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video making for students

3 Benefits of Video Making for Students [ep.121]

by Naomi Meredith

3 Benefits of Video Making for Students [ep.121]

video making for students

Check out the full episode on 3 Benefits of Video Making for Students:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

You may have heard your students talk about wanting to be a YouTuber or TikToker, and in this day and age, it can very well be a reality for them. If you’re wondering if you should incorporate video production into your classroom, today’s episode is for you. In today’s episode, I’m sharing three benefits of video making for students. Who knows, you just might have the next big YouTube star in your classroom!

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Benefits of students making videos
  • Why learning how to create videos and be on camera are essential skills for students
  • Tips for getting started with video making for students
  • The different types of video content students should create

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


When I grow up, I want to be a YouTuber, or I want to be a TikToker. Do you ever hear this from your students? More often than not. Okay, so I am a little bit biased about this topic because, yes, here on the Elementary STEM Coach podcast, I am also a YouTuber per se, where I do record the video of my podcast episodes and make other video content as well to share with all of you to help you with STEM education. So again, I definitely believe in this topic and see the power of it, and I know that students creating videos is really important. Being a YouTuber isn't that far-fetched of a dream. In fact, YouTube is the number two search engine compared to Google. We, as humans, like watching videos. We like watching other people.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:00]:


Whether it is a how-to video on how to fix your microwave, I definitely watched one of those in the past couple of weeks, or even how to cook something. Video can bring so much content to life, and you actually get to see what is happening, whether our students become YouTubers or TikTokers. In this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you the benefits of students creating videos and different ways that you can get started. You are here listening to this episode, and I already completed my live virtual workshop when it comes to setting up your pre-recorded schoolwide video news.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:10]:


Now, if you're sitting here, you're like, oh man, I wish I should have signed up. Don't worry, I recorded the whole experience, so you didn't have to miss out. So you don't have the opportunity to chat with me live. But inside, you get the whole workshop, all of the templates to get started, and all the tips and tricks to be on your way. So, in 2 hours, I know that you can be successful with your video schoolwide news. You can jump in on that at naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop. Okay, I have a confession to make. When I was a kid, I was a lot like my students.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:50]:


I always wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, and I actually made that dream possible, which is pretty cool. I always wanted to be a teacher. But on the side, there are a couple of things. I always wanted my own business, and I always wanted to be on camera, which is super funny. All three things have actually come true. I haven't changed much, apparently, since I was a kid, but I always wanted to be on camera. It first started when I was watching the Barney show, and I got really jealous of the kids that they got to make all of these cool crafts on camera and show all of us how to make them. And then it moved on to Bill Nye, the Science Guy, again, he's super entertaining.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:39]:


It's a dream to have him on my podcast, go tag him and tell him I would love to have him on here. But I started with Bill Nye, then went to Bill Nye the Science Guy, and then I went to Disney Channel, and I loved just seeing other kids on camera. But my favorite parts again were the ones when kids were teaching you how to do something, so they're like, here's this science activity, or here's how to do this. And I really loved that. So when I wasn't playing school and messing with my siblings and trying to teach them how to read, only one of them listened to me, and I did teach them how to read. We were actually making a lot of videos with our camcorder and had the little cassette tapes in there. So, making videos has been something that I've been doing for a long time. I'm definitely not shy when it comes to the camera, whether it's pictures or video, which here I am today, making my dreams come true.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:35]:


And I do make a lot of videos on how to do things, whether it's here in the STEM classroom, elementary STEM, or even if it's recorded videos, which is pretty funny. So super jealous of Selena Gomez. She was a Disney Channel kid and Barney kid, so I definitely knew the wrong people growing up, but we'll see. Everybody has their own journey. The more that I was thinking about this, though, I asked myself the question, did I ever make any videos when I was at school? And the answer is no. I personally did not make one video during the school day. And not to say the technology wasn't there, it was, but I just didn't really ever have the opportunity to ever make a video. I was in a photography class, but I never made any videos, and so it was harder again to get that technology.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:32]:


But think about your students, think about your teaching career. Have you ever had students make a video with you? Even if you've taught within the past ten years, you've had the technology in your back pocket. And our students shouldn't be going through school K through twelve and say, yeah, I never made a video at school. They should never, ever be able to say that. Videos can be super polished, like having a video school wide news, or they can be super simple, like recording what they did on their work. In Seesaw again, video is not going away. Video is super important, and even as little as pre k students should be making videos to share their ideas. So let's talk about this more.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:25]:


What are the benefits of students making videos? Why should they be doing this? Why should they be in front of the camera and behind the camera? Why does this even matter? They're not all going to be YouTubers, let's face it. But they all need these video skills. So let's get into it. The first benefit of students making videos is it brings the content to life. Everything doesn't have to be a video. I mean, it can be, but it doesn't all have to be. And you're probably sitting there like, yeah. Naomi, you were a STEM teacher.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:59]:


Of course your kids made videos in your class. Yes, they did. But when I was a classroom teacher, they also made videos in my class. And when I was co teaching with teachers, I showed them to have students make videos in their class. The big project that I remember is when I taught third grade, we did a rocks and minerals museum. And so students kept bringing in these beautiful minerals that they got from all these places. They had so many of them. I said, you know what, we're going to create a whole project and we're going to create a rocks and minerals museum, and you are going to study about one of these minerals and create a presentation that when they come into our museum, they can learn all about it.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:42]:


But the part of this museum is we aren't there to present when we go to a museum. There are people helping out, but there's videos and other things that we can watch so we can have the project come to life. So I did have students create a video clip, and that was part of their presentation that had QR codes and different things. But I had them create a video to share part of the information about their rock and mineral. Same thing when I was co teaching second grade, was learning about weather. And so we did a whole weather report that they could present. And then I modified the same kind of thing when it came to third grade, which you can actually grab that lesson in the show notes when it comes to a whole green screen, worldwide weather report, there are so many different ways that content can be brought to life. So when you're thinking about ways for students can share the information, think about does it have to be a poster that is stagnant and they're standing next to it talking about it, or are there ways that they can share that same information and put it in a video format? When you do that, watch the engagement rise.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:57]:


The second benefit of students being able to create videos is it's teaching them the skills to be able to explain things clearly to others. This is an important life skill. Now, the top tier of this, being able to explain the information to others is when I did my schoolwide prerecorded video news. And if you missed out on a bit, I have the workshop at Naomi Meredith.com Newsworkshop. And every day we shared news that was happening in our building, like the lunch, the birthdays, after school clubs, and other big events that were coming up. But students had to be very clear in how they were presenting the information. So everybody can understand what is going on. But you can even do this really simply with having things that aren't as pre planned.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:52]:


So even going into things like Seesaw, Flipgrid, and WeVideo, students can either record their screen or record their face explaining more about a topic. It can be as polished as you want, or it could be as easy as hitting record and talking about what was their favorite thing that they learned today. So the more kids have practiced being on camera, the more comfortable they are going to be. You're going to have little kids who say, I don't like being on camera, and I say to them, that's fine, but this is a skill that we need to get better at. And the only people as of now who are saying this are me, you, your classmates, maybe your parents. We're not putting it anywhere else. And so again, it's a very important skill. But not only that, in the elementary space, it's a skill for when they get to be an adult.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:45]:


Think about how did you feel teaching online during COVID. Now, for me, personally, I didn't mind whatsoever. I was very comfortable being on video calls, and that was something that I was doing regularly anyway. So teaching on camera was actually really fun and I really enjoyed it. But not every teacher had that same experience. There was a lot of teachers who had never made a video for their class before. So me transitioning online was very easy because I had that video experience. But teaching isn't the only thing that needs video experience. More and more and more employers are looking for people who are confident on camera, who can speak to others.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:33]:


And we want to prepare students for their real world. In fact, I'm going to be working on the side with a company who was looking for people who can do STEM presentations well on camera and who is comfortable doing things on camera. And if I hadn't had this experience before, there's no way I would have even applied or they wouldn't have given me the time of day. So just think about that for your students. Again, they might not all be YouTubers, but everybody needs experience being confident on camera so that they can present the information clearly for others to understand. And the third benefit of students creating videos is they're going to appreciate the whole process of creating higher quality projects. You know, when you give students a project, they're moaning and groaning, oh, we have to do this again. Well, you want kids to be excited about what you are doing and when it comes to a higher quality video, so still do those little quick videos, having them check in, having them explain their ideas, but also balance it when it comes to producing a video from start to finish.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:48]:


So you have the idea, you have the script, you record, you edit, you make some changes and then you're ready to publish. So there are benefits to both types of videos. So you definitely want to do both. I tell the kids, anybody can just hit record and make a TikTok video, whatever, it goes viral. Woohoo. Good for you. But if you have the skills to create high quality videos, you're going to have the skills for that longevity of where you can actually do more with your videos just like this podcast. Honestly.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:19]:


So when we did our school video news, the kids were actually amazed and shocked how much work it was behind the scenes to get a five minute video out there. They were so surprised that IDIS didn't let them show up and just start talking to the camera. They actually had a script that they had to read and practice and perform so that they sounded good on camera. Likewise, my editing team was so shocked and they loved editing their friends news. They loved seeing all the mistakes, but they were surprised too. They're all, oh wow, the actual video is seven minutes, but when I took out all the extra parts, it turned it down to four. I know. And they also appreciated students who practiced more and they didn't have to edit as much.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:12]:


So there's definitely times when there's a lot of editing in my episodes for my podcast manager and a lot not of editing so that can happen as well. But they definitely appreciated the whole process and they were really proud of their work because it is work behind the scenes to get higher quality videos. Now it doesn't just have to be your school wide news. You could even do projects in class when it comes to using research, writing a script and doing all of that similar process. I did this with students where they were learning about space junk and why space junk is a problem and even figuring out what space junk is. And students created a video to teach others about it and possible solutions. So they did go through a whole similar process and instead of their face being on camera, they added an audio narration. But they did add some pictures and video clips on top.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:08]:


Another lesson that I tested out with first grade is that we were learning about the four seasons and why they work, how long the days are, and students created little props where they would use the props to help them explain the different parts of the seasons and how they worked. And then they helped each other film the videos. That was a lot of fun. They did have a script in first grade. So that is something that I will definitely work on and refine and get that lesson out to you. But you can still use scripts and a whole process of video making, even with younger students. And another fun way to create videos when it really comes to storytelling, every type of video can have storytelling. But a big thing I really like to do this is with stop motion animation.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:56]:


So that is when students take a ton, a ton, a ton of pictures, and they're played really fast where it creates a whole video through it. So one of my favorites is when students were researching about fossils and they picked a fossil and they had some information about it, but then they had to tell a story of how that living thing in the past turned into a fossil. What was its story? How did that happen? Because not every living thing becomes a fossil has to be in the right time and place. So that was a really cool way to use stop motion storytelling to add in that element of videography. So that lesson I do have and we will link in the show notes. As you can see, I am so passionate about video creation and teaching students proper ways to do this when they're young so that they can be confident on camera and use these skills for things even outside of school. So when it comes to those benefits of students making videos, here's what we talked about. First is that it can bring content to life.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:03]:


Next is students will be able to explain things clearly to others. And third, this helps students, when they create videos, appreciate the process of higher quality projects. Hopefully, after listening to this episode, you're going to start at least one way for students to create videos consistently in your classroom. Whether that is doing quick little videos, explaining their work, or even starting your schoolwide video news, there are so many benefits to it. And your students are going to love this opportunity to practice something they're already passionate about in a structured way. Thank you again for being here and I will see you in the next episode. 

video making for students

 

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Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

video school announcements

5 Misconceptions about Pre-Recorded Video School Announcements [ep.120]

by Naomi Meredith

5 Misconceptions about Pre-Recorded Video School Announcements [ep.120]

video school announcements

Check out the full episode on 5 Misconceptions about Pre-Recorded Video School Announcements:  

 

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 hesitant to start a school-wide news club because running it sounds like a lot of work? Maybe you believe you don’t have access to what you need to get started. In today’s episode, I’m debunking 5 misconceptions about pre-recorded video school announcements and sharing many of the benefits of transitioning from traditional announcements to video announcements.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 5 misbeliefs about pre-recorded video school announcements 
  • The truth about these misconceptions
  • Benefits of pre-recorded video school announcements

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


What is it typically like when the announcements come on at your school? Over the intercom. Usually, this happens in the morning. The kids are coming into the building, they're unpacking their backpacks, they're getting ready for the day, pulling out their homework, and checking in with their friends. You, as the teacher, are managing all the things. Like always, you might have a couple of emails you're finishing up. You're greeting students, fighting fires, and getting everything ready so you guys can have a successful day. Meanwhile, the school-wide announcements come over the intercom. Sometimes, they're at the typical time they're scheduled for, or maybe they're a minute or two late.


Naomi Meredith [00:00:45]:


But either way, they are often really disruptive. No one's really listening, teachers or kids. And sometimes, they seem to go on forever and ever. I totally get it. It was like this at my school. And out of the three schools that I worked at, it was like this in every single building. But it doesn't have to stay this way. In fact, our school-wide announcements totally changed at my school when I switched to a prerecorded video model.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:23]:


But I know what you're thinking. That sounds great, but that's too much work to do. Video news? Can't we just keep doing what we've been doing and no need to change it? Who cares if anybody's listening anyway? Don't worry. In fact, I have heard all of those sentiments before when I got the video news recorded at my school. So, in this episode, I am debunking five common misconceptions when it comes to starting video school announcements and what it really is like behind the scenes. 


Naomi Meredith [00:02:24]:


If you haven't already checked it out yet, I am hosting live a workshop to take you through the whole process of setting up your video school-wide news. From the pre-prep to the script, recording, organizing all the content, and editing to publishing, I'm going to be showing you it all in this live two-hour workshop. Now, if you're listening to this episode live, you can definitely still jump in on that workshop and interact with me and other teachers who will be there. But if you're listening even months down the road, don't you worry. This workshop will be recorded so you can listen on the go and get some awesome wins in 2 hours. Not only will I be talking through the process and helping you get set up with your video school-wide news, there will also be templates and examples to help you visualize and get this running with your students for all of this information and even more to jump on in find it naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop. So you're hearing me talk about this video news, and you're thinking, okay, that's great, but we just want to keep it the way it is.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:47]:


That just sounds like too much work. But what if, in education, that's one of the most detrimental things to say is, well, we've always done it this way, we're just going to keep doing it this way. That was definitely the school that I worked at. Video news, I know, isn't a new concept, but it was something new at my school. And really, teachers were very wary of it. They were unsure of how it would go, what information was going to be shared, would it actually be helpful? Would kids even sign up for the news? Spoiler alert: I had 40 my first year sign up for my news club and 80 the next year. So yes, kids are very interested. The biggest barrier was the actual teachers.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:36]:


So here I am breaking down those misconceptions and how video news can actually be a great success in your school and help you understand the reason why this is important. Even just by shifting the way that the information is presented, you might even have great content coming over the intercom. You can still keep that great content, but just shifting the way that it is presented can make an even greater impact on your school community. Video is not going away. Video is not a new thing. In fact, I am here recording this podcast. And yes, podcasts are excellent. I am all for audio only, but also you have the pleasure of listening to this whenever you want.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:29]:


Same with your video news. You can watch it at any time of the school day. That works best in your schedule. And likewise, I understand the value of video. So, while I'm recording this audio, I am looking directly at a camera. So you can actually absorb the information by looking at my face. So video is extremely powerful, and it's definitely not going away. So let's get into these misconceptions and why this can actually be a game changer in your school.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:04]:


Switching your school-wide announcements that are blaring over the intercom and in a video format. The first misconception you might have when setting up your school-wide video news is that you need fancy equipment to get started to record. Guess what? I thought the same thing. I thought the same exact thing. And this even goes back to when I was excited about starting this podcast. This actually is the second podcast that I've ever had, and we use some fancy things back on that podcast. The innovative teacher podcast. I think it might still be around.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:43]:


You might have to go check, but I realized that you can do amazing things with minimal materials. Really? Right now, all I'm using is software to record. My phone is my camera, and then I have a microphone. So, I thought of the same concept when it came to my school video news. Looking in my classroom, I had iPads and tripods, and really, I had my phone also had a slightly better camera than the iPads. And that's all we used to get started. We just used the camera app on the iPad and hit record. And maybe you're saying, okay, well, we don't have iPads, we give up.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:25]:


The second year, we actually switched to the cameras on the student devices. So we use that front facing camera as a way to record our news. Now, when it came to the editing side, the first year, I used iMovie, which is something that is embedded in iPads already. And also, on my computer, I used iMovie to edit. The second year, we used WeVideo to edit. So it works a lot like iMovie. But I had more students who were actually helping me edit instead of me being a team of one editing with a couple of students who joined me in the second semester. But those were the platforms that we used when it came to the editing side.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:07]:


And then I posted everything in Google Drive, and it was shared within our school. We actually didn't post on social media. That was just something that we decided for school and student safety that this wasn't something posted outside of our school building. So, the tools to get started were really simple, and there are two things. First, like I said, these were things that we already had on hand, so I wanted to use these tools in an effective way. And the second thing is I wanted students to see that you can create great content with minimal tools. And these minimal tools are actually really good. The videos that I'm creating here at home are way better than the ones that I was creating at their age.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:54]:


Our technology is so much better, and it's even smaller. So let's use it. You can start implementing a green screen. I did write a grant for a greenscreen, tripod, so that is something we add in later on. Again, the technology of editing is very simple. You can do that in iMovie. We video or. My favorite iPad app is Dew Ink Green Screen by Dewink.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:20]:


It has a pink octopus on it, but you don't even have to do that either. Half the time, we didn't edit the green screen, and it was okay. So if you're letting just the actual tools hold you back, you probably already have the one tool to get started in your back pocket your phone. The second misconception when it comes to having prerecorded video school announcements is you need a lot of prior experience to get started. Teachers and students. Guess what? I always would tell my students this I wasn't born knowing how to use any technology. Surprise, surprise. I didn't come out of my mom and know how to use a 3D printer or make a video, they don't either.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:07]:


Now, kids these days, sure, maybe they're able to adapt and learn technology a lot quicker, but it is a big difference to using technology in academic ways that can be a whole podcast in itself. Likewise, with you, everything can be learned. I have a book that I really love. It's a business book by Marie Forilio, and it is called Everything is Figureoutable. And I told my students that that is true. So, just like with the news, we were building the airplane as we flew it. And good thing for you, in the workshop, I kept track of everything that we did for two years. So you don't have to worry about having any prior experience.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:46]:


