How The Bug Chicks Make STEM Fun and Fearless with Entomologists Kristie Reddick & Jessica Honaker [ep.176]

How The Bug Chicks Make STEM Fun and Fearless with Entomologists Kristie Reddick & Jessica Honaker [ep.176]

Check out the full episode about how to make STEM fun:

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Watch the video episode here!

Episode Summary

I’m sitting down with two incredible women in STEM, Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker—also known as The Bug Chicks! These two amazing entomologists have a passion for bugs and an even bigger passion for teaching kids and educators how to use insects as a powerful learning tool.

Kristie and Jessica share their fascinating journey from grad school to building a career that inspires others to see the beauty and importance of bugs in our world. We chat about everything from conquering fears to making STEM more approachable through hands-on experiences. Whether it’s using bugs to teach social-emotional skills or simply sparking curiosity, The Bug Chicks have so much wisdom to share.

Meet Kristie Reddick & Jessica Honaker, The Bug Chicks:

Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker are The Bug Chicks – entomologists, educators and scicomm professionals who work at the intersection of STEM and social-emotional learning. They teach about the incredible world of arthropods and specialize in using these incredible animals as a vehicle to help people foster empathy for themselves, others and the natural world. They are the creators and developers of the DIFFERENT: STEM + SEL curriculum, an award-winning, evidence-based program aimed at creating a positive mindset shift in students. They received their Master’s degrees from Texas A&M University. Kristie’s research focused on the biodiversity and biology of solifugae arachnids and Jessica’s work focused on the effects of black margined aphids in agroecosystems.

 

Connect with The Bug Chicks: 

Episode Transcript: 

Today, I have a special treat for you and I am so excited for you to hear from today's guests. Today, I am chatting with Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker, who are also known as the Bug Chicks. If you haven't heard of these wonderful, amazing women in STEM, then head on over to my kid podcast, The STEM Career Quest, and they are in episode two of season one, where they tell kids all about being entomologists, their journey into their career, and all the amazing cool things that they get to do when exploring with bugs.

 

But they don't just play with bugs all day. You are going to be hearing from Jessica and Chrissy, where they explain how bugs and insects are a teaching tool, but it is so much more than that. We can literally talk for hours.

 

We always talk a lot before we hit record and after we hit record. They are just so much fun. I told them if they are nearby where I live in Colorado, I would love to go see them in person.

But they are doing so many amazing things in the science education space, where they are influencing those positive mindsets and experiences for both students and for teachers. There are so many amazing takeaways in this episode. Their philosophy and education and what science can be definitely aligns with what I believe in as an educator.

 

I am so excited for you to hear it from them, the bug chicks, Chrissy and Jessica. You are definitely going to love this episode. 

 

4

00:00:07.480 –> 00:00:32.179

Naomi Meredith: Well, thank you so much for coming back onto the elementary stem coach podcast this time I had both of you as guests on my stem career, quest, podcast and you are our inaugural episode. So that is really, really fun episode, episode, 2, episode, one is about the podcast but if you guys haven't listened to it, it's really really fun episode. But today we're actually talking to you

 

5

00:00:32.180 –> 00:00:42.359

Naomi Meredith: teachers on the other side of things. So if you both wouldn't mind introducing yourselves in a briefly what you are all about.

 

6

00:00:43.240 –> 00:01:05.400

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, for sure. My name is Christy Redick. I am one of the bug chicks. Jessica and I are entomologists. We got our master's degrees in entomology from Texas, A and M. University. And we started working together in grad school and we we knew that science, education and using our

 

7

00:01:05.400 –> 00:01:21.100

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: using our. How do I say this, using our friendship, like our friendship, got really really strong and solid when we were in grad school? Because I brought Jessica with me to Kenya for part of my research, and we like filmed, and we like lived in a tent for 6 months. It was a big. It was a big deal. And we became besties.

 

8

00:01:21.100 –> 00:01:32.910

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And we thought, Let's work together. And let's teach and make videos and inspire kids to get into science, and also inspire people to feel capable.

 

9

00:01:33.000 –> 00:01:45.759

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I think, feeling capable in learning and feeling capable, especially in the sciences, is super important and and we use bugs to do that. So we use bugs to help people get over their fears and to help people feel capable.

 

10

00:01:47.120 –> 00:02:12.610

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: And my name is Jessica Honaker. I'm the other bug chick and, like Christy mentioned, we met in grad school. And we do both have research backgrounds, and and I. And I do wanna add, I think, that I think that one of the ways that we're really able to connect with teachers and with students about bugs is that Christy used to be super afraid of spiders. I used to be kind of like apathetic toward them.

 

11

00:02:12.933 –> 00:02:33.300

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: And we both kind of came to this realization that, you know, like arthropods and insects and spiders, and like, they're all super important. And everybody feels really strongly about them one way or the other. And so it's a really good connection point for us. In teaching being able to like, bring the science and the emotion in

 

12

00:02:33.670 –> 00:02:35.049

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: to to our work.

 

13

00:02:35.230 –> 00:03:03.629

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, we work at the cross section of stem and social emotional learning. So there's so much emotion when you're trying to feel capable when you are feeling afraid of the subject, when you are feeling afraid of bugs or afraid of your own potential. And so it all blends together really, really, beautifully. And it's and because we're so enthusiastic about bugs it, we sort of sort of talk about it like we're erosion. You know, we just

 

14

00:03:04.530 –> 00:03:17.310

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: we're just gonna wear you down. And then, underneath all of our sort of fortresses that we build up, I think there's some real wonder and some joy for the natural world, and bugs can really bring that out of people.

 

15

00:03:17.640 –> 00:03:26.269

Naomi Meredith: Absolutely, and I know not every single subject in science classes are all insects, but there are

 

16

00:03:26.270 –> 00:03:56.249

Naomi Meredith: units. KI know, and I know off the top of my head. K, through 5. Everybody has some sort of environmental science or learning about life cycles or those types of things. So there are definitely connections when it comes to bugs. And you talked about this just a little bit. But why do you think learning about entomology is important for kids, and I know you're so passionate about it. But why do you think so? Because you do teach kids in schools in person. So what have you seen and noticed.

