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best robots for elementary students

Best Robots for Elementary Students [ep.43]

by Naomi Meredith

Best Robots for Elementary Students [ep.43]

Check out the full episode on Best Robots for Elementary Students:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Have you been wondering what robots you should buy for your elementary STEM space? 

In this episode, I will be giving my recommendations for the best robots that you should invest in for your elementary classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Dash robot
  • Robots by Sphero
  • Robots for directional coding

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Have you been wondering what robots you should buy for your elementary STEM space? In this episode, I will be giving my recommendations for the best robots that you should invest in for your elementary classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:11

All right, before we jump in, I have a couple of announcements for you to get you going for your day. I am working on planning one of my last few episodes of 2022, and I actually wanted you to help me create it. It’s going to be an Ask Me Anything episode. So you can ask me anything STEM or personally related that you want to know about me, and I will answer it on the show. You can send me a DM on Instagram at Naomimeredith_  or a recorded voice message at Naomimeredith.com/voice. I will answer your questions on the podcast. Also, I have some upcoming virtual workshops that are going to be launching in 2023 that I would love for you to be a part of. It will be a good time to learn and connect with other STEM teachers and about topics that are important to us in the elementary STEM space. You can join the waitlist to be the first to know when they’re open, and you can do that at Naomimeredith.com/workshopwaitlist. All of this will be listed in the show notes, so you don’t have to stop your car or stop what you’re doing. You can go get those links when you’re ready. 


Naomi Meredith  01:56

When it comes to purchasing robots for the classroom, it doesn’t have to be super scary. You really don’t have to buy everything at once. All of the robots that I’m going to be talking about I’m not sponsored currently by any of these companies. But of course, if you’re listening to this and you work for those companies, let me know because I would love to chat. But these are robots that I have used in my elementary STEM space that has definitely been worth the investment and that I could use with hundreds of students for a variety of different lessons. All of these robots have different coding languages, and there are some similarities and differences that we will talk about. So again, these are things that I have used with kids and that have worked well over the years. So let’s jump in. 


Naomi Meredith  02:41

The first robot that I would recommend to use in your STEM space is the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop. It is a teal robot that has a round head and then three round parts at the bottom with two wheels. There are different pieces to attach different accessories. This robot is recommended for K through five, which you can definitely use with all of your students, which is a great investment. If you don’t have a whole lot in your budget, you have a robot that you can use with all of your students. I talked a lot about Dash and Wonder Workshop in general with Bryan Miller, who works for the company. Make sure to check out the interview I did with Bryan Miller back in episode 32. At the time of this episode, they’re about $180 per robot, which is slightly pricey, but again, it can be used with all of your students, so it’s worth the investment. When you’re using this with the younger students, there are apps that really help the students understand how the robot works in a more simple coding language. When you move to the second through fifth graders, there is an app where you can use block-based coding to get more into higher-level coding. This robot is super durable and easy to get started with. You just unbox it, turn it on, push through any updates, and you are ready to go. 


Naomi Meredith  04:01

Dash has a rechargeable battery that you can use a power cord with. The battery lasts for a long time. So if you’re using this with multiple classes throughout the day, you might just have to charge Dash in the middle of the day, and you should be good to go the entire day. That’s really awesome, too, as you can code Dash with tablets and Chromebooks. So with the web browser, as long as the device has Bluetooth, you can code Dash, which is awesome because I know not all of us have tablets in our classrooms, so you don’t have to be limited to that option. As I mentioned that there are parts to Dash where you can attach various accessories that are available to purchase separately. There are also these really cool simple attachments that you can put on Dash that students can actually build with LEGO bricks to help them solve their solution. Not only that, Wonder Workshop has an annual competition that you can do as an after-school club and use this robot, and they have various challenges that you can have students problem-solve and collaborate together. The challenges and themes change every year to keep your students excited and engaged year after year. So I definitely recommend this as an after-school club opportunity. Again, this robot is so amazing, it rolls, it can make sounds, and it can perform different actions with those accessories. So again, if you only are able to purchase one type of robot, this guy, Dash, could be your go to.


Naomi Meredith  05:29

You may notice there are other robots that Wonder Workshop offers. They have Dot, which is a smaller robot that doesn’t move but can interact with Dash. Then they have Cue, the older sibling that we like to say. They can interact as well and can perform multiple coding actions that Dash can’t currently do. But you don’t need either one of these robots, Dash is just fine. If you get about 6 to 12 of these for your classroom, you will be set. When you’re first getting started with Dash, they have some coding cards that are excellent for learning the basics of Dash. There are many challenges that students can complete and work on with groups. I love using these when I first get Dash out with my students, and they have no prior background when using these robots. They are perfect challenges that students can progress through. It teaches them how to use the coding language and to see how Dash responds when different coding actions are performed. 


Naomi Meredith  06:30

The second robot that I would recommend for the elementary classroom is the Sphero robot. There are a lot of different variations of these offered by Sphero. There is a Sphero mini that is the size of a golf ball, Sphero bolt, and Sphero Spark Plus. There are a lot of different variations, and they all do about the same thing. So you can always try to purchase the newest version that they have at the time. This robot is shaped like a ball, and it rolls like a ball. They move very, very fast. So different than Dash. Dash has wheels on the bottom, and Sphero rolls around, but it has a very similar coding language. I will say a big difference between the coding of Sphero and Dash is that Sphero can perform more tight turns and angles. So when you have more obstacle courses or things that have corners and turns, Sphero might be the best robot for this. Dash has a bit more of a personality. It’s cuter, I would say. So students really connect with that, that it has a personality. But again, robots are things that perform and automate a task. So it’s really awesome that these companies have different robots, and they look different. Some look like they have a personality, and some don’t. But either way, that’s okay. The goal is to teach students that it’s performing an automated task that you code it to do. There are a lot of different apps that you can use for Sphero. The one that I like to use is the Sphero education app. The coding is a bit more complicated, so if you’re looking for a challenge for students, I would recommend using Sphero with your older students, like fourth, fifth, or even sixth grade, because the coding can be even more complicated. You can talk about the speed and rate of things, again, those lines and angles. So you can even have very specific degrees, which Dash can too. But the way that you can code Sphero can get even more complicated, which is great for students who want more of a challenge. 


Naomi Meredith  08:54

There are other offshoots of Sphero that also I would recommend looking into for your classroom. There is the Sphero rover. It’s not spelled rover, it’s RVR. But this is recommended for even the higher up grades, so sixth grade and beyond. So if you’re a teacher who teaches K through eight, this would be a great investment for you, because the students would be used to the black base coding, like with the Sphero, the ball Sphero. But there is just more of a challenge when it comes to the coding and the capabilities of that robot, and it looks like a little car. So that is pretty exciting as well. Likewise, there’s a younger student offshoot the Sphero Indi, which I talked about in that holiday episode, things to buy for your classroom. This one is really cool, too, because this robot reads the color codes on the cards. So you don’t necessarily need a device to code that robot. But it reads the cards, and then students can put the cards in a different formation on the ground. Then when that robot drives across those colors, it will perform the action. So there’s a whole line of variation. So if you have more room in your budget, I would mix this type of robot in, especially if you teach all the students in the school. It is pretty cool to have a variety of robots for students to experiment with because if you’re using the same one, year after year, they might master that type of coding, then you definitely want to mix up the lessons that you’re doing. So again, if you have more room in your budget, mix these robots in so you have more variety. Students can compare and contrast the type of coding and the different challenges that they’ll perform in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  11:52

The very best robots to use for students in the elementary classroom are robots that use directional coding. There are a lot of options for this type of coding. When I describe directional coding, that would be the code that uses the arrows. So this is definitely used for primary students or pre-readers, where there’s an arrow that shows the direction the robot is going to be moving. These robots definitely are cute, and they have a lot of personality. There are a lot of different options out there, and I’m going to describe the difference between those to help you with your purchasing decision. Because all of our coding languages are pretty much the same thing with the arrows. But here are the differences between those robots. The cheapest option is the code and go mouse. It’s about the size of your fist, and it doesn’t use a screen. It does use batteries that you have to replace. It’s not a rechargeable robot, and they are the cheapest. So if you are on a tight budget, this is the cheapest option. Now, I will say the coding is great. But if you’re using this for hundreds of students, they don’t really last a long time, and they come up with some weird little issues and kinks where it might go the opposite direction. The wheels don’t always work. So if you’re looking for longevity of a product, I wouldn’t really recommend the “mouse.” Love the coding since it’s super simple to use. You could just buy the robot, you don’t need the whole kit that has the squares that come with it. They are these green squares that students can build on, but you don’t really need those. The robot is awesome. If you’re on a tight budget, if you’re a classroom teacher, let’s say you only teach about 25 to 30 kids, definitely invest in this code and go mouse or if you are a parent, perfect for at home. But if you teach hundreds of kids, if you can swing it, I’m gonna give you a couple of different options for that. 


Naomi Meredith  13:49

A robot that does the same exact thing that is more durable, and you don’t have to replace the batteries are the Bee-Bots. Yes, they are pricier, but they are extremely durable and hardly ever have any issues. I’ve had the same ones for years, and I know that they were in my classroom even before I got this job. They were used for years before that. So they are definitely worth the investment if you can splurge a little bit more. This is the top one that I would recommend for primary students, and it is the Blue Bot. The Blue Bot, again, also has the arrows that you press on the robot, the directional coding, it’s see through so it looks just like the Bee-Bot but it’s see through with kind of a bluish tint so students can see inside of the robot and what all of its components are. But not only does it have the screen-free option, it does have the option of being able to be coded by using an iPad. I like having this option because this is a great progressive robot, meaning students could start off in Kindergarten or in first-grade coding by using the arrow keys on the back of the robot, and then at the end of first grade or beginning of second grade, they can code the robot using a tablet connected with Bluetooth. They can code using the arrows on the iPad, but you can also code using block-based coding that is even more simple than the Dash robot, which I love. If you have a variety of robots, then this type of coding with the Blue Bot will help them with the Dash robot. Let’s say you have the Sphero, then if they can master Dash, then they can go with Sphero. So like I said, I love having a variety of robots in my classroom to have that progression of learning. So when I’m teaching robotics, we’re all doing robots at the same time, and we are interacting with robots where there is that progression of learning. There are different challenges along the way that students can explore different coding languages and things that are exciting for them. So that’s why I like having that variety. 


Naomi Meredith  14:08

There’s also another robot that uses directional coding, and that is the Botley robot. There are two versions, there’s the Botley, and then there’s the 2.0, where there are just more capabilities with the Botley. The 2.0 basically does the same thing. Instead of having the arrows on the back of the robot, there is a little remote. Now again, it’s a really great robot, not as terrible as the Bee-Bot with a ton of hands. Just be careful that the remote doesn’t get lost. I haven’t used a bunch of these with a whole class. I’ve used this before, just one robot with a station. So I’m not sure when it comes to the remote if the remote can control all of the Botleys in the room or just the one that comes in the kit. As I said, try it out, and if you know, let me know. But this one is a cheaper option. It’s a little more expensive than the Code-and-Go-Mouse. But cheaper than the Blue Bot and Bee-Bot. It can do a little bit more than the Code-and-Go-Mouse. It has a few more functions. So there’s just a variety of price ranges when it comes to that directional coding. They all do the same thing, perfect for the same grade of students. But if I were to have to choose one, I would choose the Blue Bot robot. 


Naomi Meredith  17:16

As a recap, here are the best robots for elementary students that I would recommend for your classroom. First, we have the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop. Next are the different robots that are offered by Sphero. We have the Bolt, and the mini, which are both shaped like a ball that can roll around, there is the Rover RVR, and there is the Indi. Finally, there are robots that use directional coding. So we talked about a variety of those. There’s the Bee-Bot, the Blue Bot, the Code-and-Go-Mouse, and the Botley. I hope that this helps with your decision-making when it comes to the robots to use in your classroom and what is available out there. We will talk more about specific lessons in future episodes. But I don’t want you to be overwhelmed with all the decisions out there. These are ones that I have used with students or ones that I know people have used and that have worked well. So hopefully, this can take out that decision fatigue and find a resource that will work best for your STEM space.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

winter-stem-activities

5 Winter STEM Activities to Try [ep.42]

by Naomi Meredith

5 Winter STEM Activities to Try [ep.42]

Check out the full episode on 5 Winter STEM Activities to Try:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Looking for some fun winter STEM activities?

These five winter-themed challenges are perfect for sub plans, one-day lessons, and even classroom parties.

My students have had a really fun time with these. So you can definitely implement these winter STEM activities in your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Area perimeter wrapping paper challenge
  • Snowman states of matter
  • Toothpicks and snowflakes activity
  • Gingerbread man STEM challenge
  • 10 on the sled book activity

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for some fun winter STEM activities? These five winter-themed challenges are perfect for sub plans, one-day lessons, and even classroom parties. Let’s jump into these five fun winter ideas.  


Naomi Meredith  00:22

I want to try something new with you guys and update you on all the things that are happening over here in my STEM world, so you don’t miss out on anything, especially if you listen to these podcasts live when they come out. So all the fun announcements, and I love a good organizational thing before we jump in. So, first of all, I am planning the last episode of 2022. The podcast is not going away, only planning the last episode for 2022. I actually want you to help me create it. I thought that would be super fun to have a fun episode for the last episode of 2022. So it’s an Ask Me Anything episode. You can ask me anything STEM related or even personal that you want to know about me, and I will answer it on the show. You can send me a DM on Instagram at Naomimeredith_ or you can record me a voice message at Naomimeredith.com/voice. That was so much fun when you guys recorded those voice messages for me. I loved hearing your voice. So either way, totally fine. I’ve already got some over on Instagram already. But let me know what you want to know. If it’s super detailed, I’ll keep it brief. But that will help me even for big episodes, but I think this would be super fun. Thinking about the new year, I am going to start hosting virtual live workshops, of course, they’ll be recorded. But I thought that this would be an awesome time to learn and connect with other STEM teachers because I know how it feels being all alone and also needing a space to collaborate and learn. I don’t want you to miss out on these virtual workshops, so join the waitlist to be the first to know when it’s open. You can join the list at Naomimeredith.com/workshopwaitlist. Of course, all of this is going to be linked in the show notes. So if you’re driving, don’t worry about it, just click on the show notes, and then all that info will be there. So super excited to collaborate even more and make this elementary STEM world smaller. 


Naomi Meredith  02:48

So let’s jump into these winter STEM challenges that I know you’re definitely going to love. My students have had a really fun time with these. So you can definitely take these on into your classroom. Of course, these are also linked in the show notes and will be in my TPT shop. So if you really need to save some time, it is all packaged together for you nicely. The first winter STEM activity to try is an area and perimeter wrapping paper challenge. I used to teach them only three days out of the week when I first got started. So I was always looking for quick activities. Oftentimes, these themed challenges would pop in and would be perfect for the week. All you need for this challenge is some cheap wrapping paper. You can even use butcher paper that is in your classroom that’s a little bit thicker. It’s a little bit harder to wrap with, but if you want to save some time, grab that from your school and some small boxes. If you can make sure all of the boxes are about the same size, this will make the challenge more even for all of the kids so that all of their numbers can be compared but definitely up to you if you don’t really care about that part. 


Naomi Meredith  03:57

So the goal for this challenge is for students will be presented with three different methods for wrapping a gift, so you can look up different videos on YouTube. I have created a few different methods and quick little videos for kids that are included in this resource but show them three different methods for wrapping a gift, and students will choose one of those methods or a method that they already know and then wrap the gift. From there, they’re actually going to unwrap the gift carefully. They’re going to measure the wrapping paper that they used and measure the area and the perimeter. You can have students measure in inches and in centimeters. They can measure in both and then see what are the similarities and differences if you want them to practice different types of measurement. If the kids have the same size box, you can actually record the data using a line plot. Or you can graph all of that data as well. Even further, you can even compare the wrapping method that students use and really talk about what methods are better or worse. 


Naomi Meredith  05:05

This challenge was inspired by a volunteer opportunity I did in high school, which was way long ago. But I did a volunteer opportunity with one of my friends in high school where we were at the mall, and people would bring in their gifts. We would wrap the gifts for free. I think any tips that were collected were for donations. We didn’t receive any money, but it was super fun. I learned how to wrap gifts in a very concise and precise way. So this is really a good challenge for students too because it’s not always a winter challenge wrapping gifts. But I was super shocked. So many kids didn’t know how to wrap gifts. A lot of them were actually getting really frustrated because they had never done this before. Some kids were telling me it was impossible, which, as I said, everything new is hard at first. So this was actually a really good life skill. But again, practicing that area and perimeter in a real-life way and learning which wrapping method might work best and using the least amount of paper. 


Naomi Meredith  07:42

The second winter STEM activity to try is snowman states of matter. One of my all-time favorite books is the snowy day. This is such a cute book. When you read this book it has the three states of matter when it comes to solids, liquids, and gases for water. So reread it with that frame of mind because it will definitely pop up at you. After reading this book with students, you can talk about the three states of matter. So there’s that S in science. Then students can build the different states of matter of a snowman-the solid, liquid, and gas using playdough or modeling clay. I prefer using the Crayola modeling clay that I’ve talked about this in past episodes. It doesn’t dry out, and it can be reused over and over again. It’s not as crumbly as playdough. I get really frustrated with playdough. Sometimes when it gets all crumbled up, the kids don’t put the cap on, I know there are ways that you can re-infuse it with water, blah, blah, blah, but not for me. I don’t have time for that. So the Crayola modeling clay works well for this activity. They can demonstrate their learning by sharing it with other students in the class. Or, if you want to take it even further, you can integrate technologies such as Seesaw, and Flipgrid, all of those things, where they can take a video and talk about how the three states of matter are represented in their snowman. 


Naomi Meredith  09:06

The third winter-themed STEM activity to try is toothpick snowflakes. We know in the older grades, it can get a little bit confusing to remember what the different lines and angles are and how to measure different angles. So why not do that type of lesson in a hands-on way? There is so much science and math behind snowflakes and how they’re naturally created. There are tons of videos that you can check out on YouTube that talk about the symmetry and the math behind a snowflake. After you discuss this and go over key vocabulary, students can create their own unique snowflakes using toothpicks. You can have them tape them together. They can even glue them on paper using liquid glue. After that, they can record the math that is represented, and they’re snowflakes, such as the lines of symmetry and the different types of angles, and they can even measure the angles that are in their design. To have students be really precise with their snowflakes, I would recommend having them measure using a ruler, and then really be thoughtful about their snowflake design. This will actually take longer than you think because students are really trying to be precise with their snowflake design. So this is a great challenge that you can really dive in deeper when talking about those lines and angles. 


