Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

What are some practical ways that you can implement technology and growth mindset into your STEM instruction? This is the 2nd episode of my STEM in action series, where we will break apart each letter in STEM to give you ideas on how to boost up each component in your instruction. I’ll be interviewing guests who specialize in each of the letters and also sharing my quick tips to give you some ideas when you are lesson planning. For our guest today, I am talking with Amy from the STEM techie over on Instagram. With her background as a k through 12 math and science teacher and her experience in instructing future elementary teachers, doctor Amy is dedicated to democratizing STEM education. She seeks to provide a virtual space filled with resources and activity ideas for both parents and teachers. She is passionate about technology and an advocate for STEM learning. Doctor Amy leverages these tools to enhance the learning processes to help you and your students. Amy also mentions a really, really cool personal project that she is working on, which should be released at the time of this podcast.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:24]:

So make sure not to miss out on that. Amy and I actually connected over on Instagram, and we surprisingly had a chance to meet in person not too long ago. She was in town not too far from where I live, so we took it upon ourselves, and we actually got to meet up. And I have a really cute picture of us that I’ll post in the show notes, and we’re at this cute coffee shop that looks like it was set right in the Versailles Palace. It was so cute. I absolutely adore Amy, and I knew that we needed to do something together. So this isn’t the last time that you are going to be hearing from her. We are actually working on something else together behind the scenes, which I don’t can’t remember if we even talk about in the show.

Naomi Meredith [00:02:56]:

Well, thank you, Amy, so much for being here today. We were talking for a long time before we were recording. We’re like, maybe we should start recording because there are so many good things that we were talking about. And I was over on your podcast and had so much fun. I’m like, you need to be on my podcast. So, you’ll definitely have to share the title of it so everyone can find it. But, if you wouldn’t mind telling us, just let us know a little bit more about you and just, your journey into what you’re doing making, but also how you support, Steam and technology.

Dr. Amy [00:03:30]:

Well, thank you so much for having me on your podcast. Like you said, I had an absolute blast talking on my podcast and all that you are doing with yours. So I’m excited to jump in and talk about this. So, my name is doctor Amy, and I have a PhD in teacher education. And I focused all of my schooling and teaching in technology and math ed. And before that, I was in the k twelve world where I taught math and science, and I actually, got a grant as a teacher to implement technology. And that’s kinda where I fell in love with technology and learning and seeing all of the kids come alive with it. And so I was like, oh my gosh.

Dr. Amy [00:04:07]:

I have to know more about that. So, I graduated about a year ago, which was awesome and insane. But since then, one of the things that I had talked to people about of why aren’t you taking grad classes, or what are your thoughts on taking grad classes? They said, well, unfortunately, I can’t because of funds or time, which, you know, we are both teachers. We get that. You know, we empathize with that. Teachers don’t need more schooling. They need resources. And so I kind of took it on myself to make it a mission of how do I get resources and technology ideas into the hands of teachers.

Dr. Amy [00:04:43]:

So I started social media, shortly after I graduated, and I’ve been doing that. And I have a podcast, like you mentioned, of Parenting in the Techie World podcast. That’s specifically for parents just kinda navigating, you know, their kids’ learning in a techie world, which is very different from how most of us grew up that are parents. And then I also have a children’s book coming out in the next few weeks that I’ll share a little bit more about that later.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:09]:

Yay. I love that. And I think that’s perfect too. I’m so glad you shared your podcast, because I know we have a lot of parents who listen to this as well and, a lot of teachers who are parents, and I think that perspective is really really helpful. But you’re also telling me you did something cool. Like, when you were teaching, teachers, you were doing some really cool stuff with your, they were going through the teaching program, and then they took your class about technology. What were you doing with them? I thought this was so cool.

Dr. Amy [00:05:42]:

So I have a little bit different philosophy when it comes to technology, and I kinda based it on my experience with technology. And so when someone approached me and said, oh, I’d love for you to do robotics in your math and science class, I was like, yeah. That’s cool. I’m scared of robots. Like, I don’t know how to work them. I don’t know how to turn them on. You know? But I also you know, that STEM mindset of, like, trying new things, I was like, I’m willing to try it. However, I don’t have a lot of time.