 

17

00:03:56.920 –> 00:04:25.509

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Well, you cannot move through this world as a human being without interacting with arthropods. This is the great thing about them, like there is not one human on the planet who has not had an interaction with an arthropod. And so it's 1 of those things, kind of like food or music that brings us together as humans, even though, like at that point, I don't even care if people are afraid, or if they're interested, it is a connection point. The other thing is that

 

18

00:04:25.800 –> 00:04:30.230

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: arthropods. And let's just say insects, for right now they really do

 

19

00:04:30.360 –> 00:04:33.519

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: create and drive the world forward.

 

20

00:04:33.890 –> 00:04:58.100

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: They. They create the healthy soils that grow our food, they pollinate, they decompose. They are, you know, even the predator systems are so vitally important, and they provide a food source for all of these other animals that people so easily profess that they love. And so I just think that insects are vitally important to not just

 

21

00:04:58.100 –> 00:05:17.520

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: the ecosystems that we walk around in, but also they have shaped human culture and human design and human inspiration. Since the since the dawn of human civilization. So I just think we don't recognize them. But they are ever present and very, very important.

 

22

00:05:18.800 –> 00:05:37.739

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, they do. They do thankless work for us so that we can. We can exist on this planet. And there's a really great quote, that goes something along the lines of if humans were to disappear, the earth would flourish. But if Arthur but if insects were to disappear like we would be toast. That's.

 

23

00:05:37.740 –> 00:05:39.889

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I don't think toasts are in for that quote.

 

24

00:05:40.340 –> 00:05:43.280

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I know that EO. Wilson said toast.

 

25

00:05:44.753 –> 00:05:46.769

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: But that's the, you know.

 

26

00:05:46.770 –> 00:05:47.559

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: The gist.

 

27

00:05:47.560 –> 00:05:48.870

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: General gist.

 

28

00:05:48.870 –> 00:05:49.350

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Really, like.

 

29

00:05:49.771 –> 00:05:54.410

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Super dark this early in the day, but, like, you know.

 

30

00:05:54.720 –> 00:05:57.900

Naomi Meredith: Makes makes you think, yeah, the big.

 

31

00:05:57.900 –> 00:06:01.279

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: They're very, very important. Yeah, they're very, very important.

 

32

00:06:01.902 –> 00:06:21.569

Naomi Meredith: So you mentioned if kids are scared like you're like, it's fine, you can get over it. And you've even seen this with kids. I remember. One of the stories you told on the stem career quest podcast is when you had, like older upper elementary, you had the tarantula. Oh, what was her name? Was it Beyonce?

 

33

00:06:21.570 –> 00:06:22.630

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Fiance. Her name's.

 

34

00:06:22.630 –> 00:06:24.539

Naomi Meredith: Beyonce who jumped. But I won't.

 

35

00:06:24.540 –> 00:06:24.900

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Him, and.

 

36

00:06:24.900 –> 00:06:25.750

Naomi Meredith: I.

 

37

00:06:26.600 –> 00:06:27.380

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Was cooking months.

 

38

00:06:27.380 –> 00:06:27.700

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: So.

 

39

00:06:27.700 –> 00:06:30.349

Naomi Meredith: Oh, cookie monster! The blue one.

 

40

00:06:30.350 –> 00:06:31.410

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: The blue one.

 

41

00:06:31.410 –> 00:06:36.880

Naomi Meredith: Angela, and then she jumped and but the kids were really brave, and everything so.

 

42

00:06:36.880 –> 00:06:37.270

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

43

00:06:37.610 –> 00:06:58.359

Naomi Meredith: Like. That's just one experience. But what are some ways that you all get kids excited about bugs in science like? What does it look like when you're with kids or when you're with it might be different when when you're with the school group and when you're presenting, what does that look like when you're in those spaces?

 

44

00:06:58.730 –> 00:07:12.210

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I think, 1st and foremost, when you're you know, when we come in and we have our arthropod zoo with us, they are all behind us in cages which is important. This is something that like to us. It's like fairly obvious that they're in cages. But

 

45

00:07:12.430 –> 00:07:21.029

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: when you're confronted with something that might be scary. All sorts of scenarios play through your mind. And so we get lots of questions like, Are they just roaming around like, where are they? What's happening?

 

46

00:07:21.030 –> 00:07:21.350

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

47

00:07:21.570 –> 00:07:35.939

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: So one of the things that we love to do is we'd love to set up the space for success. We put them behind us, and we cover them with a tablecloth, because basically, we need to set up some ground rules and some safety and some listening

 

48

00:07:36.160 –> 00:08:01.360

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and we don't need distraction of things behind us. That's just sort of like a teaching classroom culture kind of thing. And the 1st thing that we do is we ask questions about how do you feel about bugs? And we do not censor. We do like. If you don't like them. I want to hear it. Use your words I want to use the I want to hear the words that you use. If it's creepy, if it's gross, if it's this, if it's that, say it give it to us. You're not going to hurt our feelings.

 

49

00:08:01.740 –> 00:08:05.280

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and that's powerful because people want to be

 

50

00:08:05.290 –> 00:08:08.289

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: heard and how they feel about things, because and.

 

51

00:08:08.290 –> 00:08:09.120

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Respected.

 

52

00:08:09.120 –> 00:08:18.009

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Exactly. Yeah, like, we're not. We're not here to turn people into entomologists. What we do is we use bugs to ignite

 

53

00:08:18.040 –> 00:08:19.830

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: that passion for learning.

 

54

00:08:20.220 –> 00:08:22.089

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And and

 

55

00:08:22.990 –> 00:08:30.030

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: a and like. I don't know if I don't know if you've experienced this in a classroom. I think we all have as teachers or educators

 

56

00:08:30.170 –> 00:08:31.550

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: that sometimes

 

57

00:08:31.780 –> 00:08:56.700

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: sometimes students or students or audience members can just be sort of like a little dull and zombified. And my goal is, I want everyone to know what it feels like to feel capable number One and number 2 awake, alive and alert. So if I can get students to feel awake, alive and alert about something, and if we got live bugs they're awake, alive and alert. They don't know what's gonna happen.

