Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

Why should you host a STEM after-school club? I know at the end of teaching all day, hosting a club sounds like one of the last things you really wanna be doing, but they actually are really, really important for kids. After-school clubs were something that I actually looked forward to at the end of the day as a classroom teacher and also as a K-5 STEM teacher. Let's change your perspective when it comes to hosting STEM after-school clubs and the benefits of hosting them. 

Naomi Meredith [00:01:19]:

I will be hosting a live workshop really, really soon here about exactly how I set up my schoolwide news after-school club. I'm gonna be talking all about the pre-work that went into it, keeping it organized throughout the year, and how I structured this whole program and didn't have to go live every day with students. So we recorded on one day and had a lot of content ready to go. So this was a once a week type of club that I hosted, and I am giving out all the secrets. The workshop isn't live quite yet, but I don’t want you to miss out on this opportunity. So make sure you get on the waitlist. The link will be in the show notes, or you can get it at naomiemeredith.com/newswaitlist. When I first started my teaching career, I was a 2nd grade teacher, and I actually hosted an after-school club that was all about science experiments, which is so funny because I later became a K-5 STEM teacher 6 years later, which I had no idea about it at the time, but I must have had an inkling in my soul that this is something that I really loved. This was such a fun club, and we did all of these hands-on experiments. And I vividly remember one time we did the oobleck experience that is with cornstarch and water.

Naomi Meredith [00:02:40]:

And when you hit it really fast, then your hand doesn't go through. But if you push down really slow, then your hands go all the way through. So a super cool experiment, if you haven't done it, you have to have the right ratio of cornstarch and water. Well, I don't remember if it actually worked or not, but all I remember is that there were cornstarch spots all over my classroom floor, and I had carpet, and it was there for weeks. I thought that I was going to get in trouble with our building custodian. But luckily, it came out. It was just cornstarch, but I remember that my room looked absolutely trashed. which is also foreshadowing to all of my teaching classrooms because there definitely have been controlled chaos situations.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:26]:

I'm a very, very organized person, but I'm okay with making messes when it comes to projects. Alright. So back to the STEM after-school clubs. Why should you even host them? What is the point of it? You're tired. You don't need to do it anymore. And, hey, I totally get it. You don't have to do it anymore. But let me talk to you about the benefits of hosting an after-school club because there actually are some hidden things that, yes, it is good for students, but there is more to that.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:57]:

I recently put a poll on my Instagram Naomimeredith_, and I asked the question, do you host an after-school club? And at the time of when I was preparing the script, I haven't checked the numbers yet, but once I was getting this ready, the results were 75% of you said that you actually don't. host an after-school club, which I thought was super interesting. So let's talk through the benefits. These are definitely first-hand things that I have experienced hosting STEM after-school clubs, and I know that you will see those same benefits when you get started with these in your STEM space. The first benefit of hosting a STEM after-school club is that it builds community. When I first got started as a k for 5 STEM teacher. I was in a brand new to me school and brand new to me district. I didn't know any of the teachers or any of the students.

Naomi Meredith [00:04:54]:

So in my perspective, I actually thought that hosting a lot of after-school clubs was a really great way for me to boost up that community engagement with the students. It's a lot different when you teach STEM as a specials class and you teach every student in the school, all 500 plus of them. And building that community aspect is really different than let's say, you were a classroom teacher. So I really wanted to build up that community and relationships. So I hosted a lot of clubs. And actually, one of my interview questions was what types of after-school clubs you would be hosting. So that was something that they were looking for, and I was actually really excited about it. I started off my 1st year teaching STEM, and I hosted 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, four after-school clubs. So 4 out of the 5 days, I was hosting after-school clubs.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:52]:

Wednesdays, I could not because we had teacher meetings and everything. So Wednesdays were off the hook. But every other day, I hosted a club. I don't recommend doing Fridays. Maybe do 3 days a week. It's actually not that bad. You're there. Whatever.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:07]:

But don't do Fridays. I was not good, but other than that, the club was great. Just don't do a club on Fridays. Okay? But it was just a really cool way to get to know the kids a lot quicker and really also know their names. I hosted a variety of different clubs so it could plug into different interests more on the types of clubs in the next episode. and a variety of grade levels. This helped me actually get to know what different grade levels we're capable of a lot quicker. Since I was a classroom teacher, I taught 2nd grade for 2 years and 3rd grade for 4 years, I had some idea of what all the grade levels could do, but not exactly.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:56]:

So hosting the after-school clubs let me get to know them and those age ranges. And it was really fun meeting the kids in these low stakes situations where it's not necessarily their regular class. It's fun. There's still structure, but getting to know kids in this fun way. My teacher honey, who I interviewed in episode 94 when he was my fiance. Now he's my husband. But we talk about this a lot when it comes to building relationships with kids.