If you can turn on the camera on your phone, you are good to go. If you can hit record on the camera on your phone, then you are ready to start the news. With that and with the scripts I'll give you in the workshop, you are going to be creating a repeatable structure that you can build upon as the year goes, especially if you are doing this every single day, then you're going to figure out some kinks along the way. That's just how teaching is. When you're teaching something new, you're going to be a lot of times learning along with the kids. So, as long as you have the structure set up like the one I'm going to be giving you, then you can jump in and get started. It is totally okay. And with that, when it comes to, oh, we don't have any prior experience, that's the whole point of it.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:37]:


With this club, you have the opportunity to even connect to important standards. I'm thinking about the Common Core State Standards and specifically speaking and listening standards for every grade level. There is something about being able to share your ideas in a clear way and also create digital presentations. Now hopefully, you're doing that anyway in your classroom. But this is a big presentation where students' work is being shared right away, and there's immediate feedback. Along with that, you can even check out the SD standards for students. The prerecorded video news really go along with a lot of standards within that, those technology standards. And I'm even thinking about a global collaborator where we are getting information from their real world, their school.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:30]:


They're getting that information and presenting it in a way that it makes sense for not only teachers but especially students. So this is a really great way that will build upon skills that they may or may not already have and ones that we're already hoping to teach our students. When you're thinking about setting this up and the skills that you will be teaching your students, your recording team will actually help you create parts of your script. So there will be sections that they will actually have to prepare before they even hit record. It's not something where they will show up and the script is 100% done for them. They have to have a bit of buy in to get it ready so they can record their day. Then as the year goes on, you can teach other things like green screen going in other locations, interviewing people, you can add in other elements like that even. There were times of the year when kids get a little bit squirrely, where we had to remind them of ways of how you should present on camera.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:38]:


Sometimes I would even show them videos of this podcast of me talking to you and I would show them, am I messing around on camera? No. Am I climbing all over the chairs and bugging the people next to me? Now for me, it'd be bugging my dog Frederick who's behind me. No, because I need to give the information. And so, same with them. You can make silly videos all day long, but that's not the purpose of the news. So you're really teaching them a different way to present on camera. Same with your editing team. You're going to be teaching them skills as well.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:13]:


And even if you don't know how to edit yet, these platforms are so much easier to edit in, don't you worry. So they'll learn how to clean up your video. And I even have a whole checklist that we created together. I had an initial checklist, but then as we got going with kids, me and the other teacher who ran the editing side as we got going, we added some things to this checklist and we really made it a must do and may do checklist when it comes to editing. And again, same exact checklist that I use when I edit my videos, which will also be included in the news workshop. Again, you are teaching kids when they're on that editing team, skills that are important to publishing a great clean video. And you can build up those skills as you go, like editing the green screen, adding music, adding text overlay, adding transitions, so you don't have to know all of it at first. Your students might not either.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:09]:


And you'll learn and grow together and be amazed by how far you come. The third misconception when it comes to starting your prerecorded video news is that audio announcements are sufficient enough, no need to change them. Sure, it's probably easy for your admin to pop on the intercom and disrupt what you are doing, and go on and on for five or so minutes about information that may or may not be heard. Great, keep doing that. That's fine. You can still have the same people present and have the same information. You're just making it more visual. What's really great when you have the news that's actually pre-recorded and not live, is that teachers can actually plan it into their systems and routines.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:58]:


And when we're really thinking about, okay, what's working best for students, what is really going to help the learning environment, what is something that kids can count on? This video news was something that worked for every teacher, and they put it in at a different part of their day. And actually, funny enough, if kids were being a little naughty in the morning, the teacher would not play it, and they had to earn it back, so they would eventually play it later on. But they loved it so much that kids didn't want to miss out on watching the news. I reached out to a lot of the teachers that I worked with, classroom teachers, and also my teammates when it came to what they thought of the news. And here's what one of the third-grade teachers said I love the RHL news. That was our school RHL news because it's a consistent way to receive and spread information to my students. It provided reminders for teachers about after-school clubs and upcoming events. It was five minutes every morning to help kick off the day.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:03]:


My students love seeing themselves and their friends deliver the news. And here's what one of our fourth grade teachers said about the news another teacher who is implementing this into her daily routine our school news is wonderful. It is a great way for the entire school to get information, but not at the same time. It gives teachers the flexibility to do the morning announcements when it fits into our mornings. It is also great to see students step up as leaders. And it was a great way for teachers and staff to promote their own clubs and after-school activities. And, of course, the joke of the day. It genuinely made me laugh alongside my students.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:44]:


Another thing I loved was the crosswalk questions with Ms. Meredith. It was interesting and fun. I highly recommend all schools create something like the School News to better build your community. This is just another way, again, where you can build your community in a fun way that is super visual and has that video component. And I've said this before, but YouTube is the number two search engine next to Google, and we're giving kids the experience to create high quality videos that when they're outside of school, they can start doing this process on their own. This was a big one. I actually got pushback from some teachers when I got this started.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:27]:


They were very skeptical of the news. But the fourth misconception for starting your pre-recorded video news is that only adults should be saying the announcement. And I got this one quite a bit where, oh, aren't kids going to be missing out on important information? How are they going to know what to say? Well, the answer could be yes. They could be missing out on important information if you have no structure in place and you're doing everything last minute. So, thankfully, in my workshop, I have a very easy content plan where you can collect the information in a very easy way, and you're not missing out on anything. Also, if you're really concerned about adults presenting the news, we actually did use adults at the very beginning of the school year, busy times a year when we couldn't do after-school clubs and the end of the school year. So if you really, really need adults to be on camera, don't worry, there's plenty of chances to do that. There's about 180 days in the school year, so there are going to be days when adults are on camera.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:34]:


Another thing I got when it comes to having only adults present on the announcements was we should be hearing from our principal every day, and yeah, that can be actually really important. So again, when we started off the school year, we did have our school principal do the announcements and get them going. And also the end of the year, we also recorded our principal saying the Pledge of Allegiance, since that was something that our school district does. And so we put that video clip on our announcements. So every day the principal was saying the same thing, and the kids actually knew the tone of voice in the way that she said it, so they would actually repeat it, which is kind of funny. And then we also had the principal record segments that we would throw in throughout. So the students were very aware of who our principal was. And let's be real, yeah, they like seeing our principal, but they like seeing their friends a little bit more on camera.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:27]:


So there was plenty of opportunities for our principal and admin to be on screen. Also, in episode 119, in my guest interview, Becca and her teammate Carly, she was saying that her principal had a hard time giving up these school announcements, which mine did too, at first, but then they actually ended. Up really liking it a lot better because it freed them up in the mornings where they weren't rushing to the intercom and saying something really quick and then being on their way. So it might be a transition at first for your admin, but they might end up really liking it a lot better. It will secretly free them up quite a bit. And this is the last misconception when it comes to having pre recorded video news is if the school announcements aren't live, you can't add any last minute changes. I had a lot of teachers who were very worried about that one, but there is still a way to add in those things. A huge benefit of not going live is you're not reliant on the technology working.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:31]:


There are more things that can happen if you're going live instead of pre-recorded. So many different things, especially your school might have been like mine, where the WiFi wasn't very good, so I did not want to risk it. And that would have been my plan time every day if we ended up going live. So what we did is we pre-recorded the news on Monday and the whole school was aware of that. So again, with the content calendar and the way that we set up the year and also the way that teachers can submit information, it helped them be on track of getting that information in so it could be presented on the news. And they knew if they didn't give us the information soon enough, they're going to have to wait and it's not as urgent. So it did help everybody who wasn't necessarily on the news crew team be more efficient with their planning to make sure that we can present the news. And that also helped with Admin as well, making sure they were organized.


Naomi Meredith [00:22:29]:


I would definitely send out a lot of emails and ask people questions and stay on top of those things. But it helped everybody get on the same page because they knew if they want other kids to hear about it, they need to get their calendars ready to go and send them our way. So I know Carly also said this in that same guest interview with Becca, that it also helped their school with their communication as well. So it really can streamline that information even though we weren't live, because people knew we were going to pre-record it now, because it was pre-recorded, mistakes do happen. And I did watch every single episode before it was posted. So I would sit down after our editing team and I would take all the videos, watch every single one, and if there were things that had to be added last minute, I could easily do that. I got pretty fast at editing and when it's the same structure, the videos are what, five minutes? Five or so, seven at the max. Sometimes, they were two minutes.


Naomi Meredith [00:23:30]:


Then you can get really quick at editing because you know where certain parts are supposed to be. And with that it's really fun where you can add in those fun segments like crosswalk questions with Miss Meredith or even commercials for clubs, so it does free up. We're adding in those fun little things not dependent on technology, and you still can add in those last minute things. And when worst comes to worse, I would even type a little note on our news page and teachers would get the information and it would be okay. As a recap, here are the five misconceptions when it comes to having prerecorded school video news. The first one was you need to have fancy equipment to record. The second misconception was students and teachers need prior experience making videos before getting started. The third misconception was audio only announcements are sufficient enough.


Naomi Meredith [00:24:24]:


The fourth misconception is only adults should be speaking on the announcements. And the fifth misconception is if the announcements aren't live, you can't add any last minute changes. Like I've said in other episodes, I am very passionate about this topic and getting kids to create videos in structured and productive ways. And in fact, in the next episode, I will be talking all about the benefits of students making videos. So yes, with the news and other ways of making videos in general. And if you haven't already, it's not too late to sign up for the live workshop you can jump on in naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop. Hopefully, I can see you live, but if not, join us for the recorded session. And I know that you're going to have some great wins in our 2 hours together.


Naomi Meredith [00:25:17]:


See you in the next episode.

video school announcements

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

school started their school-wide news

How this School Started their School-Wide News with Becca McMillan and Carly Dolliger [ep.119]

by Naomi Meredith

How this School Started their School-Wide News with Becca McMillan and Carly Dolliger [ep.119]

school started their school-wide news

Check out the full episode on How this School Started their School-Wide News with Becca McMillan and Carly Dolliger:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

Today’s episode is an exciting one because it is the first time we have two guests! In this episode, I chat with two of my friends, Becca McMillan and Carly Dolliger, about their experience with how their school started their school-wide news. Becca and Carly share so many great insights on the importance of collaborating, how they’ve made their school-wide news engaging, and so much more! 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Insight into how Becca and Carly's school started their school-wide news club
  • What it’s like to have a partner teacher to support with running a school-wide news club
  • The benefits of pre-recording your school-wide news
  • Things to consider when resuming your school-wide news after the summer break
  • Advice for getting started with your school-wide news club

Resources Mentioned:

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:

Meet Carly Dolliger:

Carly is currently a K-5 performing arts teacher in Colorado. She is in her 5th year teaching and incorporates theatre, dance, and music Colorado standards in her curriculum.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


What is it really like having a daily recorded school-wide video news? I know I can talk about my school's success since this is my favorite type of club I've ever hosted in my school. But let's hear it from some other teachers.


Naomi Meredith [00:00:18]:


Today's episode is so much fun because I have two guests, some of my teacher friends and friends in real life who implemented their school-wide video news with the system and resources I shared with them. These ladies use these resources in their school-wide news and had great success that they are so excited to continue this tradition in their school building and bring their school community together. Both ladies actually teach at the same Title One school, and they have a lot of ideas of how to make their school-wide news even better and get kids involved in various ways. Today, I'm speaking with Becca McMillan, who was on the podcast before in episode 40, and Carly Dolliger. Becca McMillan is their K-5 STEM teacher and coach at their school, and after teaching in the classroom for nine years in all different grade levels, she took on this role as a new passion and challenge. Carly is currently their K through five performing arts teacher, which is such a cool position. You don't hear about that very often in the elementary space, a performing arts teacher. She is in her fifth year teaching and incorporates theater, dance, and music with the Colorado Standards in her curriculum. I am so excited for you to hear this interview and how their school-wide news positively impacted their school community. All right, well, thank you ladies so much for being here on this episode. I'm really excited about this one because this is the first guest interview where I've had two people as guests. And so we were talking, I was actually in Becca's classroom for back to school and helping with her Maker space stuff, but then we were talking all at the InedCo conference about doing a potential podcast episode, so we planned it out, and here we are to talk about school-wide news. I'm super excited.


Carly Dolliger [00:02:59]:


Excited to be here.


Becca McMillan [00:03:01]:


Double trouble.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:02]:


Yeah, double trouble. And is this Carly, your first podcast episode?


Carly Dolliger [00:03:07]:


It is. Little newbie.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:11]:


You'll be great. And is Becca's second on this show? She was in episode 40.


Carly Dolliger [00:03:17]:


She's a pro at this point.


Becca McMillan [00:03:19]:


Second overall.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:22]:


Second and second. Perfect. Well, speaking of just creating things. We're talking about setting up your school-wide news, and I know that you two do this together, so you work at the same school, and you've had a lot of success. So I would love I'm so excited to talk about this because I'm sure people are yeah, yeah. Naomi, I'm sure it went great at your school, but it actually can work at other schools, so we're going to be talking about that today. So, Becca, how did you get started at setting up your school-wide news at your school, and what is the format of it? How does that all go down at your school?


Becca McMillan [00:03:59]:


Yeah, so I kind of noticed the need for it, and I knew that Naomi had started it at your school successfully. And so we chatted about it during one of our PLCs that we had together, and you shared all your stuff with me, and I just felt like our announcements in the morning principal, she means well, but it's a crazy time of the day. Everybody's coming in at different times. Every classroom is different, and whenever the principal gets on the intercom, you can't necessarily hear if kids are needing to talk. Maybe kids are more of a visual processor. So I didn't feel like the morning announcements were super productive. Not everyone. Yeah, they would drag on sometimes. And so the news, I felt like, was the answer, and then along came carly.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:09]:


Showed up. Did you start it before? Like, was it already going and then Carly showed up, or how did that oh, no, okay. Nope.


Becca McMillan [00:05:18]:


I had been wanting to start it. I just didn't get it off the ground.


Carly Dolliger [00:05:24]:


Then you needed the perfect partner.


Becca McMillan [00:05:27]:


When Carly came along, it felt like it would be more manageable.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:32]:


So, Carly, how did you hear about it? How did you get roped in? You're, like, show up. You're like, all right, I'm here. What happened.


Carly Dolliger [00:05:39]:


Well, I hadn't even had the job yet, actually, and I was talking to the principal, who, love her, created this performing arts position that I now have. I taught high school theater for a few years before this, and she had just casually mentioned before the interview, oh, everybody's really excited, and Becca, our STEM teacher, really wants to do the news. So I had already known that I was going to do this part of this job before it existed. But it was really exciting to kind of already feel a little welcome, at least by Becca, like, have that enthusiasm. And like, oh, okay. I have a little place that I can go to, and I have something that I can work on with these kids that I know that they'll be able to be excited about. So I got roped in really early. I think I knew I was doing the news before I knew that I had the job.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:43]:


Well, I'm glad you guys did it together, because I kind of had the same situation when I started the school news at my school, I kind of talked to a teacher about it the year before, and we were like, just talking back and forth. I'm like, hey, we should do the news at our school. She's like, okay, whatever. And then I figured it out in my head, and I texted my principal and all, okay, I'm going to do the news. This is how we want to do it. We're just going to try it. She said, okay. So it was me and another teacher. We did it the first year together, and then the following year, I roped in a few more teachers. Kind of the same thing, like, you need to be on my news crew next year. But it does help having more than one person, just like management, but also bouncing ideas off of each other. It makes a huge difference.


Carly Dolliger [00:07:26]:


Well, and it's nice because Becca can really then focus and hone in on the STEM aspect of it. And then I can take those maybe different kids, maybe same kids on a different time in a different day, and then really focus on that performance aspect, the being on camera, being our news hosts and the anchors of the day. And then they can really get excited about that and then move to a new space, a new person, and then get excited about the editing and the tech side of it as well.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:03]:


There's a lot of moving parts, even if you're not going live. So you don't go live either, right, with your news?


Becca McMillan [00:08:09]:


No, we record a week ahead at least.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:14]:


That's good. So do you record on one day, or do you just try to fit it in in your schedule when it works?


Carly Dolliger [00:08:21]:


So it really depends on the year, what we try to do, because obviously it's the beginning of the year now, and recording in advance isn't possible with kids right now. So usually I have the club after school on Mondays, and we'll record the entirety for the next week. And your materials were super awesome for how to format it. And then I'll put it in a slideshow so it's like a teleprompter, and we'll just record the week straight on one day.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:56]:


Perfect.


Carly Dolliger [00:08:57]:


But Becca now, because it's the beginning of the year, kids aren't super in routine, and we don't have clubs yet. She's been really awesome at snagging those teachers who are in the right place at the right time to be on our news, and she just does it. She's running around fitting it into her schedule right now.


Becca McMillan [00:09:17]:


Yeah. Last year I had a group of kids that loved giving up their lunch in recess to come edit the news. That was their thing. So I'm not sure that we'll have that this year. So I might do it after school, maybe with Carly, maybe another day. We haven't figured that out yet, but that's what we did last year. And then I would just make sure it was good after school and then post it on our Google site.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:46]:


I like that how you tried both just with being flexible, because I know some teachers really don't want to stay after school, or they would rather do it in the middle of the day as a club, which is definitely an option. I think that's totally fine. And then we did it where my first year, we recorded on Tuesdays, and then I was the editing team, so I edited all of them, and then I roped in two kids later on in the second half of the year, but then more kids wanted to edit. So the following year, we recorded on Mondays after school, and then the editing team did it on Tuesdays after school. Same thing with the beginning of the year, like getting teachers and kind of finding your flow of how far ahead you have to get so that it works out. You have to really map it out where, okay, we have to record on this day. We have to be ahead this many days for it to work out. So I think you'll get well, the.


Carly Dolliger [00:10:49]:


Problem that we faced last year is we would be like because Becca is very organized. I'm somewhat organized, but we would be ready weeks in advance. We'd be like, okay, but we would need the announcements from administration. And so there were times last year where Becca would have to input it a little last second because of I feel like her and I collaborating. Has pushed for better communication school-wide. Just because we're like, if you want it, you got to give it to us. But some teachers have really honed in on it, and some teachers are really excited to share, especially this year, what they're doing in the classroom and then have it all over.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:32]:


I love that. Okay, so you're kind of what, year two on this?


Carly Dolliger [00:11:37]:


Yeah, year two.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:38]:


Okay, so year two. So teachers are more excited. The communication has gotten better, getting the content. What was it like when you first got started? Was it the same response? How did teachers feel about it? Was it different between teachers, students, and Admin? What was that like when you first started?


Becca McMillan [00:11:55]:


I felt like our principal was she liked doing the morning announcements.


Carly Dolliger [00:12:03]:


School?