 

58

00:08:57.305 –> 00:09:16.139

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: So that's 1 thing, and then the next thing is proper boundaries, and making sure that they know that we are not here to scare them, we are not here to do jump scares. We're not this. We're not these people on the Internet who grab animals and force them to sting us. We're not into that at all. That's the opposite of how we do.

 

59

00:09:16.140 –> 00:09:16.770

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Hmm.

 

60

00:09:17.230 –> 00:09:30.680

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Teach about wonder. We teach about curiosity. We teach about observation. We're not going to force you to touch anything. We're not gonna force you to pet anything, hold anything. We are going to ask that you look. And we do a lot of

 

61

00:09:30.720 –> 00:09:32.890

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: word switching for students.

 

62

00:09:33.230 –> 00:09:34.010

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: So

 

63

00:09:35.130 –> 00:09:37.359

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: So if they say creepy, we go great

 

64

00:09:37.380 –> 00:09:41.639

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: for the next hour. Can you try to shift the word creepy to interesting?

 

65

00:09:42.080 –> 00:09:52.640

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Can you shift the word Ew. To cool? Just put a K and an L on the end of that fine. And because our words really do inform how we feel about things

 

66

00:09:52.830 –> 00:09:58.700

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and and those are some. Those are some of the techniques that we utilize right off the bat.

 

67

00:09:59.390 –> 00:10:00.660

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah. And

 

68

00:10:00.840 –> 00:10:11.020

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: you know, as we as we go through our program, you know, there can be like, you know, we'll bring out. We'll bring out like one of our Beatles.

 

69

00:10:11.020 –> 00:10:38.850

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: and people will be like, you know, because because they're they don't know quite what to expect. Once the beetle is then out right. And so, being able to talk about like, you know, this is why, you know, it's moving like this. This is why it looks like this. Here's why it has this behavior. Like one of our death feigning beetles. If you mess with it, it'll lay on its back with its legs up in the air. And it plays dead. And we're like, here's why it does that.

 

70

00:10:38.870 –> 00:10:45.009

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: And then, once it feels comfortable it'll roll back over, you know, and walk around, and

 

71

00:10:45.270 –> 00:10:59.170

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: and if they don't know that, that's why they roll over, they they can be kind of like startled by that sudden swap to where they're then up and mobile on their hands, and and so just by it, like

 

72

00:10:59.570 –> 00:11:01.969

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: we don't dumb down the science.

 

73

00:11:02.050 –> 00:11:24.380

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: and so explaining the behaviors explaining the morphology helps. Students know what to expect. And, like, Christy was saying, you know, we build, we build that kind of structure, and we add the science into that structure, and students, no matter how old they are, really thrive with that, because they kind of know what to expect. And you build trust as you move along. Yeah.

 

74

00:11:24.380 –> 00:11:30.320

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Building trust is huge, and also allowing yourself to be vulnerable as an educator is huge.

 

75

00:11:30.780 –> 00:11:34.039

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I will share that. I used to be afraid of spiders

 

76

00:11:34.110 –> 00:11:38.630

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: when I was young, I mean like like cry for my dad.

 

77

00:11:39.500 –> 00:11:46.470

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: tears hot tears in my ear, holes laying frozen, you know, and it and there, there's a camaraderie there, there's an under.

 

78

00:11:46.470 –> 00:11:46.840

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Understand.

 

79

00:11:46.840 –> 00:11:54.280

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: That it's not just like I woke up as a kid and was like yay bugs. I was pretty anti bugs, and

 

80

00:11:54.370 –> 00:12:01.669

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: that by learning about them. I changed fear to fascination. That's something we've been saying for years and years and years. And so

 

81

00:12:01.900 –> 00:12:04.259

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: we model that strategy of

 

82

00:12:04.280 –> 00:12:10.820

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: it's okay to be afraid, and you can't be brave without being afraid. And

 

83

00:12:10.960 –> 00:12:14.599

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: we're here with you the whole time. It's not like we're gonna

 

84

00:12:14.720 –> 00:12:19.100

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: pop a cockroach in your hands and go get a latte, though that sounds wonderful.

 

85

00:12:19.470 –> 00:12:21.499

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and also we keep it light like.

 

86

00:12:22.490 –> 00:12:31.189

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: One of my favorite things to do in a workshop, because we teach so many of these workshops is my goal is to make Jessica laugh in a workshop.

 

87

00:12:31.710 –> 00:12:36.380

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: If I if Jessica's laughing in a workshop, we're having a great time.

 

88

00:12:37.280 –> 00:12:38.510

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: because

 

89

00:12:39.210 –> 00:12:44.339

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: it means that all of us together are in a really joyful experience.

 

90

00:12:46.460 –> 00:12:47.230

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and.

 

91

00:12:48.000 –> 00:12:54.219

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Sorry you're like. Also, she's really funny. And so sometimes it's really hard.

 

92

00:12:54.430 –> 00:13:03.029

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Well, the kids are funny. I mean the you know this as an you know this as a teacher, like sometimes kids will say things that Jessica and I have to.

 

93

00:13:03.320 –> 00:13:04.300

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: We have to just.

 

94

00:13:04.300 –> 00:13:06.140

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: To stop. You have to.

 

95

00:13:06.170 –> 00:13:08.499

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And you can. I can feel myself like

 

96

00:13:09.710 –> 00:13:25.350

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: camping it down like, especially if it's like slightly inappropriate. You gotta. And I'll like, take it, and I'll like I'll I'll hide it right back here, and the minute we get into the parking lot with the doors closed we're like, Oh, no!

 

97

00:13:25.450 –> 00:13:27.969

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And it's joyful. And I think

 

98

00:13:28.790 –> 00:13:32.460

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: you know what this reminds me of, too, Jess, is that

 

99

00:13:34.170 –> 00:13:36.229

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: kids are people. Kids are human beings.

 

100

00:13:36.230 –> 00:13:36.620

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: This is my.