Naomi Meredith [00:07:27]:

He coaches 3 sports. He's coaching year-round. and he really loves that he gets to know the kids, especially the ones he has in class, in just a different way. and I totally feel the same way about clubs. Now mine are super competitive. There are some competitive aspects to some of these clubs, but overall, it's just that relationship building. Likewise, being a new STEM teacher, the kids didn't know me either. So it helped the kids get to know me in this other aspect and build trust with me.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:02]:

And I talk about this a lot where When you are in a creative space, it's not always automatic for kids to want to be creative. They have to learn to trust you and trust the environment that it is okay to make mistakes. And so it was a great way to build up that community not only with the students in general but also when it came to the regular day of teaching, I knew the students pretty well. So some kids will be funny like, hey. I'll see you after-school. I'm like, oh, yeah. You're in my robotics club. So it was just a really fun way to connect with kids.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:39]:

One of my favorite stories with this was when I started my Schoolwide news. I'm gonna be talking more about my schoolwide news over the next few episodes, but it's actually one of my most favorite favorite favorite clubs that I have ever hosted, and I've hosted a ton of different clubs, and they're all fun in their own way. So I started at my Schoolwide news, and 1 week, a group of students was recording a segment, and they were filming the different artwork that was hung up in hallways, and then they were talking about them. So the kids were working on that, and then there was another student in the group who was in charge of the camera for this segment, And while they were finishing up, he decided he wanted to go and take segments and different video shots of the artwork and the hallway. and he actually put a tripod on an iPad card so that the camera could be steady, but then it could move past the artwork and have a cool visual effect. So it was really cool to get to know this about the student, but then He was like, hey. I actually know how to put videos together. Could I put all the videos together for this segment? I'm all sure.

Naomi Meredith [00:09:52]:

Just make sure it's ready by this day so I can play it on the news. So the student put together the video segment, and they were so excited about it, and they actually did a really good job editing. And so I asked the student, hey. Do you wanna help me edit the news? Side now, I had the news prerecorded. So none of our school-wide news was live. It was all prerecorded. And at the time, I was the only person editing. So I was editing every single video more on this.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:23]:

I got smart about this later. But as I got started, I was editing. I got really, really good at editing, but I needed some help. So enlisted the student, and I came to find out, I had no idea, that the student actually struggled in literacy. They were a rock star with me.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:43]:

So it was a really cool way to pull up the assets of this student. Likewise, another student. I noticed he was doing something on the computer. I'm like, what are you doing? And he's all, look. I edited the news. Well, he figured out the website I had the news posted on. I didn't have it out for the general public, he figured it out. So it wasn't very hard to figure out.

Naomi Meredith [00:11:07]:

And he downloaded one of the new segments and then edited it with his own twist, and some things were actually not so nice. And so I noticed he was actually really good at editing, And so I told him, “Hey, how about I have you join my news crew? And you and the other student can be my editing team. We can work on this together.” So using his skills for good and not for evil, I have quotation marks there. But, again, if I didn't have this after-school club, I probably wouldn't have thought about these situations, but it was a great way to rope these two students in, who struggled in their own ways. And we built up a really, really great relationship, and then they were in 5th grade. So they moved on, but they kept coming back to visit me the following year.

Naomi Meredith [00:11:56]:

So we built a really great relationship, same with the parents. So definitely, having these clubs just brings out two different sides and opportunities for students. That story leads to my second benefit of hosting a STEM after-school club, and it provides an opportunity for students to develop new passions. And on the side, find ones that they actually don't like. I recommend having a variety of clubs. Just as you are planning your STEM lessons, you don't want your whole year to be Makerspace. Not all kids like that and vibe with that, but also, not all of them should be coding. Host a variety of clubs.

Naomi Meredith [00:12:38]:

So there are multiple opportunities for students to explore. Also, I told you I hosted a lot of clubs when I got started. I still hosted a lot, but I didn't ever do the 4 days a week again. But with that, my students actually didn't know what STEM meant. Now it's not their fault. They had a computer teacher and a computer lab, there were actually computers in the room that would be set up at all times. but they didn't know what STEM was. And so that was something that I was reiterating all the time.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:14]:

and also in my after-school club, so using that vocabulary and also showing them through my teaching and also through the clubs what STEM actually can be. It's a whole variety of things. What was really cool about hosting these after-school clubs throughout the years, whether they are the same or different? I always had these little STEM buddies, and these are my little friends who were obsessed with my class and then super obsessed about my clubs. They were the first ones to sign up. They tried to take everyone that they could. They were loving this type of learning. It was definitely for them.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:54]:

Oftentimes those same kids weren't a big fan of PE, and we had a wonderful PE teacher. But there's just something about using their hands and being creative in this way that really spoke to them, and these after-school clubs just brought another opportunity that they might not have had before. Likewise, with these clubs. It also helped kids discover what they weren't a fan of, and I don't expect kids to like everything that I teach. I had one student who signed the form for my computer coding club, and she took it for a few weeks, and then she realized it really wasn't her thing. She wrote me an email, which was super cute, wrote me an email, and told me, like, she doesn't wanna come anymore. It's just not really for her. and I responded back to her saying, hey. I'm so proud of you for using your voice and telling me what you're feeling about this.

