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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!

stem classroom back to school prep

3 STEM Classroom Back to School Prep Ideas [ep.110]

3 STEM Classroom Back to School Prep Ideas [ep.110]

stem classroom back to school prep

Check out the full episode on 3 STEM Classroom Back to School Prep Ideas:  

 

 

Episode Summary

Episode Summary

Back to school time has officially arrived, which means you’re in full on prep mode. There are certain things you can do to prep for the new school year that will help set the tone for the school year. In today’s episode, I am sharing three STEM classroom back to school prep ideas. I'll be sharing personal experiences from my own K-5 STEM classroom, discussing everything from setting up a functional classroom environment to organizing maker space supplies.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 3 STEM classroom back to school prep ideas
  • Tips and strategies for implementing these STEM classroom back to school prep ideas
  • My experience with implementing these three STEM classroom back to school prep ideas

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


It's back to school season, and it's time to set up your classroom. Maybe this is your most favorite part of the school year or your least favorite part. It was one of my favorite parts, but I'm gonna be giving you some ideas of what you can do when you are setting up your STEM classroom. When I first got my elementary STEM teaching position, I was a bit unsure about how I should set up my classroom. I really wanted to make sure that my room was functional and efficient from my littlest learners in kindergarten all the way up to 5th grade. It's a little bit harder than you think, but not impossible. Spoiler alert. Less, here's more. So let's jump into the main things that you can do for your STEM classroom back to school prep.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:23]:


I am all about having a functional space that is clean and accessible to all my students. When I had my K through Five STEM classroom, I only had a couple of teacher areas. There was my desk that I moved to this back awkward corner that I wouldn't put kids in. It was just a weird little corner. but perfect for my teacher's desk, which was a k, a table. And then I had underneath my TV, my screen where I would project things for students, there was a shelf underneath blocking all the cords, and that's where I put my teacher's computer so it was out of the way, and I could project what I wanted. But other than that, the rest of the classroom was available and accessible to all the students who came into my classroom throughout the day. If you wanna take a peek at what my K through 5 STEM classroom look like, this is a very requested thing from all of you, and I finally did it. I did take a video of my classroom and put it together into a video so you can see the layout of what I taught in all day in my fishbowl. I'm saying fishable because one of the walls was completely glass, and everybody could see what I was doing all day, which is totally fine. and a couple of little things for you to be aware of. I did take this video when everything was cleaned up, so there are not any projects going on. So, realistically, how it'd be at back to school or the end of the year when everything is cleaned up and organized? It did not look like this every single day. There are some main things that were pretty much the same, but everything is all clean, so you can get a feel of what the classroom was when it was set up. 


Also, I got very, very lucky when I got this elementary STEM position. During the summer, when I was getting hired, I actually got a newly remodeled classroom. So when I say I got a brand new classroom with limited and 0 curriculum, it was actually brand new, which was awesome and a little overwhelming, too, because I had to fill it up with all the things. So it is very fancy, schmancy. So I know that's not the case for everybody. However, I think this video will be helpful for you to get a feel for what a layout could look like and kind of where to put things and go from there. The 1st STEM classroom back to school prep idea is organizing your makerspace, and you can still do this if you don't have any makerspace supplies. When I am talking about makerspace, it's all of those recycled materials, and a lot of it actually can be reused, but lets get you all organized so you know the space that you are working with so that you're not overflowing with materials. You actually don't need as much as you think you do. In fact, I go into great detail about setting up your makerspace. 


Back in episode 5 is all about your organization and really some major tips and tricks I'll be sharing some of those here, but if you really wanna get into it, go and check out episode 5. And then the next one after that episode, I go on to explain how to manage the makerspace. So the purpose of today's episode is to discuss what you can do to set up your classroom. makerspace is one of those things. But again, those 2 episodes are really good to listen to after this one to really think through the organization and all the systems and processes that come along with it. But let's set you up for success. So looking at your classroom and the space that you have, the furniture that you have going on or hoping to get, you really want to have labels on those things. And this can be a little bit annoying and making all those labels or whatever and, like, sure, I'll get a label maker. Sure. You can do that. Get a label maker. I recommend having a label maker for some things, but not in the case of makerspace supplies. Think about all of your learners, not just kindergarten. There is so much value in taking that extra little step of having labels on your drawers that have pictures and words to what is in those buckets. It also helps me as a teacher too because sometimes I'll move drawers around because they are interchangeable where I had some of my things stored. And so I'm like, oh, okay. That's where things go. Or there are teachers helping in my classroom helping support students they also understood where the materials went. So, yes, it is a bit time consuming to make all those labels with the pictures and the words, but this will help with that environmental literacy where students are able to access that information, no matter what their abilities are. 


And it looks really nice as well. Let's be real. It does look good, but really it's to help out the students. Along with that, make sure that your things when students are in a makerspace project, they are all accessible at kid height. When I was jumping into makerspace projects, or there were some makerspace materials that I needed, I didn't have to go climbing in my shelves to pull everything down for the kids because most of the things were actually out in drawers for the majority of the school year. So what I could do is if we were shopping for supplies, they were able to open the drawers on their own. Or if I needed a specific material, I just pulled out the drawer that had those things for kids. And in the long run, setting this up now during back to school, maybe you're listening to this at the end of the school year, you can do this now at the end of the school year too, but getting this all organized, have it at kid height will save you so much time in the long run when it becomes to lesson prep. When it came to makerspace lessons, I hardly prepped anything. I was refilling things while the kids were working if I had refill options, but again, this is a definite life changer. if you do happen to have extra supplies, maybe you got an abundance of donations or collected things over the summer, create a nice place where you can keep most of those things in the same area. So if you do need to refill, you're not, again, tearing out your cabinets trying to find it. I had a shelf in one of my cabinets that were closed at a couple of cabinets, but I had a shelf where I kept those extra makerspace supplies. 


So if I happen to have something, I could refill it. It wasn't very often, but I knew it was in the same spot. Also, depending on your space, if there are certain materials that you know you're going to use again and again and they require specific safety rules, you can consider hanging up those posters in that area as well. So students are exposed to it, and then they know where to reference it when they're ready to go. things like a cardboard saw, maybe a hot glue gun. I have somebody who I've talked to on social media who actually has my hot glue gun posters, and they put them in cute picture frames from Dollar Tree, which I thought was a really nice touch, a really cheap touch, but a nice touch to make a poster look a little more welcoming and fit the space very well. Along with your makerspace, you do wanna make sure you save room for student projects. And I know that this can be a very hard thing, especially if you're teaching all the kids in the school, But keep that in mind as you are setting things up in your classroom, you'll notice in the video that I have some empty shelves because that is where students would put their projects throughout the week. Also, you're gonna wanna figure out a system for your general supplies. These are things that are used over and over again, maybe not just in makerspace, but all the time. Things like your pencils, markers, crans, glue sticks, scissors. I have done quite a bit of things with this. and what worked well in my classroom was keeping the crayons separated from everything else, and I had little buckets that were placed on the tables that students could come and grab. And then I also kept scissors and glue sticks in their own separate container. 


