Naomi Meredith  00:00

Teaching the younger students in STEM it can be quite a challenge. I have this based on my experience teaching K through five STEM and also based on the feedback that you guys give me all the time in my emails and in my Instagram DMs. That's why I brought in special guest, Marcia Nicole, to give us tips and tricks when it comes to teaching students who are pre K and early elementary age. Marcia Nicole is a highly experienced early childhood educator with over 20 years in the field. Holding a degree and master's in Early Childhood Studies, she brings a unique blend of skills and knowledge to the classroom. Marcia is also the founder of Ispyr to Educate, a community dedicated to professional development and support for early childhood professionals. Marcia is well known for her passion for nurturing the growth and development of young children and providing them with a safe and inviting learning environment. You are really going to enjoy this interview and I can't wait for you to listen. So make sure you write down all of these awesome tips that she gives us when it comes to hands on learning and teaching STEM to our early childhood students. 

Naomi Meredith  01:17

Well, Marcia, thank you so much for being here. We were chatting so much before and so I finally hit record and caught all this goodness on recording. Because you're a very special guest with your experience with children, it will be so helpful with the STEM teachers out there and you don't teach STEM per se. But what you do in early childhood, I think will be super, super impactful. I get asked all the time, what do I do with the little ones? I'm out of ideas. How do I manage them? I've given some tips on other episodes but I think that your specific background will be really powerful for people, because you have all those tips and tricks, and you've been with the littles and all of that. So if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself, your teaching background, and then how you help early childhood educators.

Marcia Nicole  02:41

Well, it's a pleasure to be here. I'm so excited. I've been an early childhood educator for over 20 years in the field. I love the little ones. I've also had a variety of roles from being an early childhood educator to an assistant position to a manager of a childcare facility. In the last couple years, I've become a designated early childhood educator here in Ontario, Canada, within the Kindergarten program. So I've done that for over a decade, which I absolutely loved. That's what I knew and that's where my passion was. I also have a degree in early childhood, a master's in early childhood and obtaining my Bachelors of education right now. I just absolutely love the early years. So from pre K to about two is definitely in my zone. 

Naomi Meredith  03:29

I love the little ones too. I actually worked at a preschool daycare in college, and I almost went into early childhood. I was really split between that and elementary. So I totally can relate. I love the little ones too. I do. So I think like I said, Your background is super important because we, especially with the younger kids, and there are a lot of teachers who listen who do teach pre K STEM, and so when it comes to planning hands-on activities for those little ones, what are some things that we should keep in mind? I know sometimes we can get stuck on ideas.

04:08

Some of the things that I reflect on when I'm considering developing activities is making sure that it's age appropriate. Sometimes we think, you know, as educators, we forget that they're littles like we need to consider that they have smaller fingers, and they need bigger things instead of finer motor things. So that is one of the things making sure it is age appropriate. What do you want them to learn? The learning objectives, right? It obviously has to be fun, but there should be some learning outcomes. So what are we what do we want the children to take away from this experience? And of course, first and foremost, their little ones. So safety first. Yeah, we've got to make sure that we're using safety products, that we read labels on paints and things because yes, some of them will put them in their mouth. We forget about that, like we put out all these paints and things but we have to make sure that we're reading the label just in case they get ingested that we're okay, so safety first there. And the engagement level. How engaging is it? I know it's hard as educators, sometimes we forget that we have to put on that kid hat sometimes, right? Will this be fun to three year old to a five year old? Will this be fun? Just because we thought about it doesn't mean it's fun for us. Remember, things like splashing in water, or the basic things like baking soda and vinegar is huge for this age group. Right? So we want to make sure that it's age appropriate and engaging for them. For sure.

Naomi Meredith  05:37

Oh, my gosh, I love that so much. Do you have some other specific tools that you love for their tiny hands? Like different things you've used maybe in stations or anything like that?