Becca McMillan [00:12:04]:


Yeah. I think it was hard for her to give it up, but once it happened, I think she liked that extra time in the morning to not have to be ready to do the announcements right at whatever time. And teachers loved it because they could just play it whenever they were ready in the morning. And kids loved it because they got to see other people from the school doing it, and then some of it was their classmates, and then they were excited to try it too. So feel like very positive response all around.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:41]:


Did you have any teachers who were like, oh, I missed the old announcements. Did you have any of that pushback?


Becca McMillan [00:12:48]:


No.


Carly Dolliger [00:12:48]:


That's good. Not a single one.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:53]:


That's good.


Carly Dolliger [00:12:54]:


Excited too. And we put actual jokes in there that we try to be silly with our scripts and we can add a little extra flair when you have the time to create a script rather than just giving information over an intercom.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:11]:


Yeah, I agree. Did you see this, too, that it was more student centered? That because you have student presenters. So once you get going, you have teachers, obviously, but when you have kid presenters, did you feel like the announcements just were more relatable for the kids to watch instead of just hearing something over the intercom? And they don't know who this they may or may not know who the person is that's drowning on and on. But did you see a change in how kids absorb the information too?


Becca McMillan [00:13:41]:


Definitely. I mean, kids would be like, I saw you on the news, or in the beginning, and I think we need to bring this back. We haven't been doing it this week, which is fine, but we were doing book recommendations. Like teachers would come on and do book recommendations and then kids would go to that teacher in another grade level and ask them to borrow that book. I thought that was really cute. But yeah, I think they definitely are more engaged in the information than they were just listening on the intercom.


Carly Dolliger [00:14:14]:


A lot of the times now they're actually excited for the news because they get to watch becca's really creative and is awesome with coming up with daily themes that we've recommendations and then we've added on as the year goes. And so I think this year we're continuing to add on to those. We've gone through a few right now. Our favorites are. Would you rather Wednesdays?


Naomi Meredith [00:14:45]:


What's that?


Carly Dolliger [00:14:49]:


Either students make it up or we'll get a segment from some teachers last year where they would have to come up with a would you rather question. So with just two options, it would just be a question of the day or Would you rather Wednesday? And it would usually just be something silly and we'd give a few seconds for them to think about it and it's just like warming up your brain in the mornings and just with something fun and silly to ponder.


Becca McMillan [00:15:17]:


And it gets kids to talk about their opinions, which they have to write about anyway, so getting them to talk about that leads into the writing process too, when they start to do persuasive and opinion writing. That's been really cute.


Carly Dolliger [00:15:33]:


And there's like full debates on it too.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:35]:


Really?


Carly Dolliger [00:15:36]:


Yeah. These kids will seriously, especially behind camera when they're figuring it out. And one of them before we start recording or while recording, they'll be like, this is it. And they really mean it. It's really cool to see for sure, and they never matter, but they do.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:57]:


So cute. Okay, so before you tell me the other segments you do, you're not just doing Would You Rather, what is the news actually like when they watch it? What do you do every day that's the same?


Becca McMillan [00:16:11]:


So we have whoever's reporting introduce themselves. They say the date we do birthdays today was National Eat a Peach Day. Whatever. Whatever.


Carly Dolliger [00:16:28]:


What national holiday is it?


Becca McMillan [00:16:30]:


And Naomi, you had those great videos, too, with the More Common Holidays, which I think has been great to embed those. So kids are learning about what other kids celebrate. We have a joke of the day. What am I missing? Carly and lunch.


Carly Dolliger [00:16:50]:


What's for lunch?


Becca McMillan [00:16:52]:


What's for lunch?


Carly Dolliger [00:16:54]:


And like, clubs after school, if there are clubs, it's just reminders of we.


Becca McMillan [00:16:59]:


Were doing a sight word of the day. But kindergarten is not doing that this year, so it's okay.


Carly Dolliger [00:17:05]:


So there's a lot that we have to put in that core little bit.


Becca McMillan [00:17:10]:


And then we do commercials, too. Like if there's special announcements of upcoming events, we'll do that.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:16]:


That's perfect. So then you have that, and then you were doing themes. So you had the Would You rather day. And then what were your other days?


Carly Dolliger [00:17:25]:


We have thankful Thursday. Oh, we've got a lot mindful Monday.


Becca McMillan [00:17:31]:


We were doing with our school psychologist for a while. It was with a specific group of kids that she would meet at a certain time, and I would record her using a mindful strategy with those students. She went on maternity leave, so we're going to get that back up and going. But we're trying to figure out Tuesday. Tuesday has been tricky. Would you rather? Wednesday thankful Thursday. And then I think we're going to try what fun Fact Friday?


Naomi Meredith [00:18:03]:


Yeah.


Carly Dolliger [00:18:06]:


Last year we didn't have Fridays because Fridays were still the day that the principal got to announce, okay. So she could still hold on to something. So this year we're excited for Fridays. I feel like Fun Fact Friday is the way to go.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:19]:


What about Tuesdays? You do talk about it Tuesday, and there's like, reminders about how to behave in the cafeteria, how to line up at recess. It could be, go check out the lost and found. We did that one a lot. That one was a really popular segment.


Carly Dolliger [00:18:40]:


Our last lost and found segment was a fashion show. It was so great. It was a good one. The kids really got into that one and they would be like, that's my jacket. Yeah, go get it. Go get it.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:59]:


When the teacher is wearing it, because sometimes you can find some good stuff as a teacher, too, you're like, hey, this fits me. I might keep my eyes.


Carly Dolliger [00:19:06]:


I will say I did carry a lunchbox and have a little hat on at one point in the fashion show.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:14]:


Okay, so what else did you do? Okay, so you had all those themes, and then you have your normal structure, which I did the same one. And it works really well because the kids like that consistency and knowing what to count on, knowing what the news is, all the events. But then the fun things just adds that flair and building community, which they're really fun, and the kids will think of stuff, too. So you did that. Okay. I loved this one so much. And I need to get a video clip from you, Becca, because it's so funny what you did for Reading Madness. What was that one?


Becca McMillan [00:19:50]:


Yes. So we had a whole month last March where we had a school-wide competition all based around literacy. And one of the ways that classes could earn points was by guessing the mystery reader that was on the news. So if you've seen Mystery Singer, where they wear the ridiculous costumes and they sing, and then people have to guess.


Carly Dolliger [00:20:21]:


Who the celebrity is.


Becca McMillan [00:20:23]:


Mass Singer. Mass singer? Yes. I guess you could call it Masked Reader.


Carly Dolliger [00:20:30]:


I think it was like Mass Mystery.


Becca McMillan [00:20:32]:


Reader or something like that, probably. So we got what do you call the animal that represents your school? Our mascot. It's too late.


Carly Dolliger [00:20:47]:


Support.


Becca McMillan [00:20:49]:


Our mascot is Mighty the Mustang. And we have a costume that teachers take turns wearing to be Mighty the Mustang. And so I recorded a bunch of teachers just wearing the head mask, the head of Mighty, and they each read a Michelle Silverstein poem wearing it. And so then classes had to guess who the Masked Reader was for that day on the news.


Carly Dolliger [00:21:23]:


If they got correct, they would earn quite a few points for our school-wide competition.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:29]:


This reminded me I'm sorry, go ahead.


Becca McMillan [00:21:33]:


We have found that our teachers are quite competitive. So it was very engaging for the whole school.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:40]:


Yes, well, it reminded me I think I sent you the episode of Abbot elementary where they have a literacy like competition, a reading competition. And I'm like, oh, this is so perfect for this. I was dying. And the way you edited the video clips were so funny, too. I loved that segment so much. It was pretty good one that I did last year. And it was honestly, because I had to do crosswalk duty so many times, and I was bored out of my mind because it wasn't very busy where I had to stand. So I did crosswalk questions with Miss Meredith, and I had the art teacher actually film me crossing the street, holding up the sign. And so I had a question of the day, like some random thing. Like, if you were to do one of these things, ride a hot air balloon or go deep diving in the ocean, what would you pick? And I would record the kids answers and put all the clips together as, like, a little segment. I would just pop in. So the kids were hounding me all the time. When you go to crosswalk duty, when you crosswalk duty. I'm like it's on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Okay, go find me. But they were sad when I didn't bring my microphone. I'm like, Sorry, I don't have time to edit this. But it's just fun doing that kind of random stuff that I feel like is missing sometimes. Or we don't do as many assemblies, or it's that stuff that makes school fun and memorable. So did you do anything else, like, any other segments that you loved?


Becca McMillan [00:23:19]:


We've done so many things.


Carly Dolliger [00:23:21]:


I feel like we've been, like we use last year as kind of an experiment. Like whatever we felt like trying, we would at least record and we would at least see what happens with it. And so I feel like coming back to school, there's just a lot of things that we're like, oh, yeah, we did do that.


Becca McMillan [00:23:41]:


That was awesome.


Carly Dolliger [00:23:42]:


It's just reminding ourselves of everything. The other day, we were recording some teachers for it. We did whole groups of grade levels because we only have two or three on per grade level. One, they are just like the kids when they record. They're on campus.


Becca McMillan [00:24:03]:


Yeah.


Carly Dolliger [00:24:04]:


They're like, oh, I messed that up. I'm like, It's okay, keep going. They're like, no two. We finished recording, and then all of a sudden, Becca was like, oh, we need our would you rather Wednesday? And my mind was blown. I was like, oh, my gosh, we did so much, I forgot.


Becca McMillan [00:24:21]:


Another popular one is the Bloopers. They get sad when there aren't any Bloopers certain days, but the Bloopers are the hardest to edit. But they do love the Bloopers well.


Naomi Meredith [00:24:34]:


And it's hard, too, because you don't want to encourage Bloopers. Like, you have to do Bloopers, because sometimes some kids would say you would hear them, I'm going to mess up on purpose to make sure it's a Blooper. So there are some groups you're like, hey, you need to calm down. It's not about the bloopers. It's about delivering the high quality content. But here and there, if it pops up, I love the Bloopers too. They're my absolute favorite. And the first year, I saved every single Blooper and made an Ultimate Bloopers reel that was 20 minutes long and.


Carly Dolliger [00:25:08]:


Played week of school.


Naomi Meredith [00:25:10]:


And the kids had no idea I was doing this. This is what happens when you're the only editor. So I was able to save them all. But I think the segments are just like, a fun way. And in the workshop I'll be hosting, I actually have a growing list of different segments that people can grab on. So the link will be in the show notes for that workshop, but definitely you guys will remember them, too. I'll share it with you guys. You get in on this free, but everybody else check out the link in the description.


Carly Dolliger [00:25:42]:


I will say you and your resources were super useful. When we first started to set up, it gave us a lot of confidence of like, okay, there's already something that we know for sure does work in a school environment, and it's similar to ours. We're in the same school district, but regardless, it's very applicable to a broad range of, like, okay, this is exactly how it goes. This is the order. This is smooth. And, yeah, it definitely helped a lot. Just give us the confidence to actually start. Good.


Naomi Meredith [00:26:17]:


I'm so glad it was helpful. And yeah, I'm all about that. Try it out, and then I'll share it with you guys. So the same stuff is in the workshop. So I'm so glad that it worked for you, too.


Carly Dolliger [00:26:28]:


Well, and Becca was just because I hadn't met you yet, but Becca goes, I have a shared drive with my friend.


Becca McMillan [00:26:33]:


She's amazing.


Carly Dolliger [00:26:34]:


She has everything here. I'll just share everything with you. And so now whenever I go to my shared drive, it's like collaborators, and it's the three of us. Every time I pull it up, you're.


Naomi Meredith [00:26:44]:


Like, It's all there. It's all saved. Well, I'm so glad it worked out well, and it was something that was repeatable, but you've obviously added your own twist and things that other people can do. And if someone in a couple of words or a sentence, if there was someone who is hesitant about starting their school-wide news, what advice would you give them?


Becca McMillan [00:27:07]:


Start small. I would say start small and then get kids to do most of the work.


Carly Dolliger [00:27:16]:


Agreed.


Naomi Meredith [00:27:17]:


Yeah.


Carly Dolliger [00:27:19]:


I would say just do it. It's okay to make little mistakes. Honestly, it's okay to make big mistakes. You might accidentally say somebody's birthday on the wrong name. But at the end of the day, creating that production with those students is giving them way more opportunity and student leadership, and they get so excited. I couldn't imagine not having it, just with how pumped those kids get. And I say, just go for it. Jump in. Start little, but jump in.


Becca McMillan [00:27:59]:


And we had all different kinds of kids want to do it, and we had kids who were struggling readers, but they wanted to perform, and they learned those scripts, and it helps their literacy. So if you're questioning if it's applicable to your standards, it is.


Naomi Meredith [00:28:25]:


I would totally agree. Oh, go for it.


Becca McMillan [00:28:27]:


Sorry.


Carly Dolliger [00:28:27]:


Well, it's so personable. Whatever you need to exemplify. Our school-wide goal last year was literacy, and we did really see that improvement with what we were doing. You can choose what you want to exemplify and what you want to really hold the students accountable with, and there's just so much buy-in that it really works well.


Naomi Meredith [00:28:51]:


I'm so glad that I had both of you here to share your experience and just, like, getting behind the scenes, and I'm glad that you're going to be doing the school again, and you already have ideas. You're probably going to jump off of this and think of, like, 5 million more things that you want to try. So, all the places to reach out and connect with you. I'm going to put this in the show notes for everyone. But, thank you so much again for sharing your experience. And it's just good for other teachers to hear that it can be done. It's actually not that scary to pre record your school-wide news. There's so many benefits to it, and you guys are definitely a testament to that. So thank you so much for your time.


Becca McMillan [00:29:30]:


Thank you for having us. Yeah. And for your help, 100%.


Carly Dolliger [00:29:37]:


And for your help, of course.


Naomi Meredith [00:29:39]:


That's what I'm here for. Thank you.

school started their school-wide news

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

setting up your school-wide news

3 Tips for Setting up Your School-Wide News [ep. 118]

by Naomi Meredith

3 Tips for Setting up Your School-Wide News [ep.118]

setting up your school-wide news

Check out the full episode on 3 Tips for Setting up Your School-Wide News:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

If you’re thinking about starting a school-wide news club at your school, there are a few things you want to consider before you get started. In today’s episode, I’m sharing 3 tips for setting up your school-wide news. I share insight into how these tips helped me when I was hosting a school-wide news club and more.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Tips for setting up your school-wide news
  • How I implemented each of these strategies at my school
  • Why I implemented each of these strategies in my school-wide news club

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


Are you ready to start your school-wide news club? But how should you get started? In this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you the three top tips for starting your school-wide news club without ever having your students go live on camera. I am so excited about sharing all the behind the scenes secrets when it comes to hosting your school-wide video news club. This is a club I am extremely passionate about and a system in process that I have put together and carefully kept track of so I could share it all with you so you can have the same success and positive experience for your students and school-wide community. I'm going to be sharing with you some awesome tips in this episode, but if you want more, jump in on this live workshop that I am going to be hosting for you, Naomimeredith.com Newsworkshop and Inside.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:31]:


In this two-hour live workshop, I will be sharing all of the tips and tricks when it comes to starting your news club, all the way through recording, editing, the tools that you need, and all the way to the end when you're ready to hit publish every single day. If you are listening to this podcast in real time, make sure to check out that link and jump in so you can join me live and other teachers to interact with me. But if you can't make it live or you're listening to this way months later when this is posted, don't worry, the whole workshop is going to be recorded so you can access the information on your own time, but also still have the same success. The link will be in the show notes, and we are excited to have you inside the workshop. This episode is part of a series that I am doing all about STEM after-school clubs. I hadn't talked about this before in my episodes. I've kind of hinted at it here and there, but you guys kept asking, so I am here answering. In the last episode, 117, I talked about what you're missing out on by not having a video school News Club.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:43]:


So, if you haven't listened to it, make sure to check it out after you finish this one. So you're here, you're convinced you're ready, you would like to start a school-wide news club where the kids are recording the news, and you have a team that's editing, and the videos are posted every day. But it sounds like a lot of work. And let me be real, it is a lot of work. It is a lot of work, but it's a lot more work if you don't have any systems in place. Just like anything, I am the kind of person with anything that I'm really passionate about, especially when I'm in my creating mode, whether it's lessons, clubs, or content for you guys. I have so many ideas swirling in my head, but I won't implement them until I figure out a system that will be implemented to do all of these things and something that can be repeated over and over and over again so I don't really have to think about the whole process. So, I have a lot of things swirling in my head.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:46]:


Like this workshop was swirling in my head for a while, but I don't do it until I know I have a system in place that is going to work, and I will, of course, iterate things and fix them if they don't. But for the most part, when I implement something, I have some sort of system in place. My podcast manager knows who implements this. I have all the ideas, and I will get them out there. I just have to figure out the system first. So, the same goes for hosting your school-wide video news club. There are lots of ways you could do this, but if you have a system in place that is repeatable, that you can do every single day, week after week, year after year, you're going to find so much more success where you don't have to think about the little things and all that creativity will flow in naturally. So much so this process works that I was able to repeat it and get more teachers to help me on my team, so I wasn't doing this alone. I even shared this process with my teacher friends at another school, and they use the same exact thing, it has been extremely helpful for them, and they use the same exact process and, again, add in their own little bits of creativity.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:58]:


So, there is a method to the madness, and I'm going to be sharing with you three top tips to get those things in place. If you are ready to get started with your school-wide video news, the first tip for setting up your school-wide news is to have a consistent schedule. This was the biggest club that I had ever hosted my first year. We had 40 kids, which is quite a bit of kids, and we had never done this before, and I was impressed. Forty kids signed up for a club that I had never done before, which was super exciting the second year because kids had seen what the news can be and its capabilities and all of those benefits that go to the previous episode. I talk about all those benefits of it. I had 80 kids sign up. 80, it doubled.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:52]:


So, you need to figure out a consistent schedule. And I didn't cut anybody. I actually had a method where I kept everybody on my crew. So you need to create a consistent schedule so you are getting out this news on time. Also, with the format, I had this because that's a lot of kids. I wanted a lot of kids to have opportunities to think about the format. We had a recording team, and we had an editing team. Kids could not be on both teams, so they really had to choose.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:23]:


Most kids actually knew if they wanted to be on camera or not, but you had a couple of kids who wanted to do both. So I'm like, you really do have to pick. Or maybe you do this for half the year, and then you switch to the other half of the year. So, having that consistent schedule where kids were recording in time for the news to be edited and then in time for it to be posted for the following week, we really had to be consistent with our schedule. Likewise, you really need to think about when you have upcoming breaks, what are you going to do? Are you going to record ahead of time? Are you not? Are you going to have teachers help you? Are you going to be canceling days? You really want to map out the whole year of when you're hosting the club because that makes a huge difference. Each year that I hosted the news, I actually recorded on different days based on our school calendar and the days we had off because that actually did make a difference in how often I would see kids, and I needed the kids to come every week. There were times, I will say, when there was a glitch or something, and I had to record the news at home with my little dog, Frederick. And all the kids in the school, by the end of the year, knew that my dog's name was Frederick, and they would ask about Freddie.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:34]:


Freddie Boy. They gave him nicknames because they had seen him. Maybe I also said his nicknames on camera, but there were times when I might not have thought about it, and we were scrambling. So, really look at your candle. Your candle. Really look at your calendar to make sure you have a consistent schedule. The next tip for setting up your school-wide video news is to have scripts. 90% of the time, I did not let the kids talk off-script.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:06]:


They were not allowed to do that. I told the kids this is different than creating videos at home. And for fun, that's different. I do that, too. I create fun videos, blah, blah, blah. But I would even show them my videos of my podcast. So, I do record videos of my podcast while I'm doing this simultaneously. But I did show them the videos.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:30]:


And for the most part, I do have a script. So, I'm not reading word for word, but I am using a script while I am talking to you guys. But I told them that there are different videos for different purposes. Anybody can turn on a phone and take a video, sure, but the purpose of our school-wide news is to deliver information. And with that, we do have to have a script so that we get the information accurate and that we are keeping it consistent for our audience because they're depending on us for this important information. They got so good at reading the scripts. They were a lot like Will Ferrell in the movie Anchorman because they would just read it, and then they wouldn't always know what they were saying. And it was funny because sometimes they realized after the fact that they said something, and then they would start giggling, or they would be surprised to be like, oh my gosh, is that really happening? Because they know what's going to happen ahead of all the other kids a lot of times.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:31]:


And so they got pretty good at reading this script. So it was really cute when they would get excited about an event happening because they were finding it out as they were reading it again. Having a script is really important. It sounds boring, but trust me, it's not boring. Having a script is really helpful for the presenters because they know the flow of how the script is going to go. And I had a lot of kids who actually struggled at reading, who wanted to be on my news club. It was totally voluntary, nobody was forced into this. But I had a lot of kids on there, and there were certain parts that they knew that they could be confident at reading because the script was the same all the time.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:12]:


Some of the content would change, but the exact format of it was exactly the same every single time. This was also helpful for my editing team. So we recorded on one day, and we edited on the next. Now, I did mention this in another episode. I was the editor for the first half of the first year, and I did watch every single video before they were posted, every single one. So I watched 300-plus videos? So, I got pretty fast at editing. But this helped the editing team because as they were editing same for me, we had the script pulled up, and then we had the video right next to it.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:51]:


So we would actually edit in partnerships where they would go through the script and make sure that the kid said everything. Sometimes, here and there, recording groups would actually miss a section. So my editing team had to record and put that section in, or this was sometimes really sad. Sometimes that, the other groups, the kids who are recording, their microphone wasn't on. I have had that happen to me on my podcast. Their microphone wasn't on, and then the editing team had to record for them. So, having a script was really helpful because we didn't have to recreate that information. And also, having a script is helpful for your audience for the rest of the school.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:34]:


The school knows what we're going to say. They knew exactly the format of what we were going to say. We even said birthdays and lunch. And if we didn't say somebody's birthday, there was an uproar for sure. I definitely got emails and texts about that, and we had to add that in. So, knowing that consistency and format was not boring for anybody. It built into that routine because kids knew how to fill it out. There was some ownership for the kids who were presenting.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:03]:


They did have to help fill out part of the script. But there was a whole system to this, and trust me, it will make your life easier. And the final tip when getting started with your video news is to use easy to use equipment. We didn't really use a lot of fancy stuff. There are a few reasons for this. The first year that we recorded, we used iPads and then some tripods that I got from a grant. The next year we had different student computers, and it worked out a bit better, and I was trying to streamline things even more. I'm always working on efficiency in everything that I do.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:43]:


But the second year, we used student computers, and students recorded directly in WeVideo. W-E-V-I-D-E-O. We video all one word, no spaces. So we use that platform so students would record in WeVideo. And then, the same video was opened up the next day for our editing team, and the video was there for them. So, we used very simple tools. Eventually, we added in a few more fancy things like we tried green screen. When the kids were able to present on camera efficiently and effectively and work together as a team, I showed them how to record and set up their green screen.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:23]:


And then also my editing team, I showed them how to edit the background. We also started to add in microphones. We played around with that. So you really don't need that big of equipment to get started with this. Also, this is a huge benefit of not going live. I didn't have to worry about the internet issues. Let's say the Internet was down that day, the kids just couldn't watch it. But I wasn't dependent on the internet, always working at all times, which wasn't always the case.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:56]:


We use very simple things, and honestly, there were times we just use my phone to record. So if you just have a phone, if that's the only thing you have, you don't have iPads, you don't have student devices, use your phone, and you can get started with some video news. Another reason why I did this is for one, let's be real budget. I didn't have a big budget to buy all that fancy equipment and lighting and all of those beautiful things, but I didn't want to. Yes, I wrote a grant for Tripods. That was something I did want, but I really didn't want to get super fancy things because I wanted to show the kids what you can do with constraints. The tools we were using were not fancy, but we were able to publish something that was better than just a basic home movie. So I wanted to show kids those hacks.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:53]:


And guess what? With this podcast, I don't use a whole lot of fancy stuff, either. I have a podcast microphone that I actually won at a conference. It was definitely meant to be because it was right before my podcast actually launched. I use my phone camera as my camera for the video version. I have a desk lamp that I got at Walmart and a stand up light that somebody gave me in my computer. So I don't have a whole lot of fancy things either. I'm not in a fancy recording booth. And I wanted to show kids that you can create something with very, very simple supplies.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:32]:


So keep that in mind when you're getting started. As a recap, here are some three simple tips that you can use to get started with your school-wide video news. First, have a consistent schedule. Next, make sure you write those scripts. And third, use easy to use equipment. In the next episode, I'm going to be talking with two of my friends who also run their school-wide news, and they use the exact system that I did after passing it along and talking with them. And so this episode was a lot of fun chatting with these friends, so make sure you don't miss out. And while you're at it, before you hang up this podcast or turn it off, make sure you check out the show notes and check out my workshop, where I'm going to be sharing with you even more tips and the whole system that I use for setting up my school-wide news.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:29]:


You can grab that at naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop.

setting up your school-wide news

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

school-wide news club

What You’re Missing By Not Having a School-Wide News Club [ep.117]

by Naomi Meredith

What You're Missing By Not Having a School-Wide News Club [ep.117]

school-wide news club

Check out the full episode on What You're Missing By Not Having a School-Wide News Club:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Watch the video version of this episode here:

Episode Summary

If you've been considering hosting a school-wide news club but are unsure if it's worth it, today’s episode is for you. There are so many benefits to starting a school-wide news club. In today’s episode, I will be sharing three benefits that you’re missing out on by not having a school-wide news club and sharing some of my personal experiences from hosting one when I was a STEM teacher.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What led me to start a school-wide news club
  • 3 things you’re missing out on by not having a school-wide news club
  • How starting a school-wide news club benefited my school

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


Thinking about hosting a school-wide news club, but not sure if it will be successful. Are there even benefits of hosting this type of club, or is it just one more thing to do? Honestly, having a school-wide news club is something that I wish I had started sooner when I was a K-5 STEM teacher. In this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you what you're missing out on by not having a school-wide video news. Maybe you already know before listening to this episode that hosting a school-wide news club is definitely something that you want to do. And if you're still unsure, I'm gonna get into that in this episode, but either way, I am going to be hosting a live 2-hour workshop where I'm going to be sharing all the secrets of starting your school-wide video news club, and the students never have to go live.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:33]:


That is a huge benefit of this. I'm gonna be taking you through the whole process from setting up the club to what it looks like when you are recording some tips and tricks for editing, some fun segments, and all of that process from start to finish and how you can manage it throughout the year and the doors are officially open. So make sure you jump in on that at Naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop where you can join us live for the workshop. And if you can't make it live or if you're listening to this months later, don't you worry. The whole experience is recorded, and all the resources and templates are in there for you so you can go about it at your own pace. If you are listening to this podcast or video in real time, then the benefit of being there live is you get a chat with me and other teachers while it's happening. So, you definitely don't wanna miss out on this experience. It'll be a lot of fun and something I'm very passionate about.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:37]:


So make sure to check it out in the show notes for that link. In the last episode, 116, I talked about 8 different types of STEM after-school clubs that you can host. And one of them is the one that I'm gonna be talking about today. And that is having a school-wide video news team. And in the 11 years of being a teacher, this was the one club that I was totally obsessed about. I will say Battle of the Book I hosted was pretty much up there. It was a competition, and we won in the district. So that might be why I'm a little bit biased about that club.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:17]:


But other than that, I loved, loved, loved having a school-wide news team, and we actually called it the RHL News crew. RHL is our was our abbreviation for our school, and it was a whole experience. and I love this club so, so much. I know video news isn't a new concept. whether it's live or prerecorded. Ours was pre-recorded. I know this isn't new, but there's a reason why I actually started this at our school. When I first got my K-5 STEM teacher job, the announcements were over on the intercom, and they would come kind of at random times.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:05]:


It was within this 20-minute block where they would randomly come on, and they were extremely loud. Like, so loud I had to cover my ears. They were extremely loud. And I know some schools have the opposite problem. You can't hear them at all. So either way, they were super loud, and they sometimes took up to 10 minutes. Now this was during my planning time, so a lot of times, I had meetings during this, so I had to mute myself because they were going on forever. But then, the times I was covering in classrooms, I noticed that when the announcements came on, kids wouldn't stop and listen.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:44]:


It just maybe wasn't part of their routine, or they knew it was gonna go on for a long time that the teacher just said, hey, just keep doing what you need to do because it's gonna be a while. But the biggest thing that I realized is that the content and the announcements were really good, but It wasn't getting absorbed. It was like in one ear out the other. And I really felt that way with teachers and students. even for myself, I wasn't listening to them half the time because I knew it would take forever, and it was kind of the same old same old thing. You might even have a similar experience at your school. So one summer, just really thinking about the passion that I have for creating videos and podcasting, I figured I’d pitch to my principal that, hey, I wanna start a video news crew, and I had another teacher who was willing to help me with this.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:42]:


I wanna start this out. Here's how it's gonna go. We're gonna figure it out. And thank goodness. I jumped in, not having a clear plan. I had some idea, but I'm so glad that I did because this was definitely an experience. Not only by me hosting the club, but it was something that brought our school community together in ways I had never ever even imagined. And it was just a favorite of not only me but everybody in the building. So I'm gonna be sharing with you those things that you might not even know.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:21]:


These are things that I didn't even know that I was missing out on until I started doing it. There were experiences that I didn't know could exist. So let's jump into those reasons. Now if you're feeling like, you know what? Who cares? Like, we should just keep the announcements the way they are. Sure. Go ahead. Turn me off right now.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:41]:


But I'm telling you, this was such an amazing club and worth the work, worth putting in all the systems and routines because it brought up those amazing experiences. The first thing that you're missing when not having a school-wide news video club is helping your school community be better informed. Not to say that your school isn't informed, but maybe your school was like mine. We got a lot of information, but our information was coming from all sorts of places. There was a sign outside of school when you would drive in. There were signs inside of the school, whether they were paper or digital. Multiple emails from our admin, emails from our PTCO of events coming up, and emails from teachers who were hosting various after-school clubs and their own events. There were all sorts of ways that information was being thrown at us.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:47]:


It wasn't really streamlined, and it was very easy to miss what that information was. Likewise, all of the ways that this information was being thrown at us was really teacher-centered, which is very important, but the kids weren't really aware of what was going on. They had to rely on their teachers and their parents to let them know, which, yes, that's what we're doing in the video news. But there wasn't any other way for students to access that information. So if they had a substitute or long-term sub, they might miss out on some things, or just depending on their parents' communication style, they might be missing out on things. So there were a lot of holes in how information was being communicated in our building, and that was something that I definitely wanted to streamline where everybody could hear that information all in the same place. I also told you about our announcement, where I guess this is where kids would get information.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:51]:


They weren't very consistent, whether it was the person who was saying the announcements or the time that it went on, or sometimes they didn't go on at all. There was a lot of information that was being missed, whether it wasn't being said or just being missed where people weren't listening. So, again, there just wasn't really any consistency in the way that information was being delivered, and I thought that we definitely needed something that was student-centered. Student to student, where we are really communicating and putting everything in one place and something that they can count on. Think about the regular news, like everyday news. It's on at a certain time, and people can count on it. There are certain things that you know are going to be said, and you're going to get information.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:43]:


I wanted the same thing for our teachers and our students. The information still was coming out in random places, but I figured out a system where I could gather all of that information in one place, and teachers were able to communicate those upcoming things in one place, so it did help streamline everything that was coming in, and the teachers were more informed about what was happening and so were the students, like, actually informed. So much so informed that if I ever made a mistake, kids would come up to me right after they watched it in their classroom and let me know that there was a mistake. like, I would mess up a club, or I didn't say their birthday. I would get all the texts when something would go wrong, but at the same time, It didn't bother me as much because I knew people were paying attention. This was never an issue before. So people meaning teachers and students, were very into watching the news to get the information for the day. You're probably wondering how I kept all of this information together and kept it organized so that it would come out on time for the news.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:00]:


I am going to be sharing my whole system inside of my workshop, Naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop, and that template and system will be explained there. It's really not very complicated once you get the rhythm of it. And so this is how all the information was organized in one place so that we could produce a daily news show that everybody could depend on and actually get useful information that they needed. Another thing that you are missing out on when not having a school-wide video news club is another opportunity for students to build skills that they need for their future. We hear about this all the time. We need to be preparing kids for jobs that don't exist. And that's absolutely true. I never knew that I would be creating a podcast and have an online business when I was in 2nd grade. had no idea, but somehow the things that I learned led me to this position today.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:02]:


Likewise, that's for our kids. There are things they think they might wanna do now, and it might actually happen, but there's also a ton of different jobs that are out there that don't even exist, and we need to build up their skills now. A big thing with that is video. I know a lot of students, and you probably too, that when they grow up, they want to be a YouTuber or a Tiktoker. And it does sound pretty silly, but they're really not that far off. In fact, there is a lot of research out there showing that YouTube is the number 2 search engine compared to Google. And you might be thinking to yourself, oh, I'm going to Google it. And if I can't find the answer by reading, then I am going to find a video to teach myself how to do this.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:56]:


I did this the other day. I found a video of a person who explained very, very clearly in 5 minutes how to fix your microwave if it won't stay closed It was a great video. Really well done. It explained everything I needed, and I fixed my microwave in 10 minutes. So not only that, whether students become YouTubers or not, just having the skills to be able to talk on video is a skill. It's an absolute skill. Think about when you might have had to teach online during COVID or even another time. Now pre COVID, I had been making videos and talking on video for a long time.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:42]:


So that was definitely a skill that I was completely comfortable with, and teaching online wasn't a big deal for me. So whether aside from that or not, this is just a skill that I already had. Also, for the students, this is something they need as well. If you're not even that convinced, there are common core based standards about producing work in a digital platform. They're writing standards about this. and there are speaking and listening standards about being able to communicate ideas clearly, and this can also be in the form of digital content. digital content, especially video, is definitely not going away whether you like it or not. What's really funny is my teacher, honey, who's not my husband, but he is a high school Spanish teacher, and I wanna say he's someone who is super techie.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:37]:


He's not bad. He actually is pretty good. He does actually ask me for advice on Instagram, which is pretty funny. But he would see me come home and edit these videos from school, and he would watch and giggle, and I would show him all the bloopers and all the little segments. And even for him, he would say many times how great of an opportunity this is to have a school video news, and he wishes that his school, the high school that he teaches at, had this, which may be really sad that his high school didn't have anything like this, but it is something that kids are really passionate about, and we really wanna play upon things that kids are passionate about and that they love. Not only that, whether it's just something they're passionate about, this is a skill they'll need in a job. Being able to present on video, whether it's in a video meeting or creating content for their job, or talking to students if they do become a teacher. So this is a very helpful skill being able to be on camera and having a school-wide news after-school club can definitely play upon this experience, not only for the students who are on camera but the kids who are watching. This will help them build their skills, and I'm not even kidding you.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:58]:


I did this for 4th and 5th grade, who were on my news crew. But when I had my younger students make videos, just videos explaining their work in Seesaw, K-5 did this with everybody, even the kids who were not on my news crew would talk in a certain way on their videos and try to explain their thinking a lot more. and even tried to explain their thinking better because they saw a video every day of their peers presenting in a clear way. And I could even use that as a teaching point where, oh, when we make a video, we don't want the camera to be shaking the whole time, just like our RHL news. Do they do that? No. Oh, when we talk in our videos, we need to speak clearly, and we're not making silly voices because that's not what we do in our school-wide news. And I'm watching you so you could be on our news one day. So it really helped the kids who were not even on the news at all. They saw what high-quality kid videos can look like.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:01]:


But you also might be thinking, oh, but what about the kids who don't like to be on camera? Sure. There are those kids as well. And so that's why when you set this up, another great benefit to this is what's happening behind the scenes. Another excellent skill is being able to edit video to make it not only interesting for others to watch but also where it can clearly display the information in our video news, which I will definitely show examples of during our workshop. We added fun little segments that we recorded on the side, whether it was something about the artwork or crosswalk questions, which is something that I love to do, but adding in fun segments and video overlays and tech and adding in all of these different elements to really make it engaging for our audience. Not all kids like to be on camera. It is something they need to learn how to do, but there are kids who like to edit more. For me, I like both. I do actually like to be on camera, and I also do like to edit videos, but there are kids who like that too.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:12]:


So both skills are super powerful and having both. You have kids who are on camera, and then kids who are editing. You are able to mesh their skills together, and they are collaborating in a really interesting way. The third thing that you're missing out on by not having a school-wide video news crew is you are building your school community in a creative way. There are lots of ways to build your school community. And the two biggest ways that I thought were my actual news crew and everybody else who wasn't on it, so everyone in the school. With my news crew, especially the 1st year that I hosted it, I built this really special relationship with these kids. Now maybe you're a STEM teacher who wants to get started with this, or maybe you're not. Maybe you're a classroom teacher.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:04]:


But the kids that you do this with, you really build this special relationship with them all year. And for me, it was like having my own class again because teaching all the kids in the school, you're pumping out kids really fast, in a sense. They're going in and out of your classroom all day, so your relationships are just different. But having this news crew that we met every week was really, really special, and we got to know each other in a different way. Also, this RHL news crew was a brand. Let me tell you. I definitely branded this whole experience. We had a logo.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:39]:


We had shirts that the kids would wear on camera and they would wear around school. There were parents who were emailing me. Oh my gosh. Can I get another shirt, or my kid who's in kindergarten really wants to be on the news. Kids would see another, like, a little kid would see an older kid, and the older kids wearing the new shirt, they're like, oh my gosh, are you on the news? The older kids would feel so proud and say yes. I am. Or I would be wearing this shirt, and kids in class would be wearing this shirt. and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'll see you later for news club, or I'd say, oh, I like your shirt.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:14]:


Who designed it? And they would laugh to say, you made it, Miss Meredith. I'm like, oh, yes. I did. But it was just a whole thing, a whole brand, and it was something that kids really strived and wanted to be a part of. And with that, with building the school community, there was everybody else who wasn't on the news crew, but we created ways to involve them in the news. So, yes, they watched it in their classroom every day, but we did some fun segments that I mentioned before. We did some fun segments to involve more of the kids, even if they were officially on the crew. One of the ways that we did that is we had teacher segments. So we interviewed every teacher in the building.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:58]:


We asked the same five questions, and the teachers responded to those questions, and we would throw those in. I also did something called crosswalk questions, where on my crosswalk duty, when it was during slow points, I would have a question of the day. I had a little small microphone, and I actually interviewed kids with their responses. I'd put all of their responses together, and that would be a fun little video clip that we would do. We also promoted our school clubs when it was time to sign up for our clubs. Me and the other special teachers PE, art, and music, and other teachers who had after-school clubs, created little commercials to promote those things. We even had a joke box that sat in our school library since kids had library every week. Students could submit a school appropriate joke that we would possibly read on the news, and we would also share their names.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:49]:


And then we also read birthdays every single day. So, yes, we have the kids who are the stars. I have, in quotation marks, the stars on the camera and the kids who are editing, but we involved the other kids in the building as much as possible. And again, something that everybody looked forward to. This was also really powerful when we were doing our school fundraiser. When we were getting those sign-ups for clubs, we got an overwhelming amount of response because the kids would hear about it every day, and their parents were getting emails, and the teachers were getting emails, and everybody was informed and knew what was going on, and they were excited about it. My PE teacher even wrote about this.