Naomi Meredith  10:24

The fourth winter STEM activity to try is a gingerbread man STEM challenge. You can do this if you are reading different variations of the gingerbread man, which is so fun to read all of these different ones. I still have a collection of those books in my classroom, because you know me, I love a good theme, and I love holidays. I love this season and time of year. So after reading different versions of the gingerbread man, you can talk with the kids and say, “What if the gingerbread man had a streak of engineer creativity and decided to create a way to cross the river so that the fox wouldn’t be able to eat it?” This is a great lesson about sinking and floating and noticing what materials will obviously sink or float and why. You can talk even more about the why behind it. Students can engineer a way for the gingerbread man to stay safe and travel safely across the water. You can fill up different buckets of water, I recommend putting these on the floor and having plenty of towels available. Students can engineer their fun designs. When I want students to share their work, I take the videos with my phone quickly and upload them to the students’ journals in Seesaw. I don’t trust kids with technology and water in the same vicinity as each other. So that’s just definitely my recommendation. But this is a really cool way to think of an alternate ending to the original gingerbread man story. 


Naomi Meredith  11:54

The fifth winter STEM activity to try goes along with the story 10 on the sled, and students will be building a sled. After reading this cute counting story, students can create the 10 animals that are in the story. Or you can give them pictures of the 10 animals that are listed, and students can design a sled that can keep all 10 animals on the sled when it’s being tested. You can give students any type of materials that you would like. I like to use popsicle sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, and tape if I’m being nice. Sometimes I won’t use tape, but you can use some tape, and students can engineer their sled and even test it. If you have a giant piece of cardboard, they can test their sleds and see if all 10 animals can stay on top. Now a little trick with the animals is you can put them on unifix cubes, so they’re more chunky. Print little pictures on paper, put them on unifix cubes, and then they can maybe take the animals on or engineer a way to create seat belts or whatever. But this is a cool way to bring this simple counting story to life and make sure that all 10 animals stay on top. 


Naomi Meredith  13:00

As a recap, here are the five winter STEM activities that we talked about in this episode that you can try in your classroom. First, we have the area perimeter wrapping paper challenge. Next are the snowman states of matter. Third, are toothpicks and snowflakes. Fourth is the gingerbread man STEM challenge. Fifth is the 10 on the sled book activity. If you try any of these winter STEM challenges in your classroom, make sure to take pictures and videos of them in action and tag me on Instagram at Naomimeredith_. I would love to see how these go in your classroom. These can all be found in the show notes linked for today, where you can have it all packaged up nicely and have all the things that you’re looking for to have success in your classroom.

 

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

stem-coach-do

What Does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan [ep.40]

by Naomi Meredith

What Does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan [ep.40]

Check out the full episode on What does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Do you teach STEM, but you are exclusively in a co-teaching or coaching role?

Or, if you are a classroom teacher and you are looking for ways you can co-teach and plan with an instructional coach in your building, this episode is for you.

In today’s episode, I interview my longtime friend Becca McMillan. Becca gives us insight into what a STEM coach does, tips for co-teaching, and lesson plan ideas. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What a STEM coach does
  • Co-teaching tips
  • STEM lesson ideas

Meet Becca McMillan:

Becca McMillan is a STEM Teacher and Coach at a Title 1 elementary school in Colorado. After teaching in the classroom for 9 years in all different grade levels, she took on this role as a new passion and challenge. For the past 4 years, Becca has taught K-5 STEM and also coaches teachers to integrate STEM into their classroom curriculum. She is in a unique, flexible role that allows her to meet the needs of her school community. Becca plans and co-teaches with teachers, which allows STEM to be applied in all content areas rather than being an isolated subject.  Becca believes that STEM education is more than just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, it is a mindset that provides engaging, real-world problem-solving experiences for students.

Connect with Becca McMillan:

Instagram: @beccaroniandcheese22

Email: becca.mcmillan22@gmail.com

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Do you teach STEM, but you are exclusively in a co-teaching or coaching role? Well, part of my role in the past included co-teaching along with teaching K through five STEM specials. My longtime friend Becca has more extensive experience when it comes to this role. Becca co-teaches, plans, and coaches exclusively in our building for K through five STEM. You are going to take a lot of valuable information away from this episode when it comes to her role and lesson plan ideas. If you are a classroom teacher and you are looking for ways you can co-teach and plan with an instructional coach in your building, she has some great takeaways for you as well. 


Naomi Meredith  00:40

Becca McMillan is the STEM teacher and coach at a title I elementary school in Colorado. After teaching in the classroom for nine years in all different grade levels. She took on this role as a new passion and challenge. For the past four years, Becca has taught K through five STEM and also coaches teachers to integrate STEM into their classroom curriculum. She is in a unique flexible role that allows her to meet the needs of her school community. Becca plans and co-teaches with teachers, which allows STEM to be applied in all content areas rather than just being an isolated subject. Becca believes that STEM education is more than just science, technology, engineering, and math. It is a mindset that provides engaging real-world problem-solving experiences for students. I’m excited for you to listen to this episode. I adore Becca with all my heart, and I am so glad that you get to hear from her and all of her amazing experiences. 


Naomi Meredith  01:37

Well, thank you, Becca, so much for being here. today. We are on take two, we actually recorded this podcast a while back, and then half of it, they record, so it’s gonna be even better the second time. I’m so excited about this. I’ve known Becca for a long time. I don’t know how long, maybe eight years. Sounds right. Yeah, we kind of knew about each other before we even met. So I worked with a girl at my first school who was getting her Master’s at the same time you were getting your Master’s and so you two connected. Then I ended up applying to the school you were working at to teach. I really wanted to teach Kindergarten, and I ended up getting the third grade. But I got the interview. Then my friend put two and two together. Then you had heard about me before, so then you talked to the principal at the time, and then I ended up getting a job. So I like I remember I made you a plan book. You know, we like emailed or something, and I made a plan book, and I gave you something else, but then we were friends ever since. 


Becca McMillan  03:10

The rest is history.


Naomi Meredith  03:11

The rest is history, in the classroom out of the classroom, and we’ve been taught together. So I am so excited to have you because you have such a unique role. Even though we teach in the same district. Your role is so unique and so cool. So I think other people really resonate with what you do because I know not everybody has their own STEM classroom, they do more of what you do. So if you wouldn’t mind telling us about yourself, your teaching background, and then how you stepped into your unique role in K through five STEM. 


Becca McMillan  03:43

Yeah, so this is my 13th year in education. I’ve taught first, second, third, and fifth in the classroom as an elementary teacher. I did that for nine years. Then this opportunity for this STEM position became available at the school that I moved to after I taught with Naomi at the school where I’m currently at. We had a technology class as part of our specials rotation, and that technology teacher was retiring, and my principal wanted to kind of add more of a STEM aspect to our school, so she transformed the technology position into a STEM position, but we also had lower enrollment, so we didn’t need for specials. So my principal’s goal was to have kind of a STEM teacher/coach role that could be flexible to make STEM more integrated into all of the content areas of the grade levels. So not in the specials rotation but more flexible so that I was available to create projects with teams and with teachers as it became wanted and needed, and based on what kids wanted to learn and do. So yeah, my position is awesome. I feel really lucky, like you said that it’s very unique in the district, which comes with its challenges, but it is also amazing. I love that at our school STEM isn’t necessarily an isolated subject, it’s integrated, and the kids get to do things with the content that they’re learning in real-life problem-solving in a hands-on way. So it’s really fun to get to work with all of the teachers and all of the kids in the school to kind of bring us together, I guess.


Naomi Meredith  05:43

And I love it, too. I know that from what you’ve told me, your principal is really supportive of STEM, which isn’t always the case with admin, so you have a really great admin because she really fights for your position. I know that you’re a valuable asset in this school, but it’s so cool too. We’ll talk about some of the lessons that you do with the kids. But like you said that they are integrated. I feel like the lessons you teach are more authentic because a lot of times, we’ll see lessons just even on social media that “Oh, we played with robots today, good job.” But really, what you’re doing is you’re really looking at the standards, you’re using that classroom experience. Then the lessons that you’re doing are real in your work in Title One, too. So you’ve gotten your kids to do some amazing things. We’ve talked about this with other guests on the podcast, like having them shine in really unique ways. So with your co-teaching and your role, how does that work out? When you’re implementing lessons with the teachers, do you have a set schedule? How do you set that all up with the teachers in your building? 


Becca McMillan  06:45

Yeah, so my schedule is hardly ever the same from day to day, which I love most of the time, because it keeps me on my toes. It’s all based on the needs and wants of the teachers and the kids. So sometimes it’s me knowing what content is coming up for teachers and suggesting trying something different, or sometimes it’s teachers coming to me and saying, “Hey, I have this unit coming up, and I’m wanting to make it more engaging for the students. What are some ideas you have for that?” Sometimes it’s let’s give some extra plan time to teachers who need it in a busy time of the year like parent-teacher conferences. So it’s nice to be able to be flexible based on what our school community needs and wants. So one of the things that have been helpful is if I’m doing a project with teachers, and they’re wanting to try something new, it’s helpful to have an extra adult in the classroom to make it feel less scary for the teacher and for the kids. I think it is important to create a safe space where kids and adults can take risks and try new things that maybe they wouldn’t have tried on their own. So sometimes, I’ll even help with a project. If there’s a new tool that we need to learn, a tool to review or say we are using the robots in a project, I’ll take the kids for an hour, give the teacher some time to breathe, and I’ll review the tool with them. Then the teacher and I will co-teach our content, which has been beneficial in many different ways for the teachers at my school and the kids. 


Naomi Meredith  08:37

That’s super smart, too, because since you don’t see them in a specialist rotation, they need a little bit of experience just using the tool just as a tool. So that’s really smart. Where you build that background, the expectation, so then the classroom teacher may not know those things. So then, when you come back, you’re like, “Hey, we are ready to jump right in. We’re ready to go.” I know you’ve done something too because you’re also the tech person like me where you manage the school-wide technology. You did something really cool at lunchtime with the boxlight touchscreen boards. What did you do to help teachers with that?


Becca McMillan  09:15

Yeah, we did a lunch and learn because, as we know, sometimes it is hard to find time for teachers to meet because there’s a lot happening. So we did this at the beginning of the school year during our teacher work week. We had an hour-long optional lunch and learn. We had just got the new box light interactive panels for all of our classroom teachers. This is something that they’re using every day, so I knew they would need some direct instruction with that. So Naomi and I actually took a training together, and then I took what I learned and did a little more research based on what I knew teachers would need and created just a lunch and learn experience with a note catcher. I’ve organized it so that it would be easy for teachers to look at the notes and remember what they needed to press or do to use the screen when I’m not there. So that was how we did that training. And yeah, teachers are doing awesome with those interactive panels. 


Naomi Meredith  10:23

Oh, and your slides are really good because I use them to help train my staff. They’re like, wait, go back to that slide. So it was just very simple. You took screenshots, had little arrows, and it was really helpful. You even help my building. Yeah, well, I know when I’m in professional development and I take notes, I oftentimes do not remember what I meant if I’m just writing down scribbled notes. So I wanted it to be notes that teachers could take away and use later when they had the time. Oh, definitely. So with that, back to the lessons that you teach, have you had any favorites that you’ve taught in this role? I’m sure it’s really hard to choose because you do a lot of cool stuff. But you mix it up to like, is there anything cool that you’ve done with your kids that you think other teachers would love hearing about? 


Becca McMillan  11:10

Yeah, definitely. Last year, my favorite project that I did with the fourth-grade team. Some of their new science standards are not necessarily new but new-ish. The Next Generation Science Standards talk about learning the internal and external structures of a living creature that helps it to survive. So we did a project where the students first learned about lots of living things and what their internal and external structures were. Then their kind of culminating project was to create an imaginary creature that had structures that helped it to survive. They went through the whole Engineering Design Process of imagining solutions and creating a plan. Next, we built, out of recyclable materials, their creature, and they also used our hummingbird robotics, which is really cool. They come in servos, or motors, and different things that kids can then code to make their recyclable creations come to life. Then we hosted a zoo for the school, so groups of kids could show off their creatures that they created and had their code ready to go so they could flap their wings or light up their eyeballs and explain how the creature protected itself and used its structures to survive.


Naomi Meredith  12:45

 I remember you showing me the videos there. It was cute. And now what I love is younger students ask like when are we going to do we get to do that in fourth grade, and we’re going to have our own Zoo. So that’s what I love. Was the coding part hard with that because I haven’t tried the hummingbird robotics? I think last time when we first recorded this, I was waiting to see if I got the grant, and I did. So I will get to try these out. Was that hard? Because we’re used to building stuff, but you took it to the next step where they’re actually building a robot. Was that a hard process for you?


Becca McMillan  14:18

It was. I remember taking a kit home of the robotics and when trying to build something and then doing my own code. I eventually figured it out. But it is hard to learn something new. So I was a little nervous going into the project, not knowing everything. But then what was so cool was I didn’t need to know everything, the kids, it’s kind of an innate thing. I think this generation figures it out. Before each day of creating, we would gather all the fourth graders in the library and have groups share what they learned about coding the hummingbird robotics, and then they would become the experts. So I remember one group figured out how to make their creature make noise. So then they were the experts to go help their kids if they wanted to do that with their creature.


Naomi Meredith  15:49

Oh, that’s so smart. You’re gonna have some teachers like, “Oh, you’re the one kid who knows all the tech stuff.” Like you had, it just very differentiated itself. Like, oh, you figure it out. Alright, go ask this kid like is more on the spot because you never know. Yeah, so that’s so good. I’m gonna have to steal some of those pictures and videos to put in the show notes for this because it’s hard to visualize what you’re talking about. But it’s super cool. Like, it’s really cool what they did with her. I know your little kids, they’re not there yet. What have you done with your little kids that’s been a cool project?


Becca McMillan  16:27

Yeah, something that is happening right now, which I am really excited about, is with one of our second-grade teachers. She was hoping to find more of an authentic audience for her kids with their writing, which one of our school-wide goals is to help kids grow in writing. Also, one of her personal goals is to use Seesaw in more authentic ways. So she reached out asking what my suggestions were. Something I had always wanted to try and never had was connect using the Seesaw blog with another classroom somewhere else outside of Colorado. It just so happened that the writing that they were doing at the time was descriptive essays about Colorado. So we were imagining that it would be really cool to connect with a class outside of Colorado. That’s an authentic audience of teaching them about where we live, and then hopefully, they would teach us about where they live. So I posted on the Seesaw ambassador Facebook group, just hoping to find someone that would want to connect, and the teacher that ended up reaching out was a teacher in Tanzania. So she is actually from Colorado, and moved out there and teaches third grade in Tanzania. So now the Seesaw blogs are connected, and they just happen to also be writing informational texts about Tanzania. It just worked out really cool. Kids read their descriptive essays in front of a green screen, and then they picked a Colorado background. So that was how they published their writing. Then we posted it on Seesaw for their pen pal to listen to, and they also did an introduction of themselves. So that’s been a fun way to integrate writing, technology, global citizenship, and building relationships. 


Naomi Meredith  18:32

Yeah, and that’s a real authentic audience because I talk about Seesaw all the time in this podcast. But we know on Seesaw, it’s usually their peers, their parents, and their teacher who can see it, which is really great. But it’s someone who’s their age across the world. I bet that would motivate kids who have a hard time staying motivated with writing and might not be their favorite, but they know that someone their age far, far away is going to hear it, and they have to produce something because they’re going to produce something for that. 


Becca McMillan  19:00

Exactly. They’re loving it. They’re learning about Tanzania, and now too, which I don’t think they ever would have before, and with kids their age that actually live there. 


Naomi Meredith  19:11

That is so cool. That is amazing. 


Becca McMillan  19:14

Making the world a smaller place. 


Naomi Meredith  19:16

Yeah, I love that. I know like you’re super connected in your school, too. I mean, it’s super cool that you’re in the classrooms all the time. I know your co-teacher, the PE teacher, and that you’ve even brought your whole school community altogether. Like even having that authentic audience. Tell me more about what you’ve been doing this school year. I talked you into it, but you’ve been loving it. 


Becca McMillan  19:40

So Naomi was my inspiration to start school-wide news broadcasts. Naomi is doing the same at her school. So we have a performing arts teacher this year instead of a music teacher, which has been really cool for our school as well, and she was on board with starting the news broadcast as well because that’s in her wheelhouse. So it was nice to go into it having a partner to do that with. We’ve become this team where she organizes the kids to record the news, and then I edit with some help from the kids. We’re slowly putting more responsibility on the kids to do all of the recording jobs and the editing jobs. What I love is that it is really bringing our school community together. We started out recording teachers to do the news, and then hilarious just seeing the younger kids now, the older kids, the teachers, and vice versa. We were having teachers do book recommendations, and I’ve seen multiple times kids who aren’t in that grade level go to that teacher and ask to borrow their book. So that’s been really heartwarming. We’ve come up with some quirky segments we just started, would you rather Wednesday, and two of our fifth-grade teachers are hilarious and give us all kinds of bloopers. But they did our first would you rather Wednesday, and it’s just an authentic way of also getting kids to talk about their opinions, kind of a little debate, which is only going to help their writing as well and bring their classes together to talk about those topics. Yeah, it’s been fun. Kids are begging to be on the news there. So it’s just been strengthening our school community even more. It’s been really fun to be on the other side of it and connect people in that way too. 


Naomi Meredith  21:46

Oh, totally, it’s one of the most favorite clubs I’ve ever done. I’ve done clubs my first year teaching, and it’s like one of those things. You’re building the airplane while it’s flying. I started last year. Like when I was telling you like, Well, we tried this, and then this, when you probably see the same thing. I have to do a whole podcast episode about how to set it up. But yeah, it’s pre-recorded, not live. You do pre-recorded also, which I highly recommend just thinking about your time. I feel like when you do things live, it’s just something’s bound to not work. But it’s so much fun. It’s such a cool thing too, and your role. It’s almost like having your own class again, have you felt that way?


Becca McMillan  22:27

Yeah, because now I have my editing kids, they come down at their lunch and recess time on certain days. Even if I have a class in the Makerspace or I’m doing a project, they still know where to find me. They can sit and do their editing work while I am doing what I need to do. So that’s been a nice way of building independence for them, too, in our little crew. They’re really proud to be on that editing crew and the same with the kids who report the news as well.


Naomi Meredith  22:59

Oh, yeah, it’s living their YouTube dreams. Even though it’s not on YouTube, they’re living it out. So I know that I mean, with any role, it’s not all perfect and beautiful. Everything has its challenges. Is there any advice that you would give to somebody who might be in a similar role to you? Anything that surprised you, since it can be a little bit scary working with teachers and then making connections with kids? What would you say to someone who’s doing something like you or wants to get started in that role? 