05:47

Absolutely. I love eyedroppers, everything to use that fine motor grip. I do eyedroppers in ice cube trays with colored water, and they get to fill it. I've even freezed the water and colored the water. Then there's letters at the bottom of the ice cube tray that they get to reveal after they've melted through the ice. We've also used Ziploc bags that I've actually put like gel, again, you can make it or sometimes I use jello, and they can push the letters but it's a sensory thing. Yeah, so then they can use that fine motor as well. I love things like that. Oh, tongs. Yeah, I love the miniture tongs. Those are awesome too. Tongs and pom poms. Those are definitely fine motor grip things. And my last thing is cotton balls. And I'll tell you because when we give them a writing utensil, sometimes they tend to get the grip wrong. But if you put the cotton ball in the palm of their hand, it helps with the grip. It doesn't make the wrist as tired. So yeah, those are just some of the fine motor tricks that I came along with along the way.

Naomi Meredith  06:59

Well, I love that. Okay, so speaking of that scissors, I have found kids cutting with scissors has been really, really hard for a lot of my kindergarteners. Do you have a trick for that? Do you use the cotton ball? Or do you use something else because that's been a really a big struggle for kids.

Marcia Nicole  07:16

It is a big struggle. But cotton ball works the best. We started with playdough but the playdough squishes. And then they wanted to play with it and it was a distraction. So yes, the cotton ball works really well there. And cute little sayings like thumb to the ceiling, finger to the floor, open close, things like that, to engage them. Sometimes I even had scissors that didn't have holes, they only have the ones. They're just the band in between them. And they can open and close and we just practice the squeezing. And that's where like clothes pins, and all of those things came in, in the sensory bin like all of those are part of my classroom just so they have practice without knowing that they're practicing those skills.

Naomi Meredith  07:59

I love that I honestly, okay, I need to look up these scissors. I'm writing all of this down, scissors with no holes, because I have actually some students I have in mind too. I definitely need to do this with them. But like thinking about this sensory, that is such a great idea. Because they might be doing it in their classroom, I'm not quite sure. But in STEM, you could definitely integrate it. If you're learning about a science concept. You could let's say you're learning about space, you have different things about space in the sensory bin. And then they could be get grabbing them with the tongs like a finding game. And that would be an awesome station for them and also working on those fine motor skills that you're talking about.

Marcia Nicole  08:41

Yes. So we did. We were working on clouds. And in our sensory bin one day, we had just that a bunch of cotton balls, and they were clouds. And they had to pick them up with the tongs. And then we had shaving cream clouds, move them and feel them and yes, I know some of the some of the teachers are like this is dirty, but it was the learning that happened. They tried to stack the clouds, they tried to and they realized why does it keep falling over? They had questions like why couldn't the foam stay up high? It kept falling over. Yeah, and those were all inquiry questions. We kept going so what can we put in it? Then they went for sticks. Sticks because they're trying to get their shaving cream to stand up. Did that work? So there was lots of cause and effect and problem solving happening.

Naomi Meredith  09:28

Oh my gosh, I love that. I know I would totally do like shaving cream in my classroom. And that's interesting too. Like I actually did clay and playdough with my fourth graders and I know we're talking about early childhood but I made it too sticky and I found out a lot of their sensory needs during that like some like the stickiness of how I messed up. It was too sticky but some did it and so it is important to have just like thinking about different types of things that are in your classroom because we don't always know what experience they have at home even. Yes. So that's super, I'm so glad that you mentioned that. Are there any other like project ideas? Or when you're teaching with your early childhood kids, are there certain like management techniques that you use with the younger students that work really well? I know it can get a little crazy if you don't have a plan, or some sort of plan in mind.

Marcia Nicole  10:28

With working with the young ones, there's always going to be those good days and there's those rougher days. And for me, it's always about creating those clear expectations from the beginning, like having those clear expectations, and constantly being consistent with those expectations. Making sure the students understand that learning is fun and exciting but it's also a routine. And there's also things that we have to do and follow and have follow through with it. Also, be positive, as much as it might not be a positive moment for you as the educator, they're still learning, right? So we want to make sure that it's a positive moment, and that we're giving them plenty of encouragement to keep going even when they're frustrated, or when they feel like they can't do it, and have proactive strategies. So know your students. You're going to know when that noise level is going up, when they're a little bit off that day, when you're just needed a little bit more, be flexible in whatever you have planned. Pause, take a mind break, maybe some deep breathing exercises, maybe my favorite, I love movement breaks. Yeah, so we stop and we just break out into a quick little dance. Or maybe it's okay, we need to sit and do a calming moment. So knowing those levels that when you get there to have those proactive strategies, so before it gets too far, you're like, Okay, we're just going to all do this right now. And then they won't even know it's just kind of sometimes my teacher does this, and they will continue with it. And it helps them refocus. Yeah, that 30 seconds, that minute, helps them regain that focus in what they were doing. And off we go. But my biggest thing is building those relationships with your students. Yeah, they know when they can talk to you and trust you and tell you how they're feeling. For me, it's always articulate how you're feeling. Tell me how you're feeling, what's happening in your body, and help them give them the language give them something to be successful. When you build that relationship with your students, they have that open communication, they build that bond with you, that limits your behavior management in your classroom, right from the beginning.