Dr. Amy [00:06:08]:

And so my classes for undergraduate specifically were just giving time. And so I would say, here’s a Sphero Bolt or here’s an Ozobot or here’s a DashBot. Like, you sit down and create with it. So I would, generally choose, like, a great band, like a k 2, 3, 6, great band and say, pick one of the standards, create something that’s either math or science related, and see what you come up with. And so it was really cool to see just the innovation of teachers. And, at the end of the class, I would have them turn in all of these lesson plans that they designed, and I would give them to them so they could walk into their 1st year teaching with all of these resources and ideas from, not me, I was the facilitator of all of their peers and the collaboration that happened in class. So, it was my favorite way to teach, and I love teaching like that.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:58]:

I think that’s so cool. I was thinking back on my master’s in STEM leadership and also my undergrad, and I did not have a technology class like that where it was meaningful in a way where you got to interact with the tools but then also create a lesson you would actually want to use. So I love that you did that. That’s such a great strategy. And you also said it was standards based, which I talk about that all the time on here. That it’s not like, okay. Turn on the robot. Like, you you do that, but then, alright, what else are you gonna do with it?

Dr. Amy [00:07:32]:

Right. And I think that’s one thing that teachers run into often is they’re like, oh, I would love to use robotics, but I am so far, like, scheduled with my pacing guide that I don’t have any way to add on. And so that’s why I wanted to give them time. Instead of adding on to something, you are switching out to something. So instead of doing a worksheet with this, you’re now having the kids create something coding, learning those same math skills. And so it was like a switcheroo instead of please add more to my plate because that’s exactly what teachers want. Right?

Naomi Meredith [00:08:01]:

Like, we don’t want more to on our plate. Teach you how to

Dr. Amy [00:08:04]:

do something different. Yeah. So it’s awesome. Yeah. Like, once

Naomi Meredith [00:08:07]:

you learn that tool, it’s actually not that bad. If a little kid can do it Mhmm. He can definitely do it. It’s like, think about that. Like, you can learn it. It’s actually not that hard. And even when I talk to my dad, he’s, like engineer. When I first got into STEM, he was like, oh, how did you get this job? Coding is so hard.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:28]:

I’m all Mhmm. Yes. But think about my target audience. They’re the youngest is 5. Mhmm.

Dr. Amy [00:08:35]:

And

Naomi Meredith [00:08:36]:

so they like like, I can learn it, they can learn it. So it’s gonna be okay. So think about that too. I mean, it’s not as overwhelming, at least in elementary, when you’re using those technology tools.

Dr. Amy [00:08:49]:

Yeah. And that’s why I always say, you know, I am not an expert coder. I know the level that most elementary school students are. And, you know, we are teaching kids that have just grown up with technology. My oldest is 3 and a half years old, and she knows how to navigate my computer and my phone so quickly that it’s just like the it’s a second language to them almost because they’re just so we all have iPads. We all have smartphones. We all have tablets. You know, all of these things.

Dr. Amy [00:09:19]:

And so they it it’s second nature to them to interact with them and be curious about them. And so it was a lot of reframing on my end of, oh, this is approachable, but it is I needed bite size pieces, and so that’s what I tried to do in my classes because I was just like, how did I feel when I first approached this robot? I just wanted to play with it. And that’s honestly, when I was in the k twelve world, that’s what I did too. The kids just wanted to play with it. So I let them create with them, and it was so cool to see what they came up with.

Naomi Meredith [00:09:50]:

I love that. That’s such a great that’s just so encouraging to hear. So any of you teachers who are just getting started, play around with it because and play around with with your students, and it will work out, and then you can go from there. It will it will it’ll be okay.

Dr. Amy [00:10:05]:

Yes. My recommendation is, for the first 15 minutes, get out a robot yourself and for yourself too and just see what you find out. And then I would bring everyone together and say, okay. What did we find out about this variable? Like, let’s talk about it. And someone would say, oh, I figured out if I did this, or I figured out a loop and blah blah blah. And so it was so much more of like a hive mindset and collaboration, which was such a cool dynamic in a classroom. And I felt like, at least in my experience, kids were more excited about that because they were doing the learning, and they weren’t being talked to, if that makes sense.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:36]:

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that’s excellent. That we can implement that right away. I love that. That’s so good. Okay. So once the teacher has, like, gotten started with that, are there any and it could be robotics or something else you have in mind, maybe from that experience or whatever.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:52]:

But are there any STEM lessons or technology lessons you can think of that you absolutely love

Dr. Amy [00:10:59]:

Mhmm.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:59]:

Teaching or that you saw? It might be hard to pick one or 2.

