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engineering design process projects

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

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?:  

 

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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

 

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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!

back to school stem activities

3 Back to School STEM Activities You Need [ep. 109]

3 Back to School STEM Activities You Need [ep.109]

back to school stem activities

Check out the full episode on 3 Back to School STEM Activities You Need:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

With back to school right around the corner, many of you are planning, prepping, and gearing up for the new school year. In today’s episode, I am sharing three back to school STEM activities that are great for helping your students get to know one another and set the foundation for many of the lessons you will implement throughout the school year.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Ideas for back to school STEM activities
  • The benefits of implementing these back to school STEM activities
  • How to effectively implement these activities in your STEM classroom

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


With so many options out there, which back to school STEM activities should you be doing with your students? There are those typical one-day challenges like building the tallest tower or flying the fastest paper airplane, which are all awesome. Keep doing those activities. But in this episode, I'm gonna be sharing with you a different take on back to school activities that you can do in your STEM space. So let's jump in on those creative ideas.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:04]:


Before we get started on this episode, I wanted to read another awesome review that was left by one of you over on Apple Podcasts. and this is from the vendor librarian. If you're new to STEM or just need some great ideas to keep your lessons fresh, Naomi can help. I am a school library media specialist and was asked to start incorporating STEM into my curriculum about 2 years ago. I have not had a lot of formal training and was basically piecing it together. I was excited to find Naomi's podcast earlier this year and really enjoy listening to ideas on how to teach and structure STEM in the classroom. Thank you so much for this review I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my top love languages is words of affirmation, and this definitely fills up my bucket. But not only that, writing a review like this, so if you guys wouldn't mind pausing the podcast, go and write a 5-star review over an Apple podcast. This helps other teachers like you who are in the STEM space are getting into this in their classrooms and help them know that this is the podcast that they're looking for.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:16]:


I've said it many times on here before, and even some of my podcast episodes are based on this, but I love a good theme. And my friends can definitely attest to that there are many times. We have done themes for things, and that even goes back into the classroom, and I think back to school is its own theme. I know right now, during this back to school time, you have all the prep, all the meetings, getting your classroom set up, which we're actually gonna talk about in the next episode things to do to prep. But when you are ready for that lesson planning, and you don't wanna feel overwhelmed, what are some things that you can do that are stand based that will actually work? So these 3 big main ideas that I'm gonna be sharing with you were favorites of my students and the most successful. So let's dive into these 3 back to school STEM activities that you can do with your students. First are those get to know you activities. And if you are a STEM specialist and, of course, as a classroom teacher, you know how important this is.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:23]:


But even as a STEM specialist, this is something that you can do in your room. Now there are a couple of benefits to this, actually. Think about your students who are coming into your space during this back to school time. They're working on community building and getting to know each other in their own classroom. So the same is true in your space. And maybe you've been doing this for a few years now, and you already know all the kids, but they might not know each other in that class setting. Here and there, you might have a class set loops, whatever. But for the most part, they mostly don't know each other when it comes to being in the same class together.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:05]:


So doing these get to knowing activities in a STEM way is a cool way for them to learn about each other and even themselves and for you that you might not have known before. So how can you do this? How can you do some get to know activities in your STEM space? Well, you can make the experience, of course, hands-on. A very big top favorite, and I know another STEM teacher that I talked to this summer, this was also a favorite of her students. It was an all about me Lego Brick Build. So I have different questions that I display on the screen, and buckets of mixed Lego bricks around the room, or you can give kids their own little buckets if you're worried about the sharing piece, But, anyway, they have mixed buckets of LEGO bricks available to them, and each of the questions will ask them something, and if it's true about them, they grab that many bricks or that color of bricks. So something like grab 5 orange Lego pieces if you saw a movie this summer. Now the way that I wrote these questions was to help them not be exclusive.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:14]:


A movie you watched this summer is more inclusive. Maybe you went to the theaters. Maybe you watched a movie at home. Maybe you watched a movie at Grandma's house. Maybe you watched it on your iPad. So that can have a lot of different interpretations and help kids get involved. And while they're digging for their legos, they are talking to the kids at their table, and then this frees me up as well.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:34]:


I'm talking to the kids. So if you're worried about kids wanting to talk in your classroom, this is a good way to get kids to talk. And there are also some math extensions too if you wanna get to the rows and columns of the LEGO bricks, add that little bit of math piece in there. So I've created those different slides where it’s easy literally, like, no prep and so much fun. And then, of course, once they have all the LEGO bricks, they get to build with them. Another thing that you can do with the same LEGO bricks. You could do this on the same day, is have different items that represent the school, and students can build those things like a back to school engineer inspiration. So, again, you can display those images up on the screen or even send it to students digitally, and then they can build how they think those items should look with the LEGO bricks or whatever building materials you have on hand. Now maybe you'll want to take your back to school STEM activities in a digital way, which I am all for.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:36]:


I love a mixture of paper, but also a mixture of digital. This works really well if you have devices available in your classroom or even if your students are one to 1 and they are carrying devices into your room, this is a good way to sneak in those little tips when it comes to logging into technology because I know that that can be a whole struggle in itself. and any extra work with that in the STEM space, you're definitely helping out the classroom teachers as well. So you can assign a digital activity that will help you get to know your students in a STEM way. The first way is going through, and you could do a different letter a day. This actually would work really well, a different letter a day. But go through what STEM means, and you have a different slide, one for each letter, And you, as the teacher, this is what I did. But I had my slide completed, and I had it up on the screen when students came in.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:32]:


and it just had a picture of me, like, just sitting there on the screen with the different things that I liked about that letter and STEM. So, for example, science. I had up on the screen the slide for science, and there was a big picture of me. Now it was funny the kids were like, who's that lady at all? That's me, guys. So that was a good introduction. And then this was for the letter s in STEM for science. And we talked about the things in science that I really, really like and what science means. And so I had things up there like, oh my gosh.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:07]:


I love sea lions. They are my favorite there, like, what slippery puppies. Raise your hand if you also like sea lions. I'm like, awesome. Good job. I also like the solar system. It intrigues me. I probably would never want to go into space, but I love learning about it.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:25]:


Hands up, thumbs up if you agree with me. So things like that were they got to know me. That was the introduction, and then they got to complete their slide as well. And it also embedded those skills like logging in, getting to the assignment, and also inserting an image in the text box, which are really good skills to have because they can carry into different platforms. Likewise, another one that I did with older students is we did an apps about me activity. This could be printed too, but adding in those digital components is really, really fun, and the students really love this and learn new things from each other. So with this one, there is no coding involved, but you send the kids a template that has different apps I'm putting in quotations. but different apps that they are going to create, and they are all about them.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:15]:


So one of the apps, one of the slides that they are designing, is the food ordering app. And if they could have their perfect menu and where things are delivered from or they are served, what would that app have, so learning their favorite foods. So those types of things are really great. I actually mix these in throughout the week, so day 1 is where I'll really focus on a get to know me activity. And then I might cycle this through even the 2nd month I see them. I've talked on here that I had kids 5 days in a row, so I had the same 5 kids all Monday through Friday, but I would mix those in throughout the week. So if it was a fast finisher, if they are finished with that part, they could go and work on this project throughout the week. So it's good to have that on hand.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:02]:


And then kids are even working on it in their classrooms, which is awesome. They are super excited about this activity. Another back to school STEM activity that you can use in your classroom is outdoor learning. More likely than not, you are going back to school. and the weather's still hot and nice. And kids have been used to playing outside. So why not take that to your advantage? I've talked about this before here on the podcast, specifically back in episode 4, but that is STEM survival camp. One of my favorite units that I have ever taught, and I also love sharing with teachers.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:42]:


this was kind of a happy accident. Go back and listen to that episode. You can hear how I actually started STEM survival camp, and I actually didn't start my year off with this. I used to do digital citizenship, which we'll talk about super important, but this was an awesome, awesome way to start off the year. So if you have ever heard of STEM survival camp, all of these challenges involve things where students are collecting items from outdoors. So you are providing a few of the makers' space materials, but the majority of the things they are finding outside. And if you even want to, depending on where you live, you could have students build outside. So that's a really great bonus as well to be out in the fresh air because most of us in the STEM space are in classrooms without windows.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:30]:


So the different challenges k through 5 are different things that if they were left alone out in the wilderness, what are those types of things that they would need to know how to do to survive the elements? So we start off with kindergarten across the river challenge. 1st grade, design a fishing pole, 2nd grade, protect the food challenge. 3rd grade design a game from the land because if you're out long, your phone's probably gonna die eventually, and you need to stay entertained. 4th grade's a little bit different. They actually learn a life skill, and they are designing a hiking backpack. So I actually teach them how to sew hand stitching. And then 5th grade is the build a shelter challenge, where they design a shelter to withstand the elevates.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:14]:


So lots of different fun things going on, so every grade has a different challenge. And, again, some of the materials are from outside. Some are the things that I provide them. which is a great way to embed how to use materials in the maker space. It is not a free for all for this challenge. In fact, It is never usually a free for all entirely. But with this one, I have very specific materials that they have the option of using in addition to the things that they buy on that side. And this helps them learn the management of those things, like managing the tape allotment that you have, how to cut tape, and how to measure the string that you need for your design.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:55]:


So those types of things are really helpful with minimal tools so that they're still being creative, but creativity with constraints. Another great thing too is that this naturally promotes collaboration and creativity in a hands-on way. So I'm not telling them, alright. Be creative. Good luck. Here's how you should design it. We're looking at examples from the real world, showing examples that past students have done, and having them work together to complete this challenge. Likewise, if you are hoping to teach the engineering design process as the process that you're using in your classroom when it comes to project learning, then this, again, is another way to go through those steps where I'm not saying, alright.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:38]:


Ask is a step of the engineering design process. Imagine is the next one. It's all embedded in there. So I'm all about embedding things and having them come to life instead of having things in isolation. And this whole unit is definitely a way to do that. And bonus, if you're already setting up your classroom anyway, I actually would set up my whole classroom as a camping theme. So again, go back to episode 4. I tell you all about it there.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:07]:


And the last back to school STEM activity theme that you can try in your classroom is all about digital citizenship. This involves quite a few things, and you don't need to do this all at once. It's overwhelming for you as a teacher, but it's also overwhelming for the kids. They're tired at the end of the day. There's a lot of new information coming at them. So put it in bits by bit by bit that will make sense for them So, in the long run, they can be successful. Back in episode 10, I talk about the top technology skills that your students need to know, and these are perfect for what you can do throughout the week or the first couple of months of school when they are handling technology appropriately. So it's just those basic things like how to manage your headphones, things like that, where are they stored in the classroom? Are you having students bring those in from their homeroom classroom? How is that working in your class? I actually have little mini lessons tied to these and little technology badges that they can earn physically or digitally.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:14]:


So that will be linked in the show notes for you. So you can actually see And even some of them, I have, like, the videos of me teaching them, like cleaning devices, things like that where your students can hear or you as a teacher can hear the language and then present that to your students in your own way. Also, don't forget your classroom rules I think have fun is kind of a weird rule. I don't think it should be a rule to have fun. It might not be fun all the time. You might be frustrated. That's not fun. but think about your classroom rules.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:45]:


And a few of them actually might involve technologies. So I have some kid-friendly posters that I use with my students, k through 5, again, linked in the show notes for you. Maybe your school or district is thinking about having a device contract for using devices or borrowing them. You might need to talk through those types of things. Is that part of your role, or do you need to reiterate that in your space? I have an editable one that you can grab that has a great starting point, and also some posters that go along with that, so some reminders. when they are using technology, what are those things that they need to do? And, finally, what do you need to do as a teacher? Now this isn't really you teach, but I just wanted to put this in there. Think about your own digital citizenship. And maybe you are in charge of the schoolwide technology.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:36]:


I was also that I talked about that in the last episode. A big part of my role is that I was the technology person, and so think about those things that teachers need to know so that they can be successful. And I highly, highly recommend doing this. I know it takes a little bit of work upfront. But if you can find videos or you can record videos of you answering commonly asked questions, then this is gonna save you time in the long run because you have that on that checklist. And then if teachers are asking you throughout the year, especially if it's things that are related to two things that they're working on with students, then you can send them that video link again or say, oh, it's over here on this checklist. Here's the link to the checklist. So then that's ready to go.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:20]:


So I'm just putting that in there. That's a side note. But keep that in mind because this is something I would resend to people all the time because I already answered it. So there's that resource for you. I am like Google, apparently. So here's the here's that link that'll help you out. So back to the kids, you have those basic technology skills that you were constantly teaching and re-teaching, and this goes the whole year. This isn't going to go away.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:46]:


But keep that in mind. That's something that you were doing starting out with back to school. but then you also want to get into those digital citizenship lessons. How are they interacting with the online space? Again, that is something that is not going away. That is something that kids need to learn how to be successful, and they might not be learning this at home. So think about those very specific digital citizenship lessons. I do have an episode all about digital citizenship that can help you out with this. When you're thinking about my year and how the order of things that I taught, I started off the year with STEM survival camp.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:22]:


So having that collaboration and working on the engineering design process, all that fun, then the 2nd month was specifically about digital citizenship. I actually used to teach digital citizenship as a unit first because some survival camp didn't exist yet, but then I actually switched it to month 2, and it worked so much better because the kids are settled into the school year. The teachers are ready to use more technology, and they were ready for these types of lessons. So there are some great resources out there, but I'm thinking about adding a STEM twist. How can you make these lessons interactive and hands-on? So I created different things that go along with private and personal information. How can we be kind online? What does it mean to have safe websites that we can explore? So those types of things that a hands-on way is really beneficial to really make it stick in their brain. Hopefully, the classroom teachers are talking about this too. Maybe you are a classroom teacher, and you're like, oh, and you talk about that.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:24]:


But, hopefully, this is just another way how can you reiterate this very, very important information. If you are wondering exactly how I lay out my year, the order of things, and what graded levels get what, you can download my year-long plan for absolutely free, and you can grab that at naomimeredith.com/yeardlongplan. And this, again, will be linked in the show notes. As a recap, here are those 3 back to school STEM activities that you can use in your classroom. First are some get to know you activities and have your STEM twist. Next is outdoor learning Take those kids outside. It's probably still nice out. And finally, different ways to teach digital citizenship.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:11]:


All of these lessons that I have talked about are linked in the show notes for you, and you can grab those individually if there's a specific one that you really, really loved. or I've also bundled them up nicely so you can have a whole collection of things, especially if you teach a lot of kids, you need a lot of stuff. If you wanna hear about more back to school STEM activities, you can actually go to episode 7, where I talk about more things that you can use in your STEM space. Thank you again so much for being here, and I'll see you in the next episode.

back to school stem activities

 

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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!

Back to School STEM Activities Shopping Guide

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Back to School STEM Activities Shopping Guide

This Back to School STEM Activities guide is to help you find resources that will be perfect for your STEM & Technology instruction. Whether you are teaching in-person, hybrid or remotely, I have resources already created to meet your needs. 

 

Back to School STEM Activities Shopping Guide: How to Get the Most Out of It

  • Print this out to read it like a magazine or view digitally
  • The clickable Table of Contents will direct you to a topic you’re interested in learning about more
  • All images are clickable and will take you directly to the product they are show
  • All images also have a corresponding number. Find the corresponding description for that page to read more about it

Click here to grab this FREE download!

 

back-to-school-stem-activities

What's included in this guide?

  • How to use this guide
  • How to get free TpT Credits to Spend on Future Purchases
  • 6 Back to School Essentials for Any Classroom Setting
  • In-Person Learning Resources
  • Google Tools Scavenger Hunts
  • Digital Interactive Notebooks
  • Distance Learning Resources
  • Thank You!
  • Connect with Me!

Click here to grab this FREE download!

 

Other blog posts you will also enjoy: 

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Need more help finding a resource that fits your Back to School needs? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!

Want more resources to support Technology & STEM all year long? Grab this FREE downloadable guide that I’ve put together for you!