 

101

00:13:36.620 –> 00:13:37.640

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Sometimes

 

102

00:13:37.800 –> 00:13:48.159

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: if you don't work with kids a lot, especially if you don't work with like large groups of kids, if you only maybe have your own kids, or or you're only used to. You know your nieces or nephews, or whatever.

 

103

00:13:48.570 –> 00:13:49.980

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: It can be.

 

104

00:13:50.840 –> 00:13:52.910

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: You can forget that they're human beings.

 

105

00:13:52.910 –> 00:13:53.850

Naomi Meredith: Hmm.

 

106

00:13:53.850 –> 00:13:57.260

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And you can tell when people don't

 

107

00:13:57.440 –> 00:14:06.880

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: like you, and kids can tell when you don't want to be there or when you're not into it. And I think because Jessica, like kids, can tell

 

108

00:14:07.110 –> 00:14:09.829

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: that we love teaching. Now.

 

109

00:14:10.230 –> 00:14:21.200

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And the way and what Jessica said about not dumbing it down. I'm really explicit with the way that I speak with with children, and by explicit, I mean, clear right? Yes.

 

110

00:14:21.300 –> 00:14:22.500

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I mean.

 

111

00:14:22.600 –> 00:14:37.679

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I'll say things like, can you tell that we like teaching you? Great? We're not gonna do anything that's gonna hurt you also, this is our job. Would we get hired again if word got out that we did, and like, you know.

 

112

00:14:37.680 –> 00:14:39.410

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: You say the word liability.

 

113

00:14:39.410 –> 00:14:41.059

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And I say, can you say the word liability?

 

114

00:14:41.060 –> 00:14:42.120

Naomi Meredith: Adults. They're adults.

 

115

00:14:42.120 –> 00:14:45.050

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Laugh. And it's like, and it's like really funny. And

 

116

00:14:45.250 –> 00:14:54.819

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: but the but they can tell that we genuinely enjoy our work and our time with them, even if they're being chaos and rowdy.

 

117

00:14:55.460 –> 00:14:57.240

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I love chaos and rare.

 

118

00:14:58.320 –> 00:15:06.840

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and especially if the chaos and rowdy is about the thing you're bringing out. If you bring out an animal, and they're like Whoa!

 

119

00:15:06.840 –> 00:15:07.400

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Have Jack.

 

120

00:15:07.400 –> 00:15:10.669

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And I were teaching Jess and I were teaching in Philly.

 

121

00:15:12.060 –> 00:15:14.790

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Was it Philly Jess, or was it New York City?

 

122

00:15:15.090 –> 00:15:16.569

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: We were in the Bronx. I think.

 

123

00:15:16.570 –> 00:15:24.249

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: In the Bronx just over teaching in the Bronx. It's 1 of our favorite teaching experiences we've ever had hundreds of kids in a dark gymnasium.

 

124

00:15:24.250 –> 00:15:24.790

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: They'll.

 

125

00:15:24.790 –> 00:15:25.390

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Patrick.

 

126

00:15:25.390 –> 00:15:26.080

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Very sorry.

 

127

00:15:26.080 –> 00:15:28.489

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Very impacted in Pre covid times.

 

128

00:15:28.980 –> 00:15:37.769

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: week over time. Hundreds of kids in a squeak, you know, like sneakers on squeaky gymnasium floors like like a like a like a chaos.

 

129

00:15:37.770 –> 00:15:38.980

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: So dark.

 

130

00:15:38.980 –> 00:15:43.380

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: It was so dark I don't know what's happening. So we it was like winter. It was like dark.

 

131

00:15:43.500 –> 00:15:54.019

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And so we're showing slides, and we're showing pictures. And we're doing classification of arthropods. And we're talking about the difference between centipedes and millipedes. And we put up a picture of a centipede

 

132

00:15:54.400 –> 00:15:59.239

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and the whole place exploded. These kids have never seen this centipede.

 

133

00:15:59.240 –> 00:15:59.930

Naomi Meredith: Yeah.

 

134

00:15:59.930 –> 00:16:01.140

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Seen a desert, sunny.

 

135

00:16:01.140 –> 00:16:03.400

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: What like you could feel the floor vibrating.

 

136

00:16:03.400 –> 00:16:03.790

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I mean.

 

137

00:16:03.790 –> 00:16:04.590

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: And and.

 

138

00:16:04.590 –> 00:16:11.860

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Like the projector screen was doing. Things were bouncing. It was this explosion. You know what

 

139

00:16:12.180 –> 00:16:17.230

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: every single student in that room was reacting.

 

140

00:16:17.650 –> 00:16:25.820

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: To that they were in it. They were awake, alive and alert, and the teachers who were there were very upset about them being

 

141

00:16:26.440 –> 00:16:29.739

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: disrespectful. Yeah. And to us

 

142

00:16:30.370 –> 00:16:52.699

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I'll I'll let people like I'll let the chaos to me. It's like the one of those toys. I don't know if you know those toys that extend. It's a big ball sphere, and it like extends out. And then it comes back together. It's like this like puzzle piece circle to me. That is the energy in a room, and I think it's because I have a degree in theater like my 1st degrees in theater. And so to me.

 

143

00:16:52.960 –> 00:17:10.769

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: My job is to be the conductor is to orchestrate the energy in a room, and and if I'm doing my job right, I let it go to a crescendo, and then I can bring it back. And then we focus. And Jessica and I are quite good at that, and I think

 

144

00:17:10.869 –> 00:17:13.750

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: because we allow for

 

145

00:17:13.960 –> 00:17:16.109

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: raucous joy in learning.

 

146

00:17:16.990 –> 00:17:22.649

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: That can be sometimes uncomfortable for principals and teachers who are joining us in our work.

 

147

00:17:23.980 –> 00:17:32.200

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: If you just let us. I almost said, Let us cook like I'm a Gen. Z. I'm not. I don't know what's happening to me right now.

 

148

00:17:32.810 –> 00:17:34.845

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: This is how you know we teach so

 

149

00:17:36.090 –> 00:17:40.600

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: like, if you just if if you just let us do that like.