Dr. Amy [00:11:04]:

Yes. That’s so I think for STEM, specifically, I focused a lot on, like, phenomena. So, like, localized things that were happening. So I, taught and went to school in the state of Nebraska, and we recently had, like, it was 1 in a 100 year flood that just, like, wiped out half the state. It was insane. And so I based a lot of my lessons on that because it was able to tap into, like, the empathy piece of my students. And so they were like, oh, you know, my grandma couldn’t get out of her house for a while or, like, this road was closed or we were driving by this bridge. And so it was able to drum up a lot of emotion for them.

Dr. Amy [00:11:43]:

So it was kind of getting them to buy into a STEM lesson, if that makes sense. Yeah. And so we, I did a lot of those lessons. And so I was like, okay. So let’s say that we need this house to be beautiful. It’s been in the family for generations, and, you know, the flood is coming. Let’s build something to keep the water out or the foundation’s going. How do we do that? And so it was just, like, different phenomena that they experienced.

Dr. Amy [00:12:06]:

Or in the state of Nebraska, the wolf population is endangered. And so we would talk about, like, the food chain. So, again, tying in all of those standards that were super easy to talk about of, like, okay. So, what do wolves need to survive? Okay. So, like, they need water, they need shelter, and they need food. So then if we want to increase that, what does that happen with the food chain? So, it’s constantly going back and forth with specific content standards. Again, trying to

Naomi Meredith [00:12:31]:

Yeah.

Dr. Amy [00:12:32]:

Not add on, switch the way that we were teaching. So Yeah. I loved doing phenomena based STEM. And then I also probably my favorite tech stem was with a DashBot. We did Fraction Street. And so we had a whole, which was 1, and they had to break it up into at least 4 different parts. And so they had to identify it. They had to do equivalent fractions, and they had to come up with a story line.

Dr. Amy [00:13:03]:

And so they had to share, like, this is your street. You gotta share about your neighbors, who are on one half, and tell about their lives. And so, with the DashBot, you can record your voice. And so then they would record their voices, and so then we would go through and they would share about their, their favorite fraction straight. So the best time to do that was fall because they all went to, like, a haunted street, which was Oh. Even way more cool, which I loved. So, that was probably my favorite lesson that I did with robots.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:33]:

That’s cute. I love that. And if you guys are watching the video behind me, I have a big poster of Dash. It might be worth a day. Dash is my favorite. Absolutely. And and Dash, it’s funny. Dash is the first STEM material I ever used in my life.

Dr. Amy [00:13:51]:

Really? Okay.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:52]:

Yes. When I taught 3rd grade, this little robot was so cute. It’s so funny. Now, I do a lot with them, so it’s like full circle.

Dr. Amy [00:14:02]:

Yeah. Well and I think, you know, even they have opportunities to engage with it. So it’s much less, like, kids are doing stuff, but then they get to see this robot, like, visually see it. So they’re like, oh, it just adds this layer of, like, coolness for the kids. At least in my experience, they were just obsessed with robots. So anytime I could get a robot moving, I was like, we’re learning a lot today.

Naomi Meredith [00:14:24]:

Mhmm. Oh, yeah. As long as you know the rules and then

Dr. Amy [00:14:28]:

Yeah. Safety first.

Naomi Meredith [00:14:30]:

Yes. The robot. Also, don’t take them home. I’ve had that happen with Ozobots.

Dr. Amy [00:14:36]:

Oh, no. Yeah. They are kinda little. I get that. My thing was, with Spheroes, they can get so fast, especially with the little kids. I’m like, everyone’s sitting down on the floor. No one is walking while these are going because I don’t want someone to roll an ankle because they just go flying off. And most of my rules where robots were on the ground because, again, with the Spheroes, they go so fast that you’re just, like, off the table, and then it’s broken.