Becca McMillan  23:30

Yeah, I think with any big change, it’s important to just start small and grow from there when you’re doing anything new. I’ve leaned on Naomi a ton and other people that are in similar positions. I think that’s super important. Reach out to people who have similar mindsets that you can learn from and grow from, and then put your own twist on things and be inspired by other professionals. I would say that in a role like mine, it was really important to capitalize on teachers and students who were already ready to try new things and get on the STEM bandwagon and share the strengths and the successes that we’ve had to inspire other people to take those risks and try new things as well. That’s how it’s spread at my school. That would be my advice in a similar position. But with anything, it’s a big change or something new. I think that it’s important to start with the positive, and then it will spread like wildfire.


Naomi Meredith  24:37

Oh, I think so. I mean, you’re doing a great job. As I said, your principal wants to keep you and does everything she can to keep you around. So I know that you’re doing a great job, and as I said, I love seeing the pictures and videos you send me or text me. We always text all sorts of that stuff, but I love the STEM stuff especially because it’s just so exciting to see what you’re doing. You have a really cool role. So I think your advice is really good for people because it can be like, I don’t know, some teachers might not like to be told what to do, but you’re not someone who tells people what to do. You’re very good at collaborating and meeting them where they’re at. So I think you’re the perfect person for the role with your growth mindset and willingness to try new things all the time. So yeah, great advice. So if teachers wanted to connect with you, what would be the best way they could reach out if they have any questions? 


Becca McMillan  24:42

They can reach out to me on Instagram at beccaroniandcheese22. I’m happy to get any emails. You are welcome to email me. Yeah, I’m happy to connect.


Naomi Meredith  25:44

Perfect. Well, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from some people. I know they got a lot of good ideas from the lessons you talked about. I’ll grab some pictures from you, too, especially those hummingbirds. Those are super cool. Yeah. But thank you so much again for take two. It all worked out. I would have never known this is a second time. But I appreciate your time. I’ll have to have you come back and talk about some other things. I know there’s something else I want to ask you about in another episode.


Becca McMillan  26:10

That’d be great!


Naomi Meredith  26:13

Yes, please. Perfect. Well, thanks again, Becca.


Becca McMillan  26:16

Thank you for having me!

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

best STEM toys 2022

Best STEM Toys 2022 for Your Classroom [ep.39]

by Naomi Meredith

Best STEM Toys 2022 for Your Classroom [ep.39]

Check out the full episode on Best STEM Toys 2022 for Your Classroom:  

 

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Episode Summary

The holidays are creeping in, and it’s a great time to look for deals to purchase new items for your STEM space or even start creating your wish list of must-have items.

In this episode, I share five of the best STEM toys in 2022 for your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Sphero Indi
  • Items to improve video and audio production
  • Osmo Genius Kit
  • Lego Education Spike Essential Kit
  • 3D Printer

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

The holidays are creeping in, and it’s a great time to look for deals to purchase new items for your STEM space, or even start creating your wish list of must-have items. In this episode, I’ll be sharing with you five of the best STEM toys in 2022 for your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:49

Before we jump into all of these goodies, I have put together an extensive holiday shopping guide for 2022 that you can download for free and created some special Black Friday deals for you to check out and up your game and your STEM classroom. You can grab all of this at Naomimeredith.com/black-friday-22. Now the products that I am going to be sharing with you in this episode, I am not currently sponsored by any of these companies. But if you would like to, you can definitely hit me up. My contact information is below. But these are just some things that I have definitely seen success with students in my classroom or in other classrooms that you definitely want to get your hands on. So let’s jump right in. 


Naomi Meredith  01:35

In no particular order, the first STEM toy to check out is the Sphero Indi. Now, most of us are familiar with the Sphero robot that is shaped like a ball, rolls around like a ball, and is coded. Well, Sphero has come out with a product that is fairly recent that is better suited for K through three. It is chunky and durable, which we love as STEM teachers because we know when we see a lot of kids, we want things that are going to withstand a lot of hands. This one is really cool. Think about it like the Ozobots, which are those really tiny robots that read colors to create actions. It’s similar in the sense that this robot looks like a little car. There are colored cards that, when the Sphero Indi drives on top of the colors, will perform the action, the colors can go in next to each other, or they can be spaced out. Then students can problem-solve to see where the Sphero Indi is going to go based on the color that it read. Now it seems simple, but as I said, it does take a lot of problem-solving. Even your third graders might have a hard time with this at first. The cool thing about it is that it is geared towards the primary. So this is another great robot that you can add to your collection. They have different options for you to purchase these robots. They have class sets that you can buy individually. My recommendation always for robots is to start with four to six, you do not need a class set, the whole goal is to have students collaborate, and we all know that we’re on a tight budget. So if you can even have a station rotation that students can go to test out the Sphero and that would be an excellent start. 


Naomi Meredith  03:20

The next best STEM toys for 2022 are a collection of items that I love to use with students to improve their video and audio production. When I first got started with video production with my students, I only used iPads in my classroom, which is an excellent start. But if you keep doing some videoing with your students, they’re going to want to up their game, and you are, too, as a teacher. So these are some tools that I love to use in my classroom. Again, they’re very versatile from K through five, so you will get a lot of use of them. And these tools that I’m going to mention aren’t very expensive in terms of STEM tools. First are portable green screens. There are a lot of different options for these, the ones that I have really loved kind of look like a tripod where they pop up, and they have a long bar at the top, and then it comes with a big thick piece of fabric that is green on one side blue on the other, and you can clip on the side that you would like students to use. It is the perfect color green and the perfect colored blue. And it is so nice to set these up wherever you want students to record. We know it’s a little bit hard to find a quiet space so it’s nice you could spread kids out in the hallways or other areas in the building, but then you can clean them up and easily store them when not in use. Likewise, I like to use pop-up tripods in my classroom. Again, these are portable, easy to set up, and broken down if needed. I actually keep mine up all the time on the tripods because I do a weekly school-wide news that is pre-recorded. It really helps the improvement of students’ video production because the camera is steady and not shaking around and making you feel like you’re on a roller coaster. When you watch, I highly recommend if you have any tablets in your classroom and you’re hoping to do video production, having tripods are an absolute game changer. Now we also know the sound quality can be a little bit iffy. And I realized the other day that, again, finding a quiet spot to record is very difficult to do in a school. When I moved kids around with the tripods and the green screens, I wanted to have the option of their sound to be even better. So I tested out these tiny microphones. And I mean tiny, they’re about the size of your thumb. And you would think, Oh, that’s just gimmicky. They don’t work. No, they’re actually really, really good. And the cord is really long, which is helpful because when you have the tripod a bit of ways, then the student can still hold the microphone. And the sound quality is superb. I was super impressed. And I was so excited because I could hear their sweet little voices. And I just know that our videos are going to improve immensely. I’m also going to be using these when I’m doing podcasting with my fifth graders again, it will improve the sound quality a lot. This is a side bonus when it comes to video and audio production. If you have any of those fabric cubes on hand, those big giant ones from Ikea that pop up, I like to lay those on their side. And when students are recording their voices for a video when it’s not showing on their screen, I have them put their heads in the box with the script. And then they have the microphone, and it creates a little sound booth for them where their voice is echoing out. And it’s really soaking in that sound inside of the box. It looks a little bit awkward, but it helps a ton. So that’s just a little side tip, go ahead and invest in a few. But really investing in these video and audio tools, they definitely can be reused so much and really improve the quality of these things that you’re creating with your students. 


Naomi Meredith  07:11

The third STEM toy of 2022 to try in your classroom are Osmo Genius Kit. I am so impressed by Osmo. And this is a tool I recommend to families all the time who have primary students, they are such a cool tool. And it creates this Augmented Reality experience where it is a self-checking app where students are using real-life objects and the Osmo. This little attachment, it’s like a mirror that is reading what is being done with these little hands-on tools. And when they’re in the app, it will self-correct and then read what they are doing with their hands. It is so amazing. And the kids aren’t really staring at the screen, they’re really focused on the materials in front of them. There are a ton of different Osmo kits to choose from. Just make sure that when you are purchasing, if you have Kindles, you can buy the Kindle Osmo. And when you have iPads, there’s an iPad Osmo. They are different, they’re not interchangeable. Pretty sure they have the same kits for both, you just have to make sure you buy the right one for your device. The kit that I have is the genius kit, which includes a number of tiles that students can add using the actual numeric form or the Dot version, there is a tangrams game. And then there’s also a spelling game, which I still do in STEM, I think it’s super important to have literacy within your STEM instruction. I have those three options. I use this as a STEM station, I have about five or six Osmos. And I love to use this with my primary students. It’s super engaging, it differentiates itself. And again, it’s self-checking, again worth your investment. The little tiles and pieces are super user-friendly. They’re fairly durable, and they come in some nice containers as well. When you’re done using them, you can keep it all organized, I highly recommend checking out the cosmos, I know that there’s a kit that has some hands-on coding. So if you need some more coding elements, that would be a great addition to your space. 


Naomi Meredith  09:13

The fourth best STEM toy in 2022 to try in your classroom is the LEGO education spike essential kit. There are a couple of different versions of the spike. So there’s spike prime and their spike essential I have this spike essential K I have a few of these kids, and I am utterly impressed and obsessed. If you love LEGO, we do point out you’re gonna love the LEGO spike essentials even more. They’re even more versatile than the LEGO we do to point out I’m not getting rid of those kids. I just like having a variety for all grade levels, so I try to build up my LEGO education kits every year. That’s usually what I spend most of my budget on, to be honest. So these kits are really cool. There are so many challenges for Are first through fifth grade, they’re completely different that use the same kit. That is pretty amazing. There are not a whole lot of tools out there like that. And so I highly recommend getting your hands on some of these because you’re going to be super impressed. Like LEGO, we do point out there are coding elements, there is the option of picture-based block coding for the younger students like LEGO we do to point out, but for the older students, they have something like Blockly or Scratch where they have the words and more complicated coding for their level. So it’s super cool. And the little hubs that are connected don’t use batteries, they are rechargeable, like a cell phone. So I know that it can be really frustrating when you buy STEM toys when the tools aren’t rechargeable. These are, and it’s amazing. I am so excited to keep trying these with my students because they have so much potential. And the parts are a bit different. They’re usually LEGO parts that kids don’t often see in their own LEGO kits. This is a really great addition to your classroom if you’re looking to buy more LEGO kits for your room. 


Naomi Meredith  11:07

And finally, the fifth best STEM tool to try and 2022, if you can swing it, is to invest in this pair of 3D printers. There’s so much talk about 3D printers and what to buy, there are so many complicated options. I’ve seen teachers on Instagram who have received 3D printers, and they have to build the 3D printer. Girl, I don’t have time for that I can figure it out. But I’m all about like, let’s open the box and be ready to go. I researched and found this pair of printers, I actually received them a week before the shutdown in the spring of 2020. So I was able to take the 3d printers home and play around with them. And I was actually printing some projects that kids were completing with me online. But I love these printers that I got. The brand is MakerBot, which you may or may not have an opinion about that. But I love this. It’s the MakerBot sketch classroom. And I am not kidding you. You get two printers for under $2,000. But on top of the two printers that are plugging go, you get six ginormous spools of filament that will last you forever, I have so much filament left, I haven’t really had to buy any since then you get six giant rolls you’ve also got a teacher training, which is so helpful because we don’t always get that when it comes to STEM tools. And there’s student training. So if you’re thinking about having an after-school club, they can go through this as an after-school club and learn with you. So that would be a really cool club to do. What I love love love about these printers is they are cloud-based, you do not have to set up a device and have it chillin by your printer while it reads the prints. You don’t even have to plug in a USB drive, you can have the option to send it all through the cloud-based system. So I can literally sit at home and log into Tinkercad. So Tinkercad is what students would create their 3d prints in, I download the prints at home if I wanted to. And then put it into the MakerBot platform, the cloud-based printing, and I get all of my prints queued up and ready to go. And then, when I log into my work computer, everything is there, and I can print and feed everything throughout the day. I have print 1000s and 1000s of prints for my students. And I have not had one single jam are any issues whatsoever. I am very picky about the filament I am still using their MakerBot brand filament. I haven’t bought any other off brands off Amazon. I’m really iffy about that. But I’m telling you, I print things for K through five every single student creates a project, and I have been absolutely impressed. They aren’t anything fancy. So I’m not doing overly complicated projects before in elementary space. They are wonderful. They are quiet. They’re these cute little clear boxes like you can see everything that’s happening. And so, coming from someone who had zero experience when it comes to 3d printing, I am super impressed. They should literally sponsor me for this because if you’re not going to buy the 3d printers after listening to this, I don’t know what you’re gonna do. But I recommend these to everybody who’s looking to upgrade the 3d printers. They are so so so so easy. Perfect for elementary, I’m telling you, so good. 


Naomi Meredith  14:35

As a recap, here are my recommendations for the best STEM toys of 2022 that you should definitely get for your classroom or just put on your wish list. We have the Sphero indie robot Osmose all the awesome video recording tools, LEGO education spike Essentials Kit, and the MakerBot sketch classroom 3d printer combo When it comes to shopping for items, I am all about how I can use things for multiple grades for multiple years and things that will age out super quickly. I am very, very picky when it comes to the things that I buy from a classroom, and I’m all about durability. You can even go back and listen to a past episode, I have a whole episode about purchasing things for your classroom. But I have seen great success with these tools. And I know you well, too. Now don’t forget I have that free holiday shopping guide I put together for you like a beautiful magazine side. Now I always wanted to work for a magazine company when I grew up, aside from being a teacher. So when I’m creating things for you guys, that’s just like the magazine editor and me, the creator, that I just love doing this. So make sure you go and check out that free guide and all of the special Black Friday deals that have going on for you. They’ve been going on, and they’ve been open up and early, but you definitely want to check those out, so you don’t miss out. So make sure to grab that free guide and all of the awesome deals at Naomi meredith.com/black-Friday-2022

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

hour of code ideas

Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM [ep.38]

by Naomi Meredith

Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM [ep.38]

Check out the full episode on Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Are you looking for Hour of Code ideas for elementary STEM?

There is an abundance of free resources available, but it can be overwhelming navigating them all and finding what will work best for your classroom.

In today’s episode, I break down how to navigate Hour of Code resources for K through five, review devices you can use and options for unplugged coding, and provide instructions on how you can set up the Hour of Code in your classroom. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to navigate the Hour of Code resource
  • Examples of device-based coding and unplugged coding and how to implement each
  • Tips for structuring your time with station rotations, whole group exploration, or a mixture of both
  • How to utilize extra resources on the Hour of Code

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for Hour of Code ideas for elementary STEM? While there is an abundance of free resources out there, it can be overwhelming navigating them all and finding what will work best for your classroom. In this episode, I will break down how to navigate the resources for K through five, what devices you can use or not use, and instructions on how you can set up the Hour of Code in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:55

Before we jump right into this episode, I have created a freebie for you to help capture all the learning that you’re going to have throughout this episode, and all of the resources and how to get that all organized for K through five STEM. So you can download that free resource at Naomimeredith.com/tpthourofcode. This will also be linked in the show notes, so you don’t have to memorize this. I love the Hour of Code. This is an excellent unit to implement into your K through five STEM classroom. Or, if you are a classroom teacher who’s interested in STEM, you can definitely jump right in because most of the resources I’m going to be talking about are absolutely free. To get me in the mood for this episode, I am wearing my create with code shirt that I got from Target a little while back. So it’s super fun. You all know by now I love a good theme. So, of course, I have a coding shirt or two in my closet that I pulled out during this time. I will say that the Hour of Code is one of the few units that I actually don’t write or create everything from scratch. This is because there are so many great resources out there that I personally know I don’t have as much experience as the people who are creating them. And it’s always changing. I want to make sure that my students are exposed to these materials. That is why I have that free guide for you that helps you sift through all that information. But again, these are things that I’m not always creating from scratch because there are so many coding languages out there, even for kids. I want to make sure, again, that kids have access to those. 


Naomi Meredith  02:32

Now, if you have never heard of the Hour of Code, that is okay. I am so glad that you are here! The Hour of Code started in 2013, and it was a way to get kids exposed to the world of coding at a young age. It was initially to be an hour in your school and to get kids pumped up and excited about computer science. It is also hosted in conjunction with computer science week, which they have its own website as well. The official Computer Science Week for 2022 is from December 5 through the 11th. and the Hour of Code is usually hosted around this time. But you can do coding at any time of the year. So don’t feel like you have to do it this week. The first time that I was exposed to the Hour of Code was in 2013, my first year teaching third grade as a classroom teacher. I remember it was just so amazing seeing my students code the Angry Birds to get the little piggies. I had never seen anything like this, and this was my first real exposure as a teacher to seeing children coding. In hindsight, this could have been one of the many sparks that I had to get me into K through five STEM now. But at the time, I thought it was so amazing, and I still think that it’s amazing to see kids being able to write a language using blocks to control what is happening on the screen. This was way more problem-solving than just clicking arrows and playing a video game passively. The students were collaborating and problem-solving. I loved the excitement that they had when they completed each of these challenges. 


Naomi Meredith  04:13

If you haven’t done the Hour of Code, either, you’re gonna see the same excitement in your students. It is just so much fun. Because there are so many different options out there where students can explore again, a lot of different coding languages that work best for their grade level. At the time, my students, they had the Hour of Code as an actual hour where we went into our computer lab, and they got to play around with the different coding languages that were available at the time. So you could still do this as a school-wide promotion. You could do this as a week-long STEM unit. You could start it in your STEM classroom and then keep promoting it within the classrooms or at home. There are so many different possibilities. So don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to one hour or one unit. There are just so many different ways that you can do coding and the Hour of Code throughout the year. 


Naomi Meredith  05:03

So first, let’s talk about navigating the Hour of Code website. This is going to be your hub for finding the different coding activities that will work best for your classroom. As I said, this can be overwhelming at first, and over the years, they have been making the navigation of the website so much easier. The first thing you’re going to want to do is to sign up to host your Hour of Code event. This is absolutely free. I feel like this is a way for them to keep track of how many kids are participating. They will also send you some free resources or things to get you excited leading up to the official Hour of Code week. So make sure you sign up, put in a little bit of information, and then you are on your way to navigating the Hour of Code website. You’re going to see that there are different types of coding activities that are organized by grade level, which are the main types of navigation. Over on this side, you can get even more specific with the types of coding activities you would like to have your students exposed to. Some of these categories that are listed are the types of devices that you have. There’s even an option if you have slow internet. You could filter out the activities that would work best for that on the devices. If you’re an iPad-only school or vice versa, a laptop-only school, you can click on that filter, and then you can search through the activities that way. If you don’t have access to devices at all, which we’re going to talk about this in a bit, or you would like to have a station that is screen-free or unplugged coding, you can search for those options. 