I used to have things combined and in these pencil boxes where each kid could get a pencil box, but then things got mixed stuff. The tops were breaking off. Kids weren't putting them away. It was way more work for me. They wouldn't stack them correctly. And then also I realized having scissors and glue sticks always available is a disaster for hair cutting. So don't do that. for markers, I actually kept them out all the time. They aren't used very often. I hardly restocked markers, but I got those drawers that you can put the paper in. You know what I'm saying? I'll go get 1. If you're watching the video, I just went and got the drawers. So it's the drawers that you put, like, Printer paper in. There are 3 drawers typically. They're plastic made by sterile light very often, but if you get I'm showing it in my video, But if you get these drawers, I sorted all my markers by color, and then it was super easy for kids to find the color of marker that they needed. and then clean up was extremely simple because they would sort the markers, and they actually liked that organization. Had a lot of kids Tell me they liked my marker drawer. So a fun little tip for you. After you have your maker's space under control, let's get to those building supplies. Oftentimes these are things that can be reused over and over and over again. If you can write a grant or maybe have a little bit of funds, I totally recommend buying the same size buckets that are about those shoe box sizes for everything. And even if some of your materials are in multiple buckets, That is okay. For 1, it looks really nice on your shelves and everything stores nice and neat. So it's all organized and ready to go. I also started labeling these buckets again with pictures and words when I could, and then you can put movies around as needed. So you'll see in the video I have them in certain ways on the shelves. I would move these around based on the unit that I was teaching. 


So, again, they would stack nicely, but I could pull them out for station rotations very easily if there were things that were missing on the floor. I could pick them up and put them inside really fast. One little tip about that, this is part of your supplies. invest or just find something at your house, a small bucket that is your lost and found bucket. So I put mine by the tissues because kids, I don't know why I put it by the tissues, but I have a small bucket. And if kids find random things on the floor, which they will, they're gonna come bring them to you, and then I would say, okay. Go put it in the bucket, or I would take it and go put it in the bucket. And then, at random times throughout the day, I would go through the bucket and put all of the supplies away. So having all of those random materials in those clear buckets that you know you're gonna use over and over again is extremely helpful. Sometimes I will actually keep the original boxes for certain supplies if they're really awkward in size, like my dash robots, Those little boxes they come in are a great size, but more often than not, I will take everything out, recycle those boxes, and then put them in the same size so everything stacks nicely and they are easy to find. Along with those fancy materials like robots, I don't leave all of those things out all the time. For 1, I don't need my robots to be charging for months, months, months, If I know I'm gonna be using them in October, I don't need them out. that way, they're also safe, and very curious hands aren't playing with them all the time, but it's very nice for me every unit, I would set things up and get them ready to go. So if it's robotics, I would put the last units' things away, and it helped me keep things nice and clean throughout the year, so the end of the year was really, really easy to clean up. 


Then I would set up my robots for the month or so that I needed them. So consider that too because if you're having so many students come into your space, if you can keep things put away, I think it's definitely okay because it's not as stimulating, especially for students who obviously need that less of that stimulation, STEM has a lot going on already. And so if you can keep some of those distractions away, well, you'll get to them at some point, but you don't need to have them out all the time. Trust me. And finally, my personal favorite part is adding in that little bit of decoration. It's okay to have that little flair when you are decorating your space, but I will say less is more. and even investing in a little bit of paint, and you can add the color to the walls. I had one wall that was blue. That was perfect for blue screen. I had another wall that was green that was the wrong shade of green for green screen, but it looked cool. It had too much yellow in it, and so, the coloring was definitely off. but even having a pop of color can actually help with the decoration because I didn't need to hang up very much. When it came to things for actual units, that certain grade levels needed. I had one place on my wall where I would hang up those things like what is the challenge we're working on, special directions that work for specific grade levels, I would have one spot on the wall where that would change out all time and students knew that was going to change and, understand what they are learning. Then I went and have another spot when it came to content specific incur charts or posters related to the learning. More often than not, I actually would use a lot of digital posters when needed and pull those up for students based on the grade level that they're at. So I had two places where those things would change. 


Now when it comes to your actual setup or your classroom of things that you wanna have all year, again, less is more. One thing that I had when students came into the classroom is there was a STEM affirmation station. So I purchased one of those floor length mirrors pretty cheap at Walmart. It was $7. Purchased one of those hanging up on the wall, and there were different affirmations around there of different things that they could believe in their selves. Like, I am a scientist. I am a mathematician. All of these little resources, too, I'm mentioning. They will be linked in the show notes you don't have to go and create them. Save yourself some time. I got them all done for you. So that was something really fun. They would come in, and then while they were leaving, they would look at your themselves. I would check my hair in between classes. So with the teachers, when they're picking them up, so invest in a STEM affirmation station, It's always a good time for everybody. Along with that, something that I would keep up near my door, and then it also switched to the hallway just based on how I was feeling, but having a monthly bulletin board where you could switch that out easily, you can print cut, and hang, based on the different seasons of the year or what is going on in STEM is just a great way to keep engagement and spark that conversation. If you could hang up something like that where students line up, again, it gives them something to look at that has a learning experience, and it could possibly tie in with what you are learning as well. So once I printed all those out, I printed. I laminated. I cut them out, and had them in ziplock bags. So then, each month, I could easily switch those out. Took me 5 minutes. Switch those out. You can have a parent volunteer do that for you. and just a nice flair to think of STEM in a different way. 


Again, I have all these made for you, so don't even worry about it. Another great thing that I referred to throughout the years is having growth mindset sayings, and there were different things that we would focus on in our or things that I would say over and over again as it related to our Sam lessons and really to life. So having that available, again, All of these things that you have would be accessible to all grade levels, things that would connect throughout the years, and then you could, keep referring to them and the kids knew where to refer to them as well. Another cool addition is having a STEM and technology alphabet so how they can think about STEM in the real world, and if you wanted to even adding in key vocabulary that you're learning throughout the year. I started adding in the vocabulary. It got to be too much as contents change quite often. So just leaving up the vocabulary was a great place to start. and really helped along with different ways when we were spelling in our plans or doing some research that could help us with what we were working on. And also adding in a little bit of flair is totally okay. I mean, it's your classroom. Come on. You're there all day. so having things like, I would find things all over the place, Michaels, Amazon Hobby, or whatever. I have a, oh, man. I have a hard time saying no to these things, but, I'm holding up a sign that I loved. It says be the maker, and that was just a cute little wooden sign that I had. So even adding those little pops in there, conversation starters, one time when I was in Chicago with my teacher, honey, We were walking in this random place. They had little shops, and I paused. I'm like, oh my gosh. I know what that is. It was the patent for the Lego brick. And so when you look at a patent, they have to make sure they describe every part of the invention to make sure that people don't copy it. So super cool is on a board, and it was burned into the wood, and it was all about Lego bricks. 


So I ended up buying it, and I put it over by my 3D printers. I know they're not 3 d printed, but it was a cool place to put it. but it brought a lot of conversation. Like, kids would sit down there and talk about it. I used it a lot when we were talking about our plans and why we wanna have a detailed plan. and really think through our design. So it was just a cool piece that, yes, it was decorative, but it also brought good conversation. I also had these posters. It said boys can and girls can. And I found this Addie Farmer's market, actually, and it was really, showing and breaking down those gender stereotypes and how girls can really do those things that are traditionally that are made for boys. Like, we think a boy's doing and vice versa with the girls, and the kids loved this one. And that one definitely had a lot of, inspiration and great conversations. And I always started off. What surprises you about this? so just things like that where, yes, you're decorating your space, but how can they have a dual purpose? can there be a learning experience from that? So, very intentional about the things that I would hang up on my walls and keep all the time. Sometimes I'd hang things up for a little bit and then take them down. Like, I had a solar system. I kept up for a bit for a space unit. And, again, good conversation. And I took it down for a bit just just to change it up and keep it fresh. As a rate cap, here are those 3 STEM classroom back to school prep ideas that you can get started for the school year. First is setting up your maker's space and how you want that organized. Next is those building materials. And again, getting organized and having things in places that make sense and are usable. And finally having some decoration that is very purposeful and can relate to many lessons and grade levels. I hope the best for you when it comes to back to school season This is a very fun time when you are anticipating the students that are going to be coming into your classroom seeing ones that you might already know and it is such a very, very unique time that we as teachers get to enjoy. To help you with all of this back to school prep, All of those resources that I talked to you will be linked in the show notes where you can grab all of those things individually I also have them bundled together. There's a whole big STEM posters bundle that has all these back to school things and even more I didn't even share that can help you with your STEM space along with other content specific posters that can help you in your lessons as well. Thank you again so much for being here, and I will see you in the next episode.