Dr. Amy [00:15:00]:

Yep. So

Naomi Meredith [00:15:01]:

And then it’s broken. Yeah. Same. Yep. I think I let I think I let kids with Ozobots on the table because they’re so small. They don’t go very fast.

Dr. Amy [00:15:10]:

Mhmm.

Naomi Meredith [00:15:11]:

But I was the same way. Everything else had to be on the floor, 100%.

Dr. Amy [00:15:16]:

Yes. Well, and it breaks up your date, too, which is super nice. You know, they’re not always sitting, so I’m like, there’s lots of benefits of robots.

Naomi Meredith [00:15:24]:

Yeah. So you kinda mentioned some really good things, but, about how to get started, and we talked about robotics. But, when teachers and it can be parents too, but also when they think you’re thinking about you want to get started in STEM or implement it, what are just, like, some practical ways, to get it to get started, but it’s also still fun and engaging, which I think it depends on most lessons, they are fun and engaging, but

Dr. Amy [00:15:53]:

Mhmm.

Naomi Meredith [00:15:54]:

What do you typically need, teachers or parents? And it could be different things, too.

Dr. Amy [00:15:59]:

Oh, that is a great question. I think my biggest thing again, from my experience, my biggest thing was a mindset shift. Instead of, like, being the I was turning into a facilitator rather than, like, I’m gonna teach my kid a lesson. And it is even different when I do STEM lessons with my 3-year-old. I mean, she’s we’re at a very basic level of let’s build a tower and talking about, like, the importance of building a strong tower. So we’re building the foundations of that. But I think for me, the biggest piece was to get curious about why is this working or why isn’t this working or, how tall do you think we could get this tower to go? And that was not only for my sake, but it was also for my kids’ sake. Right? And so when we talk about teaching STEM, the end product doesn’t really matter.

Dr. Amy [00:16:54]:

Right? The whole process of it, and the resilience, the problem solving, the critical thinking, those are the skills that we really wanna focus on with STEM. And so it’s so much less about, can we build a tower that’s 12 inches high that can hold £2. Right? It’s when it crashes down, what do our kids do, and what do I do? And I recently shared on social media about, you know, the whole, social media is fake, social media isn’t real, which I shared some of my challenges. And so when my kid is getting frustrated, I can turn her around very quickly, but then I lose steam. Steam. Like, it’s almost like she sucks all of my positive energy out of me, and I’m like, oh. So it’s a mindset shift of me as a facilitator of saying, you know, like, the end goal doesn’t matter. Right? And I’m gonna age myself a little bit, and I’m a millennial, and I tried to be a straight A student.

Dr. Amy [00:17:53]:

And I tried to, you know, get the right answer the right way. And, you know, it’s it that’s how I taught for a long time, and I learned. And so Yeah. Changing my mindset of this is a process, and the process is what matters. And to get the process to work, you have to have skills of problem solving, critical thinking, innovation, thinking outside of the box, and how do I react when that happens? So what was probably the most important for me was just continually reminding myself to get curious and excited about this. It isn’t about the end process. Mhmm. And so that would be my biggest recommendation to get curious.

Dr. Amy [00:18:37]:

And then, also, I think for me, again, in my experience, when I saw these really big elaborate STEM projects, I was like, oh god. I cannot do those. And so, Mhmm. Start start small. You know? Mhmm. If you go through the STEM engineering design process, there know, there’s multiple steps. The first one is to identify a problem. Go around your house and start identifying problems.

Dr. Amy [00:19:01]:

Oh, your sippy cup is spilling. Let’s design a new sippy cup. You know, just different things like that. Or, you know, you don’t like going upstairs. Let’s create a fun way to go down the stairs. And so Okay. It doesn’t have to be the whole process to get started. It can be little blurps of it.

Dr. Amy [00:19:18]:

So those would be my recommendations. Start small and get curious.

Naomi Meredith [00:19:23]:

I think that’s really important because I love how you said all that, and you probably see this too where STEM isn’t being funded as often. It’s from, or the funding is less and less. A lot of classroom teachers are starting to implement more STEM, or they may not have the STEM specials. Even STEM teachers that I talk to see all the kids in 1 week. So they see every single class in their goal in 1 week, and so their products do have to be shorter and attainable and quick, and that’s okay, too. Like, it doesn’t have to be super drawn out. So, I love how you see that as well, and that curiosity is so important. And a lot a lot of the STEM experts that I talked to on the kid podcast, STEM Career Quest, they say that to the kids about being curious.