Naomi Meredith [00:22:34]:


She was really sweet, and she said that our news program was such a great addition to our elementary school. Kids paid more attention to the morning announcements because they were listening to other kids. Now we set up an easy way for teachers to submit announcements and items that needed to be included in the news. I truly believe that the news was the reason our fun run funds did so well the past 2 years, we shared important info and exciting videos about the run that was in front of all of our students every day. So our PE teacher was sweet and wrote that comment. It was such a great experience. Everybody thought, why didn't we start this years ago? Because it was such a positive experience and something that they are continuing as well. Also, this whole system of setting up the school was such a success that even my friends at a neighboring school implemented the same exact system that I set up, and they're still using this, and I'm actually gonna have them on the podcast in a few episodes, and make sure you don't miss out on that one.


Naomi Meredith [00:23:37]:


As a recap, here are the three things that you are definitely missing out on by not having a school-wide news video club. First is keeping the school community more informed. Next is building skills that kids need for the future. And third, you have the opportunity to build your school community in a creative way. In the next episode, I'm going to be sharing with you some tips for getting started with your school-wide video news. And if you're ready to dive in and get all of the ideas on how to start it from start to finish, Make sure to join in on the workshop. The doors are open. You can grab that link in the show notes or go straight to Naomimeredith.com/newsworkshop.

school-wide news club

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

types of STEM after-school clubs

8 Types of STEM After-School Clubs [ep.116]

by Naomi Meredith

8 Types of STEM After-School Clubs [ep.116]

types of STEM after-school clubs

Check out the full episode on 8 Types of STEM After-School Clubs:  

 

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Playlist of each type of club in their own bite-sized segment: 

Episode Summary

You’ve made the exciting decision to host a STEM after-school club, but now you may be wondering what types of STEM after-school clubs you can host. That’s what I’m discussing today. With over a decade of teaching experience, I have gained much experience in hosting engaging and interactive after-school clubs that students love. In today’s episode, I’m sharing 8 types of STEM after-school clubs you can host, and I’m sharing some strategies to support you with starting your own.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 8 types of STEM after-school clubs
  • An overview of each type of after-school club
  • Tips and strategies for starting each type of club

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 [00:00:00]:


So you're ready to start hosting a STEM after-school club. What types of STEM after-school clubs can you be hosting? Based on my experience of being a teacher for 11 years and 5 of those being a K-5 STEM teacher, I have a whole list of STEM after-school clubs that you can try, and these are all clubs that I hosted in my classroom that my students absolutely loved and provided a variety of experiences. So let's dive into these fun club ideas. 


Naomi Meredith [00:01:30]:


Pretty soon, I will be hosting a live workshop to take you behind the scenes on how I set up my favorite club of all my school-wide news. Not only will I be showing you exactly how the news ran day today, but all of the prework that I did at the beginning to get it all organized to get kids signed up. All of that behind the scenes work to what we actually did every week to set up the news where we didn't have to go live every day and depend on that. There is a whole method to the madness Everything is all streamlined, and I kept track of it all. So I could show you exactly what I did. I don't want you to miss out on this super fun opportunity. So make sure you join the wait list because you'll be the first to know when it's live And for people on the wait list, you always get a bonus. So make sure you join at Naomimeredith.com/newswaitlist. It's also linked in the show notes, so you can check it out there. In the last episode, I talked about the three reasons why you should host a STEM after-school club.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:20]:


If you haven't gone back and listened to it, no worries. Keep listening to this episode. And then when you're done, Go check out that one because they all go together, and it will all make sense. I love after-school clubs so much they're a lot of fun to plan, and also it's an awesome opportunity for students. My first year teaching K through 5 STEM. I went a little bit crazy, and I hosted 4 days of clubs. The only day that didn't have clubs were Wednesdays. But those clubs were all different because I wanted to have a whole variety of experiences for my students and have them interact with STEM in a lot of different ways.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:06]:


Also, in my district, all of the clubs were actually free. So We're a really nice opportunity for them to join. When I did do creative clubs, sometimes I charged a small fee of $3 just to pay for extra materials. And that was plenty when I had about 20 to 30 kids. That could buy me enough supplies for what I needed for the projects I was thinking about. Also, for 2 of my other clubs, I designed shirts, which I'll talk about when I get to these clubs later in this episode, And that was optional. Students didn't have to buy a shirt, but this was a good way to promote the club, which again will make sense in a second. When I hosted clubs, the clubs typically ran for 4 to 6 sessions in a row. So if their club were on a Tuesday, it would run for the next 4 to 6 Tuesdays.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:03]:


The other specials, teachers in art, PE, and music, we went through and tried to really plan these sessions together so that it all made sense when it came to when a new club would start, when it would end, and all of those different sessions. There were a few clubs that I hosted that did last the entire year, but then they had their own schedule. So it goes into all of that management and all of that pre-work when it comes to setting up a club. which I will talk about in the workshop. And if anything, if you're not even going to do school-wide news, joining the workshops is helpful because the way that I set up that club is exactly how I set up all of my other ones. So you'll get the templates in that workshop anyway, so join it for the 1st hour and then leave for the next. I don't know. But they're all of that work, and all of that management helped it run smoothly for the rest of the year I had all the kids set up and organized, so I didn't have to worry about it again.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:05]:


Another fun thing that I ended up doing once I had my school I knew running is me and the other special teachers started to make commercials promoting our clubs when it came to the time to sign up. They were anything fancy. A lot of times, my commercials had my dog Frederick in them, which all of the students in the school knew who Frederick was because he was in my commercials a lot, and he was also on the news with me when I had to record something last minute at my house, but it was so fun because we had made commercials about our clubs, and then our clubs were always full because they knew about them because they would go home and tell their parents about it. So it was a really fun way how we promoted these opportunities for kids. So kids always signed up. We also tried with our clubs when it came to signing up, where we would mix up the grade levels. So sometimes I would have a 4th and 5th-grade club running, and then the PE teacher might have a second and third-grade club. So kids could have a lot of different experiences.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:10]:


Sometimes we had clubs with kindergarten and 1st grade. I did that my 1st year, and the kids are really, really, really hired at the end of the day. So that's definitely up to you if you host clubs for kindergarten and first. I don't recommend it. I love the little one so much. They are my favorites, but they're also really tired at the end of the day, and it's just a lot. So that's my 2¢ on that. My clubs ran for about an hour after school.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:40]:


I was still done at the end of the day by 4 p.m., got to go home, and there were about 20 to 30 kids in each club. Almost all of them I ran by myself. Here and there, I had some clubs I had some help with, which also depended on the club that I was running, but most of them, I was running by myself, and it worked out just fine. So let's get into those eight STEM after-school clubs, the different kinds you can run, and I'm gonna be sharing with you just a little synopsis of what I did in each one. For some of them, I do have lesson plans created. Some of them I don't. Some were just like on the fly, or sometimes it was a curriculum that was already created.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:22]:


which is going to make sense as you're listening to this. So if I do have materials currently at the time of this recording, I will share them with you here. And, again, when it comes to the whole setting up a club, the whole process is exactly what I did for my school-wide news. So join in on that waitlist, Naomimeredith.com/newswaitlist, because then you can see, like, how to even set up a club to begin with. With the clubs I'm going to mention, you really don't have to do them in any certain order. I don't really have them in a certain order anyway. They're just When I thought of them, I wrote them down. So here they all are, the 8 different types of STEM after-school clubs that you can try.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:05]:


The first one that you can try is computer coding or anything related to computer creation. This will take literally no prep from you, which is awesome when it comes to hosting an after-school club. The program that I really like to use for this club setting when it comes to computer programming on the computer is Google CS First or Google Computer Science First. It is a free program, and at the time when I did it, they actually sent stickers that went along with the challenges. It changes all the time. They're always updating it and making it better, so I'm not quite sure if that is still a thing with this program. But what I really liked about it is that there are different themes of coding. So there's a whole theme that you are deciding to create your challenge around.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:58]:


So there's fashion and design, there's storytelling, but you're solving this problem through coding, which is pretty awesome because real world problems are using coding as one of the ways to solve them. So it was pretty cool. The curriculum's all laid out there. they have a lesson that the students watch. They have videos. and then they apply what they learn using scratch. So they have both at the same time, and they are building upon that challenge to really solve it. It's super cool.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:33]:


I highly recommend it. It's a great way you could do this club a couple of times a year and just choose a different seam. I had everybody work on the same theme. So when I presented the club, it was computer coding, fashion, and design. So they knew what we were getting into, which was pretty fun. On this side note, this isn't exactly computer coding. Now I know there are elements to coding with this, but you could do things like a Minecraft club. You could use Minecraft for education, as an option if you don't want to do that as a regular classroom lesson, or also you could do a 3D printing club.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:13]:


This is a great time to try out 3D printing because the biggest management is you managing the prince as a teacher. So if you do this as a club, You only have a handful of students. You're learning the platform. So try it as a club this year. And then the following year, you could do it with everybody. So a great way, pretty low preps since you're using student devices. You don't really have a whole lot of other materials to worry about. but computer coding on the computer is a great option.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:43]:


The 2nd type of STEM club to try is using LEGO bricks. Whether you have LEGO education kits or LEGO just mixed LEGO Bricks, This is a great club as well. Again, minimal prep. I did 2 versions of this club. I did LEGO 1.0 and LEGO 2.0. In LEGO 1.0, we just had quick one-day building challenges A lot of them I just made up, like building the tallest tower, and then we measured them with yardsticks. It was pretty fun. The kids liked it.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:20]:


It wasn't so fun when the towers fell over, and they had to clean it up, but it was things like that that they would build in one day. We would learn about it. We would watch some videos about it. They would try the challenge, and then they'd clean up and go home. Super low maintenance. When it came to LEGO 2.0, They didn't have to come to 1.0 to start. It's just a fun name I came up with. In LEGO 2.0, we use LEGO Bricks and other materials to merge them together and do stop motion animation.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:49]:


This is actually when I tested out stop motion animation. I had never done it before in a class. So I tried it in my after-school club. I loved it. I love teaching it. There are a lot of units I actually like to teach. I feel like in every unit I teach, I love that one, which is pretty true. but it was really fun teaching stop motion animation came up with a whole unit, and actually, with that unit used it for a summer camp class that I taught all about stop motion.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:19]:


So that was a lot of fun. That lesson, I do have the whole thing that you could use for an after-school club. So you can check that out in my stop motion bundle, which I'll link in the show notes. If you were looking more up for a LEGO challenge. I recommend looking into the junior 1st LEGO League. I might have mixed up the words of that. I always mess that up. but that is a competition based LEGO challenge.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:46]:


It can be a bit pricey. the prices change quite often. I did it for 1 year because our district decided to fund that, and then we did our own challenge within our district. But essentially, you have LEGO education kits. They do tell you which one you'll use. And then you have a challenge, and then the students build and solve a challenge, and there's lessons that go along with it. So it is pretty self-guided. Again, it is a bit pricey.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:12]:


So look into it first. but if you want more of a competition or something more guided, that's a good thing to look into. The 3rd type of STEM club that you can host is a school-wide news club. Again, this is one of the most favorite clubs I have ever, ever, ever hosted. It was like having my own class again. which is why I think I liked it because I had the same group of kids. I thought of the idea one day when I was walking my dog, Frederick, and it popped into my head, and I figured out how I was going to do this. My biggest challenge was that I didn't want to be going live every day because, for me, that was my planning time, and I needed my plan time to plan.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:56]:


And then here in Colorado, you get snow days, we get a delayed start, and I didn't want the news to be dependent on weather and kids getting there. So I figured out a whole system of how to have the news pre-recorded. So my students would only come on Mondays, and then it would be the way we scheduled it out. Everything was ready to go for the next week or so. In the 1st year, I only had a courting team of kids. I had 40 kids, so I split them into 2 groups, and we alternated weeks, and it grew so much in popularity. The kids up absolutely loved it. I had little kids begging me to be on the news.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:37]:


The following year, it doubled. I had 80 kids sign up. So I had about 60 kids on my recording team and 20 on my editing. No. That's not true. I had 50 in my recording and then 30 in my editing. So we would record on Mondays. I had 3 groups of 20, and then we edited on Tuesdays.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:01]:


I had 3 groups of 20. And then, the way I scheduled it out, they all had the same amount of time to be in the club. So it was a whole lot of fun. We had a logo. We had a brand. We had a whole brand about it. It was a huge privilege to be on it. kind of in a lot of ways, like student leadership, but in a different form.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:22]:


the kids were literally obsessed. So was I. I did have teachers help me with this one and help guide the news, but it was a whole lot of fun and very informative. We actually informed the school about what was happening. It wasn't just random. Oh, what's the sports for today? Like, we actually kept up with what was happening in the school. What were the current events of elementary school life? So I'm gonna share it with you.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:47]:


That's a whole snapshot of what we did, but I'll share with you how I set this up. So join that waitlist at Naomi Meredith.com/newswaitlist. The 4th type of STEM Club that you can host is creating things with your hands. I did this in a few different ways. One of them is that I hosted a Makerspace club, and this is where I tested out a lot of my seven stories lessons that you can get in my shop, which I'll link to the ultimate bundle in the show notes. This was so much fun, where we would read or listen to a short story and then complete a related STEM challenge. I did charge about $3 for this club so that I could cover the cost of materials that I didn't have on hand, and that was plenty. Most of it was recycled materials anyway.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:37]:


This was a great club because, again, I tried out lessons and things that I liked and didn't like. It also let me see as a teacher how I wanted my classroom maker space to be set up because I have it had it set up all the time. It wasn't something that I would bring out when I wanted. It was always set up. So having a club setting helped me see, okay, how is the flow of materials? Are there places where kids get stuck? where should the scissors go? Where should the markers go? What is a what makes sense in this situation? So that actually helped me find the flow of my maker's face. If you wanna hear more about Makerspace, I highly recommend going back to listening to episodes 5 and 6, and I break down that whole thing And then all the things that I use to set it up, I have a bundle of that as well. So everything I just said will be linked in the show notes. Another creating club that I started but actually didn't get to finish.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:35]:


So I was really, really sad about this. I started a digital branding basics club. In this club, the whole purpose was for students to create a fictional brand where they would be providing a good or a service, and they would develop the whole brand around it. So we were going to create a basic website to talk about brand colors when it comes to the psychology of that and why certain colors are used for certain things. Design a logo that they create digitally and also get it cut on our school cricket machines. And with the logo, we're also gonna put it either on a shirt or on a hat, which I, again, was so sad. I didn't get to do this club because the COVID shutdown happened.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:19]:


So we had 1 week of this club, and then it never happened again. And then, I went in a different direction with my club, so I didn't have the chance to fit that one in. So creating clubs, definitely recommend it could be a little more prep work, but kids love it. The 5th STEM club to try is an experiments club. This is a great way to do those experiments that you haven't done in a while that take a little bit of prep, like slime and ooblec. Only do ooblec if you don't have carpet on your floor. Definitely don't do that. And, also, just those things that are, engaging that they might miss out on the regular class.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:58]:


They may or may not be doing those things. So hands on experiments are a great club. With that, I also hosted an after-school club, which, honestly this one I didn't really like very much, but we did it. I tried it. Didn't do it again. but hosted, where we were setting up a school weather balloon that we were going to send up into near space, and the students were picking the things that we would have as the experiments that we would send up with the weather balloon, and they also set up the frame with help with some people from our district. And then, I had to go and set up a school-wide assembly event where the whole school went to watch this balloon getting set up, and the kids who were in the club got to help with that process. I didn't like this one as much because it was very teacher driven.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:46]:


And I and, like, teacher driven in a sense where I was doing a lot of the learning and the trainings, and also I did have to drive and get the balloon. So I had to drive for 2 hours and then go find it in the middle of a field and drive back Also, this was very weird. It's weird how a couple of clubs got affected by this, but the day the balloon got launched was the last day the kids had school for the spring because of the COVID shutdown. So it was weird. I thought it was cool, a cool experience, but also a lot of work for the teacher. So keep that in mind. Another club, number 6, that you could try is having a technology support club. This one is a lot of fun because you can train the kids on certain technology skills that are needed in the school that are constantly being asked of you, and they're your eye support team.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:40]:


So I would tell kids that I am the manager and you are my employees, and I'm gonna train you on the ways of the different things that are needed in the school. the 1st year I did it every other week. And then, in the following years, I just did once a month. That was plenty. But if I needed help with certain things or teachers were asking me questions because I was the technology person. I would send out my eye support team, and they would be there to help. I did also have a logo and shirts for this 1, and they would wear them proudly, and they were definitely a lifesaver. Another fun thing that I had these kids do in the club is that they made videos for our school-wide news, and they would make videos of certain processes of how to use technology like plugging them in, hanging up headphones, logging into Seesaw, and they also made cleaning videos that we would send out every so often on the news.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:29]:


And likewise, during testing season, there were certain technology things that 3rd through 5th-grade teachers had to do. So those kids helped me make videos as well that we could play on the news. Two more clubs are coming at you. I told you it had lots of ideas. The 7th club that you can try is robotics. There are a lot of different curriculums out there, so this is actually a great time to use the curriculums that come with your robots. My favorite is the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop, and they do a whole robotics league competition that comes out in the fall. So I recommend trying that.