stem classroom back to school prep

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

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

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

back to school stem

3 Things You Can Do Now to Prep for Back to School STEM [ep.90]

3 Things You Can Do Now to Prep for Back to School STEM [ep.90]

back to school stem

Check out the full episode on 3 Things You Can Do Now to Prep for Back to School STEM:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

With summer break around the corner, for many of you, back to school may be the furthest thing from your mind. Before you go into summer break mode, I want to challenge you to think about back to school. In today’s episode, I am sharing three things you can do now to help you prep for back to school STEM.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 3 ways you can prep for back to school STEM now
  • Tips for successfully implementing these strategies
  • An overview of how I have used these strategies to prepare for back to school STEM

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Summer break is around the corner, and I bet the last thing you want to do is think about back to school. Before you pack up and head out for a couple of months, there are a couple of things that you can do now that will help you be prepared for the dreaded or exciting back to school. Something that I like to tell myself is I like to thank past Naomi, so when I do things that sets myself up for future Naomi, I always thank my past self, and I know it's a silly thing to do, but it's just kind of fun, because you're like, “Oh, thanks, Past Naomi for doing this.” So you want to be in that situation as well, doing things now at the end of the school year that can prep you for back to school. So here are three things that you can do now in your STEM space, so you can thank your past self later. 


Naomi Meredith  01:25

If you are listening to this episode live, there are a few days left to join into my STEM into summer group coaching program. During our 16 weeks together, starting in June 2023, you will take an audit of your lesson plans and all of the materials that you have in your space, get feedback, and that will set us up for our time together to prep you for your whole STEM year long plan. And the lessons that will be unique to your space, have audio access to me and also weekly calls with the other members in the group so that you don't have to feel alone like you're on an island. And you can feel successful going into the STEM school year. You can get a special 25% off discount for being a podcast listener. When you go to check out make sure to use this code STEMSUMMERPOD. I would love to be your STEM coach in your back pocket and help you this summer. So make sure you jump in on that before the doors close. And you can access that at Naomimeredith.com/stemintosummer. 


Naomi Meredith  02:34

It is a little bit weird thinking about back to school when it is end of school, and you're barely keeping your head afloat not to mention all of the crazy things that are happening outside of the school year. I totally get it, listen to me recording this podcast now. I'm actually pretty calm when it comes to the school stuff. But all of the things outside of school, my wedding coming up, I don't know why we picked June eighth as our wedding date now that it's almost here. But here we are. But thinking about back to school, it's not so bad. And these are some things that are actually really easy to implement, that actually take up a lot of time when it comes to back to school with all the meetings and all the things and all the planning. So if you do these things now, going into the school year, or even if you are going to do some things over the summer, it isn't going to be that bad. So trust me on this one. 


Naomi Meredith  03:27

The first thing that you can do now to prep for your STEM back to school is have a supply refresh the last month of school. I actually like to do a whole Makerspace unit to actually help clean out all of my Makerspace supplies. So I like to do my STEM-musement Park lessons, which you can find in my TPT shop. Those are slowly being added and updated. But a really, really fun unit for end of school year or even back to school year. But it is a great time to do those Makerspace lessons where kids are actually using the supplies in your classroom. Of course not unlimited, but you're using those things. So then you can actually restock with maybe things that you have on hand. You maybe can ask for donations if classroom teachers or even parents are doing a spring cleaning, but then you can get everything organized and restocked for your back to school. Also thinking about spring cleaning, a lot of classroom teachers might be getting rid of supplies that can be of great help to you. Maybe there is a new science curriculum that is going to be added in the upcoming school year and those older supplies that still work just fine are no longer needed. So this is a great time to do some hallway shopping to see if there's anything that can be added to your space for free. In turn, you might need to go through your items as well. Are there things that you haven't used in a while or come to find out it's actually meant for older students or maybe even way younger students? Can you get rid of those things, either donating or even just throwing away. Also, are there things that are broken? Are there things that are under warranty, or you need to contact the company to get a placement? I know it's a little bit annoying to do this at the end of the year. But trust me, when it comes to back to school, you're not going to want to be doing this, especially when it comes to the items you need to contact the companies for. The end of the school year is really great because for them, they're not as busy right now. And so you probably can get the replacement a lot quicker that way. I've done this where there are some microphones in teachers classrooms, there were a few that weren't working. I did this at the end of the year, and I actually had them send the replacement to my house, which was no big deal for them, they did not mind. And then when it was back to school time, I could take them into school. So just a little tip for you there. Also, you could collect unwanted supplies. Sometimes there are those donations of supplies by parents, or even when the classroom teachers have all the students supplies, they have the community supplies, and they sometimes don't always give that back to the students. So this is a great way if there's teachers who are trying to get rid of those things like extra crayons, glue sticks, colored pencils, there's a cool time for you to restock your items as Well. Then you can even re label some things, I have some great editable labels for your Makerspace for your entire space, that have pictures and words that you can give a refresh. And then maybe if you even have empty drawers, you know what you're going to put in there. So this is a great time to reorganize, I always always do this at the end of the school year. And I always feel so good coming back to back to school. And this is one less thing that I have to worry about when it comes to your supply inventory. Also think about making a list of the things that you might want to purchase or knowing you have a budget coming up or there's going to be grant opportunities, you can start making lists of that. In the STEM into summer group coaching program, I actually have a whole template for you to use, that will make inventory your supplies a whole lot easier. So you could see what you have what you might want to purchase. And then also this will help you set you up for success when it comes to your lesson planning and the types of lessons that you might want to do in the future. 


Naomi Meredith  07:14

The second thing that you can do at the end of the school year to help set you up for success for back to school is to reflect on your lessons, maybe you are going to be a STEM teacher and you already have some ideas brewing, write those down, try to get those organized by grade level. Maybe you've already taught STEM for a while reflect on the lessons, what has worked Well. What do you need to get rid of? What do you need to modify? Could you add this for a higher grade or a lower grade? Really reflect on those lessons. What standards are you using? How long did it take to do a lesson? So really going through this process while it's fresh in your mind, when you actually are diving into this lesson planning whether it is over the summer, or just certain points throughout the school year, you're not trying to wrack your memory like oh, what did I do? How did this lesson go? Do it now while it's fresh. And again, I have a template for you that will make this easier with drop down menus, having this in a digital space for you, where you can sort it out by grade level have those content themes have those standards all in one place. So then when you are modifying your year long plan, you have everything ready to go. And you can get that in my STEM into summer group coaching program. 