Naomi Meredith  06:41

But it gets even better with these filters. You can filter by the length of the lesson if you do want it to last an hour or if you do want it to last for over a week. You can search through the different accessibility options. Play around with those filters. As I said, it can be overwhelming at first. I actually don’t have students jump right into the Hour of Code website because they can get lost pretty easily. As a teacher, you want to pick through and play around with the things you think will work best developmentally. Then you can make a simple one-page choice board. I like to make mine in Google slides that are view only. Then there are clickable links for the students. Or you could just send the links along to students in whatever LMS system you like to use or even create QR codes that the kids can scan. Definitely try to play around with the devices that you have, and see what is going to work and not work. Then you can go from there. I like to share the website, the Hour of Code website, with students after we completed the unit, so they can play around and explore at home. But I always want them to jump right in and get to the task at hand. So that’s why creating those very specific links for students is helpful. This helps prevent decision fatigue. Then you know that those specific links are going to use on the devices or, if you’re not doing devices, the materials that you have students to use. 


Naomi Meredith  08:08

At the very top of the Hour of Code website, there’s also a promote tab, so play around with that. There are some posters that you can print that have some diverse and even some famous people on there. My fiance’s favorite is the Shakira poster. He loves Shakira. So he likes that Hour of Code posters on there. But there are some really cool posters and handouts that you can print and send home with families or teachers. There are some email templates, there’s even a sticker template that you can print out, and students can proudly wear a sticker saying that they participated in the Hour of Code. There are also some really awesome videos that you can show your students where they are talking about the Hour of Code and the importance of coding. Again, some famous faces are in a lot of these videos. These are really awesome resources to check out and really dive in to get kids excited about computer science and coding. I mentioned this a little bit ago, but you have the option when you’re doing any type of coding with kids, you can have device-based coding, which is what most of us are accustomed to when students are coding on the computer. Or you can do coding unplugged. Both have a lot of value. Even if your students have experience with computer coding, having the ability to code unplugged and being able to problem solve in that way can be very valuable. In fact, you are really working on computational thinking and having students be able to really think through those problems. They might not always have that instant gratification from what is on the screen, but it’s going to help them slow down and really think through if the information that they are moving or writing down is correct. You can even pair unplugged coding with device-based coding and have students write down some of the things that they’re hoping to do in the program, and then they can apply it to their learning. 


Naomi Meredith  10:08

Here are some of my favorite coding unplugged activities that can work for a variety of grade levels. One really fun one is to do binary beads. I’m pretty sure Hour of Code has a lesson related to this. You teach students about binary code, the language that computers use to talk with the zeros and the ones. Then there is a binary code alphabet. Students can have little pony beads, different colored beads to represent the different codes and the binary code chart, and then spell their name or a word that resonates with them. This is a really great one. Then students have a physical takeaway from the actual project.


Naomi Meredith  12:24

Another fun one that I did when I was teaching third grade for computer science training is we did cup coding. With this activity, there are different pictures of combinations of cups that are stacked in a lot of different combinations. The goal of this is you have a programmer, and then you have the robot. So the goal of the programmer is to write the code out using the language of this cup coding program. So up means to hold up the cup one cup length to a turn would be flipping the cup over at 90 degrees. A down would be putting the cup down at a cup length and so on. There’s a cup coding language for this activity. As the programmer, you are writing the code that will match the picture of what the robot needs to complete, then the robot has to read your code with the arrows and the turns. And hopefully, they are able to complete the picture without seeing the picture and only reading the code. Again, this is a great computational thinking lesson and a great problem solving challenge. 


Naomi Meredith  13:36

Another one that is very similar and really popular with younger students is to do human-robot coding. You can have different cards that have arrows that have different meanings, forwards and backward. You can add in a jump, or a spin, whatever you would like. I have this all created for you in my TPT shop. Again, you have a programmer and a robot, and the programmer writes the code using the cards, and then the human-robot actually has to perform the action. This is so much fun, and the kids like to have control of each other. But it really does get their body moving. It helps those younger students with directional coding and understanding left and right, and forwards and backward, which they can apply to a lot of the computer-based programs or even when you do robotic coding. 


Naomi Meredith  14:24

Another coding unplugged option that I like to do is having a paper grid or even a digital grid. There are different markers in the grid that students need to collect using a code. They can write down the code again using arrows, or you can have your own coding language written out, like block-based coding. Block-based coding is when you see the blocks with the words written inside, and then you drag the blocks over. Usually, read it from the top to the bottom, and the robot or the program will read it from top to bottom with those different blocks. So this is like the in-between of more complicated typing programs. Anyway, with this coding unplugged option, students can write the code using arrows, or they can write using their own language of block-based coding to collect the different tasks on the paper. Again, I have a lesson created for this already, it’s all about donuts. There is a lot of fun and different challenges within this that are all completely device free. You can have students complete it together. There’s even a fun one where students have to complete it like battleship. So that is a goodie, but an oldie, and it’s fun. It’s all donut themed. 


Naomi Meredith  15:33

When thinking about adding other devices to your Hour of Code time, a fun tool that you might have in your classroom, or you can invest in Makey Makey. These are really cool because they connect to the very popular program, scratch, and students can explore conductive and not conductive materials. Basically, how the Makey Makey works is you have different clamps with wired connections that go into this hub, and the hub is connected to the computer. On the computer, you have the coding program, Scratch, open, and then you play around with the Makey Makey options. Then you can connect the clamps that are connected to that hub to different things that are conductive. When those conductive things are touched, then it will trigger the code that is written for that actual connection. It sounds like a lot, but very simple when you see it in real life. Trust me, I saw something very similar in real life, and the STEM teacher in me got really excited. One year I went to Meow Wolf in New Mexico, and they have a part of the exhibit where it’s this big mammoth with ribs showing. When you touch the ribs, it makes a sound. Well, in my mind, I knew exactly what was happening when it came to the coding and the connections because of the Makey Makey. It’s like the raw version of it. So Hour of Code is a great time to implement those physical materials as well. 


Naomi Meredith  17:05

Another thing that is really fun to teach students during the Hour of Code is the difference between hardware and software, especially for those younger students, but older students will benefit too. Younger students really like to understand the difference between the two because there is a difference. With my younger students, I have created a paper tablet where they get to color and add in the different apps, the software. Then when they open up the tablet, there are different pieces of hardware, which is a very basic version. I knew that they would love it. They were literally obsessed with having their own paper tablet and just wanted to play with them. Definitely recommend a lesson like that talking about computer hardware and software because that’s also valuable when it comes to coding and understanding how our computers work in our world. 


Naomi Meredith  17:51

When it comes to structuring your time, I mentioned some different options of how you can get your school involved or even classroom teachers, or you might even be the classroom teacher who’s getting involved. When I first did our code, I had students three days a week. So I did station rotations and had a lot of different options when it came to coding unplugged and different websites that were appropriate for their grade level that I navigated from the Hour of Code website. Now I have students for five days. So again, I still like to implement those coding unplugged choices. But I also have the option where students are exploring different coding languages. They can try those out. I like to give them a variety, whether it is block-based coding or it is coding by typing or coding with arrows. I like to give them that choice and see what languages that they’re really connecting with. I also like to start off my lessons, whether it’s the station rotations or it is with whole group instruction, with different videos that are related to coding, which I’m going to talk about in a second because it’s good for students to hear the explanation where I’m at. I’m not the ultimate expert when it comes to coding. I am a great facilitator when it comes to elementary STEM coding, but by no means am I an expert on this. I realize that not all students are going to be computer programmers, but you never know who’s going to be. So I always want to expose kids to a lot of different things in general when it comes to my STEM class. So this is a really great time to do that. 


Naomi Meredith  19:23

Me personally, I do robotics as a whole separate unit. I don’t really do a whole lot of robotics during my Hour of Code unit because I want to dive deeper when it comes to robotics. So for me, I like to start with Hour of Code. I do typically teach this around December or January. Then my unit immediately after is my separate robotics unit. That way, students have a background when it comes to different coding languages. Then they can really play around with those languages when it comes to the robots that we’re using and see the output of what the robot’s task is going to be. That is a personal preference. But what has worked well in my STEM classroom, it’s definitely up to you. I know people also like to implement robots in their Hour of Code. So do what works best for you and the time that you have with the kids. As I said, in this Hour of Code unit, I don’t create a whole lot for it because there are so many great things out there. This even includes a ton of video resources that I love to show my students when it comes to computer science and coding, BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr have a lot of great videos. They have added a lot more over the years. When it comes to learning about computational thinking, different ways to code, such as looping, or even parts of a computer and coding in general, definitely check those out. 


Naomi Meredith  20:44

In the free guide, I even break up which videos I like to use with each grade level so you’re not always repeating the same ones. You also know that I am a huge fan of SciShow Kids, which I talked about back in episode 17, where it’s all of those different resources I like to use for imagining. SciShow Kids also has some great videos when it comes to teaching about robots and the parts of a computer. If you want to dive in even deeper when it comes to coding, some of you might even be a technology teacher and not necessarily STEM. Code.org, separate from Hour of Code, has more extensive materials, actual units, and a progression of learning when it comes to coding in your classroom. This is also great to look into if you’re thinking about a different after-school opportunity. You don’t need to go and create anything because there are so many things on there that you can just plug and play, especially for those kids who really are getting obsessed with coding. Again, another great after-school activity with very minimal prep. One of my favorites for after-school activities is the Google CS first curriculum. There is a whole theme and a different challenge that they have to create. They’re always improving this curriculum and really making it self-guided, and kids can access the information at home. So definitely recommend checking out that resource. 


Naomi Meredith  22:03

As a recap, there is so much to do for Hour of code, but it is such a fun unit to implement. It should be your least stressful unit out of your entire year because most of it’s already done for you. You just have to go in, explore and check out the free guide that I have for you because that’s going to help you really wrap your head around all the different things that you can do during this time. We first talked about navigating that Hour of Code resource. So definitely play around with those filters that can help you with your experience. Then we talked about how you can have a mixture of device-based coding and coding unplugged or unplugged coding. Then also think about structuring your time if you want to do station rotations, a whole group exploring, or a mixture of both. Then really utilize those extra resources out there, especially when it comes to videos, where you can see coding that is relevant in their real lives. Again, make sure to check out the Hour of Code freebie that I have created for you to help you organize your time with your students. This will be linked in the show notes, and you can also grab it at Naomimeredith.com/tpthourofcode.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

November-stem-activities

4 November STEM Activities to Try [ep.37]

by Naomi Meredith

4 November STEM Activities to Try [ep.37]

Check out the full episode on 4 November STEM Activities to Try:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Looking for easy November STEM activities to try?

In this episode, I will be sharing with you four ideas that you can implement in your classroom right away.  

There is a lot to celebrate during the month of November, so these STEM challenges that I’m going to be sharing with you aren’t tied to a specific holiday or celebration.

These fun ideas will help you harness the crazy energy during this month and put it into productive use with these STEM challenges.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • STEM & Stories: Great Turkey Race Activity
  • LEGO Corn Mazes
  • Engineer Inspiration Boards
  • People in STEM with a green screen twist

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for easy November STEM activities to try? In this episode, I will be sharing with you four ideas that you can implement in your classroom right away.  


Naomi Meredith  00:40

There is a lot to celebrate during the month of November, so these STEM challenges that I’m going to be sharing with you aren’t tied to a specific holiday or celebration. I tried to mix it up for you so that you could do this all month long or really any fall month. As I said, they’re not Thanksgiving specific or any holidays specific. So let’s jump into these fun ideas where you can harness the crazy energy during this month and put it into productive use with these STEM challenges. 


Naomi Meredith  01:15

The first STEM Challenge is STEM and Stories, which is one of my favorite things to do in the STEM classroom. It relates to the story, The Great Turkey Race. As a class, listen to the story or read the story out loud. You know that I love pre-recording read-alouds for my students. So if I know I’m going to be doing this book, a lot of times, I can have the video recording of me reading it, and then this gives me a little bit of extra time to set up any materials that I need for the lesson. Either way, you’re going to be using The Great Turkey Race, and spoiler alert, there are some turkeys who are going to get eaten, and they want to escape the farm. Your STEM challenge is going to be related to this story, and there are a couple of different things that you can build for this challenge. You can have students build both things that I’m going to mention or one or the other depending on the time you have and the age of your students. 


Naomi Meredith  02:14

First, you’ll have students create a simple catapult that will be used to launch the turkeys over the fence, which we’ll talk about the fence in a second. There are a lot of different ways that students can build catapults. One of my favorites that I will link in the show notes is a simple video that I created. There are popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a plastic spoon. The way that we will create the catapult is students will wrap a rubber band around the popsicle sticks. I like to use the big fat ones since they give you more leverage within this challenge. They will wrap the rubber bands around the popsicle stick to hold the plastic spoon, and they will create basically the letter V. So, think about you have a popsicle stick with a spoon on one popsicle stick. Then there’s a bottom popsicle stick, and at the tip of the V, you’re going to wrap one more rubber band to connect the two, and this will create the letter V, which you will put a stack of popsicle sticks in between that are also secured with rubber bands that will be the fulcrum. This will allow the spoon to be able to be pushed down and eventually launch the turkeys over the fence. 


Naomi Meredith  03:25

What I like to use for turkeys are pom poms. You can even glue pictures of turkeys to bring the story to life. Of course, we have the fence that the turkeys are trying to get over, and students can build their fence using a lot of different materials. My favorite for this challenge is to use raw spaghetti and Crayola modeling clay, which doesn’t dry out. It’s super inexpensive, and students will use those two materials to design a fence that the catapult will launch the turkeys over. If you’re doing this challenge with younger students, the catapult might be a bit tricky. So you can have catapults pre-made before doing this challenge. The younger students may not be able to create the fences. One hack to this so that you’re not the one building all of the catapults. If you do this challenge the day before with older students, they could be the ones in charge of the catapults and then save them for the younger students. I don’t usually let the students keep the catapults after this challenge because I don’t want to be responsible for other objects that will be flying in the classroom. So if you aren’t going to save the catapults, I have students cut the rubber bands or untwist the rubber bands, and then we put all of the materials away. They are a little bit sad, but I tell them these are very simple materials to get at home. You can make it the same way or a different way, but we’re going to reuse the materials as much as possible. So this is definitely a fun STEM challenge that you can do within the month of November. 


Naomi Meredith  04:57

The second November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is LEGO corn mazes. I don’t know about you, but have you been in a corn maze, especially a haunted corn maze? I have! This was maybe six or seven years ago, and I distinctly remember it was a haunted one, and I was there with some of my friends. My one girlfriend and I were holding tight to each other, and I was so scared. I said, “Becca, I was like, Becca, we’re gonna be okay, I’m so scared,” or something like that. In the haunted part, all the employees were saying, “Becca, Becca.” So we’re a little bit traumatized. After that experience. I haven’t been in a corn maze ever since. Luckily, for this challenge, it’s not as scary. Again, this only uses a few materials that you might already have in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  06:32

All you need are some big LEGO base plates and LEGO bricks and marbles or any small balls that are similar in size. There are some really great LEGO-like base plates on Amazon that work just as well as the original version. Definitely recommend taking a peek at those, and I’ll link those in the show notes for you. I don’t recommend using non-LEGO brand Legos since those don’t have the same effect. They just don’t hit the same way. So students will create their own LEGO corn maze. You can even print out different things that the marble can roll to, like a scarecrow, pumpkins, just different little images that they can attach to their designs. This is fine because this won’t take very long in the classroom, and students can test one another’s designs. You can even add that last piece where they can count how many dead ends they have, and how long it takes to get from the start to the finish, they could find the average time where they have multiple trials. So you can really extend this project if you would like or if you need a simple one-day challenge. You can do that as well. 


Naomi Meredith  08:35

The third November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is to create a one-page engineer inspiration board. I love creating these boards, and I have them created for all of the months of the year and all of the major holidays throughout the year. Some of the things that you can celebrate in the month of November are Dia de Los Muertos, which is November 1, Thanksgiving, and you can even have a board that represents Veterans Day or even just the month of November in general. With this one-page board, you can have real images or icon images of things that represent that holiday or that month. This gives students inspiration to build it however they want. This works great for a soft star if you were starting off your day with STEM station rotation or if you need something for a substitute. These engineer inspiration boards are great for that because students can build with whatever materials they have on hand, whether it’s Makerspace items, blocks, playdough, or a combination of all those things. Then they can even share their designs by taking a picture or video of their work on the platform that you choose. 


Naomi Meredith  09:47

Finally, the fourth November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is to create green screen videos that go along with people in STEM that you are thankful for. This is a great literacy and STEM connection because students will do some research about people in STEM who have made an impact. They might already know about some people, or there are so many different things to look up in Epic Books, which is my favorite research tool for students. If you want to hear more about other research tools that I love to use with my students, make sure to go back and check out episode 17. And, of course, I list Epic Books. But there are some other favorites that I love to use in this STEM space as well. Students can research their favorite inventor that they know about or another person instead and find out information about them and how they have made an impact in the world of STEM. You can, of course, have students create a bulletin board of their findings. But I also recommend making this even more interactive. Remember those talking heads that we used to have students do where they colored a picture of the person that they researched? They might even cut out a big hole where they could put their head within that poster board. Or sometimes we have them dress up as that person. Then you have something like a wax museum. Well, take that idea, and let’s bump it up a notch. You can have students create a script or a presentation about that person. They can pretend to be that person but use a green screen. If you have students wear a green shirt that matches the green background that you’re using or a blue shirt that matches the blue background. My personal favorite, I will say kids with super, super blonde hair, when you do green screen, there’s sometimes a tint of green in their hair, just the way the color of their hair is they have more yellow in it, and sometimes their hair will disappear. So I do like using blue because, with blue, I have had fewer issues when it comes to editing. But again, definitely your preference. Have students wear a colored shirt that matches the background, and then they can read their script and pretend to be that person. When you’re in the editing app, you can overlay a picture of the real person, but instead of their face, it’ll be the student’s face. One thing I have done, I don’t think it always matters, but you could use a green circle to cover up the person’s face that they’re talking about to make sure that it’s not showing, but I don’t think you’d necessarily always have to do that. But play around with it and see what you can do. I have a video example of this linked in the show notes. I remember doing this with my students, and I gave them no prior background. I just pressed play. When I recorded the video, I accidentally didn’t press stop right in time. So my head kind of floated off the screen, and the kids started screaming. So make sure to watch my video example. It’s pretty fun. But it’s a cool way to get kids excited about people in our world that have made a difference in the STEM community or just in our world in general and people that we should definitely be thankful for. 