 

150

00:17:41.950 –> 00:17:46.149

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: that's that's the good stuff I mean.

 

151

00:17:46.150 –> 00:17:46.610

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Maximum.

 

152

00:17:46.610 –> 00:17:47.190

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Stuff, you know.

 

153

00:17:47.190 –> 00:17:59.830

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah. And that's some of the stuff that helps us build that rapport right? That allows us to make the connections with the students. Because we've taught students like, we taught some students 10 years ago that still email us.

 

154

00:17:59.830 –> 00:18:00.620

Naomi Meredith: Oh!

 

155

00:18:00.620 –> 00:18:06.809

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: You know, and they still, like, you know, pop onto our Facebook page, or whatever, and make comments. And you know.

 

156

00:18:06.810 –> 00:18:14.639

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Hey? You came to my class, you know. Hey? Do you remember? We just went to a Girl Scout Camp in Portland. We used to live in in the West Coast.

 

157

00:18:14.640 –> 00:18:16.679

Naomi Meredith: Oh, it's just in Portland. It's beautiful!

 

158

00:18:16.680 –> 00:18:20.550

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: It's lovely! It's lovely we were. We lived there for like 10 years and

 

159

00:18:21.080 –> 00:18:35.640

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and we would teach all these Girl Scout Camps or Girl Scout troops, and there was a girl at this Girl Scout Camp. We were doing a leadership summit for the older girls, 123 older girls outside midsummer 90 degrees

 

160

00:18:37.290 –> 00:18:37.630

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Sure they.

 

161

00:18:37.630 –> 00:18:38.890

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: After.

 

162

00:18:38.890 –> 00:18:39.220

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

163

00:18:39.220 –> 00:18:42.229

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Full day of camp. It was like it was intense.

 

164

00:18:42.620 –> 00:18:46.289

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and this girl piped up and said, you taught me

 

165

00:18:46.390 –> 00:18:51.800

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: when I was a Brownie. She was now like a junior in high school, and brownies are like.

 

166

00:18:52.260 –> 00:18:53.317

Naomi Meredith: The little ones.

 

167

00:18:53.670 –> 00:18:54.819

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And so

 

168

00:18:54.940 –> 00:19:03.920

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: they they and I used to be so afraid of bugs. And today I helped the brownies hold the bugs. And so it's like, it's that kind of stuff that.

 

169

00:19:04.200 –> 00:19:11.280

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And teachers understand what we're talking about because you teach a student and they they come. You were my favorite teacher, you, you know.

 

170

00:19:11.280 –> 00:19:11.750

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: That.

 

171

00:19:11.750 –> 00:19:18.960

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Connection, and even though we drop in only for an hour, or maybe for a day, or maybe for a week, at a school.

 

172

00:19:19.170 –> 00:19:28.290

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: our job is to have that much of an impact in such a short time. That's our job. And it. And the impact needs to be positive.

 

173

00:19:28.960 –> 00:19:31.110

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Because a teacher can make or break.

 

174

00:19:31.740 –> 00:19:32.790

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: how?

 

175

00:19:32.860 –> 00:19:34.599

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: How people move through the world.

 

176

00:19:34.840 –> 00:19:35.560

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

177

00:19:35.560 –> 00:19:48.119

Naomi Meredith: And you're definitely role models than a couple of ways which like definitely to the kids like you're modeling like you're using insects as an avenue. But you're really modeling like how science

 

178

00:19:48.120 –> 00:20:12.239

Naomi Meredith: can be exciting. And this is what we do. This is a possibility. And especially being women in stem. That's such an exciting thing for kids to see. All kids to see that like, there's different possibilities. But also for the teachers. And this kind of goes into the next thing where you're saying, hey, we want you awake alive, alert, like. That's something

 

179

00:20:12.240 –> 00:20:25.809

Naomi Meredith: really great for teachers to see that science can be something else. I really connect with, like the way that you're teaching, because I would co-teach in classrooms a lot were science based.

 

180

00:20:25.810 –> 00:20:43.589

Naomi Meredith: And it I would call like controlled chaos, like, I know exactly what's going on. It's everything's fine like, and I'm not just saying that sarcastically. Everything's the kids are into it. But it was way louder than what the teachers would expect. And the classroom teacher thought.

 

181

00:20:43.590 –> 00:21:03.740

Naomi Meredith: This is wrong. This is not how science should be. I'm like, Oh, no, like we're we were doing rocks and minerals. I remember one, and they were going through all the tests like to see what their rocker mineral was, and so they had to make the observations and the color test the scratch test. And it was loud. The kids are excited. They're talking about. And the teacher didn't know

 

182

00:21:03.740 –> 00:21:27.979

Naomi Meredith: like how to handle that. And I think that's really great. What you're doing is that teachers can see this is another way science can be and I know, too, when we were talking before we hit record. What you have seen. With teacher trainings and what science like teacher training is, I know, for me. I didn't get a lot of training in my program with even with my

 

183

00:21:27.980 –> 00:21:37.379

Naomi Meredith: masters, but with how to teach science in an engaging way. Could you just talk? Could you guys talk more about that like what you've seen with teacher trainings like

 

184

00:21:37.650 –> 00:21:40.090

Naomi Meredith: just how science has been taught.

 

185

00:21:41.030 –> 00:21:42.170

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, for sure.

 

186

00:21:42.800 –> 00:21:43.360

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

187

00:21:43.360 –> 00:21:44.600

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Jess. You want to take it.

 

188

00:21:44.600 –> 00:21:52.599

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, and and I think, too, that this that this goes beyond how teachers are trained. I think this is sort of

 

189

00:21:53.310 –> 00:21:58.450

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: how a lot of the majority of people. See, science

 

190

00:21:58.560 –> 00:22:00.900

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: is that it's just a bunch of facts.