Naomi Meredith  08:32

And finally, something to do at the end of the year to help you for back to school year and really beyond is build your STEM community. Right in this moment. What kind of STEM community do you have? Is your community a one way street? Are you just accessing all of these free resources out there, but you're not really having that chance where you can actually interact with people and know their names and really build that connection. So here are some suggestions that I have for you to really start building your sound community, you could do one of these things, or really, you could do all of them. A good way to get started is to see if there are other teachers in your district who have a similar position to you. This will help you feel less alone as an island and especially if they're in your district. You can talk about district wide initiatives and that can be really helpful, especially if there are things that are being pushed out to all of the STEM teachers, you guys can have that camaraderie so maybe me over the summer, have some adult drinks have some coffee. That way you guys can get to know each other and then hit the ground running when it comes into the school year. Likewise, see if there are any conferences that you can attend. I love conferences so much. In fact, I am part of a board for a local conference here in Colorado InnEdCO which I have a whole episode about it. You don't have to live in Colorado to attend, but I talk all about that in that past episode. I love this conference so much, and how valued that I feel as an educator, that I'm getting married and then going to the conference and then going on my honeymoon. That's how much I love it and just love innovative education, I can't get away with that, even with my wedding coming up. So think about if there's any in person conferences that you can attend, because really talking with teachers, and being surrounded by people who speak I have an air quotations, your own language is really, really powerful. Also, if you want some digital ways to interact, which is super powerful as well find me on Instagram  @NaomiMeredith_. I am there to chat and help be your cheerleader along the way, and help you find the resources that you need to be successful. Likewise, we have our growing community of the STEM teacher bookshelf membership, where we have some awesome books that we will be reading this summer, that will give you more some ideas to help you with your planning. We have coming up in June and vent to learn. And all of these books, by the way, have a guide that I have put together. So I read all of the books, I make a guide to help you capture your thinking. So we have An Event to Learn in June. And then we have a Makerspaces in Schools for July. And then there's some other cool ones coming up. And you also get all of the past reading guides as well. So you have all of that questions weekly where you guys can chat and connect with each other. And then we also have a monthly live call where we can communicate. And then if you are looking for something deeper, where you really want that feedback, you really want to talk with me one on one and also other teachers who are ready to dive in and take their lesson planning to the next level. There are a few spots open in the seventh to summer group coaching program, where guests we have the STEM teacher bookshelf, where we're talking about the books and related themes. But this is where we actually can get hands on into your lesson planning where you don't feel alone and really create the thing of your dreams and build a program that will be stable, and have the systems and routines that you are looking for. 


Naomi Meredith  12:11

As a recap, here are the three things that you can do now at the end of the school year to prep yourself for the back to school when it comes to STEM. First, we talked about having a whole supply refresh. Next is reflecting on your lessons. And third is building up your STEM community. I hope that you had an awesome school year or whatever you ended up teaching and that you were hopefully giving time to yourself this summer to relax. But if you feel like you need to do school stuff, too. That's okay. Do what's best for you spend some time outside, go on a walk, do all the fun things. And I'm excited to support you throughout the summer. We will still have episodes this summer, maybe even a little longer because I know you'll have time. But there's some fun things planned for you this summer. And I can't wait to support you in all of the various ways. Thank you so much again for listening to this podcast can't believe we are already in the nine days for the episodes, which is super amazing. And I can't wait for the next 90 episodes whatever they may be.

back to school stem

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

back to school night ideas

5 Back to School Night Ideas for STEM Teachers [ep. 13]

5 Back to School Night Ideas for STEM Teachers [ep. 13]

back to school night ideas

Check out the full episode on 5 Back to School Night Ideas for STEM Teachers:  

Episode Summary

Back to school night for STEM teachers and classroom teachers can look very different.

Back to school night expectations for STEM teachers is different for each school.

As a STEM teacher, what should you set up for back to school night?

In today’s episode, I will be sharing 5 back to school night ideas that STEM teachers can incorporate into their classrooms.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn 5 back to school night ideas for STEM teachers:

  • Create a hand-on building station
  • Make a digital meet-the-teacher letter and collage
  • Create your clubs’ signups or summaries about the clubs you’re hoping to host
  • Share your wish list and donation list
  • Create a STEM affirmation station

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Back to school night can look different for STEM teachers compared to classroom teachers. So what in the world should you actually set up? In today's episode, I will be sharing with you five easy things that you can add to your STEM classroom for back to school night. 


00:49

Each school has a different style when it comes to back to school night expectations for STEM teachers. It has always changed for me and my STEM classroom. So try what tips work best for you, and even consider using some of these tips for parent-teacher conferences or doing the same thing, and you have it ready to go for these situations throughout the school year. 


01:15

Idea number one is creating a simple hands-on building station. You can set out things like mixed LEGO bricks, planks, hashtag blocks, playdough, and other easy things that encourage the kids to be hands-on with the materials. This is also a great distraction for kids when they're in your space. You can chat with their families a little bit and get to know them better. You can add small images for the kids to inspire them, like an engineer inspiration board. I have one that is for back to school that my kids love doing. It can get them talking about back to school night or back to school in general and encourage them to have a fun conversation with you. 


02:02

Idea number two is to create a digital meet the teacher letter. You can create a one-page letter that lets families know a little about you, has a picture and lists some of your favorites. To take the favorites page even further, you can create a collage that visually shows all of your favorites. One way I like to do this is to make the collage on Google Slides or Canva. I use a background removing tool for the images that I find online. There is a cool website called remove.bg. It's free to use, and you can upload any image, and it will remove the background for you. It's pretty good if everything is clear in the picture. It makes it so that you don't have to do extra editing in Canva. Another option is if you create your collage in Canva, you can upload the image or use images that are available in Canva. When you click on the image, there is a tool that allows you to remove the image's background. A digital meet the teacher letter is a fun way for families to learn more about you and your favorites. You can share this all on the screen in your classroom instead of printing a copy for each family. You can also repurpose this letter and have it in your school-wide newsletter or send it on a parent communication platform your school uses or on Seesaw. 


03:42

Another idea for back to school night is to share your club signups. I have done this in the past while the signups weren't open yet. I had a summary of each club I would be hosting. We will have future episodes about clubs because I am very passionate about after-school clubs. Even as a classroom teacher, this was something that I loved doing. We will explain more about clubs in the future. But think about when you're planning your clubs and how you can have a balanced selection and involve various grade levels. Think about if you could have a Makerspace club, a robotics club, maybe a LEGO building club, or my personal favorite, a school-wide news recording Club, which I will do an episode about that in itself. You can send home that information, so parents are aware. You can include that information if you know when the signups will open. This is a great time to promote your clubs and allow parents to get to know you since you will be the one hosting the clubs with their kids. 


05:53

The fourth idea for your back to school night is to share your wish lists and donations. In episode three, we discussed creative ways to gather supplies for your STEM space. Those ideas can apply to your back to school setup. This is a great opportunity to share links or QR codes to your Amazon wish list, or a donors choose that you have set up in your classroom. Double-check your school guidelines to make sure this is something you are allowed to share. I know different schools and districts have different restrictions. So just make sure you are following your school and district policies. If you need help with setting up an Amazon wishlist, I created a short tutorial video that is up on my Youtube, Naomi Meredith. It will also be embedded in today's show notes.


Another thing that you can share and include with your Amazon wishlist or donors choose, or if you can do this instead, is having a donation for Makerspace supplies. Often these supplies don't cost anything, like cardboard and paper towel tubes. Maybe people have a roll of tape that they can donate. Back to school night is a great time to share this with parents. You can create a list, print it out, and send it home with the families. Or you can create a QR code of the digital list where parents can scan that. Another option is to give them a tiny QR code card with this information they can take home. So think about creative ways that you can get families involved. I know that it's hard as a specials teacher not always knowing who the families are. So this is a great time to chat and interact, sharing what your space is about and how they can help contribute to that area. 


07:42

The fifth idea for your back to school night is one that you can keep up all year round: having a STEM-styled affirmation station. Now Secretly, I love my affirmation station because I can check my hair and outfit in the middle of the day. Mine is outside my classroom door, so when classroom teachers come and pick up their classes, they're also fixing their hair. So the teachers and I are affirming ourselves with this affirmation station. It is for the kids, but we all know it's also for the teachers. You can go to Walmart since they have some cheap ones for about $7. Grab them here, grab some Gorilla Glue tape, and hang them on your wall. Then create little light bulbs that you can hang up around the mirror with little phrases like, “I'm an innovator, I am an entrepreneur, I am a maker.” Create a positive way to look at STEM and help bring to light the whole purpose of your class. It's not just about the tools and the toys, but the experiences for kids that you are creating. The affirmation station is a great reminder of that. 