Naomi Meredith  13:05

As a recap, here are the four November STEM activities that you can try in your classroom. First is the STEM in stories challenge that goes along with the great Turkey race. Next, our LEGO corn mazes. Third, our engineer inspiration boards, and fourth, people in STEM that we’re thankful for with a green screen twist. I hope you enjoy these fun, themed challenges. You know, I like a good theme. But I also love lessons that are rooted in standards and have a purpose in mind. It’s definitely good to mix these all up because there is a lot of STEM to teach. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’ll see you in the next episode.

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

how to teach a STEM lesson

How to Teach a STEM Lesson [ep.35]

by Naomi Meredith

How to Teach a STEM Lesson [ep.35]

how to teach a STEM lesson

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Episode Summary

Struggling to find a structure and a flow when teaching your STEM lessons?

In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you how to teach all of my K through five STEM lessons.

This method has allowed me to get through the content. Students are able to have enough work time, and it even saves a little room for cleanup at the end.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to teach a STEM lesson using the workshop model
  • What the workshop model is
  • Each stage of the workshop model

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Struggling to find a structure and a flow when teaching your STEM lessons? In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you the exact format that I use to teach all of my K through five STEM lessons. 


Naomi Meredith  00:11

This method has been a game changer for me during the past five years as a STEM teacher, and it has allowed me to get through the content. Students are able to have enough work time, and it even saves a little room for cleanup at the end. Let’s jump right in. 


Naomi Meredith  00:59

I originally taught in the classroom for six years before I landed my role in K through five STEM. I was in a brand new district with a brand new remodeled classroom, limited tools and zero curriculum. It was super overwhelming at first. But I knew that my time spent as a classroom teacher for six years before this role was definitely an asset. I even talked about this in episode 11 of the podcast, why classroom teachers make great STEM teachers. So go back and take a listen if this is a role that you have tumbled into, and you just don’t know where to begin. Overall, this is why I created this podcast. This is something that I wish I had, so I am giving back to you. We know that time goes by super fast as a teacher, especially as a specialist teacher. I’m going to be sharing with you the exact model that I use to teach all of my lessons in my classroom. This is a structure that I didn’t invent. You might be a little bit surprised by what I’m going to be sharing with you, and I’m ready to spill all the secrets. Do you want to hear what the model I use is? It’s the workshop model, not new, but I use this structure in my K through five STEM space for all of my lessons. I’m going to break down for you exactly how I use the workshop model. 


Naomi Meredith  02:22

In my classroom, I use the workshop model when integrating the Engineering Design Process with my projects and with STEM stations. I know that you can too. It will definitely give you the structure that you are looking for, and you don’t have to change it up every day. If you keep it the same every single day, students will know what to expect when they come into your classroom, and it will ease the stress of your teaching. It will definitely help you with time management with all of the things going on. Real quick, here’s an overview of the workshop model. If you haven’t used this method of teaching, think of the workshop model as a circle of a pie chart. So literally, your time is in a circle, you are going to break it up into a few different sections. I have my classes for 45 minutes, K through five. So depending on the time that you have with kids, you will adjust accordingly. I’m also not including the transition time that I have in between classes because that is separate from this workshop model. So keep that in mind as well. Within the workshop model, you have it broken up into three parts, but not three equal parts. You have a medium slice, a big slice of the pie, which is most of it and a tiny slice at the end. First, our medium slice is the mini lesson. For me my mini lessons are between five to eight minutes. After that you have the practice time. This is when students are collaborating, they’re working independently, or maybe they’re in station rotations. For me, my practice time is between 25 to 35 minutes. Finally, the tiniest slice of the pie that is between two to five minutes is your share, reflect and clean up. I structure all of my classes this way, and it just brings a ton of consistency. 


Naomi Meredith  04:12

But let’s really talk about what each of those timeframes look like, depending on the lesson that I’m teaching. Throughout the year, my second grade students come into my classroom often with their classroom computers. I don’t have a classroom set of computers in my room. So I have set this up from day one, that for 90% of the lessons that I’m going to teach students will carry their classroom computer with them to my classroom, we may or may not use it, but it’s just great that they have it. I also like to connect the lessons to what they’re doing within their class, even just by the simple fact of logging into their student computer. This gives them that extra practice. Yes, it might take longer sometimes, especially with the younger students, but I just want to set up the expectation that we will sometimes use tech now as a tool, not as a toy to help us with the lessons that we’re teaching. When students come in with their computer, their role is computer on the table, sit on the floor. When they sit on the floor, they are in my group meeting area and they’re ready to go for the lesson. If they don’t have their computer or if they’re younger students, they’re only one step direction is sit on the floor. One hundred percent of the time, I’ve talked about this in past episodes, I don’t have students sitting at the tables when I teach. My room is ginormous, and I don’t talk very loud. I know the kids aren’t listening to me when they are spread out along the room. Yes, K through five, my big kids do this as well. I don’t feel bad because in PE and music, they don’t have chairs either. They have to sit on the floor. So don’t feel bad at all. They are okay. They’re sitting on the floor in front of our group meeting area. That’s where I have my TV and all the materials ready to go to teach the lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  05:55

Another great way to maximize your time is on the screen, have a warm up question related to the project that you’re going to be working on. Or even have the slides that you will be teaching from ready to go have student examples, something related to the lesson that will pique their interest and get their mindset ready to go. I am very big on using every moment wisely. So even just the act of having something on the screen for students to look at and talk about with the people next to them is extremely valuable when I am teaching with the Engineering Design Process. All of my Engineering Design Process notebooks are digital. I actually don’t create separate slides to teach from. I teach from the student slides that I assigned to them. I will typically assign them in Seesaw, sometimes in Google Classroom, but I will be physically logged in as a teacher opening up the slides within that class I am teaching from so they can see me interact with the slides just as if they were as well. It’s great to connect the two together and the kids know they have access to everything that I am showing them. So nothing I am showing them is a surprise. If you are curious to hear more about the Engineering Design Process. I talked about this and a lot of my episodes, but more specifically in Episodes 15 and 17 through 21. So go back and take a listen. I break down each stage of the Engineering Design Process and how you can use this within your space. 


Naomi Meredith  07:28

When I am teaching the mini lesson, it is very short. It is a mini lesson and I am able to include everything I need to within the short amount of time. If you forget anything, you can pause the class during their practice and work time and remind them of the next steps. There is nothing wrong with that. The goal of this is when students are sitting down ready to learn, they are getting the bulk of the information from you. You are the teacher, you can keep teaching throughout the class time. When I’m teaching with the Engineering Design Process, the mini lesson is when I am introducing each step very specifically. Day one is when I would do the ask, imagine, and have students to start planning their designs. Day two is when students will be finishing up their designs and begin to create what they are hoping to design. Day three and four is all about more creation, experimenting, and improving. I might even introduce a modification checklist so the can see how to make their design better. All of my mini lessons are going to be really focused in on each of these stages. The final day is more experimenting, improving, and how students are going to share their work. 


Naomi Meredith  08:41

When I was a classroom teacher, I always taught with a workshop model anyway, and I am always teaching the next step. Some kids might not be ready for my lesson, but they know where they’re going. They can look back in their digital Engineering Design Process notebook from the week and see what they missed and what they need to keep working on to get to where I am teaching for the day. Again, I’m always teaching the next step and I tell my students that it’s okay if they’re not there yet. I’m teaching them where they are headed so they can be successful and know what to work on. This is also a time where I will build a background and the science behind what we are doing. This can be day one, but I will also do this during the week as well because students can always modify and change their design. So there’s nothing wrong with doing background information a little bit each day. This might be a related video that I found, a website, or an article. Again, these are all linked in their Engineering Design Process notebooks. I often have to show the class the videos at the same time because they are linked to YouTube and my district blocks YouTube. So that’s the only way that we can watch them. The kids know that they even want to watch it at home. They have access to these links as well for more specific lessons during this mini lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  09:53

If I’m doing a Makerspace project, this is where I would talk about the Makerspace menu and money system. If I am doing a technology project, this is also when I would talk about very specific things on how to get connected to the technology. For example, if I am teaching robotics with a Sphero, or a Dash robot, this is where I will physically show them how to connect to that robot. I also have visual directions that I will post after my mini lesson. I will refer to them when I am teaching. So I will model how to get to that specific technology. But then that digital anchor chart will also be posted with visuals to remind students how to do the steps that I just talked about. I highly recommend making these anchor charts digital and not cluttering your walls with all of them. Unless you’re using the same tool K through five, I don’t have a whole lot of wall space. I’m very specific about the things that I hang up. I want everything to be purposeful in my classroom for all classes. That’s why I will make a lot of these anchor charts digital, of course, they’re linked to my TPT shop. But that way, I can pull up what I need. It’s very specific for that class, and I don’t have to print a million things. I don’t have the time for that either.


Naomi Meredith  11:07

If I’m doing a station rotation, the mini lesson is also the time where I will build the background knowledge and have a related video about the topic. I will also show students how to complete each of the stations. I will do the same process for both days of stations. I do for station rotations, when I do stations with my younger students, I will have a station for each letter of STEM. They will complete two stations a day. Same process. I don’t assume that they remember how to do the stations. Some will and some won’t. Some kids are absent, some kids were new for the day. So I always will review those expectations for my classes who have a hard time with behavior. I will also, during this mini lesson, go over the specific ways of how they can earn their class incentive and refer to each of those expectations as well. This mini lesson is when I am the star of the show. Going over those very specific things I need them to do during their work time. I am not up there for very long. So I really have to get the most bang for my buck during this time. Because the majority of class time they are going to be working on their projects, whatever it is that we are doing for the week. I do realize that it can be tricky when you are using technology as one of your main sources of tools. Then you want to show them how to use the technology. Then you want to show them how it’s going to connect to everything. When this happens, this is usually for me when we are doing a coding platform and Engineering Design Process notebook. 


Naomi Meredith  14:14

If that is digital or even logging into 3D printing, I will break up the mini lesson and the practice time that’s student work time. Often I will get their excitement, build a little bit of background, then I will show students how to connect to the tool or how to log in how to get that all set up. So I tell them we’re getting our materials ready first, and then I’m going to show you how to use that. I will show them those steps have the visual directions backup for them. They will go get their materials ready, leave them ready to go and then come back to the floor for students who need a lot more support. There’s only one of you and a lot of them. I will show them all the steps and let’s say it’s a Engineering Design Process notebook I want them to get to, I will have the visual steps on one side and then the page I want them in their engineering notebook ready to go. I will tell them when everybody at your table has their screen matching mine, you will come to the floor, nothing in your hands. So that means that all the kids have to help each other at their table. They can’t do it for them, they have to be the YouTube tutorial and show them how to do it by pointing. Then when everybody is ready to go, then they can come to the floor. This has really helped where students are being more independent and helpful when it comes to technology, and not always relying on me for every single troubleshooting issue. This also frees me up for the students who really are having problems that none of the kids can solve. I’m not running around fixing everything. There are usually at least a couple of kids at each table who can be successful and who are happy to help. 


Naomi Meredith  15:47

From there, I will finish off the mini lesson where the kids are on the floor, the materials are ready to go. I’ll show them how to use it, how it relates to the lesson. Then we will move on to that practice time because everything is set up and ready to go. So this is a great way to break it up where the kids aren’t sitting for 20 minutes. You’re kind of merging that mini lesson and that work time together. Now we are officially moving on to that practice time when it comes to the workshop model. And of course, I have all the helpful tools posted up on my screen ready for kids to access. My favorite that I have mentioned before is classroomscreen.com, where you can upload images. There’s timer widgets, there’s a text box where you can type things, you can have everything displayed all nicely in one place. You don’t have to minimize your tabs and make them fit perfectly. Everything is all there for you and I highly recommend checking that out if you haven’t used classroomscreen.com already. I will almost always have a timer up on my screen during the student work time. So students are aware of how much time they have to work in my class. During station rotations, I actually don’t only because I do stations with Kindergarten and first grade. I kind of have to gauge what is going on in the classroom. I will typically set a timer on my watch, and I will use that as a guide noticing if groups are a little bit squirrely. Or if they need a little bit more time, they sometimes will ask me how much time they have left, I will always tell them. 


Naomi Meredith  17:21

But this actually worked well for station rotations just based on the class and their experience with station rotations and how they’re feeling that day with the materials at hand. When students are working, they usually want to work with others when it’s on station rotations. I allow them to work in groups of one, two or three. Our projects are usually really small. I’m really big about having small projects because they’re easier to store. I tell them if you want to be a group of four, just do two and two, that way, you have more of a chance to work on everything. This has worked really well. I used to do bigger groups in the past, but I realized not all kids had a chance to participate, there wasn’t enough for them to do. So keeping groups smaller really helps with the collaboration they had can have a voice during their work time and feel like that they are involved in the project. During this time, I will be roaming the room assisting as needed. I’m really big about ask three before me, especially when it comes to troubleshooting or what questions they have. Again, I am the guide on the side, I am not the star of the show during this work time. I am during the mini lesson, trust me, you should see me in action. But during this work time, it’s all about them getting all the work done that they have at hand. 


Naomi Meredith  18:36

Finally, the last part of the workshop model that is the smallest and that is the share, reflect and I added in that clean up. For me this is about two to five minutes, it is quick, and I am able to get my classes to clean up very fast here and there. I will have a class who are very, very slow cleaning up, they might need more time. I keep that in mind and balance it all out. But for the most part, most classes can clean up in about five minutes. When it comes to station rotations, they will clean up before they rotate. So again, I’ll have that mini lesson we have the video building background, I show them how to do the stations, they will work in their stations, then they will clean up and stand at their clean station. They’re not allowed to go anywhere. They don’t know where they’re going. They have to be cleaned up before they’re able to rotate. After all the stations are cleaned up, I will have them stand there I will go to that station, I will stay in there with them and show them how to point to their next station. When everybody’s pointing to their next station, they will walk to the next one and work on what they have at hand. 


Naomi Meredith  19:39

Again, when the time is up, they will clean up they’ll stand up their clean station and then they’ll come and join me on the floor and we will learn and then we will reflect on the learning for the day. For an Engineering Design Process project we will clean up and then they will either sit at their tables or they’ll all join me on the floor depending on where we’re at with that cleanup. I like to use the same reflection questions that are in their  Engineering Design Process notebooks at the very end, what went well? What was the challenge for them? If they were to do this project again, what would they work on? I might even ask them what went well, what would you recommend? So for kids who are going to be on that next stage tomorrow, what advice would they give them. So questions like this are really helpful to talk about as a class, and to really close up everything that happened for the day, you can also make a digital check in a lot like what Jill mentioned in her guest interview and a past episode, but you could do a digital check in as to where they’re at in the Engineering Design Process, or how they are feeling and that part of the process. You could create this in a Google slide or a Google jam board, and there is a little circle that has the kids classroom number, and they can move that little circle as to where they are feeling. A lot of different ways to reflect, you don’t have to go overboard with this. But it’s good to have some sort of closure, where it’s not just clean up, run out the door. When we’re all done for the day, I will let the class know if they earn their classic incentive, and then they will go line up in my green hallway so they are ready to go for the teacher. Again, I don’t have them lineup in my classroom because if the teacher is late or if another class is early, then they are all in the hallway, and they’re ready for that teacher. Then I can clean up any last things prepare any last materials before my next class comes for the day. 


Naomi Meredith  21:22

As a recap, here is how to teach a STEM lesson when using the workshop model. First, we talked about what the workshop model is, then you move on to the mini lesson to start it all off. The bulk of your work time is that practice time, then you piece it all together with the share, reflect and clean up time by creating a predictable structure for all of your lessons K through five, not only will this be helpful for you as a teacher, it’ll create that consistency for the students. So when they step into your space, they will always know what is going on with the actual content, but the structure is always going to be the same. This is going to help with your classroom management, behavior management, and even help you get through all of the content, no matter how much time you have with kids, and how often that you see them.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

project based learning lessons

Project Based Learning Lessons with Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock [ep. 34]

by Naomi Meredith

Project Based Learning Lessons with Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock [ep. 34]

Check out the full episode on Project Based Learning Lessons with Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock:  

 

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Episode Summary

Have you ever felt stuck or overwhelmed when it comes to lesson planning, specifically project-based learning?

It takes a lot of time and careful planning to create these meaningful experiences for students.

Today, I had the pleasure of talking to Jeff Imrich, the co-founder of Rock by Rock. We had a meaningful conversation on what learning can look like in STEM and engagement in the classroom using project based learning lessons.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Who Jeff is, his teaching background, and all about Rock by Rock
  • An overview of Rock by Rock’s projects
  • Examples of Rock by Rock project-based learning lessons
  • Jeff’s favorite projects

Meet Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock:

Hi, I’m Jeff Imrich, a co-founder of Rock by Rock. I’m a former teacher (I taught grades 1-7), and I’ve spent my career teaching kids, partnering with teachers and parents to help rethink how we design schools and supporting teacher professional development around the country. I believe deeply that teachers are the key to students’ success, that their jobs are huge and that they need better support to make the job easier and more enjoyable. 

I’ve visited hundreds of classrooms, and you can always tell when the magic of learning is happening inside. You get that tingly feeling because the air is actually electric. Usually, that happens when kids are on fire in their learning. They are doing a project or having a debate, or working in teams. I know I loved teaching this way, but I also know how hard it was to plan really engaging interdisciplinary projects. 

We created Rock by Rock to empower teachers with the tools they need to do real-world projects without starting from scratch. Our platform provides fully planned projects with a real-world mission, diverse virtual experts, rich information texts, videos, games, and a culminating project that empowers kids to make a change in the world. Projects support STEM, SEL, and ELA and build skills kids need to thrive in our creator economy. 

Our program isn’t scripted. It’s flexible. We give you the tools, but we know that you know your kids better than we do, and we know you’ll adapt our tools to your setting. You decide how long to spend on a topic, if you want to add a lesson, if you want to do a debate or teach the whole class at once or do small group centers

We’re also here to help! Teaching is still the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and we’re looking to grow a community of teachers who started teaching because they know in their gut that authentic learning experiences are the best way to teach. We are built by teachers for teachers, and we want to learn and grow with you.