Naomi Meredith [00:22:05]:


Also, the Vex robots are really great. There is a competition element. So if you could get other schools in your area to do it, it's a lot of fun. I haven't hosted Vex as a club, but I have judged it, and it is super, super cool. So If you have the money in the space for it, again, that one can be a bit pricey, but that one is a lot of fun and a good challenge. And the last type of club, that isn't really a club, but you can create take home STEM kits. This developed when we actually couldn't do after-school clubs, and I can do a whole episode about this one, but I created Take Home's STEM kits that were for purchase. And in the kit, there were 4 different STEM activities that had the instructions, a video, all the supplies, All of the related science, people in STEM, and explorations, all included in this box, and a new kit came out every month for 6 months.


Naomi Meredith [00:23:02]:


So it was a lot of fun to put these together. A great way for kids to be involved with STEM at home. I did make commercials to promote these to get kids to buy them. I didn't really make any profit off of it at my school. It was really just to fund the materials, any extra money I just put back into the program to buy more masking tape, which is something I always seem to run out of, but I do have a couple of commercials I made. I will post those in the show notes They're pretty funny. One of them has my dog Frederick who is the star of the video. So check them out.


Naomi Meredith [00:23:33]:


They're silly. They're cheesy, but they were a hit. As a recap, here are the 8 different STEM after-school clubs that you can do in your classroom. 1st, computer coding, 2nd, LEGO, 3rd, school-wide news, 4th, creating clubs, 5th, experiment clubs, 6 technology support, 7th, robotics, and 8th, which is a club, not really a club, take home STEM kits. In the next episode, I'm going more go into more depth about the benefits of having a school-wide news crew. which you definitely don't wanna miss out on. It definitely changed our school-wide culture for the better. So that is an episode I'm really excited to record.


Naomi Meredith [00:24:19]:


And while you're at it, make sure to check out the show notes. There are a lot of fun goodies in there, including the link to sign up for the wait list for my live workshop training, and you can find that at Naomimeredith.com/newswaitlist.

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Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

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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. 

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host a STEM after-school club

Why Should You Host a STEM After-School Club? [ep.115]

by Naomi Meredith

Why Should You Host a STEM After-School Club? [ep.115]

host a STEM after-school club

Check out the full episode on Why Should You Host a STEM After School Club?:  

 

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Episode Summary

I recently polled my audience on Instagram, asking if they host a STEM after-school club. The results were surprising, with 75% of you voting that you don’t. After a long day of teaching, hosting an after-school club may be the furthest thing from your mind. There are so many benefits to hosting an after-school club, which is what I’m talking about today. In today’s episode, I’m sharing three reasons why you should host a STEM after-school club and sharing some stories about my experience hosting them.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 3 reasons why you should host a STEM after-school club
  • Ways STEM after-school clubs can help you build relationships with your students
  • My experience with hosting STEM after-school clubs 

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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 [00:00:00]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:01:19]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:02:40]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:03:26]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:03:57]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:04:54]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:05:52]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:06:07]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:06:56]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:07:27]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:08:02]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:08:39]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:09:52]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:10:23]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:10:43]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:11:07]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:11:56]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:12:38]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:13:14]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:13:54]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:14:45]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:15:05]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:16:03]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:16:59]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:17:43]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:18:17]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:19:14]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:19:56]:


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


Naomi Meredith [00:20:37]:


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

host a STEM after-school club

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

engineering design process projects

Should I Start the Year with an Engineering Design Process Project? [ep.114]

by Naomi Meredith

Should I Start the Year with an Engineering Design Process Project? [ep.114]

engineering design process projects

Check out the full episode on Should I Start the Year with an Engineering Design Process Project?:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

One question I often receive is whether or not you should start the school year with an engineering design process project. Maybe you have this question, and you’re wondering when is the right time to introduce the engineering design process to your students. Today I’m shedding light on three misconceptions about when is the right time to introduce engineering design process projects and giving some tips for the best way to introduce this standard to your students.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 3 misconceptions about when is the best time to introduce engineering design process projects
  • Why these misconceptions are false
  • Tips and strategies for effectively introducing this standard to your students

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


Should you start off your school year teaching the engineering design process, or should you not? What if students have never heard of it before? How much pre-teaching of the engineering design process needs to be done? And don't they need to know more about the classroom and all of the routines before they start off a project like this? In my K-5 STEM yearlong plan bundle of lessons, I plan all of my big projects for kindergarten through fifth grade using the engineering design process, which, fun fact, is an actual Next Generation Science Standard in elementary. You can check out all of those lessons at naomimeredith.com/tptk5stem. I get this question a lot about the engineering design process. Should I start off the year with it, or should I not? So let's debunk these misconceptions together all about using the engineering design process.


Listener Question [00:01:38]:


I wanted to ask you, I love your idea about doing the STEM Survival Camp. That sounds so fun. Such a great theme to get everybody engaged at the beginning of the year. I have had one class with my little ones. I see them well with all of them K through six. I see them one day a week for 30 minutes. And I'd love to hop into the STEM Survival Camp, but my hesitation is we don't really have our procedures down pat. I don't really have maker space figured out. We haven't gone over anything with the engineering design process. Do you think I should wait and kind of get those things a little bit more settled with maybe some one-day challenges, or do you think I don't necessarily have to have gone through the engineering design process for the kids to be successful? I just want them to love STEM and start strong with it being such a positive environment for them. So if you'll let me know your thoughts, that would be awesome. Thank you so much. Bye.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:17]:


Thank you so much, Amberly, for your question. I love hearing whose voices are out there listening to the podcast because, funny enough, it's me just talking to a camera in my home office all alone, and my little dog Frederick gets to hear everything I say.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:15]:


If you want to leave a voice message like this one, you can do this at any time, easily on your phone. Just go to Naomimeredith.com slash voice. Also, Amberly talked about a unit called STEM Survival Camp which is my absolute favorite to start off the year. And if you want to hear all about it. This is a unit that I do from kindergarten through fifth grade, and a lot of it involves the outdoors. So you can check out an episode I recorded back in episode four, and I talk all about this really fun unit to do with your students for this episode. I'm talking about if you can start off the year with the engineering design process. So if you are choosing to do the unit STEM Survival camp or you're thinking about another one, this question can still apply.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:08]:


I have to tell you a little secret. Before I started teaching K through Five STEM, I was a classroom teacher for six years. I actually had never heard of the engineering design process before. Now, if I had an interview, let's say I had an interview now to be a STEM teacher, I would definitely mention that. But that's not something that I mentioned in my interview at all. And thank goodness, because I had no idea what it was. So I did some research. I kept hearing about it from other STEM teachers, and like, what is this? So I did some research and I figured out what it was.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:42]:


And as a quick synopsis, the engineering design process is the real process that engineers use to problem solve and think through real problems and creative solutions. There's more to it. There are some stages within that. So you have asked the question, so what question are you solving? You are imagining different solutions through research and other ideas out there. Then you plan through your design. You start creating, making modifications, experimenting, and improving, of course, that word iterates so you're iterating and trying things all over again. And then you share your design. It is not a linear process.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:24]:


So it's not like step by step by step, oh, we did it. We're never going back through the steps. You might not even get through the whole engineering design process when you do a project because there are things that are going to pop up and not work. And that's okay. But in a nutshell, that's what the engineering design process is. If you want to hear more in detail about this process and some examples of how I use this in my K through Five STEM space, I did a whole series about the engineering design process starting in episode 15 and goes all the way to episode 22. You can scroll back and listen to those episodes. Or if you just want everything laid out for you for free, this podcast is free.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:09]:


But this is also free. I have categorized all of my podcast episodes into like, topics. So, for example, if you want to learn more about the engineering design process, there is a free playlist that has all of those episodes organized for you. And you just click on the link. It will add it to your phone just like a regular podcast. And then any episode that I add in there that is related to that topic will pop up. So there's a handful of topics, same exact podcast as this one, but it's all organized for you, so you can grab that at naomimeredith.com/podcastplaylist. Also, every link I'm going to talk about will be in the show notes for today, so you don't need to go and write those down.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:52]:


I have it all organized for you. All right, so let's break down this question. Should I start off the year with a project using the engineering design process? So I broke this up into three misconceptions that go along with this and how I think through this question. Misconception number one, the kids have never heard about the engineering design process, so I can't use it yet. Well, just like I had never heard of it, the kids might not have either. And good thing that we are in school. And I would tell this to my students, good thing that I am a teacher because that is good job security, because I get to teach you and most things that when you come into this room, you probably won't know. And I would tell this also to my students.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:43]:


Spoiler alert, I don't know most things that I'm teaching you. Before I teach them, I have to go and research them myself. So that's okay. That's the cool part about STEM. And really any learning and teaching is most things should actually probably be new. So that is okay. What I really like about the engineering design process is it can be used over and over and over again with different types of projects and you can really zone in on different parts of the engineering design process. And also, depending on your time, how long you have with students, how long you have with projects, you can speed parts up, you can take parts out.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:29]:


And like I said, you might not get through every single step. And that is okay. A lot of times at the beginning of the year, I might even zone more in on planning based on what I remember seeing kids doing the year before. Or maybe I want to zone in more on imagining. So whether or not the kids have heard of it, you're going to have your own spin of teaching it anyway. The projects might be different. I might teach things way differently than another STEM teacher. But the process is pretty familiar, so it's okay if they have never heard of it yet.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:02]:


You're going to be embedding it throughout the year. So this really isn't a one and done. We're going to use the engineering design process one time. We're never going to use it again. Honestly, if you plan out all your lessons like this, like I did in all of my lessons 4K through five, you can grab every lesson that I taught my students in a whole bundle that is constantly being updated. So you can grab that naomimeredith.com/tptk5stem. Every single project. Not STEM stations, that's a whole other thing.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:35]:


But when it comes to the projects, every project used the engineering design process. And we were doing different things throughout the year. Whether it was STEM survival camp where we are using elements from the outdoors and maker space to build and solve a problem, or even if it went to video and audio production or 3d printing or robotics. We use this process over and over and over again in K through five. They actually did not get tired of it, which we're going to talk about that in a bit, but that way it's used in so many different contexts that it's okay if they don't get it right the first time. I would mess it up half the time anyway. It's all right. They don't get it right the first time because you're going to do it again all year long, in my opinion.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:23]:


I'm not really a fan of doing filler projects. I have it in quotation marks where you're kind of fake doing the engineering design process. Like, all right, guys, this is the imagine stage. This is the things we do and imagine and we're going to do blah, blah, blah. I really like it where it's embedded because again, if you're teaching this throughout the year, you don't need to do a filler project and be so explicit on, this is the step and this is what we do in this step. I don't really care if the students memorize it or not. They're going to be familiar with the process anyway, so why not jump into a project and it will start becoming familiar the more you use it? Misconception number two, whether or not you should be using the engineering design process right away is that mine maker space isn't fully set up yet. Well, guess what? Mine wasn't either.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:16]:


And half the time my labels weren't even on the correct things or I needed to add five more labels to my buckets and I never did it, so it's okay. And also, my work week back, I never got to plan for STEM. I actually had to do all of the school wide technology. I never planned anything the first week back to school, so my makerspace wasn't set up either. So the cool thing, especially if you are using STEM Survival Camp or you are doing some sort of maker space project, I actually don't recommend having a free for all when it comes to all of the supplies anyway. I pull out select items I want students to choose from, and they have to be creative with those constraints. It doesn't mean that all of their work is going to look the same. They look completely different to build and solve the problem.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:09]:


But it's not as overwhelming either for me as a teacher, I don't have to be concerned that every single thing is set up, just some necessary items that I will use for the project and also for students. That's overwhelming too, being jumping into all of the supplies. So that's different than jumping into the engineering design process. I'm talking more about jumping into all of the supplies. I do have a method to my madness when it comes to maker space. So if you head on back to just listen to these in order. So after this episode, go to listen to episode four, STEM Survival Camp. Then keep going to episode five where I talk about setting up your maker space, and then keep on going to episode six where I talk about the management piece.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:55]:


So there's definitely a method to the madness. But it's okay if your maker space isn't all the way set up. Just have some necessary supplies ready to go, especially your scissors and tape, and you should be okay. So less pressure on you. You can start filling in your maker space as you go. And misconception number three if you should get started with the engineering design process at the beginning of the year, is that I really want my students to love STEM, but I'm worried about the structure. I am a huge proponent of systems, routines, and structure in any sort of classroom, and that is a big lesson that I learned my first two years of teaching. And that is a skill that I have carried on throughout all of my years of teaching and has helped me be successful in any classroom setting, whether it was a classroom teacher or teaching 35 4th graders all by myself for 45 minutes.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:57]:


So it definitely is really important to have that structure. Now, the engineering design process isn't a behavior routine, but it is a structure for your projects. I was actually talking to a teacher the other day over on my Instagram in my direct messages at Naomimeredith_. You can find me over there. But we were talking, and it was actually about how she was heading up her classroom. But I was telling her that elementary STEM, it can get overwhelming and overstimulating very quickly for the teacher and the students. So having structures in place actually doesn't make it boring for the kids. It makes it feel safe, especially when you are doing creative projects.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:45]:


I've talked about this a few times on here, but when you're doing creative projects, it can actually be really scary for a lot of kids. You're so lucky bringing these opportunities for your students. And it's also very vulnerable when you want to do a creative project. And so if you have some structure in place I'm not saying do step by step by step. Your project all has to look like this, and it all has to do this. No, having a process to go through, not an end result. Their end result can be whatever if it's solving the problem, but having a process actually helps with that creativity. I was actually rereading one of the books in my membership, the STEM teacher bookshelf.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:32]:


And the book for August was lifelong kindergarten. And inside of there, it actually talks a lot about this, how having a full blank canvas is very overwhelming for students. So when you're applying this to the engineering design process, it's really narrowing down that big open ended question or big open ended project, and it makes it more attainable. So think of that when you're thinking about your projects that it's okay to start off with it. It's going to make it seem less overwhelming. You're breaking up the project. It's not this huge thing that you don't know how to get to it. It's little steps along the way.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:12]:


And like I said, kids are going to get more and more used to it. Actually, my students didn't like it a little bit at first, and it might also be because I didn't really know what I was doing anyway. But they're like, Why do we have the research? Why do we have to learn about this? But over time, they stopped complaining about it because they knew that what they were looking for was going to help them with their projects anyway. So in a STEM setting, especially if you're not a homeroom classroom teacher, it is going to take more time to build up those sySTEMs and routines than it would with a classroom teacher. They have them every single day all year. But as a STEM teacher, you don't. So it is going to take some time to build up with it. So the more you do it, the better you're going to get at teaching it and the better the students are going to get when implementing the engineering design process in their projects.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:03]:


As a recap in this episode, here are the three misconceptions that we broke down when it comes to implementing the engineering design process at the beginning of the school year or whenever you're getting started with this. Misconception number one is your kids have never heard of the engineering design process, so you can't use it yet. Misconception number two was my supplies and maker space aren't fully set up, so I can't really do the engineering design process yet. And misconception number three was, I want my kids to love STEM, but I'm worried about the structure. Just like with anything, it is all trial and error, and you are going to find your rhythm and your flow. So I say jump in on it. If it fails, it's fine. You get to do it again.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:52]:


A lot of the things that I've done have not worked, and there's a lot of lessons that were horrible that I don't really share with you because also, I kind of forget what they were, and they were so bad, I wouldn't want you to teach them. So it's okay. Keep going. You got this. And try it out. The engineering design process is great. I love planning with it. You can check that out in my K through Five STEM year-long bundle, where that's already done for you.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:19]:


But I appreciate hearing from you all and wish you the best for back to School, and I will see you in the next episode.

engineering design process projects

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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 through Art and Storytelling

Teaching STEM through Art and Storytelling with Rachel Ignotofsky [ep.113]

by Naomi Meredith

Teaching STEM through Art and Storytelling with Rachel Ignotofsky [ep.113]

STEM through Art and Storytelling

Check out the full episode on Teaching STEM through Art and Storytelling with Rachel Ignotofsky:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

In today’s episode, I sit down to chat with New York Times bestselling author, illustrator, and designer Rachel Ignotofsky. Rachel’s works are a combination of art and storytelling that teach STEM in an engaging way. Her books have garnered worldwide acclaim and have become invaluable resources for educators. Rachel shares what led her to become an author, the impact her books have had on the STEM world, and so much more.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Rachel’s journey to becoming an author
  • The inspiration behind Rachel’s books
  • Why Rachel is passionate about making STEM accessible to all
  • Behind the scenes of Rachel’s interactive book tours 

Meet Rachel Ignotovsky:

Rachel Ignotofsky is a New York Times bestselling author, illustrator, and designer. Rachel and her work have been featured in many print and online media outlets such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Scientific American, Science Friday, Brain Pickings, and more. She is the author of Women in Science, Women in Sports, Women in Art, The History of the Computer, and The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth, What's Inside a Flower? and her newest book What's Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? She is a graduate of Tyler School of Art's graphic design program.