08:55

Today's episode is short because your back to school night prep shouldn't be overwhelming. These are some fun ideas you can set up and repurpose at various times throughout the school year and annually. The five back to school night ideas that we discussed are creating a hands-on building station, making a digital meet-the-teacher letter and collage, creating your clubs' signups or summaries about the clubs that you're hoping to host, sharing your wish lists and donation lists, and creating a STEM affirmation station. All of this will be linked in my show notes for today's episode. You can even see pictures of some of these ideas to give you some inspiration to make your planning so much easier for this special day.

back to school night ideas

back to school night ideas

back to school night ideas

back to school night ideas

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

STEM Favorites That You'll Enjoy:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

technology-skills-for-elementary-students

Top 7 Technology Skills for Elementary Students [ep. 10]

Top 7 Technology Skills for Elementary Students [ep. 10]

technology-skills-for-elementary-students

Check out the full episode on the top 7 technology skills for elementary students:  

Episode Summary

Although most of our students are comfortable with technology, we still need to teach them rules and routines when it comes to using technology in the classroom. 

What are the main technology rules and skills we should teach our elementary students?

In today’s episode, I will be sharing the top seven tech skills to teach your students, whether it is back to school, coming back from a long break, or your class is in need of a refresh. 

In this episode, you’ll learn the top 7 technology skills for elementary students:

  • #1-Reviewing general technology rules
  • #2-Caring for your headphones
  • #3-Understanding schoolwide technology norms
  • #4-Being a problem solver and troubleshooting with technology
  • #5-Learning how to clean devices
  • #6-Knowing your username and password
  • #7-Logging into various platforms that will be used throughout the year

Resources Mentioned:

Free Technology Skills Badges & Mini Lesson

Classroom Rules for Technology 

Technology Troubleshooting Tips for Students

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

We all know by now that our students are comfortable with technology may be a little bit too comfortable. But, like everything we teach in our classrooms, we still need to set up those rules and routines regarding using technology. So, here are the top seven tech skills to focus on with your students, whether it is back to school, coming back from long breaks, or if your class needs a little bit of a refresh. 


00:31

I can't believe that we are already here on episode 10. I am just so excited about what this podcast has already grown into and all the positive feedback you have shared with me as listeners and people on social media. I knew this podcast was needed but didn't realize how needed it was. I am just so thankful for all of you that you are listening to me each week and letting me help you with your STEM routines in your classroom. With that, I wanted to read one of the reviews I received on Apple podcasts. I read these; they just light me up and help me keep going. So thank you so much to Bree Smith 13. Here's what Bree had to say, “Just what I needed. I am so excited about this podcast. I've seen Naomi speak at conferences and follow her on social media. She has wonderful ideas, tips, and resources for implementing STEM in a meaningful and purposeful way. Now, instead of having to spend all the time researching STEM ideas and lessons, I can just listen to your podcast on my way to work.” Thank you so much for this review! It means the world to me. If you want to share a review, go ahead and do that on your podcasting platform. I love to see what you guys think of the podcast. These reviews help other teachers like you find this because I know there are few elementary STEM podcasts. So we can reach more teachers, and I can help create content for exactly what you need. 


01:44

So let's dive into this episode. There is a purpose when using technology for academics, fun, and entertainment. Sometimes it's hard for our students to differentiate between the two. It doesn't always mean that their technology skills will always transfer to the classroom in those academic settings. They probably can learn all those academic skills more quickly, but we just can't assume that kids know how to use technology in school. These skills need to be reviewed and explicitly taught throughout the year so that students are using technology appropriately and for their intended purposes. 


03:25

This episode will be slightly different from the others; it will be more of a list style. If you read blogs, it's called a listicle. I'm not sure what it's called for a podcast, a podcast listicle, maybe a popsicle. I'm not sure, but in this episode, I will list seven skills you can teach your students. These would all be mini lessons to teach your class throughout the day or one a day, depending on the time you have with kids. Now, I created a freebie for this, and it is in my TPT shop completely free. Inside this freebie is a list of videos that I made. You can see my beautiful face and teach these mini lessons to your kids. You could show these videos to the kids, or you can watch them and teach them on your own. For each of those videos, there's a badge that you can print or share digitally with students to help them keep track of the lessons they have learned. There is also a little organizer, a little placeholder for those badges that kids can put in digitally or printed. This will help them remember the lessons and ensure they use technology appropriately in your classroom for success. 


04:40

The first tech skill you want to teach your kids is your basic technology rules in the classroom. Don't have more than 10 rules. Having more than 10 rules can be a lot for you and the students to remember. The rules should be your basic rules when using technology in the classroom, no matter what the tool is. So this can be things like we always carry devices with two hands. So that could be related to laptops or robots. I also like to include the rule we're respectful of everybody's work. This includes helping each other when you're working on the same device and commenting on other students' work. That's important as well, that digital citizenship piece. So think about the classroom rules you want to have in your classroom and teach those to your kids. 


05:26

In episode seven, I shared some Back to School activities you can use in your classroom. One of those was a fun activity that you can use to help review and teach the rules in your classroom. So if you haven't checked it out, go back and have a listen. This activity will make your rule reveal much more fun concerning this tech skill. This may or may not be a rule, but a general routine in your classroom is to show kids how to store and plug in the devices properly. Whatever they are using, kids need to have this responsibility in your classroom. I recommend giving students a number in your classroom that you can use for various activities and their devices. So just number kids one through 24 plus. That would be so nice to have a class of 24, right? But number them one through 24 plus and then have the devices go in that slot that matches with their number that can make things a lot easier whether you have the kids for specials or in your regular classroom. 


06:27

So teach the proper care of how to carry, store, and plug in those devices, whatever kind that you have. Also, make sure you're following any district or school guidelines. Our school computers have some little quirks to them when putting them away and the logging out process. Make sure to teach those to your kids as well. 


06:49

The second tech skill you want to share with students is taking care of their headphones and wrapping up the cords. Those cords, I don't know how many I have untangled over the years. Teaching the kids how to care for those headphones and cords is important. I have a couple of ways to store headphones in my STEM classroom, making it easy for the students to grab. I have those shoe organizers from Walmart or Amazon that have clear pockets. Once students wrap up the headphones, they can put them in the pocket. It's great because it's long, but it can fit the needs of all heights and students of all ages, which is great. I have some other headphones on this side that I just wrap up and put in gallon ziplock bags. These are just extra headphones from storage spaces; sometimes, students will leave fancy headphones behind. I will hold on to those first just in case a few students might need headphones in their classroom for the school year. 


07:51

A little tip, I know this isn't headphones, but I do have a bunch of computer mice with tails. That's what I call them, at least a bunch of computer mice with cords. I have another hanging shoe rack for the computer mice. Now, you're probably wondering why in the world I would have computer mice when I'm not even in a computer lab. I love having computer mice on hand because some students prefer using a mouse. I prefer using a mouse. So I completely understand that some students prefer it. This is especially true when we get into coding or 3D printing lessons. A computer mouse is a lot more efficient than a touchpad. So this is a great asset to have on hand. You could go out and purchase them or even reach out to local businesses if they have extra computer mice with the tails that they could donate to your classroom. So again, teach your students how to care for these things in your classroom and where to store them when they are finished. 