Connect with Rock by Rock:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Have you ever felt stuck or overwhelmed when it comes to lesson planning, specifically project based learning? It’s a lot of work, and I know this based on my experience as a classroom teacher and K through five STEM teacher and coach. It takes a lot of time and careful planning to create these meaningful experiences for students. I had a great conversation with Jeff Imrich, the co-founder of Rock by Rock. We were definitely on the same wavelength and had a meaningful conversation as to what learning can look like in STEM and engagement in the classroom and beyond. Jeff is a former teacher and has spent his career teaching kids and partnering with teachers and parents to rethink how we design schools and support teacher professional development around the country. He believes deeply that teachers are the key to student success, their jobs are huge, and they need better support to make their job easier and more enjoyable. Jeff and his co-founder created Rock by Rock to empower teachers with the tools they need to do real-world projects without starting from scratch. Their platform provides fully planned projects with a real-world mission, diverse virtual experts, rich information texts, videos, games, and a culminating project that empowers kids to help make a change in the world. There are a lot of key points in this interview that I am sure you’re going to resonate with, and the mission of Rock by Rock is one that definitely aligns with my STEM philosophy in the classroom. I can’t wait for you to listen. 


Naomi Meredith  01:56

Thank you, Jeff, so much for being here. Today. We were chatting a bit before, and I could already tell this is gonna be a very fun interview. You have a lot of great stuff that our audience is going to be excited about. We have mainly STEM teachers who listen, but I know we have a lot of classroom teachers who are here or ones who might be interested in teaching STEM or just teachers who want to learn more about it. So I’m just really excited to have you today. So if you wouldn’t mind, tell us about yourself, your teaching background, and also about Rock by Rock and its mission. So it’s a whole thing you’re telling us about.


Jeff Imrich  02:30

All right, awesome. Well, first, Naomi, I’m super excited to be here to talk with you today. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast, just the experience I’m getting today has been amazing. So I’m excited for our conversation. I started out as a teacher. I’ve taught first through seventh grade and sort of in various settings. For the last six or seven years, I’ve been working with teachers, parents, kids, and schools to try and think about how we could redesign schools to help more kids get to and through college and have access to career pathways. What would we do a building like on all of the lessons we’ve learned? One of the biggest takeaways and this is not going to be surprising for you, is that when kids are doing real-world authentic projects, and they realize their learning has a purpose, it’s like the air is electric. It’s like this magical feeling. You walk into a classroom, and you’re like, Yes, right? This is what learning should be like. In the schools and programs that we, my co-founder and I, were working on, we heard a lot from our teachers about how our kids loved learning this way. We love teaching this way. It’s just really hard planning this type of project, like a deeper learning, project-based learning, a project with speakers, a Take Action Project, and all of these different resources. It’s like really hard to plan from scratch. We thought, gosh, like, there’s gotta be a way to make this easier for folks. Like, can we provide a toolkit that gives teachers a leg up? We empower them with a set of resources that they can use to do real-world, project based learning in their classroom, that like, just makes it easier so that any kid and any teacher can do this type of learning, and that’s why we started Rock by Rock. I can tell you a little bit more about what it is and what we offer. But that’s kind of the story behind it.


Naomi Meredith  02:31

I’m really excited about that because I think you’re absolutely right. The questions that I get asked the most, even before I started this podcast, all have to do with lesson planning. I’m really big on having more meaningful projects so let’s just play with robots today and do some random building. I think it can be more purposeful and still be really fun. So I’m excited to hear more about it and just give teachers another option because we’re so busy. It doesn’t matter what you teach, and you know, you taught everything, and you don’t have time to do all of that, or you might not even have the resources or even know the right people. Like if you’re lucky, you know someone who does this, or maybe they’re not even good at presenting, like that can happen too, so I’m really excited you have it all packaged up and all ready to go, which teachers really love.


Jeff Imrich  05:09

Yeah, and I mean that resonates 100% with my own experience. It’s like 10 o’clock, and you’re like, What am I doing tomorrow for this hour of the day, and you’re like googling to try and find something, you’re like, oh, Does this meet the good enough bar? I think so, like, I’m gonna give it a shot. Then you go into class, and you’re just crossing your fingers, this is gonna work. So our projects are all anchored around empowering kids to solve real-world problems. They’re aligned with national science standards. So kids are learning science content, and they’re practicing reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills through the project. Each project also has a social-emotional anchor. So empathy, curiosity, creativity, courage, kinship, impact awareness, and the way the projects are set up is that there’s standard PBL, right? Because we didn’t invent project based learning, we’re just trying to make it easier. There’s a driving question. So how can we help prevent traumatic brain injury from bicycle accidents? How can we help improve rainforest conservation? What are the pros and cons of video gaming? How can we raise awareness about that? So each project gives kids a challenge. They grapple with content, both online and offline. So we have online learning and hands-on and the online component includes video, interactive video, and interactive games, and every project has an anchor text. So there’s an informational text that kids are reading to learn more about the topic, and then they go offline, and they do experiments, make mini projects and sort of either explore phenomena or process what they’re learning, and that’s to understand, like the mission and the core content. Then when they’re done with that, they do something to take action, and that might be a graphic design campaign, a letter to Congress, a podcast, a public service, a video, or a mural. So each project comes with all those resources, and the last thing I’d say is that our third through fifth-grade projects, projects also feature virtual experts. So when kids are learning about the brain, they’re learning from neuroscientist Dr. Jones. When kids are learning how to make a graphic design, they’re learning from graphic designer Maurice Jerry. You’re getting sort of the experience of having the expert come to your classroom without having to find that expert. Now, if you’ve got another expert in your community, by all means, bring them in. But it’s a starting point. So that’s sort of how our projects are set up. It’s also a library because we want teachers to pick the content they need, so what are your standards? What are your students’ needs? What are your student interests? Which project is going to be right for you at what time of the year? We really want this to be giving you a lift, and we’re trying to set it up in a way that you, as the teacher, are in the driver’s seat about making choices about when, where, and how to use it.


Naomi Meredith  07:44

I love how you have the questions written too. You have them as how can we, so it’s not like, can you solve this, like, I feel like you have it more open-ended because you’re not eliminating it to one solution. I can tell you want kids to think of multiple solutions to solve the problem. That’s really project based learning. Like there’s not one answer to this. They might not ever find the answer. It might not even work, but they’re thinking about it. These sound like questions kids would actually care about because you want them to be really, in a way, you do want it to be obscure to pique their interest. They might not even have any background knowledge, which is even better sometimes because they’re more engaged in finding out the answers. So I like how you have all the use of like multimedia, text, videos, and hands-on digital because that’s how we as adults learn. We learn using all of this stuff. So you’re doing stuff that kids need to know how to do.


Jeff Imrich  08:37

Yeah, I’m so glad you zeroed in on that because that’s exactly it. When you look at it, take you and your podcast, right? You are a creator, you are a teacher, you are a content creator, you have a podcast, and you run a business, that’s what life is like today, right? Projects give kids the chance to build those skills in an authentic way. You’re 100%, right? Like, we really want kids to grapple with the nuance. There are a lot of gray areas in life, and there are pros and cons and reasons to do something and reasons not to do something. We want you to grapple with that, and maybe you have the answer, and maybe you don’t. But the process of like going through that process of trying to understand, seeking to learn, and asking questions, that’s where the real learning happens.


Naomi Meredith  09:21

Yeah, it’s so funny because I just had a guest a little bit ago, and she was talking about SEL and STEM, and she mentioned the same things that you’re talking about, which is good. That means this is what we need to be doing, working on those soft skills. You have this project, and it is an avenue into those life skills. That’s so nice for teachers too. They can pick and choose what works for them. So maybe they’re a STEM teacher, and they know in the classroom with their homeroom teacher, they’re going to be working on a specific topic like animal habitats, and then they could do the rainforest one in STEM, so they’re not exactly repeating what’s done in the regular classroom, but they’re extending it in a different project based learning way, which it is like you said, it’s hard to. I’ve done training like being trained on project based learning, and that was just when I was a third-grade teacher, and it takes a long time to make it good. And it does, it’s not always good like yours was done.


Jeff Imrich  10:15

It’s true, you’re singing our song, like, I love the way you’re thinking about this because what you’re describing is exactly what we want teachers to be able to do, right? Like, oh, we’re working in a team, I’m going to work on this, you’re going to work on that. Now, all of a sudden, there’s coherence across different sections of our day. We even have teachers who have a morning meeting. So we have some teachers who say, oh, this project has a focus on empathy. Empathy is also going to be the hook for our community circle for the next three weeks. That way, as you’re going through, you know, when you revisit parts of it, and ELA or parts of it, and STEM, you can also make connections back to the discussions you had in morning meetings. So there are lots of ways that you can actually make this come alive if you’ve got a springboard instead of, you know, trying to plan everything out.


Naomi Meredith  11:01

Yeah, and it shouldn’t be isolated. That’s like one thing, if I were to go back to the general education classroom, is just having more of those experiences because there’s definitely a place for it and helps with behavior too. Even your hardest kids, they can get so into it, and they can really shine. You’re just like triggering talents that you might not know they had or interests you didn’t know they had. So it’s just really good to do this. You don’t have to do it for every single subject, but you can. It’s just good to be doing this, and you want to be engaging with the kids. So you need those engaging materials. With those lessons, do you have an example lesson? So you’ve kind of mentioned specific topics, but like zoning in on examples of lessons that teachers could try using Rock by Rock?


Jeff Imrich  11:45

Yeah, that’s a great question. I want to just respond to something you just said, I’m gonna answer your question. Yes. I feel like we’re having this, like cross-country mind meld in the way you’re describing things. Because when we talk to our teachers, that’s what we hear, right? Like, if my kids are on fire and motivated, I’m seeing stronger evidence in their writing because they care about what they’re writing about. But also, I’m making fewer phone calls home because the kids are like really engaged in what we’re doing. We’ve also heard exactly what you said from some teachers who say, Oh, you know, I have a heterogeneous group of kids who are seeing different strengths that they don’t normally have a chance to bring to the table. It’s like they’re developing this new mutual appreciation for each other. Because it’s like, oh, I didn’t know you were so good at that. The other students were like, well, you know, I also haven’t had a chance to shine in that way. So it really is impacting motivation and classroom culture on lots of levels. So I’m really glad that you mentioned that. Okay, to answer your question, though, resources, yes. So we have a free trial on our site, and you can sign up for the free trial. That gives you access to the entire library. In the library, there are two ways to access the content. So there are the full projects, right? So you could say like, oh, I want to try part of the full project out, so I want to look at it. You might do the whole thing, or you might try a couple of the lessons in that you can sort of decide. We also have what we call our mix-and-match library. So as I was describing the projects, I was mentioning components, like there’s a text, and we call it the zine. There’s the virtual field component with the expert. There’s the Take Action Project, like the podcast or the mural, which is broken into chunks in our library. So if you said, you know, I already have a project, like we do a food deserts project every year, and I love it. But I would like a way for my kids to have higher quality output from that project. So I’m going to use your podcasting module, which I should, you know, get tips from you someday. Or I’m going to use your module. So you can sort of pick and choose, or you might say, Hey, we’re already doing a unit on forces in motion. But I’d like a way to make it more relevant. So I’m going to integrate, I’m going to use the Save Our Brains text as a piece of reading in my class, we might not go full on and do the Save the Brains project yet. But that’s like an entry point. So those are sort of the two different ways you can try things out.


Naomi Meredith  14:13

Oh, that’s so cool and very helpful. I feel like teachers have different strengths when it comes to planning. My favorite part is finding the resources, which I know are not other people’s favorites, but I like them. But sometimes, it’s hard to think of what the output will be, what type of project, and just get that inspiration. So that’s really nice that you can mix and match. You’re like, oh, I never thought about teaching podcasting this way. Like maybe you have done it in the past. But then, like using a different resource, you see it through a different lens. Oh, I never thought about it that way. Because oftentimes, I mean, I’m an island, I teach by myself, I don’t necessarily have a team, and sometimes it can happen with classroom teachers. Maybe you’re one who really wants to try something exciting, and you’re looking for resources, and your team’s not really on board. So that’s really nice that you have that option. Teachers can go full-on out or just pick and choose what they want. That’s so teacher centered, for sure. That is so great.


Jeff Imrich  15:13

Yeah. Well, I would like to say, like, I’m glad this is resonating. I’ve been on the receiving end and involved in scripted curricula where you get something, and it’s like, you need to be on this at this minute, this at that minute, or you have 30 minutes to teach, but a 50-page lesson plan, and you’re just like, what, right? So we really thought about how we put teachers in the driver’s seat. We develop this with teachers to figure out how they are using it. How can this be more helpful, there’s a lot of curriculum that gives you lift, but there’s also a lot of curriculum that bogs you down, and we don’t want to be something to bog you down. 


Naomi Meredith  15:46

Yeah, I was thinking of the science curriculums I’ve had in the past. What’s sad, too, is when I was teaching third grade, we had a certain curriculum, and they wouldn’t even buy us the updated version. So we had all this stuff, and we had to teach the new standards with the old curriculum. It was boring, and we had to find things anyway. Then some teachers don’t like teaching science because, like, it’s boring. Well, it’s actually not boring. But it’s just nice just to have it all together, it’s updated, and you have worked with teachers, which not a lot of curriculums are like that, either. They don’t see the feedback. So that’s really good to hear. I’m sure you guys update things based on the feedback that you get, just knowing how things are working out. Or you might have more examples. So that’s really good that you’re thinking about us teachers.


Jeff Imrich  16:35

Yeah, that’s 100%. Right? Like, we want feedback from folks, right? We want to know what’s working, we want to know how you’re using it. We want to hear your success stories, we want to be able to broadcast them to other people, and we want to know what we can do to make it better, but we’re also planning on growing the library over time. One of our lists, Save Our Brains projects I described, we develop because one of our teachers’ portraits in Alabama was like, I’m having a really hard time teaching this. And we’re like, Okay, well, let’s talk about this, what would this look like? That sort of came out of that conversation about something that was hard in the classroom. We see ourselves on a learning journey, right, like, we want as many people as possible to be on that journey with us, so this is a helpful tool.


Naomi Meredith  17:15

Oh, it sounds like it. I’m very excited about it, and I can’t wait to check out all the resources and just not have to feel stuck. Knowing that it’s there at your fingertips and to see what will work best, I mean, some units are way more fun than others. So it’s just great to have that option. Is there a favorite project you have in mind when you’re thinking about primary or secondary? Or are there ones that have been super popular with teachers that they’ve absolutely loved? You mentioned a few, but more specific.


Jeff Imrich  17:45

Yeah, it’s a really good question. All the projects have been a labor of love, so it feels a little bit hard to like and pick a favorite. But I will say that a couple of the ones that are being used right now in the fall, like there were teachers are using, and I don’t know if this is the time of year how things align with the scope and sequence. This is the thing kids are most interested in, these are things we’re trying to learn more about. We have an invasive species project, which aligns with a bunch of ecosystem standards. The debate question for that is, is it justified to kill one species to save another?


Naomi Meredith  18:17

Ooh, that’s a great question. 


Jeff Imrich  18:20

Thanks. So we’ve gotten some good feedback about the type of discussion kids have been having with that question. So we sort of take the lens of invasive pythons in Florida. Also, kids are just fast. Who’s not fascinated by a video of a Python wrestling an alligator in the Everglades? So that’s one that we’ve got a bunch of feedback on, link that in the show notes. Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly. We’ll link that one in the show notes. Our save the rainforest project also has been pretty popular because I think kids really like learning about the rainforest. It’s just a fascinating ecosystem. That’s been something folks have been really interested in, and the Save Our brains project. I think for k-two, we’ve heard a lot from folks about the Save the frogs project. I think frogs are a common species to study. So we’ve heard a lot about, we’ve got some photos back of the habitats that kids have designed for their frog habitats and things like that. So that’s been pretty popular. The last one, I’ll say, as we have a cashew project called ugly foods and hungry people, which looks at the standards related to the lifecycle of plants, how we grow food, and sustainability. But it also looks at how much food we waste as a country and ways that we could kind of think differently about how we approach food, especially given how many folks are hungry. We just heard recently from a school where all of the kids in K-2 are doing the ugly food-hungry project. Then they’re doing a shared table in the cafeteria where all the kids are designing a shared table where any food they’re not going to eat from lunch they can put on the table, and any student can go get from the table. So there’s no stigma about, like, I’m going to get like extra food or anything. It’s just a communal space for sharing. That was just really cool to hear because all of the teachers came together, and they said this is something we want to do in partnership as a community. And we’re like, Yes, right? This is what we want to enable right now, where our program is to say you should do a shared table. But they were like, this is what’s right for our community. And we’re like, I love it. It’s great. 


Naomi Meredith  20:08

That’s real project based learning. That’s what is relevant to a real audience. Because sometimes, with projects, kids are like, Well, why are we doing this, but that’s real. Like they’re, it’s beyond the curriculum. It’s something they’re remembering that lesson, the reason and the why. That is like what we always hope for when we don’t always know how to get there. What’s awesome about your guys’ stuff is that it’s just like a jumping off point for even more lifelong learning and just applying all those skills to their little worlds, and kids love animals. I will say anytime I do anything with animals, they’re literally obsessed. You can’t go wrong with animals. I love animals. So that’s probably why I like it too.


Jeff Imrich  20:44

What’s your favorite animal? 


Naomi Meredith  20:45

Oh, my dog, for sure. But besides my dog, and I’m obsessed with my dog, I love sea lions because they’re wet puppies of the ocean.


Jeff Imrich  20:55

Oh, I love that. I haven’t heard them described like that before. But that makes perfect sense. I think that’s great.


Naomi Meredith  21:01

Yeah, at SeaWorld, they like to do all the tricks. All the rejected ones really still try to do tricks, the ones who are in the show. So you can like throw them little treats and like clap their fins and flippers, or they’re so cute.


Jeff Imrich  21:13

I love it. That’s awesome. 


Naomi Meredith  21:15

Well, I appreciate all of the information. You told us about the free trial. Are there any other resources or things you want teachers to know about created by Rock by Rock? And then how can they find you guys?


Jeff Imrich  21:26

Yeah, so a couple of other things that we want folks to know is project based learning can be materials intensive. So we try and make sure that the materials are as off the shelf as they can be easily accessible or affordable. So that it’s not a huge lift, working with a whole bunch of STEM teachers who are on carts. And that can also be tricky. So in some of our teachers’ guides, we try to provide tips like, hey, if you’re pushing in for STEM, here are some things you might think about or some things you might try. I know STEM teachers on carts are some of the most innovative people because you just have to figure out how to manage stuff and space really well to do that job. So we also try and keep in mind who are the different users and how we can make sure this is going to work for them. We do try and make sure that the materials are accessible. We also want to have a diverse set of experts. So we really try and prioritize finding a balance of gender, race, age, and geography because we want to make sure that kids see themselves in the curriculum. So those are two other things I would highlight. You can find us at Rockbyrock.com. We’re also on Facebook and Instagram. On our website, there’s a support email address, support@rockbyrock.com. And we’re, you know, game to answer any questions that you got. So you sign up for a free trial, and if you’ve got questions, email us. You’re thinking about a free trial, but if you have questions, email us. You do the project with your class, and you’d love to do it with your school, email us, right? Don’t be a stranger, hearing from teachers is one of our favorite things.


