitate their learning.
2) Why do you think STEM education is (or is not) important?
While I believe it is important for students to learn about each of the four topics in STEM, I think it is even more important that students be involved in STEM education in order to develop the skills that it teaches. Students learn how to acquire knowledge from previous research as well as how to acquire knowledge through developing their own studies. They learn the importance of asking questions and refining their work to make it better. By working with all of the STEM fields, students develop a better understanding that each of the subjects work with each other and none of them exist in a bubble on their own. Well developed STEM education encourages collaboration through group projects, which is a critical skill to have in any STEM field. Through these skills, STEM education prepares students to be successful careers involving science, technology, engineering, and math. More crucial however, is that students learn to be more critical consumers of scientific content. It is imperative that we help students learn what makes research credible in a world where they have endless information at their finger tips, but also endless misrepresentations of research or facts.
Additional thoughts: It's not new news that the US often underperforms on tests compared to other countries in areas like math and science. DeAngelis (2014) reports in an article for Wired that US students also have trouble matching other countries in their problem solving ability. This further supports my claim that the critical thinking and problem solving taught by STEM education is a huge part of what makes it so important. DeAngeles also mentions that problem solving is a skill that is necessary to have in all professions, STEM related or otherwise. This is why all students benefit from having STEM education, even if their passion lies elsewhere.
3) What is the value of incorporating or enhancing STEM in public education.
As I've mentioned in my previous responses, well developed STEM education can impact students' lives in many ways. It can help them be more successful as they enter into careers and it can make them better consumers of information. In addition to positively impacting the students, having individuals in the world who have a good grasp on STEM-related knowledge and skills will positively impact both the nation and the world. As we continue to try to fight climate change, make advancements in medicine, develop more efficient and sustainable products, and create more cutting edge technology, society needs people who are creative and innovative thinkers. We also need people who are educated and excited about working in these fields. Investing in quality STEM education for all students means investing in a better future.
Additional thoughts: In my initial response, I left out the problems with diversity in STEM fields. Women and minorities are both underrepresented in STEM fields and that does not seem to have improved significantly in the past several years (Bidwell, 2015). The classes I work with are all entirely made up of minority students, predominantly African American. According to Bidwell, not only has the percentage of African American students self-reporting interest in STEM fields not increased, it has actually decreased drastically since 2000 (2015). For this reason, we need to improve how we teach STEM in public education and find ways to help minority students overcome the hurdles that have been keeping them out of the STEM fields. Better outreach and support systems need to be put it place to help each and every student get the STEM education that they deserve by providing them with the opportunities and resources that they need.
In addition to doing research on STEM education through reading articles, I also went to Twitter and asked my followers to tell me what they thought about STEM education. This was my initial post:
Everyone responded with a positive attitude toward STEM education, which is unsurprising given that it is like that people who follow me have similar views on the importance of these fields. Two of my followers mentioned that they felt STEM changes the way that students think.
A friend of mine who is a computer scientist echoed my sentiments about the importance of STEM in general life, not just for those working in STEM fields.
Finally, I had an individual who works in a creative field chime in to remind me of the importance of giving students a well rounded experience.
In my opinion, it is incredibly important to spend time and resources developing appropriate, complex, and engaging STEM education to encourage the next generation of students to not only learn about STEM subjects, but also to excited about them in a way that is long lasting and meaningful.
References
Bidwell, A. (2015). STEM Workforce No More Diverse Than 14 Years Ago. U.S. News. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2015/02/24/stem-workforce-no-more-diverse-than-14-years-ago TEDx Talks. (2014, Jan 22). From STEM to STEAM: Brent Bushnell and Eric Gradman at TEDxManhattanBeach [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/0rAbylCphUk
DeAngeles, S. F. (2014). Why STEM? Success Starts With Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving Skills. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/06/stem-success-starts-critical-thinking-problem-solving-skills/
Mason, R. (2016). Student Solutions to Global Problems: STEM Education in South Carolina. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randal-mason/student-solutions-to-glob_b_8591808.html
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