08:49

The third tech skill to teach your students is your school-wide norms when using technology in your building. This might be site-specific, and you probably want to modify the lesson I have linked in the freebie. What are your school's expectations when using technology in your school building? Is there a specific checkout system for that? Our kids bring the devices to and from school, or the students using devices from their classroom bring them into the STEM classroom. 


09:21

A big thing that I like to tell my students is that we're not changing the backgrounds. That is just so tempting for them. I know some teachers are okay with that. Now, you might be the technology lead in your building, just like I am. I'm our K through five STEM teacher, but I'm also our school-wide tech person. So whether that's your role or the tech teacher's role, think about those school-wide technology norms that all teachers follow so that you can relay that information to the students. 


09:58

The fourth tech skill you want to share with your students is troubleshooting tips and tricks that they can use. In general, with most pieces of technology, this is extremely helpful to teach all students instead of just having one or two tech experts in your classroom. I don't like having that role in a class because I think all students can learn. Some kids are more comfortable with technology, but these are all basic things that all kids should know, even teachers. So teach kids those basic skills like refreshing a page, closing a page out or closing something out when it doesn't work, turning something on and off, and unplugging and plugging back in a device. So it's those basic troubleshooting techniques that can work with most pieces of technology that are helpful to teach kids and keep referring to throughout the year. Whenever there's a technology problem in the classroom, instead of me touching on the issue, I always ask, “Well, what did you do? Talk me through the steps you took.” So if they didn't try anything, we could think of a solution to solve the problem. My role is to teach them how to troubleshoot these things, not just to be their superhero. I want to help kids troubleshoot those issues. So go through those things. You'll have to go through them all the time, but trust me, it will be so worth it throughout the year when you have kids who are problem solvers and not problem makers. 


11:30

The fifth technology skill you want to share with students is cleaning devices. Another important part of digital citizenship is ensuring that we care for those devices and use them the right way, but also clean them periodically so that they look good and are the best they can be. You could make a cleaning video with students and have this on your school-wide news. I've done that in the past. You can email the video to teachers, so everyone knows the proper cleaning methods for your school devices. When I have students come to STEM, I try my best to have kids help clean devices at the end of the week, so they're ready to go for the next group of kids. If they bring in their own devices from their classroom, they will also clean them with me. So again, this is a great skill to teach kids to keep your technology squeaky clean and looking good. 


12:28

The sixth tech skill to teach your kids is knowing their username and password. Depending on your school, there might be one username and password used for multiple platforms, or you might have a bunch of usernames and passwords for other platforms. Now, it's okay if they don't know all of them. That can be a lot, even as an adult. I have probably at least 100 usernames and passwords. They need to know how to get that information and type it correctly. As a STEM teacher, I don't hold on to all of the kids' usernames and passwords. I know this sounds very counterintuitive. However, my role is not to be the gatekeeper of knowledge. If I always have their usernames and passwords, they're always relying on me for that information. 


13:27

In episode nine, I talked about how I have students in grades second through fifth who bring their devices from their classroom. They use them so they can connect that the same device can do the same things that we do in STEM and their classroom. The big thing I tell kids and their teachers is that if they bring their device and still need support with their username and password, they need to get that information from their classroom. It's taken a lot of training in my school to ensure students have access to their usernames and passwords independently instead of relying on the teacher to pull those out for the kids. So this has helped students be independent and responsible for their username and password and know where to gather that information. Some classes have them taped in their pencil boxes, homework folders, or planners. Wherever that information is in their classroom, the classes will bring that in if needed, so I'm not the gatekeeper of all the knowledge. I just can't keep track of that information, so do what works best for you. Teaching kids their usernames and passwords and how to get that information and login will be a great success. 


14:52

The final tech skill to teach your students is how to log in. Now, you could make a separate badge for specific platforms you like using with kids. For example, I use Seesaw with all of my classes, so I might want to show them a couple of ways that we can log into Seesaw. You might use Google Classroom, Schoology, or epic books and make a separate badge for each platform. You can keep adding in badges throughout the year. Working on those systems and routines using those same tools repeatedly will help build the independence and responsibility of the students. I don't always expect kids to be the experts at logging into unique platforms, such as when we're using LEGO education tools or 3D printing. That will come with time. Instead, I want to be explicit in teaching those platforms that we will repeatedly use so that they know that's a resource they can get to and be successful for our projects.


15:57

Let's review the seven tech skills you want to teach your kids and be explicit about what we discussed in today's episode. Number one, going over those general technology rules. Number two, caring for your headphones. Number three is understanding school-wide technology norms. Number four, being a problem solver and troubleshooting with technology. Number five is learning how to clean devices. Number six is knowing your username and password and how to gather that information. Number seven, logging into various platforms that will be used consistently throughout the year. Of course, you can add in more skills, but these are the skills I have taught with my K through five STEM students throughout the years and when I have co-taught in their classrooms. You can refer back to these things and have that consistent language with kids so that they can be successful when using academic technology in your classroom. 


17:07

Also, don't forget to get the freebie for this episode. It can be found in my TPT shop using this link: Naomi meredith.com/tpttechskills. In this freebie, you can get all the badges that relate to the skills that we talked about in today's episode, video sample lessons of me teaching that you can share with your students or watch on the side and teach the lesson yourself, and a system where students can collect those badges either digitally or in the printed form. Thank you so much again for listening to today's episode! I can't wait to chat with you on the next one.

 

technology-skills-for-elementary-students

technology-skills-for-elementary-students

technology-skills-for-elementary-students

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

STEM Favorites that you’ll enjoy: 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

how-to-manage-transitions-in-the-classroom

How to Manage Transitions in the Classroom [ep. 9]

How to Manage Transitions in the Classroom [ep. 9]

how-to-manage-transitions-in-the-classroom

Check out the full episode on How to Manage Transitions in the Classroom:  


Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Being a STEM teacher is so much fun, but going from teaching in a general education classroom to a STEM classroom usually means time goes by faster.

Your transitions between classes might only be a few minutes long or nonexistent. While you can't change the time that you are given, you can change how you use your time throughout the workday.

In this episode, I will be sharing with you strategies on how to manage your transitions in the classroom so you can accomplish what you have planned with your students and have those awesome STEM lessons. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Three strategies to help you manage your transitions in the classroom:

  • #1-Time management and boundaries as a teacher
  • #2-Setting up systems and routines
  • #3-Find ways to build student independence and responsibility

Resources Mentioned:

Design Your Digital Classroom Summit: Google Style

STEM & Makerspace Labels | 180+ Labels

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Let's face it, being a STEM  teacher is so much fun, but you may have realized that compared to the general education classroom, time goes by even faster. Your transitions in between classes might only be a few minutes long or nonexistent. While you can't change the time that you are given, you can change how you use your time throughout the workday effectively.


00:26

 In this episode, I will be sharing with you strategies to help you manage your transitions throughout the day so you can accomplish what you have planned with students and have those awesome fantastic STEM lessons. 


00:48

Both behavior management and overall classroom management go hand in hand before even getting into the meat of your STEM lessons. Back in episode eight, we talked about behavior management in the classroom. If you haven't checked out episode 8, make sure to go back and watch or listen. 


01:29

Being a former classroom teacher myself, I was so surprised by how fast the time went in my classroom. I went from teaching third grade all day with all the subjects to being a K through Five STEM teacher teaching six classes a day, with only a few minutes in between each class to transition from one to the next. Everything flew by so fast, and I had no idea what had happened. 


01:59

Along the way, I have learned some tips and tricks and altered what I used in the general education classroom to make it work for the STEM space. Now, I am able to accomplish what I have planned for the most part in my K through Five STEM classroom. 


02:15

Here are three major tips that have helped me. I know that you're going to benefit from these tips, have an awesome year, and make what works best for you. 