 

191

00:22:01.140 –> 00:22:06.710

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: and you learn the facts and the facts don't change. And you just add more facts, and you add more facts. But

 

192

00:22:07.030 –> 00:22:08.979

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: but science is not

 

193

00:22:09.470 –> 00:22:25.720

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: sta like it's it's static. Wait, then it's dynamic. There we go, and it like, you know, it changes, and it and it and it evolves. And you know it's a it's a process. It's it's not just one thing that just

 

194

00:22:25.880 –> 00:22:32.530

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: stays there. And so you know, I think that students and teachers alike are taught that

 

195

00:22:32.700 –> 00:22:38.469

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: when you learn science you memorize the facts, and you do everything by like rote process like

 

196

00:22:38.490 –> 00:22:41.969

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: step one step, 2, step 3, and then there's no

 

197

00:22:42.220 –> 00:22:44.850

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: venturing out beyond those steps.

 

198

00:22:45.295 –> 00:22:57.354

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: When science is really curiosity, science is asking questions about things that you see and things that you wonder about, and you know, and it doesn't always go in a linear direction.

 

199

00:22:58.170 –> 00:22:58.990

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: and.

 

200

00:22:58.990 –> 00:23:01.399

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, I'm thinking about those labs. Jess, like.

 

201

00:23:01.400 –> 00:23:02.100

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

202

00:23:02.100 –> 00:23:10.920

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: When you do a lab sometimes. Yeah, sometimes it's like, Well, did you do it right to get to this? To this foregone conclusion?

 

203

00:23:10.920 –> 00:23:11.350

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

204

00:23:11.350 –> 00:23:21.629

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Did you do the Ph. Read and do the, you know, and it's like, but that's not how science works like nothing in science. When you're when you're actually doing it goes like.

 

205

00:23:21.690 –> 00:23:23.650

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: but and tie it with.

 

206

00:23:23.650 –> 00:23:23.980

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

207

00:23:23.980 –> 00:23:25.654

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And I think,

 

208

00:23:27.800 –> 00:23:30.850

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: yeah, I think that there, I think

 

209

00:23:30.950 –> 00:23:37.010

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: forcing people to start with observation is one of the hardest things that we do

 

210

00:23:37.423 –> 00:23:47.439

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and we actually have tools that help teachers with this, like, we made a little flow chart about how to classify arthropods, and we took all the leg numbers out of it.

 

211

00:23:47.520 –> 00:23:52.429

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: because people have all this stored knowledge, and if we went oh.

 

212

00:23:52.610 –> 00:23:56.970

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: go out and observe a observe a bug right.

 

213

00:23:57.350 –> 00:24:03.340

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: they'll go. Oh, it's a dragonfly! You go. Well, how do you know that it's a dragonfly, and you go? Well.

 

214

00:24:04.040 –> 00:24:25.559

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: someone told me once that that shape of thing is a dragonfly, and it's got 6 legs, and I know that 6 legs is an insect. Great! Is there any other way of knowing this like. Is there any other way of looking at this? And so we take away the leg counts, and we take away all preconceived notions, and you and it forces you to answer this sort of rubric of questions, and

 

215

00:24:25.890 –> 00:24:41.919

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and it is just sort of resetting our brains to sit quietly and look and wonder, and, as you observe, you have curiosity, and you go. I wonder why that is? And then that is inquiry, and from inquiry go well, how would I test.

 

216

00:24:42.516 –> 00:24:56.423

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: That is that testable. And you have to drill down to an actually testable question. And it's easier than you think. It doesn't all have to be fancy contraptions and a lot of tools and a lot of things.

 

217

00:24:57.040 –> 00:24:59.130

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I think one of the things that

 

218

00:24:59.410 –> 00:25:08.220

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: teachers can do to bring science process into the classroom is starting with observation.

 

219

00:25:09.020 –> 00:25:10.849

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And and just

 

220

00:25:11.570 –> 00:25:18.229

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: run rampant with questions. You're not going to get to answer almost any of them. But wouldn't it be

 

221

00:25:18.780 –> 00:25:32.400

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: beautiful to see what questions come out of these amazing minds that think that haven't been taught yet to think in a specific way, because that's the great thing about kids and questions is, their questions are like.

 

222

00:25:32.690 –> 00:25:40.550

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: what you know, yeah. And that's coming from observing things. They're natural scientists. They're naturally curious. And if we can.

 

223

00:25:40.720 –> 00:25:45.499

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: if we can glom on to that. And if we can capitalize on that, then we're doing science.

 

224

00:25:45.920 –> 00:25:52.779

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: And I I think, too, that the idea that science is devoid of emotion

 

225

00:25:52.930 –> 00:25:54.400

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: is also

 

226

00:25:54.730 –> 00:25:58.609

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: yeah, like a hurdle to overcome, you know, because

 

227

00:25:58.830 –> 00:26:03.049

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: people are not devoid of emotion, and people do the science, and so.

 

228

00:26:03.050 –> 00:26:04.500

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: People, created science.

 

229

00:26:04.500 –> 00:26:24.760

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah. And so you know what we were talking about early about teachers, maybe feeling uncomfortable when students are getting like super excited and super loud and super into their projects like like, Keep keep that there. You want students to be really excited about the work that they're doing, because that is how they stay

 

230

00:26:24.790 –> 00:26:34.189

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: in those programs. That is how they stay in that work is that they love it. They enjoy it. They're excited about it. And so, being able to allow for some of that emotion

 

231

00:26:34.250 –> 00:26:39.280

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: and for it to be okay and acceptable. To have that emotion is super important.

 

232

00:26:39.750 –> 00:26:40.250

Naomi Meredith: Yes.

 

233

00:26:40.250 –> 00:26:43.500

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Also think the concept of

 

234

00:26:43.710 –> 00:26:47.779

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: getting really comfortable as a teacher with saying, I don't know.

 

235

00:26:47.780 –> 00:26:48.180

Naomi Meredith: Hmm.

 

236

00:26:48.180 –> 00:26:49.200

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Is powerful.

 

237

00:26:49.200 –> 00:26:49.710

Naomi Meredith: Here.

 

238

00:26:49.710 –> 00:26:51.870

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Being able to say, I don't know.

 

239

00:26:52.180 –> 00:27:01.989

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Let's find out. I don't know. How would we find out about this? Turn it around, turn it into a challenge. And I understand also for any teachers out there who are like.