Naomi Meredith  12:43

100%. And it's hard to remember that with the younger students. It can be frustrating, doing hands-on things, and being creative is actually really vulnerable for anybody. And so sometimes, I like to remember this with older kids with the younger ones, too, they are excited to do stuff, you can get a lot of buy in. But it is scary when things don't work the first time. And so I like how you set the language to give them. What kinds of language do you give them, sentence frames? Or how do you phrase that with them?

Marcia Nicole  13:17

Again, it's age appropriate. So if they're like, really young, it's the one words or a couple sentences. Do you need a minute? Is this something I can help you with? Is this something you want to work out on your own? Is there something I can help you with? But you definitely want to start promoting that intrinsic motivation. So how can they do things intrinsically? So tell me what you need for me to do for you? Right? So they're like, oh, okay, yeah. So it gives them that pause. And then we're also scaffolding that part of self reflection, right? So we want them to be able to, is this something I need to be upset about right now? Is this something I can think about and work through? And I know, as they get older, it progresses, right? So you want to give them those tools? So do you need a minute? Would you like to sit in a comic center, if they're in Kindergarten, they are automatically going to know based on your classroom setup, where they can go if they need that space, if it's a situation where they need you, then they're going to know to come to you if it's not, but they're still upset. Maybe it's a classmate, maybe it's a peer that they can go through and say, I need help with this, or I'm not feeling good about this. Right? So if you're giving them those tools in those languages, or those environments, or places they can go when they need that also limits that behavior management.

Naomi Meredith  14:37

Have you seen with that, too, like that helps with their independence? I know there's a certain level of independence when they're little but do you feel like the little kids can be more independent than we think that we let them be?

Marcia Nicole  14:50

Absolutely. I am 100% that teacher that will be like, Oh, you're going to do this on your own and they're getting frustrated and we're going to work through those emotions. But I know you can do it. And I want to see you do it. So yes, it takes me forever to go outside. Yeah, we are always the last ones to get outside. But when they get outside, they're happy, I put on my jacket on by myself or I wrote my name today without any help. Or I was able to build the block tower and it never fell over. Yeah. Right. So those are the things that you just have to yes, it definitely helps with that independence piece.

Naomi Meredith  15:30

I had a little guy. It was funny. He wanted help tying his shoes. Like, no, I'm not. I'm not doing that right now. Can you ask a friend? And then okay, this was like a twist of the story. He knew how to tie his shoes. Oh, no, no, wait, what just happened? You just take off your shoes like, oh, I just like it when grownups do it for me, because it's so much faster. That's how you're going to get faster. So they are a little tricky. 

Marcia Nicole  16:01

Sometimes get sneaky, too. They will. Sometimes they will say that they can't do something and they know they can they just want to go outside faster. Yeah.

Naomi Meredith  16:11

Oh, it's time to clean up. Oh, no, I can't do that. Like, oh, yes, we can. Yes, we can.

Marcia Nicole  16:18

My favorite is it's time to clean up. Oh, I need to go to the bathroom. Oh, yeah, they go and they hide. They don't have to clean.

Naomi Meredith  16:27

Yeah, clean up, I usually have to take like 10 minutes to clean up and modeling. Do you feel like you model a lot of behavior? Like physically showing them how to do things if it's hard? 