02:25

The first tip for setting up effective transitions in the classroom begins with you as the teacher, and that is setting up your own time management and boundaries. I am a recovering yes person. I used to say yes to everything. I'm not saying that I am mean, but I have learned that saying no for myself is absolutely okay. So what do I mean by that? Well, first of all, I use my plan time to actually plan. I love chatting with people, don't get me wrong, I love my friends. I love getting to see everybody come through my room. 


03:04

Now, my planning time is so sacred to me. I use that time to research lessons that are coming up for the next unit, going through materials that I might need for a lesson, testing out robots, researching things, or planning my after school clubs. I'm really using that time to focus. 


03:24

With that, I am really lucky what time my planning time is in the day. Mine is first thing before I see any students. So I actually get to school really early before my contract time. That's just me. I'm not saying to do this. But I get to school really early. So the building is nice and quiet, and then it flows right into my planned time so I can get a big chunk of my work done. For me, at the end of the day, I am really brain dead. So at the end of the school day, I'm not as effective with my time. I will save things that I know I don't need a lot of brainpower for. Those first couple of hours of my day before I even teach kids, I get that stuff done so when it is the end of the day and the end of my contract hours, I can leave and feel successful for how I used my time.


04:12

When it comes to lesson planning, I really try to leverage digital tools in my classroom. No, the kids are not on technology all day, but I really try to think about how can I use technology to make my lesson planning and materials even easier. One tool that I love to use in my classroom is Seesaw. I use Seesaw K through Five to help students share what they're doing by taking videos, pictures, recording their voice and drawing what they are working on. This is also another great platform because I can share digital engineering design notebooks with them for each of the challenges and we will go through and work on those throughout the week. 


04:54

Another alternative, or one I might use sometimes as well, is Google Classroom which has a lot of similarities as Seesaw, but I feel like Seesaw in the STEM space can do a lot more since it has picture and video capabilities within the same platform. Another platform I also love to use when it comes to research is epic books. This is also a another free for teachers tool. I love using this because I can create collections with my students, share it with them digitally, and use it for each grade level. If you are going to use epic books with your students, create one class account and name all of the students in the epic books class with a number. So then you only have one class code to worry about. A lot of the classroom teachers have started using epic books as well, which is amazing. I don't use their class code. I just have students use my class code. It's a good skill for them to learn how to toggle between two different classes anyway. So that's my little hack if you want to try to use epic books in your classroom. 


06:02

Another boundary that I like to set in my classroom that has really helped with the transitions throughout the day is that the end of each class, I actually close my door. This is also partially a safety thing as well. I might need to go to the restroom in those couple minutes of time in between classes, so closing my door just ensures that I don't have students running into my room when I'm not there. There are lots of different materials that they can get into.  That way, if a class comes early, I still have that time to set up any last minute materials, change out what is on my screen and be ready to go as well. Sometimes you might also be speaking with another student for behavior, so just having your door closed can be really helpful. 


06:48

In episode one, we talked about things that you should work on when you're a STEM teacher. One of the main things we talked about was systems and routines. One of those routines is where do you want students to line up at the end of class. Now based on the layout of my building, what works with my classroom is I have kind of like a dead hallway right outside my door. I used to have students line up in my classroom against the shelves near the classroom door. However, this became a problem because when students needed to put their supplies and work away, the students who were all cleaned up were in the way so it just created a lot of chaos in traffic. 


07:25

Instead, I have students line up right outside my door in this dead hallway. There aren't any other classrooms right there, but they line up in this hallway, and they are ready to go for their teacher. They can be ready for the hallway, especially when I have an overlap of class, then the class who I just finished with is in the hallway and the new class can come right in. So this has really helped with the transitions, especially when teachers are early or late picking up the kids are in the hallway and they're ready to go. Really think about these time management hacks and different types of boundaries that you can set for yourself so that when you don't have students, you can really be productive in those pockets of time and not have to stress throughout the day because the bulk of your work is done. You have all these little tips and tricks to help you be productive. 


08:48

The second biggest thing to help you with the transitions in your classroom are your systems and routines. You are going to hear me talk about systems and routines all of the time because these are the backbone of my productivity in and outside of the classroom. I wouldn't say I'm the most clean person and if you know me, you know me. I am fairly organized when it comes to physical products and also digital things. This helps me do all the things as much as possible. The same is true in your classroom. 


10:09

In episode five, we talked about Makerspace organization. So even the way that you set up materials that are presented in your classroom can help prevent you from scrambling for projects. Once I have my Makerspace set up, I don't really touch it ever again. The only thing I have to do with my Makerspace is restock supplies when I receive them. So it is set up for the whole year. I can even pull out drawers for specific projects with specific things that kids might need. But this has really helped with those transition times where I'm not scrambling in my cabinets looking for specific things. I have everything out ready to go labeled with pictures and words. So being prepared even before the unit even happens, like a Makerspace, is extremely helpful along those same lines when you're thinking about planning your lessons. Yes, a Makerspace has a lot of materials, but think about your lessons going forward. How can you use the least amount of materials as possible? It eases up on your cleanup time with students and the amount of time you need to explain things for kids. Kids can be productive when they have to be creative with constraints, which is a really great challenge for them to learn. 


11:26

I like to give kids this example: when I bought my townhome years ago, I didn't have unlimited money or unlimited supplies to make it beautiful. I had to be creative with what I got. So that's a great lesson to teach kids. And again, it will really help with transition time. 


11:47

Also with those transitions, think about those routines in your classroom that will stay the same all year long. I have a lot of different units that I like to teach kids, which is the whole point of STEM: to expose them to lots of different areas of what STEM can be in their world. However, those routines that stay the same are how the kids enter my classroom and sit on the floor, how they go sit at their seats, how they gather supplies, and where supplies go at the end of class, and, of course, lining up. I keep these things the same throughout the year so we can be productive. The kids know what to expect in a general sense, and the only thing that is new that they have to worry about is the awesome lesson that they're going to attack. 


12:33

Finally, to help with the transitions in your classroom is how you can have students be responsible and independent within that time with you. You don't necessarily have to do classroom jobs. I know a lot of STEM teachers try implementing this in their room, which I think is amazing. For me that hasn't been super successful. I might have kids help me with specific projects for the time being, but as a whole, I really want students to be responsible within our space and create opportunities for them to be independent and have ownership over their work. So here are some ways that I like to do that. 


13:08

One big thing is to really keep my goals for my lesson at one or two things I want students to attain. It can get overwhelming in STEM very quickly and you will want to throw a lot at the kids. When you're throwing a lot at them, it's hard for them to manage what they really need to focus on. So when I have students at the beginning of class, we have our short mini lesson. I will show them the one or two things I really want them to focus on, review really quickly what we did the day before, if it's applicable, and then I'll go into our lesson and ask any questions. So keep that mini lesson really short. 


13:47

We can have future episodes about how I like to structure my STEM lesson and how I teach that. But for now, when you're thinking about how you are focusing your kids, and those transitions, have one to two goals in mind for that lesson. Also, for that student independence and responsibility, you want to have specific rules for specific materials. We've talked about this in past episodes as well. Again, a lot of these relate to each other. But if you have those specific things you want students to do when they're using materials like robots, for example, this is going to help students know how to use that tool successfully, and how to use it the right way so that other students in the future can use it and things aren't getting broken. 