Naomi Meredith  22:56

That’s so great. I know people are going to be reaching out for sure. All of that will be linked in the show notes. So if you’re driving in the car, you don’t have to write that all down. It’ll be accessible for you along with the Python wrestling the alligator, we will link that too. I appreciate your time so much. I feel like we’ve like met before. We’re just like totally on the same page, which is so reassuring, too, that I’m not going crazy when I’m talking into a microphone by myself. It’s so nice to have guests. I could talk about this all day. But I appreciate your time so much. I’m sure you will be hearing from some of our audience. Thank you.


Jeff Imrich  23:33

Thank you, and it was great talking. It’s so nice to connect with folks when you’re like, Ah, we’re on the same wavelength about what we want to be true for children and for teachers. So thank you, and this was great.

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

STEM sub plans

How Do I Write STEM Sub Plans? [ep. 33]

by Naomi Meredith

How Do I Write STEM Sub Plans? [ep. 33]

Check out the full episode on How Do I Write STEM Sub Plans?:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

No matter what you teach, writing sub plans is a lot of work.

Sometimes it’s easier to teach than write the sub plans. Am I right?

For those days you need to be out of the building, here are my tips, systems, and lesson ideas for STEM sub plans, so you don’t have to stress about it anymore. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Tips for lesson ideas and systems when it comes to writing your STEM sub plans
  • 3 examples of lessons to use for your STEM sub plans

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

No matter what you teach, writing sub plans is a lot of work. Sometimes it’s easier to just teach then write the sub plans. Am I right? For those days that you do need to be out of the building, here are my tips, systems and lesson ideas for STEM sub plans, so you don’t have to stress about it anymore. 


Naomi Meredith  00:52

This episode was inspired by a question that I got on my Instagram DMs the other day, and it’s from @InspiredKia. She asked, “So curious when you have a sub, do you alter your lessons? Or do students still have full access to your supplies and materials?” This is a great question. As the short answer, it really depends. My sub plans change based on the rotation of kids that I have, where they are at in a project, what the project is, and also what the school schedule is like. I have an early release day once a week. Or maybe there’s an assembly schedule or even a fire drill. It really all depends. So I will be sharing with you all the different ideas that I have for sub plans that have worked well in my classroom that you can use in yours. 


Naomi Meredith  01:44

Before we even get into the actual plans, first, you need to create a sub plan template. This is going to save you a lot of time when you are getting your sub plans ready, whether you know ahead of time you’re going to be gone. Or if you need them last minute, I use my same template year after year with some modifications. Again, it makes it so much easier. If you have this system in place, I first create a simple Google doc template. I create a one column table where for each section are the different things that I’m going to add into that plan. The nice thing about making this a Google doc is that you can make a copy of it and create different templates for different days. This is helpful if you have different schedules for different days, which I’ve also had in the past. But also if you want to create a template for a half day morning, or a half day afternoon, that’s really helpful as well. 


Naomi Meredith  02:46

Here’s what I put in each section in the order that they go in before I even get to the actual plans. I’ve had a lot of subs over the years tell me they love the organization of my sub plans, and they have appreciated the information that I have included for them. So take this feedback that I have gotten and take a look at your own sub plans. Maybe you don’t even have any yet and see how you can tweak them and make them even better. At the top of my sub plans and that first section is a welcome message, letting them know I’m so grateful to have them here. If I personally know the sub, I might write them something sweet or funny just to give them a little laugh, so a nice little introduction. Also, depending on the setup, I might give them my phone number, but it also depends on where I am at for the day. If I’m at a training, I don’t mind giving my phone number or email. But if I’m on vacation, I will not include that information. After that I will have what to do for attendance. I personally don’t have to take attendance for my classes, but you might so add in that information and how to do that for a sub. 


Naomi Meredith  03:53

After that is my behavior protocols and a general sense of what I do for behaviors, positive and negative, and if there are any school wide incentives that the sub needs to give out. For example, my school has something called Tiger paws, and other teachers can compliment another class and award them a tiger paw, which in turn the classes are collecting Tiger paws to earn a class party. Our substitute or guest teachers can give classes a golden paw, which is worth five paws. Classes really have to work hard to get these golden paws and I let my sub know within these notes what a golden paw is and how classes can receive them. After that is just a basic list of phone numbers for emergencies and who to contact if they need help. I will also leave these important phone numbers by my telephone. So that is also helpful to have on hand for myself but of course for a sub. After that I also include my daily schedule and my duty schedule. Even if the sub doesn’t have to cover my duty for the day, I like to include all of them that I have throughout the school year. Then I’ll just highlight the duty if that pertains to that particular day. Like I said, I have two different time schedules for my week. I have my regular Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday schedule. But then on Wednesdays, the time changes a little bit. So I include all of that on my template. Again, I’ll just highlight the day that I am gone and the schedule that the sub needs to keep track of is a nice little hack. If you set this up beforehand, you don’t have to type it in again for the rest of the school year, and you have it ready to go and you’re not scrambling or forgetting about any of those different schedules or special duties that you have. 


Naomi Meredith  05:43

Next, I will write down what the seating looks like in my classroom, what students will do when they enter my room where they will sit, and what it looks like when they’re sitting at my tables. I have two different types of chairs in my classroom. One of my tables has these big black chairs that are ginormous for my first and kindergarteners and I don’t let them sit in them because they fall in them, they can’t get in the chair, and they don’t know how to push them in. So I include this in my notes that students can sit at the other tables with the blue or green stools. My older students sit at tables that correspond with their classroom number, and I have a sheet on their table that has the different numbers that are all mixed up. So just let the sub know about this. So if kids think they can sit wherever they want, that’s not always the case, I let them do that when they’re with me. But just so the sub is aware, I don’t write down their seating numbers, you can go ahead and do this. I just trust the kids to sit at third numbers. I don’t get too particular about it, but you know your kids best. So if you do, you need to include a seating chart, go for it. Finally, I do list out the activities in the order of when they will happen throughout the day, and what the sub will need to do with the kids. So that is just the sub plan templates. So this is the one that you would write on and modify as needed. Separate from that I actually have a simple sub binder. I had this when I was a classroom teacher as well. But this is the more detailed information about the school. 


Naomi Meredith  07:16

A handy trick with this is oftentimes at the beginning of the year, you might get a whole lot of paperwork from your front office with maps, what to do in an emergency, referral forms, school schedules, all of that information, I actually just put it in my sub binder. So it’s just in one location. I go to this binder if I need that information, but it’s just all helpful. It’s all in one place for myself. I also like to include in here different things that could be for fast finishers, a sub has never needed them. But just in case you never know. I will include things like hidden pictures searches, crossword puzzles, those types of easy activities. Then also a list of fun little brain breaks if the sub needs them, and a few random read alouds that no matter what you can do a read aloud. If all else fails, go for it. So I always have this in the binder, I just change it out every year or if there’s something that changes in our schedule. But otherwise, I don’t really go back into this binder very often, but I leave it out for my subs. Aside from that I have a another binder that has the student information. I have four different binders, one for each rotation that I teach. Again, I also use this binder as the teacher for my class list. It has all of my classes of my students. It has pictures of all the kids, and also all of the IEPs, 504s and all of that information for each grade level in each classroom. Again, this is something that I use all the time, I’m not creating something extra for my subs. But this is just a helpful system in a binder to have out for your substitutes, so they know what your students look like and then any very important information that they need to know about the students they have on hand. I also write down little notes. I will write down their nicknames or what they like to be called. If there’s any information like severe allergies, I’ll make sure that’s written down next to their name. If certain students have a para or need extra support, so that the sub is aware of this, and they’re not blindsided when all of the classes rotate to them throughout the day. 


Naomi Meredith  09:24

Now that you have set up your sub system, I’m going to share with you three different types of sub plans that you can use for your students and STEM. The first option is to continue lessons that students have been working on with me throughout the week. Again, this really depends on what the project is, where they’re at in their project, and what class is actually working on this project. Also, it does depend to what day I have a sub as well. Again, this will really really depend on all of these factors and I really tried to do this option continuing a lesson if possible. But the other two options are something I’m going to talk about as well. If this isn’t the case, more likely than not my older students, third, fourth and fifth grade are able to complete a lesson that they’re working on, which is awesome. If there’s something new that I do need students to really focus on before they get started, then I might even create a screencast video using Screencastify. I will film myself teaching that part of the mini lesson and have the substitute play that for my students, I don’t do this every time. But if I do, I will create a short link using Bitly bit.ly of that video that I created that’s in my Google Drive. Since I know I’m going to be gone, I will share with some of my older students that the teacher will have to first show them how to get this link. If anything were to happen, they could help the sub out, I would do this as a classroom teacher as well, both in the classroom and as a STEM teacher. The substitutes have really appreciated this because I also teach it in a way where I’m engaging with the class. So I’m not just talking at the kids. I will say raise your hand if or turn and talk to the partner about this. So I really tried to make it interactive, even though it’s recorded, and my substitutes have even told me they’ve really liked it when I’ve left these videos, and they could see how I am as a teacher, because sometimes I don’t always meet the substitutes. They really enjoyed this and it’s helped set the tone for the class, and the kids have a better idea of what they’re going to be working on throughout the lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  11:40

The second option that works excellent for sub plans is STEM and stories. I have talked about STEM and stories quite a bit and a lot in past episodes. So that is sprinkled in throughout many episodes. So keep an ear out for those because I’m sure gonna be talking about them again. I also have a couple bundles of seven story lessons that I have taught with my students that you could just grab and use for future sub plans as well. I don’t typically teach STEM in stories that often in my classroom because I like to save them as sub plans. Substitutes, I’ve found really like doing read alouds. This is a great way to capture the students attention. The students are going to listen to a story, they might plan their design and then build their design, probably using reusable objects like blocks or LEGO bricks. I won’t typically do Makerspace materials for these challenges, because I have a whole set of rules in place when it comes to Makerspace. So make sure you go back and listen to those past episodes as well because I explained my whole system and rules for that. But I have found that these STEM and stories lessons have been really successful for substitutes. They’re easy to prepare beforehand and a sub can do it for multiple classes throughout the day. Also, since you probably teach a lot of kids, you can have a bank of these prepared, and then just keep track of which classes have done which story. Then your sub plans might even be done for the rest of the school year. So I highly recommend saving these STEM and stories for these special moments. I have a bunch of them already made for you so your sub planning might even be done. A couple of my favorite favorite books that I love for STEM and stories is After the Fall by Dan Santat, Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, and Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beatty. 


Naomi Meredith  13:40

Finally, the third option that you can do for your STEM sub plans, and this is a last resort, is to do a video. I also have this on hand for whatever reason I have had times where I woken up, I’ve lost my voice, I can’t teach and I wasn’t prepared for that. Sometimes just having a video, you just got to do it. I don’t recommend doing this all the time. But it’s just something again, good to have on hand. When I do a video I actually create an accountability sheet that students have to fill out when they’re watching and I will add it to the plans that I would like the sub to collect these sheets that students filled out. I will pick a few winners of kids who really tried and really showed their work while they were watching and give them a prize. This really helps us out because the kids might be even more engaged in the video and I don’t even say what the prizes are. I just think of it last minute so they don’t even know what they’re trying to earn but they just want to be the ones who win. So that has been really helpful. 


Naomi Meredith  14:44

My top three videos that I love using in the STEM space that are actually related to content is first Monsters Inc and it is rated G. When students watch Monsters Inc., they have to draw three inventions they see that the monsters use throughout the video. I also leave a space for them where they can draw an invention that they think would be helpful for the monsters to use. I have all three of these by the way that I’m going to talk about in my TPT shop for free. So of course, this will all be linked in the show notes as well. The second video that I like to use, this is more for fourth and fifth grade is Dream Big. The last time I checked, it was on Netflix, but it also might be on some other streaming platforms. I actually heard of this video, I got sent the physical DVD and I think a lot of STEM teachers that year did, but it’s actually really good. It shows kids how engineering and all types of engineering is being used in our real world. It’s super interesting and it’s all these short little videos along the way. I highly recommend watching it on a Friday night, it’s actually really good. There is one caveat, there’s one little part where these high school students have a robotics competition or they’re building something, and their design keeps sinking, like it keeps sinking or it keeps getting water in it. It’s one of those. So they ended up using tampons as a way to soak up the water. I don’t think they actually show tampons, they just talk about it. So not inappropriate, but I’m just letting you know if kids ask about it. That is in there, and it’s pretty funny. Not again, not inappropriate, but just something you might want to watch out for. I don’t have subs skip that part, I think it’s fine, but just be aware of your audience. 


Naomi Meredith  16:35

Then the third video I like to use in the STEM space is also rated G is Rio with those cute little singing birds. The songs are super catchy. I have students draw five or more different animals that they see in the rain forest habitat. Now pro tip, it’s really nice for the subs if you mix up the videos throughout the day. So if you have Rio for K and one, you have Monsters Inc, for two and three, and then Dream Big for four and five, then the sub doesn’t have to watch the same video six times and they will appreciate that. Then you can also just keep track of who watches what so then you’re not watching the same movie all day. Then you have to think of a new one for the next time. It’s just nice to mix it up. Also, the sounds a little bit backwards, I actually use the real old school DVDs for these videos. I don’t trust the WiFi when I’m gone. Of course, it’s not going to work when I’m not there. So I actually have a DVD player hooked up to my TV in case of an emergency. I know that the video is going to play. If you don’t have a DVD player, or you don’t want to go as old school as me, then I recommend pre-downloading the video and not having it go in a web browser. Because again, it might not work when you’re not there. So definitely not innovative. But maybe it is innovative because I’m solving a problem through old school technology. I don’t know it has worked well and has been totally okay for any teacher technology to I also take pictures of what the remotes look like, I create a visual chart of all the teacher technology so that they can find it and know exactly what buttons to click. So that is also a another great tip to have as well. That’s something that I will keep inside of my sub binder whenever I need it. 


Naomi Meredith  18:24

As a recap, here are my tips for lesson ideas and systems when it comes to writing your STEM sub plans. First create templates for writing your plans. Next, you can have the option of students continuing the projects they’re already working on. Second, you can also create Stemmons story lessons or have those prepared and ready to go. And third, as a last resort, you can do related STEM movies. Overall writing sub plans isn’t fun for anybody, it is my least favorite thing to do as a teacher. But hopefully with all of these ideas you can feel more prepared so you can even have things ready to go. So in the case that you have to be gone, it won’t be as stressful. You can grab and go and then be on your way for the day that you are not in the building.

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

wonder-workshop

Wonder Workshop Tools, Resources & Events with Bryan Miller [ep. 32]

by Naomi Meredith

Wonder Workshop Tools, Resources & Events with Bryan Miller [ep. 32]

Check out the full episode on Wonder Workshop Tools, Resources & Events with Bryan Miller:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

One big thing that I know a lot of teachers struggle with is what type of robot they should use in the elementary space. My top recommendation is always Dash by Wonder Workshop. You’re definitely in for a treat!

For today’s episode, I had the chance to interview Bryan Miller, who is now in his seventh year working at Wonder Workshop, leading Strategic Outreach and Educator Success. Bryan prides himself on remaining connected to the voice and choice of students and educators.

He’s an international keynote presenter and speaker and loves working with others in the field of Edtech and, most importantly, supporting computer science. We had such a fun time talking together, and I’m really excited for you to listen to this episode and all of the goodies inside.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Bryan’s background and role at Wonder Workshop
  • What solutions Wonder Workshop offers
  • About the Fall International STEAM Summit

Meet Bryan Miller:

Bryan’s 20-year career in education and EdTech has awarded him a lot of opportunities to explore the field of education. From first starting out as a kindergarten teacher and K-5 computer teacher to Director of Ed Tech at one of the largest, private, independent schools in the United States, and now Bryan’s 7-year career at Wonder Workshop leading strategic outreach and educator success, Bryan prides himself in remaining connected to the voice and choice of students and educators. He’s an international keynote presenter and speaker and loves working with others in the field of Ed Tech and, most importantly, supporting computer science.

Connect with Bryan Miller and Wonder Workshop:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

One big thing that I know a lot of teachers struggle with is what type of robot they should use in the elementary space. My top recommendation is always Dash by wonder workshop. You’re definitely in for a treat! For today’s episode, I had the chance to interview Bryan Miller, who is now in his seventh year working at Wonder Workshop, leading Strategic Outreach and educator success. Bryan prides himself on remaining connected to the voice and choice of students and educators. He’s an international keynote presenter and speaker and loves working with others in the field of Edtech and, most importantly, supporting computer science. We had such a fun time talking together, and I’m really excited for you to listen to this episode and all of the goodies inside. 


Naomi Meredith  01:21

Thank you so much, Bryan, for being here today. I was so excited when you replied yes to my email right away, which I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, this is gonna be awesome.” I know that our audience is gonna be so excited to hear from you about all things Wonder Workshop. Like I was telling you before we started recording when I was an ambassador for Wonder Workshop a while back, I remember you had video presentations, and you were super energetic and explained things really well. I thought you would be a great guest on the podcast. So I’m really excited to chat with you today. He has a little Dash Robot in the corner, which is so cute to look at. Well, if you wouldn’t mind telling us about yourself, your teaching background, and your role at Wonder Workshop, we would love to hear about you.


Bryan Miller  02:15

Yeah, well, first off, thank you so much for this opportunity to join you and have this conversation. I truly love talking with educators and just sharing my experiences, education, and Wonder Workshop. It’s always fun to jump on and talk about this stuff. I am a former teacher. That’s where I started. You may have read my bio, but can you guess what I taught? Where I started?


Naomi Meredith  02:42

Like your first thing? Like subject or grade. 


Bryan Miller  02:42

Grade. 


Naomi Meredith  02:43

If I were to guess if I didn’t know your bio, I would think maybe fifth grade.


Bryan Miller 02:48

I get that a lot. I think it’s because I’m a guy, right? I’m a male teacher, but I started as a Kindergarten teacher. So I was a Kindergarten teacher, and I actually taught next to my Kindergarten teacher at the school that I went to for Kindergarten. It was so cool. I learned a lot, and it was just, you know, awesome. I’ve always loved kids and working with kids. I did it at camps and stuff my entire career, but started in Kindergarten. Then I became a K through Five computer teacher. This was before there was even an EdTech curriculum. So I’ve been doing this for about 20 years now, even though I look like I’m like 25. I mean, it’s really been 20 years that I’ve been doing this. At the time, it was the type of class where you just sit and type in Word documents, and you do a typing program. That was 100% of what that program was. When I stepped into that role it was a public school outside of Philadelphia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is where I grew up. I stepped into the role, and I was like, “There’s got to be more to this. This is not what kids should be doing.” I mean, yes, typing is an important skill. It’s going to change. This was 20 years ago, I was saying that. Everyone’s like, “No way, we got to be doing cursive. We got to be doing typing, we got to check those off the list.” And that’s it. I came in, and I, fortunately, had a really great principal who trusted what I was doing. Let me really take the curriculum on my own despite what the district wanted me to be doing.