Dr. Amy [00:20:18]:

Mhmm. So I

Naomi Meredith [00:20:19]:

love how you say that too. That’s great.

Dr. Amy [00:20:23]:

There’s a theme. Right? I guess we’re all supposed to get curious.

Naomi Meredith [00:20:26]:

Yeah. Maybe maybe it’s your word of the year.

Dr. Amy [00:20:29]:

There we go. I love that.

Naomi Meredith [00:20:32]:

So you guys definitely have to check her out on Instagram. She shares Amy shares some really, really awesome projects and things for you to check out. So definitely go ahead and follow her. I know she talks about things on her podcast. But, at the time of this recording, we’re here in April, and this will come out in May. So it probably will change. Who knows? But do you have any fun projects going on or anything that you wanna share about?

Dr. Amy [00:20:58]:

Yes. So, yes. Follow me on social media. I do a lot of stuff, more of an informal kind of Makerspace, so it’s less like whole class stuff. But, again, it can be implemented in the class, but we’re focusing on, like, how to do the stem. And I just wanna be a virtual Makerspace, if you will. But on top of that, I think I have 2 illustrations left before I can launch my very first children’s book. And I am going to be doing, I hope, a first of many, STEM children’s books.

Dr. Amy [00:21:33]:

So it’s called, Don’t Lose Your Marbles. It follows a little girl. And we had talked previously, about just, like, the representation, at the STEM table. And so I specifically did it, as a little girl. And it she is based loosely off my 2 daughters. And I just my dream for them to be curious and to always be creating. So, when I was first born not when I was first born. When my daughter was first born, my sweet advisers, in math education had given me a ton of math books.

Dr. Amy [00:22:08]:

And they were all incredible children’s books that I found myself reaching for a STEM children’s book. And I didn’t find it anywhere. And so I had found a quote that said, if you don’t find a book, you’re supposed to write it. And I was like, well, that’s interesting. So I guess I’m writing a children’s book. And so I wrote a children’s book, Don’t Lose Your Marbles. It is Millie. So, again, with that, like, localized empathy piece, she loves to play with marbles, and her marbles keep rolling away.

Dr. Amy [00:22:36]:

So she has to design a way to keep them safe. And so it was a problem that she had identified. She was coming up with a solution, and she follows the STEM engineering design process all through the book. But I also wanted it to not only be a children’s book that my daughters could see themselves in, but I also wanted it to be a resource for teachers and for parents. So it follows a story line. But before the story begins, it goes through all of the steps of the STEM engineering design of identifying a problem, coming up with a solution, brainstorming. And then throughout the book, there’s key vocabulary like brainstorming and what is a model and different things like that. So, not only can it be used in the classroom, but my hope is that it gets into homes, and so kids are building that vocabulary before they get into the classroom with their parents and to give parents more confidence.

Dr. Amy [00:23:30]:

And so they’re stepping into STEM activities in the classroom with more confidence. So by the time this airs, hopefully, knock on wood, it will be launched. But, illustrations are so much fun, and they take a lot more time than I was expecting. So, are you the illustrator? No. My god. No. No. No.

Dr. Amy [00:23:51]:

I have a phenomenal illustrator, blueberry illustrations. They are incredible. But, to get exactly what I want, they have just been working endlessly. And so it’s a lot more detailed than I was expecting. And so I was just like, oh, they just, like, make a picture, and then we all love it, and we move on. And then that didn’t happen. So it was it’s just a lot of revisions, which I guess are normal for children’s books. But when you write your first children’s book, you learn a lot.

Dr. Amy [00:24:19]:

So

Naomi Meredith [00:24:19]:

I’m so excited for you, and I’m so excited to see it. That is so, so perfect. I love that integration where it has the vocabulary, but also that story line, and teachers and parents love using

Dr. Amy [00:24:36]:

Mhmm.

Naomi Meredith [00:24:37]:

Tools so needed. And, like you said, there aren’t very many that are STEM specific

Dr. Amy [00:24:44]:

Mhmm.