 

240

00:27:02.110 –> 00:27:11.660

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: I have curriculum to get through. I've got markers to hit. I've got start testing. I've got all the things like all the things that are happening for you absolutely.

 

241

00:27:12.290 –> 00:27:21.925

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: If you have these standards like, I'll just say Ngss standards for this right now, because they're they're pretty across the board, depending on where you are.

 

242

00:27:23.740 –> 00:27:26.490

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Those Ngss standards are.

 

243

00:27:27.450 –> 00:27:30.070

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Sometimes they can feel like they box you in.

 

244

00:27:30.070 –> 00:27:30.390

Naomi Meredith: Yeah.

 

245

00:27:30.390 –> 00:27:38.840

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: But honestly, if you kind of step back and definitely, if you use some of the cross cutting concepts, they really do open up lots of.

 

246

00:27:38.840 –> 00:27:39.420

Naomi Meredith: Awesome, great.

 

247

00:27:39.420 –> 00:27:48.269

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And creativity for you. Yeah. And I really think beyond the life cycles and ecology and animal stuff

 

248

00:27:48.400 –> 00:27:52.449

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: bugs fit into so many of them physics.

 

249

00:27:52.450 –> 00:27:53.010

Naomi Meredith: Yep.

 

250

00:27:53.010 –> 00:27:59.769

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Weather patterns. True, I mean, yeah, one of our specialties is, how do we get bugs into every subject.

 

251

00:27:59.770 –> 00:28:00.300

Naomi Meredith: Yeah.

 

252

00:28:00.300 –> 00:28:01.700

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: There's a way.

 

253

00:28:01.700 –> 00:28:02.350

Naomi Meredith: There is.

 

254

00:28:02.350 –> 00:28:04.559

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: There's a way to do it, and

 

255

00:28:04.750 –> 00:28:08.850

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and I know that they're engaging for students. And so

 

256

00:28:09.010 –> 00:28:14.769

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: if that's your hook like, if you're like. Oh, I think I could get into bugs and use them in my classroom.

 

257

00:28:15.140 –> 00:28:18.419

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: They can be a great hook for almost any subject.

 

258

00:28:18.720 –> 00:28:19.020

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: I.

 

259

00:28:20.360 –> 00:28:21.430

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and

 

260

00:28:22.380 –> 00:28:28.369

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: and that, and and just a callback to what we were talking about earlier, about feeling capable.

 

261

00:28:28.760 –> 00:28:34.059

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: You know, one of the things that that is a tenant in our, in our business and in our work is

 

262

00:28:34.090 –> 00:28:36.819

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: 15 min ago. If you'd want to hold something.

 

263

00:28:36.880 –> 00:28:44.550

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And now you've watched other people hold things, and you've gotten to the point where you pet it. And then it almost always happens where a student will come up and go.

 

264

00:28:45.310 –> 00:28:59.819

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Okay, I think I'm ready. Can I hold it and go? Yeah, yeah. And you hold it. 15 min ago you didn't want to do this, and now you're doing it. This is what feeling capable feels like. This is what I mean about being explicit, especially about the social, emotional learning. What you are experiencing right now

 

265

00:28:59.950 –> 00:29:08.500

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: is you feel capable. I want you to remember what this feels like, because I want you to feel that about reading. I want you to feel that about math.

 

266

00:29:08.740 –> 00:29:20.390

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Does math and science go hand in hand? I want you to feel it about public speaking, about meeting new people like all the things that people get kind of bound up about

 

267

00:29:20.980 –> 00:29:26.830

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: being able to identify that that feeling of feeling capable is super important.

 

268

00:29:27.390 –> 00:29:31.720

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And when we can tie it to learning, and we can tie it to a classroom culture.

 

269

00:29:31.840 –> 00:29:34.059

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: it becomes a very powerful thing.

 

270

00:29:34.820 –> 00:29:43.850

Naomi Meredith: I love that. I know everybody is so like. Oh, I need you in my classroom. Please come. They're like.

 

271

00:29:44.253 –> 00:29:45.060

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: We do.

 

272

00:29:45.362 –> 00:30:02.599

Naomi Meredith: So for this, like, there's so many amazing takeaways. Like, I was writing down notes like, there are a million things. So I, just you guys go back and even listen to this again, because there's so many things that you can implement into your own space. And then you can also have the bug ticks

 

273

00:30:02.620 –> 00:30:25.559

Naomi Meredith: come to you. But like see them in action. But again, just having them as the role model and just seeing a different way to approach science. Maybe it's been a little bit stagnant for you. When I teach some I use science as my base. So when you said Ngss. I agree with how they O, open up projects. I made on my whole curriculum K through 5

 

274

00:30:25.560 –> 00:30:34.179

Naomi Meredith: using the Ngss because there are so many different possibilities. And just, they're actually a really good way to kind of guide

 

275

00:30:34.180 –> 00:30:42.279

Naomi Meredith: what you can do like as a base. But it does open up like ways to look at the world. I really don't think they box you into too too much. You just have to

 

276

00:30:42.520 –> 00:30:44.650

Naomi Meredith: approach it in a different avenue.

 

277

00:30:44.650 –> 00:30:47.269

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Puzzle piece. Take a little of this, take a little.

 

278

00:30:47.270 –> 00:30:47.980

Naomi Meredith: Yeah.

 

279

00:30:47.980 –> 00:30:48.839

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Glomi together.

 

280

00:30:48.840 –> 00:30:58.339

Naomi Meredith: Yes, but if teachers like, I want more bug checks, I need them in my school. What kind of programs do you guys offer, and where can they find you.

 

281

00:30:58.640 –> 00:31:03.213

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Hmm, so they can find us at our website. The bugchicks.com.

 

282

00:31:04.020 –> 00:31:05.540

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Or on social media, you can.

 

283

00:31:06.070 –> 00:31:10.229

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: DM, us, on social media. We're at the bug chicks just about everywhere.

 

284

00:31:10.550 –> 00:31:12.480

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Put in a Google search, and you'll find us.