Naomi Meredith  04:38

 A good principal, good! 


Bryan Miller  04:40

Yeah, yeah. I mean, to have that level of administrative support early on in my career was just so so life-changing, honestly. So I did that. I took it and ran with it. I built a website before there was a learning management system with all of my stuff. It was Mr. Miller tech.com which no longer exists. However, there is a Facebook Memorial group for it that my former students created. My former students got to go home and use everything that we were doing in class because I was finding fun websites to use and ways to incorporate what they were doing into the classroom. I really listened to what was happening with the teachers in the classroom to know maybe I should start incorporating presentations and learning some of these important skills into the everyday classroom, which then I no longer had a curriculum, and I would just be having the students come down and use that time to support the learning that they were doing in their classroom, but bringing technology into the mix. I did that for a number of years, and then I, fortunately, got a role in a similar position as a computer teacher in a private school in Florida. I took the leap of faith and did that move down there. Within that first year, our director of Ed Tech, Dr. Joan McGettigan, who is an absolutely incredible Ed Tech leader. So find her on Twitter, and follow her, she’s amazing. I was so excited to come down and work and learn from her that I did the move. When I got down there, I found out that she was going to leave that role and move to another school. So being the new guy in a new position, I came up with a lot of new fresh ideas. That first year, I became the Acting Director of Educational Technology. That next year, I became the Director of Educational Technology and did that for about five years. I then started working with Ed Tech startup companies, like Nearpod, which was one of the early ones literally sitting in their garage. Started presenting, keynote speaking, and traveled the world doing all of that stuff. Then I found myself in my role at Wonder Workshop. So that’s my background. I literally went from being in the classroom to finding a space that I love, a company that I love that I’ve had the opportunity to grow with through the years. I’ve been with wonder workshop for eight years or going on eight years, so I have kind of experienced a whole lot of things. But you know, teachers ask me all the time how did I make that transition. You become friends with companies that you love and enjoy, and magic happens from there. It just happened to happen that way for me. So, yeah, a long-winded answer to your question. But that kind of gave you the rundown, the cliff notes of everything.


Naomi Meredith  07:39

No, it’s great to hear your background because that’s really important too. You’re not just some random person who’s working at Wonder Workshop. Your experience led you to where you are today. I feel like what your experience in Ed Tech was is kind of what is happening with STEM education, where there are just little inklings of things. I feel like a lot of teachers can resonate with what you said. I was in the classroom before as well and also had a very supportive admin in this role. So I think a lot of teachers can connect with you. Also, they probably use Wonder Workshop products in their classroom too. So no, I think it’s so great. Your teaching experience can’t be taken away from you. I told that to another guest. Like, it’s so powerful, and you’re still working in education. So you’re still a teacher?


Bryan Miller  08:34

Yeah, I mean, I still call myself a teacher. So my role at Wonder Workshop is a fancy long name that is Senior Director of Global Strategic Education Outreach. Well, it’s long-winded, but really what it means is I get to work with schools and districts and, you know, lead a team of former educators in our customer success roles to become a partnership manager for Wonder Workshop and work with organizations closely. So I still have very close ties to education and to the classroom. Anytime that I’m invited into a teacher’s classroom, I hop, skip and jump over there because I’m so excited to get on the floor, play and see the excitement of computer science and STEM through the eyes of children and learn from them to find out what’s working, what’s not working. So I’m still very connected to that space and learn a lot from teachers every single day.


Naomi Meredith  09:37

Well, I have to have you come into my classroom and start robotics soon. So I know, I know who to call. I need some help.


Bryan Miller  09:44

You’re in Colorado still, right?


Naomi Meredith  09:46

I am. Yeah. 


Bryan Miller  09:48

So I am a huge fan of Colorado, so I will gladly pay a visit.


Naomi Meredith  09:53

Yeah. Perfect. That sounds good to me. We’ll chat after this. So for people who haven’t heard of Wonder Workshop, what solutions do you guys offer?


Bryan Miller  10:04

Wonder Workshop has evolved through the years. As I mentioned, I’ve been with it for about eight years, but Wonder Workshop has been around for about 10. From the very beginning, it’s all been built around this little guy, Dash robot. We create a robot, a physical robot, that teaches children how to code starting as young as Kindergarten, and curriculum and software that wrap all around it. Through the years, we have built a lot of products. We’ve built Dash, we’ve built Dot, which is its companion robot, we’ve built Q, which is a middle school robot, and we’ve built accessories. Now we’ve learned through the years that the importance of the content with what you’ve created is so needed for educators, especially quality content. So we are still continuing to develop Dash and its capabilities. It’s funny because I was having a conversation earlier today with the state of Hawaii. They were telling me that they’ve had robots for years, Dash robots and that it’s the one robot that has not phased out because we keep developing for it. So now, we have not pivoted, we have complemented the work that we’re doing with a software product called Class Connect, which brings in a tracking teacher management, Learning Management Console, where teachers are able to assign computer science lessons, activities, puzzles, challenges, all through that Virtual Console Class Connect, and students can interact with it and get feedback for the teachers to see how they’re performing. When they want a pair of physical robots, they can do that. Otherwise, every student through that gets a virtual Dash robot that looks and acts the exact same way as physical Dash. So having that physical companion plus the ability to have every student coding at the same time and only pair when you need to have been a total game changer for us. I really feel for the classroom because gone are the days now, if you’re using this, students sitting and waiting around to go to that station or be able to interact with the thing that they want to, and now they can do all that stuff ahead of time. Then they can watch it come to life when they’re ready to actually see it come to life. So that’s what we create. We’re also developing a lot more stuff. So it’s really an exciting time for the company.


Naomi Meredith  12:38

I’m so excited. I love Dash. I am not just saying that because I’m talking to you. But Dash is my favorite robot. I’ve used it even when I taught third grade. It’s true, if it doesn’t phase out, it’s still relevant. It’s multi-use and multi-grade. If there’s any robot that people are like, “Oh, what should I buy?” I suggest Dash because you can use it for everything, which is great. So I definitely recommend it from a teacher’s perspective, not sponsored to say this, but I love Dash, and he’s great. Like, I think your guys’ stuff is awesome. I love the option of Class Connect because I know a lot of teachers when they were remote, they were really dependent on that, especially a lot of STEM teachers who needed to teach online. You don’t have enough Dash robots to send home. We wish we had unlimited money to send them home with the kids. Class Connect is a great option for sending Dash home with the kids. But even since COVID, it’s still relevant. Kids can be excited since they can practice at home if they want to. I love seeing that they’re excited to learn coding. They’re seeing the thing come to life, and they know who Dash is and that it’s on my computer, but it’s also in my classroom. So I really liked how you guys added that option for classrooms.


Bryan Miller  13:46

It was a move that we were actually planning to make before COVID. We actually had already been developing it for almost a year. Then March 2020 came around, and the world shut down. Right. We weren’t planning to release Class Connect until ISTE that year. We had not even gone through beta testing with it at that time. We said we joined in with all the other companies that were out there, you know, graciously donating services to teachers that needed it at that time. We said you know what, what better way to beta test it than with the entire world. So we’re going to open it up. It’s going to be live for anyone to use for free during that time, and we’ll learn as we go and listen to what the users have to say. So we can then go back and develop it even further. So we released it that April before we even planned to publicly release the announcement. We announced that at our STEAM summit, so it was really neat to be able to give something back to the community that they had never seen before and get their first reaction right in the field, which really was crazy to think about happening. It has continued to grow and get better and better as we listen to the feedback of the teachers and the students. We continue to develop new features, we have a lot of new features that we’ll be announcing soon, so it’s really cool.


Naomi Meredith  15:18

I appreciate companies that are really focused on the students and teachers and take feedback like that really just shows that you are doing this for the right reasons, that you guys are here to support us, and you care what we have to say in our feedback. I’m sure you got a lot of interesting things. But that’s true. Like, why not? Let’s see, let’s see what happens. What’s the worst that can happen?


Bryan Miller  15:42

You’re right. I mean, I think as a company, Wonder Workshop, we say that we support our teachers, but we actually do it and show it and give evidence of it, which is really important. This podcast is for teachers that are moving into the STEM world and not sure how to start. I started using these products, Ozobots, Sphero, LEGO Mindstorms, NXT’s, and Dash when it first released. I really looked at not only the product, because they were just coming out at that time, but also like how they felt about teachers in their community because all of those products, except for LEGO, were not originally focused to sell to the school market. Ozobots were only sold at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I was one of the first teachers to even implement them in a school. Sphero was only sold at Brookstone stores like that was the only place to buy them, there were no coding capabilities with them. Then they evolved into these teacher exciting, awesome tools. I have a love for all of the products that are out there because they’re doing great things for the space. But for Wonder Workshop, the mission from the very beginning has been, you know, for kids, teaching them how to code that was the original idea. I fell in love with that mission. So if you’re a teacher looking for products, really pay attention to the company and how they talk about educators, how they respond to educators, not only through email, but through social media, and look to see what kind of resources they’ve already thought about for educators. There’s a lot of stuff that’s coming out on the market right now. Some of them are really great, but they don’t have the support for teachers in place. Teachers are at a spot now where they’re being thrown into these STEM roles in some cases, and they don’t know what to spend their money on or to buy, and they look at the new shiny thing. But that new shiny thing doesn’t always have the wraparound support that you need as a teacher. So to find companies, like I’ve mentioned, that do all of those things is really important during that vetting process.


Naomi Meredith  18:04

Definitely thinking about who they hire. Obviously, they prioritize teachers because your experience is so helpful. You are a teacher, and I’m sure you work with other people who are teachers, and you have that perspective. So that’s important, especially thinking of the support you guys have the International STEAM Summit coming up. So tell us a bit more about that. I will be presenting there about video and audio production in the STEM or STEAM space. But tell us about that, because I was really excited that you guys started. These summits are really fun.


Bryan Miller  18:39

Yeah. So again, this summit came back to the need for educators to have a space during COVID. So like I said, COVID, we all know, happened in March. We were planning at that time to go to CUE, which was canceled. Then ISTE, which had announced was canceled at the end of March. I’ve done a lot of stuff with virtual presentations and building out virtual meetings and summits. I had a platform that did that. So I said to the company, I said, “Listen like we’re at a point right now where teachers are at home. They don’t know what to do because that transition from students getting devices one to one device had not happened yet during this March to April timeframe. I said, “I think I can reach out to our community of users, our ambassadors, and my friends who are in the EdTech space, and I think I can pull together a virtual summit.” I said, “But here’s my criteria. One, it has to be completely free. I don’t want any teachers paying for it. This is something that we should be giving back to the education community and furthering the conversation of STEM education in the school space.” So they agreed to that, and they said to go ahead and build it out, and within less than three weeks, I had a little over two weeks’ worth of sessions. That was when we were running this summit for, like, a long period of time. They were all pretty much live at that point as well, too. So I was emceeing everything for two weeks straight in the evenings. It was a lot, but it was incredible. We pulled it off. I mean, that first year, we had almost, I think it was almost 8000 attendees from across the world joined because that was the only thing that was happening like there was nothing else. So we’ve done it every fall and every spring since. We’ve learned a lot through the years. We’ve made the sessions replayable all throughout the year, we have previously recorded sessions, we go live once a night, and we’ve shortened it from 10 days to three days, but it’s three days of very high-quality content. Naomi, you’ve done a bunch with us over the years, and we thank you for sharing your expertise and knowledge in this space. It’s just a lot of fun to hear from new people. So this year, we have Andrew Arevalo, who is going to be the closing keynote speaker. His Twitter handle is @GameboyDrew. He is going to be a featured speaker at CUE this year. He’s a new voice in this space, and really excited to give him an opportunity to share his voice. This is the first keynote that he’s doing. We’re so excited that we get to be the ones to do that with. We’ve had Kantis Simmons in the past, who is a former rocket scientist. We’ve had Kevin Honeycutt, who has done it in the past for us. I’ve done the closing keynote, and I’m the opening keynote this year. So it’s just a lot of fun over the three days, and it’s completely free. You can register at Fall.internationalSTEAMsummit.com. It’s free, and it’s available, and you get continuing education certificates for it for joining. So there’s really no reason not to at this point.


Naomi Meredith  22:02

Oh, yeah, it’s so great. If people don’t have time, just play it in your car like a podcast. I do this sometimes. I’ll just play it that way so I can catch up. So you don’t have to just sit there. I mean, you can sit there if you want. But there are other options when you’re walking your dog. That’s a great way to engage. So definitely worth your time. We’ll link that in the show notes. I know everyone listening will go. You’re listening to this, go listen to the summit.


Bryan Miller  22:28

Exactly. It’s fun, and we have a good time. We do giveaways during the live sessions at night, and we go live each night at seven o’clock pm Eastern Time. Then the rest of the day is all previously recorded and released on the hour. So even if you don’t catch it while it’s being released, it’s available three minutes after it’s gone live for you to watch it back at any point in time. 


Naomi Meredith  22:49

That’s so perfect. That’s what we teachers need. We need that, we need the replay. So you have this summit coming up, is there anything else you guys have coming out? I’m sure you’re gonna announce some stuff at the summit. So you don’t have to give away all the secrets, but anything you’re allowed to talk about.


Bryan Miller  23:06

So there will be some new capabilities coming soon for Dash that will unlock the software, which is actually really cool. So the firmware team and hardware team have done a lot around that, which is going to be something that we’ll continue to have students learn the next steps after Blockly, I’ll say. So it’s going to be able to do a lot more stuff, which is really cool. Then, of course, we have our Wonderly robotics competition that officially goes live on November 3, the last day of our summit. This year’s theme is space exploration. So all of these missions are about space and Dash trying to make his way through space. It’s all story-based. So if you’re looking for a way to engage your kids with competition and win prizes, it’s a really fun couple of months of missions that your teams would go through and experience, so that’s what I can share for now. You’ll have to catch the other stuff at the opening keynote, which will share some more details.


Naomi Meredith  24:19

Perfect. That’s so good. I highly recommend doing the Wonderly robotics competition. I’ve done that ever since I started teaching STEM, and it’s my fifth year in STEM. It’s a great after-school option, and everything is laid out so nicely. So I know it’s a lot when you’re teaching all day. You’re like, I don’t want to do a club. No, this is like the funnest club. It’s great. It’s so much fun. I love how it’s all laid out, and it’s different every year. It’s just another way to get those kids who are even like who are really interested in coding just to practice in a different way, but they really have to collaborate, so there’s a lot of collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. It’s not an individualized activity, it is a team thing and you can do competitions or not. If you’re thinking about what I should do for my spring clubs or winter going into spring, definitely, you should do that.


Bryan Miller  25:15

Yeah, and at this point, we’re going into year eight of the competition. So far, over the years, we have had around almost 87,000 kids from 96 countries throughout the world participate. 48% are girls that are a part of this competition, which we are the only competition for coding that’s out there that has that almost equal number of 50/50. There have been more girls that have won the competition over the years than the boys have here. I think that’s extremely important. Because you know, a lot of competitions are engineering based, where you have to construct, build, solve, where there’s a lot of creative storytelling, art design, you know, things that might interest other students beyond just the traditional computer science driven students to join this and be on a team. Because without those people that have that level of creativity, you won’t be able to score as highly as teams that don’t have that. So it really does encourage a wide variety of skill sets to become a part of it that other competitions typically don’t involve. 


Naomi Meredith  26:26

Oh, I agree. When I did, I actually did a girls’ team. I had one girl who was super creative. She reminds me of the kind of person who should be working as a Disney Imagineer, just that level of creativity and design. She just has that different way of thinking and like, I’m going to tell you about this job doesn’t mean you have to do it, but you just have that thing. So it’s just so cool. Like how the competition just brings it all together. It’s just code this, code that is just more engaging and interactive, and the themes each year really fun.


Bryan Miller  27:10

It’s wonderful to hear year after year. Coaches have come back in the surveys and have said that even though they didn’t make it to the next round, they’re proud of the work that they did. They’re proud of the community that they built through the competition, you know, getting kids together that may not typically have worked together previously. That for them has been a win for the teachers because they’re able to get them to learn these social skills that are so important. They need to understand and know how to communicate, collaborate, and problem-solve together as a team. Year after year, we hear the same things from those coaches that this was the best part of all of it, you know, aside from the chance to win a prize for them. The kids just get so excited to be able to submit their video and be proud of something and show what they’ve just spent the last two months engineering and set designing. For them, that’s the level of excitement of turning it in, knowing that they hit the deadline. So, yeah, it’s great. I’m glad that you guys are gonna be joining again too.


Naomi Meredith  28:28

Oh, yeah, I’m so excited about it. So with all of these amazing resources, is there anything else you want to share? Or how can people connect with you? We’ll definitely link everything in the show notes.


Bryan Miller  28:42

Visit the Wonder Workshop website, makewonder.com. We do have, as I mentioned, Class Connect. Check it out, you can try it for free. We have a free trial period at makewonder.com. So play with it. Then, if you have any questions, you can reach out to me at bryan@makewonder.com. You can follow me on Twitter at Bryan L. Miller. As I said, I love to connect with educators. So if you have any questions, just reach out, and I can point you in the right direction or connect you with other educators on our team who can answer additional questions for you.


Naomi Meredith  29:18

Perfect. So I know people will definitely be reaching out to you, joining, and seeing you speak at the summit and join my session.


Bryan Miller  29:27

Yes, join Naomi’s session. 


Naomi Meredith  29:28

Absolutely. Not live, but it’ll make you feel like it’s live.


Bryan Miller  29:34

We’ll have to get you on live for the next one. For sure.


Bryan Miller  29:37

I will. Yeah. Well, I’ll take a day off, and I’ll go.


Bryan Miller  29:41

It’s in the evening. You don’t have to worry.


Naomi Meredith  29:44

Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much for your time. There are so many goodies in this episode. Thank you so much and perfect timing for the summit coming out this week. I know everyone’s going to be excited about everything that you shared. So thank you again!


Bryan Miller  30:00

Thank you, it was a pleasure chatting, and good luck, everyone. I mean, this is such a fun space to be in, enjoy every minute of it and learn from as many people as you can.


Naomi Meredith  30:11

Great words of wisdom. Thank you so much

 

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!