Marcia Nicole  16:38

Yeah, and I show them. But I also get their peers to show them because sometimes the peers showing them that they're doing it, it's their size, it's their peer, it's the same person sitting next to them helps a lot more than an adult in a room. And then it took me a while to learn that. But for sure, the lots of modeling, and let's do this together. It's never just me doing anything. So let's do this together. And that gives them ownership that teachers not going to do it all on my own. She's not going to leave me on my own either. So then they feel like they're supported, even if they do need help.

Naomi Meredith  17:13

Yeah, that's good. Like this can work for literally in a classroom. It's a lot but I mean, this is how we can get them to do bigger things. And they're very capable, when they're younger. When it comes to like their the teaching style to I know it's a little bit different for STEM teacher because you only have them for, I don't know, 45 minutes, maybe every day in a row or once a week. So are there certain strategies, teachers should try like whole group stations, like what are some things that you've seen work really well or mixing it up?

Marcia Nicole  17:47

I like to mix it up. And it again, it comes from your group of students, you're going to know there's going to be some years that you get students that love the free flow method. And that works for them. And they can have a whole bunch of centers, and they can free flow with very minimal conflict, or they're really good at conflict resolution. So they don't really need a lot of intervention. And that works that year. And then there's another year where it needs to be a little bit more structured, where you need to have that whole group. And then you need to have specific centers and then rotate the students through the centers, which that is getting less and less likely because they tend to adapt more quickly. Now I find that, yes, they might have that initial fight back. But when you set those, it's all about those foundational, that foundational beginning, when you set those parameters, then they realize that that's the expectation. And if they're clear and consistent, it will help the classroom flow.

Naomi Meredith  18:40

For sure. Yeah, I absolutely agree. And that can be hard. Transitioning from a classroom teacher to like teaching all the kids in the school. That was hard for me. Just like understanding Oh, my room actually has routines also. So like I also even though they're with me for a short amount of time, so I totally agree with that. Because they need that consistency. Even though it's a fun space. I feel like yeah, like, the more fun it is the more parameters you need sometimes. Exactly. Yes. Have you ever had something like go totally wrong? You're like, Oh, I thought I had all of the parameters in place. Oh, that did not work.

Marcia Nicole  19:21

I believe we were building a spaceship. We were building a rocket because we were going to space and I thought I thought of everything I thought of absolutely everything. Until I didn't actually realize that the paint was waterbase and it went completely through the cardboard. And they cry. Cry. Like I literally spent the next night driving around for another box just so I could make it up to my students because they cried. They worked so hard painting and carrying and it just all crumbled. The next day we came in and it was all wet because it was water basically soaked through the cardboard. There were some sad little learners that day. We rebuilt it. We talked about it. And I liked that it was a good learning thing for both them and myself. Because we talked about it. We talked about what happened, and why didn't it work? And it became just the whole thing. And then we talked, do we want to continue? Do we want to make it again? Are we all done? And they're like, no, we want to do it again. We want to try it again. So then I drove around looking for this huge box. And then I purchased the right paint. And then we were able to continue but yes, that was it went terribly wrong.

Naomi Meredith  20:34

Oh, yeah, that could definitely happened. I have seen it all the time. But I liked the way you talk to your students. They're young, but you talk to them very respectfully. Like they're not babies. I can tell though. That's how you talk to them. Like, you're sweet but firm. They're little humans and you're like, Okay, as a learning experience, it's okay, everybody does right rocket ship went in the ocean that day, I guess it didn't make exactly nine. Okay, but that's a great, that's a great real life lesson of growth mindset right there and you have a shared experience. Remember that time that ship did push through, and now we're gonna do something a new one, or you could just, that's great. Let's actually go. Are there any other advice or tips you had a lot at the beginning, but just in general, when it comes to teaching the littles, just things that just work really well, in general. I know that's very broad, but anything you can share when it comes to the littles.