Connect with Rachel:

Resources Mentioned:

Books written by Rachel Ignotofsky:

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 [00:00:00]:


When you're looking for nonfiction books for your STEM classroom, are you frustrated that you can't always find exactly what you're looking for? Either the content is great, but it's not quite the right level for your students, or maybe it is actually a great book, but the visuals are like, eh, boring. Just like any other nonfiction book that you've used in your classroom. Q in Rachel Ignotowski, who is the special guest for this episode, to fill in that void. Rachel Ignotovsky is a New York Times bestselling author, illustrator and designer. Rachel and her work have been featured in many print and online media sources such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Scientific American Science Friday, Brain Pickings and more. She is the author of many amazing works such as Women in Science, The History of the Computer, and her newest book, What's Inside of a Caterpillar Cocoon. There are so many other titles that she has authored, so make sure to go and check those out. She is a graduate of Tyler School of Arts graphic design program. Her work is so unique with the artwork and the way the visuals are displayed in her books, you just want to stare at them for hours, but there's also so much learning that goes behind it. Likewise, her work has so much research within her books, so they are definitely things that you can use in your classroom to enhance your curriculum. I thoroughly enjoyed Rachel's passion for designing and creating, but also supporting education through her work and the underlying themes that each of her books have. Rachel was such a delightful guest to have on this show and I know that you are also going to hear that same passion in what she does and just feel so much lighter after listening to this episode. I can't wait for you to hear this interview and I know that you are going to be inspired just as I was by listening to our conversation. Well, thank you, Rachel, so much for being here. We were talking a little bit before we started recording and when you guys check out the video, her background is just so sweet and it almost looks fake because it's so perfect and cute. She has this beautiful red chair and you're going to tell us in a second. There's some history about this red chair and like this cute pompom background. So this is like one of the cutest backgrounds I've ever seen.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:03:20]:


You know, what? I'm just going to say it again. Pompoms, they go a long way. They're worth the investment.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:26]:


Really? Oh, yeah.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:03:29]:


And this red chair, I've actually been sitting my little butt in it and writing books right here in this red chair since 2016. And this chair has survived like three different moves across the country. And yeah, so when everything started to be more on, zoom and video started being so much more important for how we do interviews, I'm like, you know what? Let me take my red chair. Let me put it up against the wall. Let me string up some pompoms, add some class. And it's so perfect. It's nothing but compliment city. So thank you.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:06]:


It's so perfect. And this is a teacher audience. Oh, yeah. Every teacher is like, oh my God. Some teachers be like, I have those pompoms when they see it.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:04:16]:


Like $3 from Target investment spent. Worth it.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:21]:


Perfect. I love it. Well, aside from the pompoms. And it goes into your background a bit, but I would love to hear more about yourself and your background and how your experiences led you into children's STEM literature. I read about me in your first book that you created. But for those of us who haven't heard about you, tell us more about yourself.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:04:47]:


Well, when I first graduated from college now this is all the way back in 2011. My first job was in Kansas City, Missouri. So I moved across the country all the way from New Jersey to Kansas City, Missouri. And the other young people that I made friends with, they actually were all from all over the country, and they moved to Kansas City, Missouri to be part of Teach for America. So I was there working for Hallmark greeting cards, kind of drawing happy birthday cards and little flowers and cakes all day. And all of my friends, they were in some of the most underserved communities that are in our country, working, stressed out, trying to basically find resources for their classrooms all day. And you know how it is when you're a teacher, you spend a lot of your own money. And a lot of my friends were actually doing lesson plans for multiple subjects at a time. So they were like, I'm teaching English, math, and science all at once. So just hearing the needs that my friends had, I was like, you know, I can make some art. So I started making art about topics that I personally thought were really interesting, but also really having my friends in mind of what are some things that they could just literally throw in a PowerPoint or put on the wall and would be something that they could use in both of their classrooms. English and science. English and mathematics, yes. And so it really started from that place. And I was so lucky that the rest of sort of like the online community, the science community, kind of caught wind of the work I was doing. So I started getting freelance. I was selling posters online, and I was pretty much, in just a couple of years, able to quit my job at Hallmark and go full time making science communication and these infographics that teachers could use. All of that led to my first book, which was Women in Science.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:48]:


I have it right here.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:06:49]:


Yes. Now, that book right there that really came out of this necessity, my friends were all like, we don't have a lot of resources in our classrooms to talk about women in history, women in science. Now, remember, this is back in 2014, 2013, the same time I was reading a lot about the U.S. Census and the huge gender gap that was in STEM around 2010. And all the information, all the sort of kind of analyzing the data that came in was coming out around that time in 2013, 2014. And the gender gap was just women were graduating in the sciences, but then they weren't getting placed in positions or high level positions. And there was just huge gender gap between women who are graduating with STEM degrees and those getting jobs. And hearing my friends talk about their lack of resources, I was like, you know what? It sounds like this is something that I can actually make. And instead of just complaining that these books didn't exist and that these resources didn't exist, I started making those resources. So I started creating posters about women in science, always knowing that eventually, I hope this would become a book. And the posters started getting used in classrooms and hung up in laboratories by professional scientists. I got this email being, oh, like, I'm a chemist, and I put up the poster of Rosalind Franklin in my cubicle. And now all of my colleagues come and ask me about Rosalind Franklin, and I could tell them that she's actually the woman who discovered the double helix. And it was just these moments were happening. And eventually publishers knocked on my door, and I was able to publish my very first book. And now it's been translated into 25 different languages used in classrooms around the world, and it was on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:36]:


Yeah, congratulations. That's an amazing accomplishment, and you definitely should be honored for that because I have so many chills right now with you mean when you're reading your bio, you don't know that whole story in your book? That's beautiful. But I love how all of your things are very education and teacher focused and bringing awareness and research based, which is such a cool way. And the illustrations are absolutely beautiful, every single one. I'm sure you have a favorite, which we can ask at the end, which are your favorite? You probably don't have a favorite, but I love how it is such a need. And instead of sitting there with that research, because I was reading that too, getting my Master's in STEM leadership with that huge gap, instead of like, oh, okay, that's sad. You actually are taking action, but you're putting your own spin on it. So you're using your talents that you have and combining those loves. And it's such a great need. It is so true. It is definitely true, needing to hear about people. And there's women in this book that I haven't even heard about before. As an adult, I don't know about everything, but I'm like, oh, that's really cool, or I wouldn't have thought of that person. So how did you 50 is a lot. I mean, that's a lot, but also a small list. How did you come about picking the 50? How did you figure that out?


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:10:03]:


Well, there was, like, three things that I was kind of using as, like, a metric to pick the women out. One was accomplishment, because the sort of argument that I'm making in this book is that women have been always there. We've been kind of achieving at the same level as these male science heroes, like as the Einstein's, as the Teslas. We just haven't been getting acknowledgement. So to make that argument, you also have to find women who have done accomplishments that are at the level of the most famous female scientist, Marie Curie, and really highlight those accomplishments. So that was one metric. The other one was, we've been doing this since the dawn of history, so I needed a breath of history. So that's why we go all the way back to the first ever recorded female mathematician, Hypatia, and we actually go all the way to the first woman to win a Fields Medal, which is Miriam Mizorzaki. And the Fields medal is like the Nobel prize in math. And she kind of figured out through her discoveries how particle moves through this very high level sort of abstract mathematical field called, like, hyperbolic math. I had to talk to people who are that was a little above my pay grade to understand. So I actually knocked on the door of my friends who were they were math majors in college, and they're getting their PhDs. And I was like, Explain this to me. So having them look over that part of the work was actually really great to how to then do I explain it to, like, a seven year old? But of course, we talk about a lot more than mathematicians. I also wanted a diversity of math fields and of story. So in this book, there are women who have traveled to outer space. There's women who explored the deepest parts of our ocean. We have astrophysicists, but we also have stories throughout history of these women's lived experiences. So through the eyes of these women, we learn about the civil rights movement, we learn about suffrage, we learn about the class structure that a lot of these women who were born into poverty had to overcome to be able to even have their work seen. And so we talk about a lot more than just science. We talk about racism, sexism, overcoming economic difficulties, classism. And through the lens of these women's stories, you see that through their passion of discovery, they overcome all sorts of barriers. And they actually do. They change our world for the better because of it. And now we can celebrate them.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:41]:


Oh, yeah. It definitely is a celebration. And I love that because there's a purpose behind and certain jobs at certain time periods, too. I mean, obviously the first person, but some of these careers are still around today, or they've morphed into other careers as well. So it's super inspiring, of course, for women or young girls. And even the young boy, like all children, really, all children can be inspired. And I could even see as a teacher, you read one a day, or if you are even a STEM teacher when you see all the kids in the school. That's how my job was, 150 kids a day. But you could have one displayed like one a day. You're like, hey, we're going to learn about this person today. Or you could roll a dice and see, okay, we're going to page 71 and here's who we're going to read about. So you could definitely gamify it. But I love how it connects the history and the purpose behind their career and the problem they're trying to solve, which is what we're always telling kids in STEM, what problem are you trying to solve? What impact are you using your skills? And I would tell the kids, you want to use your skills like a superhero. It's like, either for good or for evil. We want the good. We want the good side. Guys, come on.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:13:57]:


It's so funny you say that, because that's exactly how I think about art, where it's like, you could use your skills to help tell the stories of major corporations. You could use it to sell Coca Cola, or you could use it to tell stories that I think are important, like unsung heroes in history. To talk about science. To talk about history. So I always say I use my skills as a graphic designer to help educate rather than sell things.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:28]:


And all of your things are educational, for sure.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:14:31]:


Oh, yeah. I mean, everything I make, I make with teachers in mind. And it's so funny that you also said that about the gamification of the book because I also created it with that in mind, where you don't have to read it literally. You could just pick it up, open a page, and learn something, even if it's just looking at the illustration. And by creating, like, a hierarchy of information with illustration with different typefaces. This book is read by women who are in grad school, who are like, I just want to be inspired, and I want to learn about other fields and the sciences and learn about history. But also I have kids as young as seven who they do exactly what you said. They read a page a night with their parents. The little kids read the fun facts, and then the parent reads the large write up. And then they spend the rest of the night asking questions, looking up online on Wikipedia to learn more, literally making lists of other books that they could read that are about this woman or the field of study. So it's like hearing stories like that. I'm like, okay, good, the material is working. My evil plan has come to fruition more. This is great.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:42]:


Yeah, you're tricked into learning more. It's so true. Yeah, and it's cool because you could spend time and your other books are like this, too, but you can just spend time just looking at the graphics for a while and then you could just stare at them.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:15:59]:


Yeah, everything I wanted to be so beautiful that you would want to display it. So even if you're apprehensive about learning science, because science is one of those topics that and I think this is more true for adults than it is for kids, but you get in your head about it, where I've met a lot of adults who are down on themselves. They're like, I'm not smart enough to learn about this topic, because maybe they had a bad experience when they were in school, and they carry that with them for the rest of their lives. But by making something beautiful and also friendly, which I do by just putting happy faces on everything, like power of Happy Face is real. It's like a cheap trick. And I'm going to keep using it because it works. Literally. You put a smile on the page and you make it beautiful, and then you're reaching a whole new audience who's learning something new, and they don't feel the anxiety about learning science completely melts away. And I've done that with my book. The history of the Computer. I've done that with my book. The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth and my woman in series. And what is really exciting is that I have just started this new series, starting with the book What's Inside a Flower? And instead of sort of focusing on the middle grade to adult audience, I decided to create resources for elementary school kids because I think that that fear of science can start as early as elementary school. So if we break down those barriers early, little kids can realize that the small questions that they have about the natural world and maybe their own body and just how the universe works, those are all actually like scientific questions with science answers. And that's the first step to being a little scientist. So. Yeah. What's inside? A flower. And then the next book is What's Inside a caterpillar cocoon. So I'm also really excited about those that's definitely elementary.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:52]:


We teach that. I actually just found a caterpillar the other day, and I tried to teach my dog what it was, and he did not like it.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:18:00]:


Yeah, dogs are a little hard.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:03]:


He didn't understand. So I'm like, okay, well, this isn't going to work. I know it's true, but I love that because I noticed that with my students and even just with teachers over the years, that science is a hard like what you're saying. And that's probably why the misconceptions about science as an adult, and it's harder to teach half of it's. The materials are boring, to be honest. I've had science curriculums that are really ugly, and they're not engaging, and the kids aren't into it. That is a real thing. And then teachers are stressed for time. They're like, oh, we'll just watch a video about it. Oh, we'll just watch a video about it again. And I've had kids tell me, “Oh, I hate science.” And I was their STEM teacher. So they came to me separate, but they're like, I just don't like it. It's boring. I'm like, oh, no, science is amazing. It's wonderful. That's how our world is. But just a lot of those adult misconceptions of what science is or teachers skipping it, and it is that whole cycle of you want to catch them when they're young and spark, and even if they don't go into a STEM field, it's still important to appreciate those types of fields anyway.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:19:15]:


Yeah, I'm a big believer in you don't have to go into STEM to have the need to be scientifically literate because I see science literacy the same as I see writing literacy and math literacy, where these are all skills that you need to navigate the world, whether or not you become a professional in that space. So, again, building confidence in those areas, whether it's in tech or environmental science or anything, just giving a base understanding will allow people as adults to make informed decisions and also to ask for better things. You know what I mean? There's a lot of, I mean, this is an adult problem, but I've even seen adults who are like, they're upset with the technology that they have, but they don't think they deserve to ask for better technology because they don't understand how the tech is made. And I don't think that's bad. We should encourage everybody to be able to ask for what they need and to advocate for themselves, especially when it comes to the sciences because we all interact with it.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:22]:


Oh, it's absolutely true. It's around us more than we actually think, especially in this day and age, and we sometimes take it for granted, especially in education. I feel like where we have all these tools and resources and became apparent during COVID too, I mean, just, oh, my goodness, we actually need to know how to do this. Yes, we do. And being a STEM teacher, it's definitely something that I believe in. But I agree. Just with all that science and technology, it's important, and we need to spark that passion and that knowledge. And again, when you're young, it'll lead up to all of your life experiences from there. Speaking of technology, you also have the history where's the camera history of the computer?


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:21:11]:


Yes.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:13]:


Okay, so I did a STEM career day, and I had parents come in, and they talked about their STEM careers and or how their job uses STEM skills. And one of the stations was a parent brought in all these parts of the inside of a computer, and that was one of the most favorite stations of all. And you have so much detail in this. So how did you piece this all together? I mean, that's a huge history, and you have all of it in here. How did you just get it all organized the way it is?


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:21:46]:


I mean, it's 25,000 years of history.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:50]:


Exactly.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:21:51]:


It's really wild in 100 pages year project. It was really intense. And actually it started with me visiting the Computer History Museum that's in Mountain View, the Living Museum computer and labs that's in Seattle that, unfortunately, it's like it doesn't exist anymore because it got shut down. And as I was doing all this research, COVID happens in all the museums you're not allowed to go to. Me and my husband started our own little vintage computer museum in our home. We started buying vintage computers, so I could kind of have them as models and also reference points because it's human history, and if you can't touch the machines and realize how you interact with them, you don't get to really feel them. So we actually have a 1977 Commodore Pet and a 1984 Macintosh. And we have a ton of other computers too, but we bring those around when we do school events, and the kids go wild for them. We just did Comic Con, and we brought those computers with us. And we had kids as young as seven, and they had to be dragged away by their parents because they were having so much fun on those computers. And I'm like, oh, a little historian is born. But in the book, I thought a lot about my own experience with computers, which is when I was seven years old, I walked into my public library, and I immediately started drawing on a matte color classic. Then you think about what you think of when you think of the first computers, which are these giant room size computers that are locked away in secret underground basements that were made for World War II. And you needed an immense amount of specialized skills and security clearance to be able to use it. So how did we go from that to a child being able to walk up to a machine in their library and use it instantly without prior knowledge, with nothing like no onboarding? So kind of like the spark. And to tell that story, we actually had to go all the way back to the first mathematical tools ever created by human beings, which were we're talking about prehistoric humans notching on bones, drawing in the sand, just trying to keep track of the population, how many sheep they had. And it makes you really think that we have been creating tools to augment human intellect, to expand our ability to think and expand our ability to store information since the dawn of civilization. And the smartphones that we're carrying around in our pockets is just an evolution of this tool building that really is baked into who we are as human beings. And then that gets you thinking, what are we amplifying with these tools? What parts of ourselves are we amplifying? And who really has control and power over how the tools are built, what they're being used for, and what the storage is doing? So when you start talking about computers like that, it's not about the ones and zeros as much as it is about tool theory, relationships with it, and how all of humanity is affected by technology. And that's a history that we really have to teach. And so I wanted to create tools for that because there was no book like that out there, especially not one that was illustrated. So this is the very first fully illustrated history of the computer, and it was really hard to do. I hurt my own really bad, drawing all the pictures.


Naomi Meredith [00:25:13]:


No, it was so good. I'm like, how long did this palm pilot one take? It's amazing. But it's true because I've listened to books about the history of the computer, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, it is so boring. But now I can be more informed, so I can help. But I love how it has, like, you always have this theme where, yes, it's about this, but there's a whole underlying theme, how everything is connected together. It's all very incredible…you're so creative, and that definitely shines through just merging those together and all of the knowledge that you're learning.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:25:49]:


I read those really boring books, too, and this is what I tell students. I'm like, you got to read books to make books. It's like my grandpa always was like, you have to eat bones to make bones, and that's why I eat anchovies. So it's like eating these tiny little fish, crushing their bones up in my mouth, making those bones. That's how I see these books, where I'm like, I read these big, I call them thickums. I read these giant textbooks that are so dry sometimes, and you read them, and there are these moments, these little nuggets that are really like, you can't stop thinking about that. Fun fact. You feel so inspired. And that's the beauty of nonfiction, is digging through all this information to find these gems that you can highlight and polish and shine. So it's so rewarding making these books. And as I research, write them and organize the information, I also become transformed myself. Like, I begin to see the world differently. I start noticing things, and then I just want to pass that on to other people.


Naomi Meredith [00:26:48]:


I love how you're sharing all the knowledge in such a creative way. I love that you're not just keeping it to yourself, you're spreading the love to all of us out here. Okay, so you mentioned in there school events. What do you do for school events? What does that look like?


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:27:06]:


Okay, so it depends on the book. So for the history of the computer, it's more of like a middle grade to adult talk where I basically go through the book and I give almost like an epcot tour of the history of the computer and I go all the way I explain, like ancient civilization, and I go all the way to the 1980s in the talk, because it's all about how did this turn into a creative tool? And that really happened in the 80s with the invention of it. Not more so the invention but the actual accessibility of a graphic user interface. So those are like the pictures you see on your screen when you're using a computer. And the fact that we started using widely, using what is called the desktop metaphor. So, like, a trash can looks like a trash can to get to your documents. It looks like a little piece of paper. This is all stuff we really take for granted. But back then, this was a huge leap in being able to actually use the computer. And all of a sudden, no longer did you have to take basically a year of schooling for learning how to code to be able to use it. You could just click around and start really playing with the programs. So from that, you start seeing people do graphic design on the computer, make music, play video games, start doing their homework on the computer, and the accessibility just became that much more. So we go all the way to that, and we talk about, like, Douglas Inglebard and the online sySTEM, the mother of all demos. We talk about World War II. We really talk about everything and explain how we got from point A to point B. But I bring the Commodore Pet, and I bring the Macintosh from 1984, and we load them up with games. So we have, like, Missile Command playing on the 1984 Mac. We have Space Invaders on the Commodore Pet, and we bring them just because they're just so portable and they're also iconic to look at. Yeah, they are playing with it. We show them the floppies. I actually have punch cards from the 1960s, from the IBM 5801. So I have, like, original punch cards. They get to look at those.