 

285

00:31:12.480 –> 00:31:22.490

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yup and so for schools, one of the things we're doing a lot of is right now. We're based in Cincinnati, Ohio. So we're we're within driving distance of a lot of places.

 

286

00:31:22.490 –> 00:31:23.379

Naomi Meredith: Yeah, you are.

 

287

00:31:23.380 –> 00:31:38.640

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: How central we are. Districts will ask us to come, and we'll come. Do full assembly programs for schools. And we have microscopes and live animals. And it's very interactive. And and it's incredible. And so much fun.

 

288

00:31:38.640 –> 00:31:40.530

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: K. Through 12 options for that.

 

289

00:31:40.530 –> 00:31:47.377

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, we have a couple of different programs. So we can do career connections for older students. We can do

 

290

00:31:48.020 –> 00:31:56.500

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: we can. We can do like straight biology of bugs. And we can also do. We have a really beautiful one for K. 5, called Songs of Science.

 

291

00:31:56.500 –> 00:31:56.880

Naomi Meredith: Huh!

 

292

00:31:56.880 –> 00:32:13.609

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And it's about how insects communicate with each other, and we recreate a forest at night, using noisemakers with students, and of Katie dids calling to each other and chirps, and it's so awesome. But we also put the animals underneath the microscope, and you could see how they make the noise.

 

293

00:32:13.610 –> 00:32:14.290

Naomi Meredith: Oh!

 

294

00:32:14.290 –> 00:32:16.779

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: It's so cool it's so cool.

 

295

00:32:16.780 –> 00:32:17.330

Naomi Meredith: Oh!

 

296

00:32:18.130 –> 00:32:30.039

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: So we have those. And then we also come in for smaller programs where it's like, maybe just your classroom. And that's where we hold and pat and touch and do a lot more of the sort of interactive.

 

297

00:32:30.040 –> 00:32:30.520

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: With.

 

298

00:32:30.520 –> 00:32:47.400

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: The individual students. But we can also build a program that works for you. So we're going out to Seattle to teach a program we are going to long the Hamptons, like the east of Long Island to teach a full week.

 

299

00:32:48.740 –> 00:32:52.870

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Where else are we going? We might be going to Alaska to teach a full week.

 

300

00:32:53.544 –> 00:32:55.569

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Oh, wow! No!

 

301

00:32:55.570 –> 00:32:56.260

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: These are things, are.

 

302

00:32:56.260 –> 00:32:57.510

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: It's in the air.

 

303

00:32:58.020 –> 00:32:59.450

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: And and so

 

304

00:32:59.700 –> 00:33:08.829

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: so yes, we are available. And this is something that we do all the time. And it's a joy for us, and it's also our life and our living. And we love to do it. So yeah.

 

305

00:33:10.126 –> 00:33:22.123

Naomi Meredith: Well, my friend, just accepted a science position. I was just Googled. How far in Missouri from Ohio? Only 8 and a half hours. So I'm gonna tell her.

 

306

00:33:22.510 –> 00:33:23.240

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah.

 

307

00:33:23.523 –> 00:33:27.780

Naomi Meredith: She works at a nature school now, which is so cool. So I'm gonna make.

 

308

00:33:27.780 –> 00:33:28.849

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: You're listening to this episode.

 

309

00:33:28.850 –> 00:33:29.390

Naomi Meredith: And.

 

310

00:33:29.390 –> 00:33:32.099

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, we usually combine it with.

 

311

00:33:32.120 –> 00:33:49.519

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: you know, if you combine it with a couple of schools, or you combine it with the district, it makes it makes the whole thing more cost effective. And we can stay and teach. We love to teach at a whole district. And then that way. Everyone, you know, an older sibling and a younger sibling has an experience. It's a really, it's a really cool thing.

 

312

00:33:49.520 –> 00:33:53.190

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Yeah. And oftentimes we do community programs when we do those weeks.

 

313

00:33:53.835 –> 00:33:59.030

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Because not everybody goes to the school. So you know, we'll do library programs or nature.

 

314

00:33:59.030 –> 00:33:59.410

Naomi Meredith: Center.

 

315

00:33:59.410 –> 00:34:06.300

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Programs. Or, you know, things like that, so that we can then, sort of like, you know, reach a broader audience. So.

 

316

00:34:06.720 –> 00:34:24.610

Naomi Meredith: Oh, I love that you girls are killing it. I love this so much, and thank you so much for sharing your expertise and your perspective, and just you can tell and I can tell on the other show, too. But you can tell like how passionate you are. You say that. But but really the core of it, and what you're doing, it's not

 

317

00:34:24.610 –> 00:34:37.300

Naomi Meredith: how we teach about bugs like. There's so much more behind what you're doing which I think is really important for teachers to hear. Not every program is like that at all. And definitely what you're doing

 

318

00:34:37.300 –> 00:34:48.130

Naomi Meredith: totally aligns with how I think about science and stem. And I need to come see you when you're presenting, because this just sounds so amazing. So when you're near Colorado, let me know.

 

319

00:34:48.503 –> 00:34:49.229

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: Got it.

 

320

00:34:49.230 –> 00:34:53.949

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Yeah, I mean, we actually might have something in the works. We people in Colorado are always like.

 

321

00:34:54.219 –> 00:34:55.059

Naomi Meredith: Oh, yeah. Colorado.

 

322

00:34:55.060 –> 00:34:57.399

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Schools in Colorado that are interested. Yeah.

 

323

00:34:57.400 –> 00:35:12.179

Naomi Meredith: Oh, good, yeah. Well, thank you so much for your time. And I know teachers are me so excited to check out your programs and even get more bug chicks in with their kids. So thank you so much again.

 

324

00:35:12.180 –> 00:35:13.179

Kristie Reddick – The Bug Chicks: Thank you for the update.

 

325

00:35:13.180 –> 00:35:13.730

Jessica Honaker – The Bug Chicks: For having us.

 

326

00:35:13.730 –> 00:35:14.740

Naomi Meredith: Thank you.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Check out this playlist on Spotify I put together with all the episodes related to STEM Events & Community Engagement

 

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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