Marcia Nicole  21:42

I don't want educators to be afraid to branch out of their comfort zone. And I know, I love Kindergarten, but and I love classroom settings, but like building materials, they're little, but they can handle it. So they don't always have to be blocks. Like, let's try to bring in some real life materials. Let's get some wood and some nails, let's get some PVC pipes, let's get some real life materials and expose them to real things that they're going to see. And let them explore it engage in that learning. And I know some of us educators don't like to do science experiments. But it doesn't always have to be a science experiment. Like for me, I love to cook with my kiddos. All that was all STEM for me. Cuz I think that we've got to measure we've got to do this, we've got to see what happens. And we talked about it along the way. So I thought, you know, try to incorporate that. But also, it's okay to have that part of your classroom open all the time, a little bit of vinegar and baking soda, and let them if they want to go there everyday to see that reaction. That is an interest, pique that interest, make sure they have access to it. And I love it only because my little guy became an instinct, coder. Oh, loved coding. Oh, my goodness. He loves coding, love apps. It doesn't help that dad is a game designer. Yeah, he loves coding. He loves putting things together and making things move. And we've did basic things at first, like we started with dominoes, dominoes. And then he used to use his LEGO man and walk along the dots. That's smart. And he just had to make it to his LEGO house. Like we did it very basic, but he loved it. And so don't think that you have to do these really big things when it comes to coding. Keep it simple, like a little LEGO guy, maybe it's a block, or maybe it's the guy, they made it in the playdough center, and they're walking him all up. How does he get from this block area to that block area? How are we going to make a path? What areas arrows, can we draw, just have all those kinds of conversations. Again, we're preparing them with the language and don't think they're going to need it. They're going to need it when they get older. So having that for them and my favorite, explore nature as much as you possibly can explore outside and let them explore. And I know it's difficult because we get oh, but it's raining outside. I don't know about you, but there's only puddles out when it's raining outside and I want to jump in a puddle. So and again, they have questions. Why would I jump in the puddle? There's ripples on the water? Right? Can we do that on a sunny day we can. But on a sunny day, we can play with shadows. We can get on our chalk and we can draw our chalk shadows. Or we can draw how the sun moved throughout the day. At morning time outside the sun was here. Now at lunch. It's here now after school. It's here. All of that leads into that science and discovery. So yeah.

Naomi Meredith  24:43

I love that. I love that and I I have taken Kindergarten out during STEM. We were doing something where we were touring. Oh, I got these solar beads. So they only change in the sun. And so they created a little erm, and they had to create a shade structure to protect their worm because if it didn't have shade, it would get a sunburn. And so, yeah, so and then the beads changed back. Well, they also wanted to see it changes color, like at first like, Okay, let it change color. Okay, now you know what happens then test your experiment, but it was so cool. Like you're right, like even just nature can lend itself to so many discovery things out there. And just a new perspective, because then they moved their little bodies to Yeah, like, it's a great four to five minutes is a long time. six and under, you definitely have time to go outside. You do? Oh, definitely. Well, anything else that I missed or anything else you want to share?

Marcia Nicole  25:49

Nope. I just really wanted to say that. I know they're little. And I know sometimes it can be overwhelming. And yes, they can be exhausting, but try to have fun with them. They're beautiful little learners. And they're so happy that you're there. And you're they're so happy that you that you're really to teach them so even though when it gets tough. Just remember to have fun. Above all else, make sure you're enjoying them and having a great time and learning with them.

Naomi Meredith  26:15

Oh, that's so good. I love that. Well, I know people are gonna love, love, love this episode. But they'll want to definitely hear from you because I know you have great tips on your podcast. So where can they find you and your podcast?

Marcia Nicole  26:30

Well, right now you can find me on email at edu at i spire.com. But most of all at Instagram at I aspire to educate DM me, I'm also on Twitter at I Spire to educate. And my podcast is called the inspiring EC podcast.

Naomi Meredith  26:48

Love that. Well, that'll all be linked for everybody and definitely reach out because I know it can be challenging, but like she said, she had better words. I'm not going to restate it, just rewind it. Do call it rewind on a podcast. Is that still the word?

Marcia Nicole  27:04

Sure. Rewind. 

Naomi Meredith  27:08

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Some people might say, I don't know what rewind means. But I know most of you listening now. But anyway, thank you so much, again for being here. And I just appreciate your energy and your passion. And I just know your classrooms a delightful place to be. And so I just thank you. I appreciate all your wisdom today.

Marcia Nicole  27:29

Thank you so much for having me. It was an extreme pleasure. I enjoyed every moment. Thank you so much.