Naomi Meredith [00:24:45]:

In terms of the building and creation part. So I’m so excited to read it and see how it goes. When this comes out, I hope we have a link, but we’ll have a link to your website and everything. And Okay. We will we will check it out.

Dr. Amy [00:24:59]:

Yes. It will for sure be almost done. If not, almost it’s gonna be done. I’m just gonna put it out that it will be launched by

Naomi Meredith [00:25:05]:

the time of this episode.

Dr. Amy [00:25:07]:

But, yeah, it has been a journey, a really cool journey. And you know, the the true STEM nerd in me, I wanted to do math, science, technology, and that just didn’t work in a children’s book. So I just wanna acknowledge she uses a little bit of math. I I don’t love math more than any other STEM content areas. There will be future books that science and technology and engineering will be the focus. However, I had to choose one for the sake of not having a 200 page children’s book.

Naomi Meredith [00:25:36]:

Yeah. And that happens too. Like, when you teach some projects, some are more math heavy than others, and some are more engineering based.

Dr. Amy [00:25:42]:

Yes.

Naomi Meredith [00:25:43]:

That’s life. So that’s great.

Dr. Amy [00:25:45]:

Yes. When I originally wrote it, it had multiple. And then I was like, there’s no way that I would read this in my classroom. And so it’s been helpful as, you know, a classroom teacher who used books. And as a mom, I’m like, I’m not gonna keep my attention span of my 3-year-old with this size of book. So I gotta pair it back a little bit. So it’s been fun.

Naomi Meredith [00:26:03]:

Well, I appreciate that. When I babysit, all the kids wanted me to read the Disney books because they knew they wouldn’t go to bed because they take, like, 5 hours to read. I’m like, we’re not reading Disney books anymore. So I’m so glad you know you know the the length of a book is really important too.

Dr. Amy [00:26:20]:

Yes. It’s almost like I have a 3-year-old who tries to find the longest book on her bookshelf when her dad’s putting her to bed.

Naomi Meredith [00:26:27]:

It’s like, and he doesn’t know all the tricks. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I’ll read it to you. Like, are you sure? Are you sure? Look.

Dr. Amy [00:26:33]:

That’s when you switch to the first line of every page. And I was like, there’s too much good information to just skip over lines of reading. So that’s why I was like, I’ll pair it back and turn it into a series.

Naomi Meredith [00:26:44]:

Yes. Perfect. Well, we’re so excited about that. So, to keep tabs with you and get inspired, where can teachers find you and connect with you?

Dr. Amy [00:26:55]:

Awesome. Well, I am on social media. The it’s techie teacher mama on, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. And by the time this airs, I will have a blog up called the techiestemlearninglab.com, and that’s gonna have more long form content for resources for parents and teachers. And then you can check out my podcast. It’s called Parenting in a Techy World, and that focuses on everything technology. We talk about how to manage screen time or coding or screen-free resources, just everything dealing with tech that we didn’t grow up with. So I have a lot of really cool guests on there talking about just navigating it as parents because if you talk to any parent and they say they have it all together, you should probably find a new parent because none of us have any idea what’s going on, and technology adds this new layer that we are trying to navigate.

Dr. Amy [00:27:47]:

And we, I mean, I grew up with dial-up Internet. So, navigating screen time was not a thing. So I’m trying to figure that out in real time with my 3-year-old on a podcast. So come join the craziness of navigating it all if you’d like.

Naomi Meredith [00:28:01]:

I love that. It’s almost like an audio journal in a little bit.

Dr. Amy [00:28:05]:

Yeah. Be it basically is. Yeah.

Naomi Meredith [00:28:08]:

Well, thank you so much, Amy. I know we can chat forever and ever. I have no idea how long this episode is, but I know it’s amazing what we talked about. So I appreciate having you so much as a guest, and I’m excited for teachers to connect with you and your book to come out.

Dr. Amy [00:28:24]:

Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me, and I’m excited to connect with all of you guys and, you know, try to figure out STEM and navigate it all together because that’s what we gotta do. Hive mindset.

Naomi Meredith [00:28:36]:

I agree. Well, thank you so much again.

Dr. Amy [00:28:39]:

Thanks.