Naomi Meredith [00:14:45]:

That is okay. You don't have to come. It's a club. That's the whole purpose of it. So it was a cool way for her to know, yeah, computer coding's not my thing, and that's okay. She gave it a shot. Also, hosting a club can be a cool way to promote STEM in a creative way. That first year, my club was on Fridays.

Naomi Meredith [00:15:05]:

This is how it kept me motivated. I know I wanted to go home at the end of the day, but I hosted my club. I was very committed and I actually hosted a girls only robotics club, and I recruited 4th and 5th graders to join my club. They, I had a process with the teachers who would be a good fit, and I had a small group of girls who were in my robotics club. And we actually did challenges with the Dash Robot by Wonder Workshop, and we did the things from the Wonder League Robotics Competition. Every year, they actually have new challenges. So I highly recommend it's all virtual when it comes to submitting how you present your work. so you can hear more about it actually in episode 32 with Brian Miller, who works for Wonder Workshop, but this club was super cool because it had a combination of coding and then also a combination of creativity. So it was really neat.

Naomi Meredith [00:16:03]:

I know I did some other robotics things and robotics in class. So everybody had the chance to experience these robots, but this was really special with this club. And when we did a district event with similar challenges where I was actually in charge of planning, we did a whole Dash Robot Olympics experience. I need to find those challenges and somehow post them. So stay tuned. I know I have those somewhere, but they were the only girls only club that was there to represent our school, which was pretty powerful. And the 3rd benefit to hosting a STEM after-school club is you get to try different tools and experiences at lower stakes. I use clubs as an opportunity for me as a brand STEM teacher to try different things I was too scared to do in a big classroom setting. I came into this position in K-5 STEM.

Naomi Meredith [00:16:59]:

I really didn't know anything. I was just willing to learn new things and be creative and took it from there. Hence, my whole K-5 STEM year-long plan was invented because I tried every single lesson with my students, and it all worked, and it was connected to the standard. So you can get that in those show notes as well. But there were lots of times when there were tools I was unsure about and how they would work. So I would test them out in an after-school club to see how it would go. Because if it was something I didn't like, maybe it was the project we were doing, or even it was just the process of logging in, I could figure that out with after-school club kids. They were still having a great experience.

Naomi Meredith [00:17:43]:

They had an hour with me, so it was fine. But that way, I could figure out those things in a more chill environment. So when I was going to teach using that tool, I had a better understanding of how it worked. I did this a lot with WeVideo, which is a video editing tool that you use on the computer. It's actually all cloud based. I love it. I actually love Imovie as well, but on my personal computer, I have a ton of videos. And my videos are at super high quality, so it takes up a lot of room.

Naomi Meredith [00:18:17]:

So I love WeVideo because it's a very visual platform, and it's all cloud based. and students can actually collaborate on projects. I had never used the platform before until this position, but when I was editing my school news so often, and I knew this was a tool I wanted my students to use to edit, I used it with those 2 students to start who's kinda like my side editing crew, but then also used it as well. So when it came to a video project that I ended up doing with my students in the following years. I knew how to use the tool. Likewise, I did the same thing with a lot of different tools, like the dash robots. I had used those before, but even just the management of where we carry them, how to use them, all of those types of things. And even with the coding platform scratch, a lot of that was just the process of logging in. how to save projects, and some of the vocabulary.

Naomi Meredith [00:19:14]:

So an after-school club, it's a great way to test out those things. And if you don't have a whole class set of things, It's a great time to try it out in a club. You could do some center rotations, and it will work out great. Likewise, it's a good way to test materials because if it doesn't work, then okay, guys. Go play with Legos. I had this happen. I was doing a Makerspace project, I don't remember what it was about, in an after-school club, and I bought this felt, the fabric felt, and it was super cool. It was in these squares that were about the size of each of their hands and then some fabric glue to go with it.

Naomi Meredith [00:19:56]:

Well, the fabric glue was too watery. It wouldn't stick. The felt was weird. You couldn't cut it unless you had fabric scissors, which I had one pair, and they're super sharp. I wasn't going to let the kids touch them. So that's when we just threw everything away and pulled out the Lego bricks, and I knew I wasn't gonna buy those things again. So things like that are a great way to test things out. So if you are scared to try different tools with students or you're unsure how they work, set up an after-school club, and this is a great opportunity to test them out, try your ideas, and then you can implement them in a bigger setting.

Naomi Meredith [00:20:37]:

As a recap, here are the three reasons why you should host a STEM after-school club. And the 75% of you, maybe you will flip flop to 75% of you who do host an after-school club. The first reason why you should host is that it helps build your community. Next, hosting a STEM after-school club helps develop students' passions and discover new ones. And finally, a great benefit to hosting a STEM after-school club is you get to try out new tools and materials at lower stakes. In the next episode, I'm gonna be talking about the different types of STEM after-school clubs that you can host. I have a whole list of those and examples that I have actually taught over the years that have been super fun if you don't know where to start. And while you're at it, make sure to join the waitlist for my upcoming live workshop, where I will be sharing with you all about how to host your school-wide news without having students go live. You can sign up for the waitlist at Naomimeredith.com/newswaitlist.