Naomi Meredith [00:29:18]:


Wow.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:29:19]:


Being able to touch and feel history, it makes you feel connected, and it sparks imagination, which then sparks questions, which then sparks an entire career path.


Naomi Meredith [00:29:30]:


Yeah.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:29:31]:


And. What was so cool is that we would have especially, like, when I brought this thing to Comic Con, I would have kids run up to the computers and gasp. There are these kids who are like ten years old who are obsessed with vintage gaming systems. So they recognize the computers and then they start talking about how they want to become electrical engineers. And you're talking to kids as young as 910 about this, and they're getting excited, and their parents are like, I had no idea you liked this so much. So you begin to really lean into what these kids like. I mean, I've given talks that start with me going, what's your favorite video game? And then that's how I start the talk about computers. And I'll be walking out and I'll have kids as young as seven grab me by the arm and go, what's your favorite video game? I need to know myself. They're so scary games, these kids. You get them with that. And I'm like, oh, Mario Kart. And they're like, oh. So she's like, the learning's cool because she's cool because she plays Mario Kart.


Naomi Meredith [00:30:31]:


It's really cute.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:30:32]:


It is, meanwhile, for my other talks, like What's Inside a Flower, which I've been giving to elementary schools all over the west coast. We just did a West Coast tour, and we're actually about to do an East Coast tour from my newest Caterpillar Cocoon. We put really big on the screen, the book, and I do a read aloud, like in the dark, with it projected really big on a screen. And throughout the read aloud, I'm asking the kids science questions. I'm getting them to make little noises. We talk about how the soil, the root hairs slurp up minerals and water in the soil. We explain what mineral rich soil is, and I make all the kids make slurping noises. Getting that interaction, showing these illustrations larger than life, and having the kids yell out what their favorite bugs are. I know it sounds goofy, but these are the moments that they'll carry with them. And what's remarkable about it is that you do that. But then you also get the kids as young as Pre-K to yell out photosynthesis, to understand what pollination is, and to understand the ecological importance of plants. And you see that they get that understanding because at the end of it, you ask them questions, and their responses are far like, don't underestimate these kids. They're far more advanced than you ever thought they would be. So getting the kids to tell me, what do plants do for people? And them connecting with them, with the fact that those are natural resources, that's very powerful stuff to teach at a young age. And those books that I've been touring with. The What's Inside a Flower? What's inside a caterpillar cocoon? To write those books, I actually read through elementary science curriculum. I read the California curriculum, I read the Texas curriculum. I read the New York curriculum to make sure that I was hitting the points that teachers actually were teaching in classrooms so that this wasn't just another book about caterpillars. This is a science book that can really be used in story time or in the science context of a classroom setting.


Naomi Meredith [00:32:41]:


Oh, absolutely. And you're preaching to the choir. It's not weird at all. It is not weird. You're talking to all teachers here. I'm sure they're shaking their heads like, yes, that's real life in the elementary space. You're definitely an honorary teacher for sure. And I want to come see this. I'm sure you are amazing in front of kids. I wrote down Tour so I can look up where you're going because I.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:33:10]:


Want to go see one.


Naomi Meredith [00:33:14]:


I love that because that's what teachers are looking for. I mean, we're always so bogged down with standards curriculum, which makes sense, honestly. I'm all about that with the content I teach. So that's awesome that you did that for your books, but we're always looking for meaningful experiences for our kids. There's limited time in the day, so connecting that all together. So using your book in the classroom, along with if they're able to get you into their buildings, and it's all tying it together, whether or not they're teaching at that this year or everything is cyclical, so it's okay to repeat things. You don't know everything about everything as a scientist, so there's always more to learn. And it's good to hear it repeated. That means it's important. So I love that so much. Well, everybody needs to definitely find you and get their hands on all of your books, but at least start with one. Start with one, and then you'll want to buy more. But where can people find you? Where are the best places to look for you? Rachel.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:34:18]:


Okay, so I'm the only Rachel Ignatovsky in the world. Yeah. Lucky me. I blame my father and his ten letter long last name. So if you're looking for me, all you have to do is type Rachel Ignatovsky into a search engine, and I will pop up. You could follow me on Instagram at Rachel Ignitovsky, and you could go to my website, Rachelignatovskydesign.com. And what's cool for teachers is that on my website, I have also created free worksheets that go with every single one of my books. So if you're thinking, like, what's a fun activity that I can do that's chill and relax, please come print out my coloring worksheets. Print them out and have fun. They're used at natural history museums for adults when they're having cocktail and quiz night, and they're used at schools all across the country, so they work on a lot of levels. Everyone likes to color. That's what I've learned. So Rachel Ignutovsky. Rachel Ignitovskydesign.com. And my books are sold everywhere. Books are sold. So also at your favorite bookstore.


Naomi Meredith [00:35:31]:


I love that. Well, everyone's going to be definitely hitting you up, especially with back to school time or any time of the year. You're just like, great for any teacher who teaches science, and in elementary, that's all of us. So you're great for all of us and adults as well. But I appreciate your time and your passion. I can just tell you're so passionate and just how you're supporting education, and I love how you're using your talents to the fullest. That's amazing that you're sharing all of the things that you can do with the world, and I can't wait to see what's in store for you.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:36:08]:


Thank you so much. Honestly, teachers, since the start of my career, teachers have been the inspiration for every single piece of art that I have made. Like, what you guys do in the classroom is amazing, and to be able to have my work be part of lesson plans is just like all I ever wanted. So it makes me so happy too.


Naomi Meredith [00:36:27]:


Hear, well, teachers are definitely going to be using you're going to get more teachers to use your things, which is great after this. Well, thank you so much again, and I can't wait for everyone to have heard this whole interview.


Rachel Ignotofsky [00:36:45]:


Thank you so much.

STEM through Art and Storytelling

STEM through Art and Storytelling

STEM through Art and Storytelling

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!

lessons in the K-5 STEM year

How to Stretch Out the Lessons in the K-5 STEM Year Long Bundle [ep.111]

by Naomi Meredith

How to Stretch Out the Lessons in the K-5 STEM Year Long Bundle [ep.111]

lessons in the K-5 STEM year

Check out the full episode on How to Stretch Out the Lessons in the K-5 STEM Year Long Bundle:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

If you’ve been wondering how to stretch out the lessons in the K-5 STEM year long bundle, then today’s episode is for you. As we approach the back-to-school season, teachers are busy organizing their lesson plans and daily activities. So, I want to provide you with guidance on year long planning and help you create a plan for your lessons that works best for your STEM classroom. Whether you see the same kids every day or have a rotating schedule, we'll explore different scenarios and strategies to stretch out the lessons.

Do you have a different schedule for your K-5 STEM classroom? I would love to hear about it. Send me a DM on Instagram @naomimeredith_ and let me know what teaching schedule you have.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to structure and pace your lesson plans
  • How to stretch out the lessons in the K-5 STEM year long bundle
  • Tips and strategies for the most common schedules when teaching K-5 STEM

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


During back to school, this is the time of year when you are trying to figure out what your elementary STEM is going to look like and what exactly you’re going to do each day. And many of you are wondering what should the pacing of your year look like. In fact, this can look different for the different types of lessons you teach and how often you see your students. In this episode, I'm going to break down a whole bunch for you that is going to help with your year long planning. We're going to be talking about the pacing of your lessons and what that can look like, how to stretch out your lessons for the year long plan bundle, and how this works out with different scenarios of STEM schedules that are pretty common in this elementary space. So let's get started and see how we can implement this lesson planning.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:05]:


I've mentioned this before, but if you are new here I used to teach elementary STEM for five years and a total of eleven years teaching in elementary. And when I got my K through five STEM teaching position, I got a brand new to me school and a brand new classroom with limited supplies and zero curriculum. And in fact, this is a very common narrative in the elementary STEM space. I actually put a poll over on my Instagram not too long ago and I asked if you are in charge of your STEM curriculum planning. And 81% of you who answered this question said, yes, I am in charge of my STEM curriculum. That is a lot to think about, even if it's just one grade level.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:20]:


But more than likely it's multiple grade levels. There are a whole lot of moving pieces and how are you going to make it all work? So maybe you have your plans already. You kind of have an idea of what you want to teach. Maybe you even bought my K-5 STEM year long plan bundle that is constantly growing with lots of cool updates and lessons. But you're wondering, okay, so how can this even work for my STEM schedule? I'm going to be referring a lot to the engineering design process throughout this episode. So if you are a bit unfamiliar with the engineering design process, this is a next generation science standard for K through two and three through five. If you are a little bit unsure about the engineering design process or want to learn more, I created a whole series about each step in that.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:13]:


So if you go back to episode 15, I go through every stage of the engineering design process. Also, I have created free podcast playlists where I have categorized all of the episodes here on this podcast in categories of topics that you probably want to learn about. So any episode that is related to the engineering design process, including those in that series, are all in its own playlist. You can check that out at naomimeredith.com/podcastplaylist, and that will be linked in the show notes. I put together four common scenarios when it comes to teaching in your elementary STEM space. So hopefully I gathered a scenario that is very common to yours or maybe exactly like yours. And if not, I know that you can learn a lot about these structures and how it can help you of structuring your year long plan of lessons. The first scenario is probably the luckiest one and that is where you see the same classes every day in a row, or pretty close to it.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:24]:


You see them five ish days, five to six days in a row. This was my schedule for about half the time when I taught STEM. So I had the same six classes starting on Monday and I had them all the way leading up to Friday. I had 45 minutes for each class. In the middle of my day was my lunchtime and about five to ten minutes when it comes to passing time. So lots of time with the same kids for the week. Then the following Monday I would get a new set of kids. So I will say this is again a very lucky schedule because you can continue on with the same lesson throughout the week.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:04]:


So if I was doing an engineering design process project, here is the basic structure that we went through. Day one was ask and imagine. So I proposed the question to the kids and we used different resources that I pre researched to help them gain knowledge about the topic that would inform their decisions when they went into the planning. Now every day, if students weren't finished with every part of the engineering design process, and this goes for any day, they had the opportunity to keep working on that process. So if not everyone is on that stage in that day, that's okay. Think about it like the writing process. I always told the kids, I'm always going to teach you the next step, but if you need to continue the next one, keep going at it, that's fine. If they didn't get to the project, they didn't get to the project.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:50]:


That's where they're at in the process. That's real. That's real life. So day two was planning. So students would thoughtfully plan their designs and maybe a few would start building if they were ready. Day three was all about that create. So really diving into their project and making changes along the way. Day four, more creation.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:10]:


And really, for those big changes to be thoughtful, students had a modification checklist that was specific to their project that could help them improve their design. And finally, on the last day is where students would share their designs, oftentimes by taking videos and pictures of their work and reflecting on the things that we did together that week. Later on in the year, maybe a couple of months in, I would actually do some STEM stations with my kindergarteners and first graders. I'm going to briefly highlight how this structure worked. But if you're wanting to hear more how I do this in a complete unit, go and check out this on demand workshop. I have an on demand workshop for K through two, STEM planning, and then an on demand workshop for three through five. So this can help you with your whole year, but you can check that out at Naomi Meredith.com workshops, and you'll see all of those laid out for you. But if I was mixing in STEM stations, the first one to three days would be the project.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:11]:


So we would condense the engineering design process, and then the last two days would be STEM stations. So they would do two the first day, two the next day. And there was a really specific way on how I planned those STEM stations, so they were getting a variety of things. I realized that with projects, it didn't really work well doing five days a row in a project. For little kids, their Stamina is just at a different place. That's where they're at developmentally for typical kindergarten and first graders. There's nothing wrong with that. So that was definitely how my weeks would go.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:45]:


Sometimes I would even flip flop it, depending on the week and what was going on. Sometimes I even started with STEM stations and ended with a project. It really just went based on what was happening at school and all of those fun things. On to scenario two. Maybe you only teach kids two to three days out of the week, and then you see the same kids next week, two to three days. I did this schedule, but it was just the three days in a row. I didn't see them again for the rest of the month. So this one is interesting.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:17]:


There's a few options of how you can structure this. If you have your K through five STEM year long plan, you have those lessons. You can still do projects just like you would for the younger students. You can actually condense the engineering design process in three days. So if you see them three days out of the week, maybe just condense the project, kind of speed up some steps a little bit more, maybe do a bit of the imagining together. The plan could be verbal. It doesn't always have to be through drawing, which there are benefits to that. But maybe it's a verbal plan.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:51]:


They're going to talk about it with their partner and what they're planning. Maybe they're going to take a video and explain what pieces they're going to use. And then you can spend more time with the building. I wouldn't just jump into building. There is value through the process, but you can speed it up so you can get through the project in three days. It is very fast. So I do recommend having projects that are smaller because it uses less supplies and it is less to store. I talk a lot about this in my Makerspace episodes, namely episode five and six.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:24]:


Maybe you don't want to speed up a project. You know you're going to see the kids again. So instead you could do the same project for two weeks, so lasting five days and have one flex day. So I would actually follow the same schedule that I talked about before, like having kids five days a week, I would do that same exact schedule. And then you have one day that could be like a makeup day. Maybe you had a sub and you needed to not have kids be in all of your building supplies that day. Maybe there is a day off of school when it comes to like a snow day or something like that. So you could still do the five days on a project.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:07]:


So do half the first week, half the next. If you get kids to create, they're going to be really excited to jump into the create the following week. So that way they're not like, oh wait, I planned this, but I want to do it again. And they're starting all from scratch. Make sure they create a little bit or even just have them collect supplies and then they can get into those steps again. So having that six if you're doing three days, three days, that six flex day is really helpful. Or maybe it's two and two. You could do a project in four days.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:40]:


I have definitely done that. Especially when students are getting used to you and you are using that same process over and over again, they're going to get a lot quicker at building as well. What if you want to mix in some of those STEM stations when you have kids? Three days the first week, three days the next week? Well, you could do STEM stations the whole time, and you could have two different kinds. Here's how I might do it with STEM stations that would repeat. So let's say I start seeing kids Wednesday. So I would do two stations on Wednesday, they would do the next two. On Thursday they would start it all over. So Friday they would do two.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:20]:


Monday they would do two. And then you can do like fun one day lessons for the last two days you see kids. Maybe you want to mix it up a little bit. You do STEM stations for half of the week. So you do STEM stations Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday, you have, like, a fun STEM and stories, a one day lesson. And then the next week, you do it again. So you do okay, you're going to do the stations again. So two today, two tomorrow.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:46]:


And then you have a STEM and stories or half and half. First week, you do a STEM project that lasts three days. Next week, you do two days of STEM stations. The last day, maybe they pick their favorite station. Or you do a STEM and story. So there's a lot of options. We know with the little kids, you got to plan more, but those are some creative options that you can mix it up with your lessons. Scenario three, one of the most common scenarios I have found when talking to all of you in the digital space, you only see kids one time a week.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:22]:


You see by the end of the week, every student in the school. And you're wondering, I have all these lessons. I have the K through five STEM year long plan bundle. Can I still do the projects? Will I have enough time? I think yes. And I have had this schedule, too, where I saw kids one day a week. So here's how I would structure it. Week one, you would do that, ask and imagine. So what is the question, what is the problem they're trying to solve? And what is some inspiration behind it? The next week, you might want to add in another video to trigger their memory.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:02]:


And then they would do some planning and maybe gathering some materials so they have it on hand, put them in a bag. The third week, they really get into that creation. So for the first two weeks, you're not doing a lot of storage of projects already. Then the fourth week, you can really talk about those modifications and how they can share their work. So I still think that you can get a project done. You will definitely have to find your rhythm with this one and what would work best and a natural stopping place. But I still think that you can do a thoughtful lesson if you only see kids one time out of the week. And the last scenario, which isn't as common now, but I feel like it's becoming this way based on funding needs.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:49]:


And this is actually a question that was asked in my signature course, STEM Teacher 101. And there is a teacher who actually splits their time between two buildings. And when it comes to materials, super overwhelming. Should I be carrying materials back and forth? What should I be doing? How can I make sure robots are charged? All of that. So I haven't done this position. I have co taught with teachers in my building. But when it comes to the supplies, here is a creative way of looking at this. You can still teach those lessons.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:22]:


You want to teach. This will take some careful preparation. Now, if you have the bundle, you already are prepared. You just need to make sure you have all this stuff ready to go, but you can do a flip flop. So let's say I'm looking at my year long plan, and I have STEM Survival Camp as my first unit, and my second unit is Digital Citizenship. You could start off with both. Now. You could do STEM Survival Camp.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:46]:


At both schools. There's not very many supplies, but for the sake of this conversation, at school number one, they're doing STEM Survival Camp. Month one, school number two they're doing digital citizenship. All right? So that's month one. They're doing different things.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:04]:


Moving on to month number two. School number one, you're flip flopping. School number one is doing Digital Citizenship, and school number two is doing STEM Survival Camp. So that way you don't have to be worried about, oh, my gosh, I have to switch these materials back and forth, especially robots, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, in fact, this is a cool way that'll mix it up. So let's say you have four classes of a grade. Then that way you're not teaching it eight times, which eventually you're going to have to teach it eight times, but you're going to get super bored really fast. So at least you're breaking it up.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:41]:


You get to test it at both schools. And then month two, it can work out a lot better. So again, it'll take some careful planning. But that way you're not flip flopping materials every single week and your car is in a mess. You just have to keep track at which school is teaching what. So that would be a fun solution to that. The teacher in this group really liked this suggestion, so I can't wait to hear how it goes this school year for that teacher. So let me know if you're listening.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:06]:


Let me know in the Facebook group, or I'll check in on you to see what you ended up doing. As a recap, here are the different scenarios that we talked about when it comes to stretching out your year of lessons using the K-5 STEM year long bundle or any lessons that you have on hand. We talked about the first scenario where you see the same kids five days in a row. Next, we talked about the scenario if you see kids three days out of the week, and then you see them again for another three days the following week. The third scenario is when you see kids only one day out of a week for four weeks. So you see all the kids in the school by Friday, and then it starts all over again on Monday. And then the fourth scenario that we talked about is if you are splitting your time between two schools, what are your options for you? I'm curious. Do you have a different kind of schedule when it comes to your K through Five STEM space, I would love to hear about it.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:09]:


Send me a DM over on Instagram at Naomi Meredith underscore. Or if you are watching the video version of this episode, feel free to leave a comment below, and I would love to check in with you. Thank you so much for listening, and I will see you in the next episode.

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology 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!