14:32

Also think about things that students might be able to bring from the outside into your classroom to help with those transitions and the independence. My classroom, before it got remodeled, used to be a computer lab and there were a lot of desktop computers lining the classroom. Now I've told you before I was so lucky that when I got this job being a K through five STEM teacher, I was gifted a brand new classroom and a brand new job at the same time. I didn't have any computers left in my room once it was converted to a classroom. A way that I've been able to problem solve this, and it's actually worked really well with that independence, is students in second through fifth grade actually bring their devices from their classroom when they have STEM. We might use them, we might not, but it's really great to have kids bring those in, because they are used to logging into them. They know where their usernames and passwords are in their classroom. It subconsciously helps students connect that this same device that is used in STEM is the same one used in their classroom. These skills can actually transfer back and forth. STEM isn't really an isolated subject. It might feel that way, since they are going to a different location to learn the skills. This has just been a great little hack as well. 


15:47

Another thing that I like to do with the younger kids, and also the older ones, too, depending on what the project is, is I have a cart of iPads that I can use. You can use Kindles for the same thing. But I have a cart of iPads that I like to use when using Seesaw and specific apps that are related to maybe LEGO education or different coding apps or even robots. This has made logging in a lot easier when I use the iPads for Seesaw. With seesaw, you could use a QR code to quickly log in. This has also helped with that independence. If you can, try to use some tools that classroom teachers might be using because students might be familiar with those things back in their regular classroom. They can apply the skills in a new way. 


16:34

When I send my engineering design notebooks for the older kids, I like to share them in the form of Google slides through Seesaw. That way, students are still practicing their Google skills, but they're using it within the STEM space and they might actually learn something new that they can use back in their regular classroom. So really trying to make those connections within their other learning opportunities in your classroom can be so beneficial and really help with that transition time. This way you're not always reteaching something new. 


17:04

These transitions in your classroom are definitely going to take time as you figure out your students and how you like the flow of your classroom. These three major tips definitely are going to help set you up for success. If you are diligent with them, and really making them work for you, you are going to have even more time than you can ever imagine. 


17:27

So as a recap, here are those three big things that we talked about to help you with those classroom transitions: First, is time management and boundaries as a teacher. Next, is setting up those systems and routines. And third, find ways to build student independence and responsibility. Thank you so much again for listening to this episode. I can't wait to chat with you soon.

how-to-manage-transitions-in-the-classroom

how-to-manage-transitions-in-the-classroom

how-to-manage-transitions-in-the-classroom

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

STEM Teacher Behavior Management Strategies [ep.8 ]

STEM Teacher Behavior Management Strategies [ep. 8]

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

Check out the full episode on STEM Teacher Behavior Management Strategies:  

Episode Summary

As STEM teachers, we teach multiple classes daily, meaning we see, on average, 100 plus kids. In addition to incorporating STEM activities daily, we must also have behavior management strategies.

What are some of the best behavior management strategies for a STEM teacher?

In today's episode, I'll be sharing my top three STEM teacher behavior management strategies.

Whether you are a STEM teacher, classroom teacher, or library specialist, this episode will provide you with three behavior management strategies to implement with your students.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • My top three STEM behavior management strategies
      • Build relationships with the kids, their parents, and their teachers
      • Establish the class rules and goals
      • Create rules for specific materials
  • Examples of how I implement these strategies in my classroom

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

In my first year teaching STEM, I was the most nervous about behavior management. As a former classroom teacher of about 25 kids, I was now going to be teaching six different classes a day, which averaged to about 150 kids. That was a huge change. However, through my years in elementary STEM, I have found what works best with behavior management. Yes, you are a specialist teacher, but this is still extremely important, especially when you see that many kids in one day. In today's episode, I will share my top STEM teacher behavior management strategies. 


01:10

Before stepping into the STEM space, I was a classroom teacher for six years. Behavior management was a huge asset of mine and something really important to me. I knew that if I had a strong climate and culture in my classroom, including a strong system, routines, and behavior management strategies, the kids and I could do anything all year long. It came down to setting up those structures at the beginning of the year and being consistent throughout. 


01:41

That is the same for your role as a STEM teacher. However, just because you are in this special space doesn't mean you can put behavior management aside. In fact, if you are coming from the classroom, you know how important this is. You don't want to be sitting in your classroom as a teacher and get a phone call from specials that someone in your class isn't doing what they're supposed to do. 


02:05

As a specialist teacher, you shouldn't be doing that. Instead, you should be communicating with the classroom teachers. It's your role to have control of the classroom while still creating a meaningful and engaging experience for your students. Here are my three top tips for getting started in your classroom. You will find what works best with your management style and the kids you teach. If you are consistent and have these routines, you will have a more successful time with all of the future lessons you teach. 

 

02:41

First, you need to build those relationships with the kids. It doesn't matter where you teach; relationships are the biggest thing that you need to focus on. This is reiterated in the book, The Innovators Mindset by George C.  This is an excellent book. I highly recommend you read it or listen to the audio version like I did. In the book, he emphasizes building those relationships. I completely agree. That's probably the main reason why you got into teaching anyway. When it comes down to it, build those relationships with the kids. Now it is a bit different since you're not a homeroom teacher per se. There are a lot of creative ways that you can do this. Now, it is pretty cool when you are a specialist teacher, and you see the kids yearly because you see growth in the kids. You have that special bond that a classroom teacher might not have unless they live with their kids. So the first thing is to engage with the kids. When you have those other outside duties, whether it's door duty, bus duty, or crosswalk, engage with those kids and get to know them. You probably will see the same kids at the same time of the day. So really build those relationships outside of your STEM space. That is a great way to interact with many kids at once. 


04:04

Another big thing when you're ready to work up to that is after school clubs. I've always been obsessed with school clubs also as a classroom teacher. This was another great way to build relationships with kids and work on passions that they enjoy and passions I like. So we had a common interest. Having after school clubs is an awesome way to engage with kids, try new things and do things that are engaging but not always academic. Now we will be talking about after school clubs and future episodes, but just keep in mind that after school clubs are a great way to engage with kids. 


04:42

Another fun way that I like to build relationships with my students in my classroom is the STEM style. In Episode Four, STEM survival camp, I mentioned STEM style. It is a quick thing I do when kids have a shirt representing science, technology, engineering, or Math. I'll take a quick picture and put it on my digital picture frame. It feeds through all the pictures that I have ever taken. It's fun when kids see their past selves from a few years ago or their friends in another class. Then, they must guess how their shirt connects with science, technology, engineering, and math. It's so cute because when the kids have STEM, they also start wearing the shirts. I have some of these shirts too. It's a great talking point and gets them to think about STEM differently. 


05:31

Reaching out to parents can look a lot different in the specials role, but it still is important that my teammates and I, the other specialists and teachers, reach out to parents. We have a collaborative team newsletter. We do a simple set of Google Slides and share the link in our school newsletter and on a different platform.  Each slide is a different month of the year. We explain what we did throughout the month and have our contact information. This is a great way for us to work together as a team and be reflective on our work. Also, parents will know we do some things in STEM that are fun, but we have challenging and exciting things that we're working on. 


06:16

Another way that I like to communicate with parents and also the students in my class is Seesaw. I could do a whole episode about Seesaw. I am literally obsessed. If you haven't checked it out, go check out Seesaw connect 2022, where I talk about STEM survival camp and the engineering design process completely free. You can also watch it whenever you want in my monthly membership. I love using Seesaw because students can take pictures, and videos, record audio of their work, and comment on one another's work. Of course, I can comment, but parents connected to their child's account can also see these amazing things happening in our classroom and communicate. I've had a lot of parents chat with me on there and write comments about how excited their kid was to talk about their work. Seeing a picture of it, they understand what their kid is trying to explain. 


07:09

As I said, STEM has some cool materials. Sometimes it's hard for kids to explain what they did in STEM. Having those visuals is awesome. I do use Seesaw K through five. It is free for teachers, and your school could buy Seesaw for schools. I highly recommend this tool because it is so interactive. You can accomplish a lot within this platform, and that two-way communication allows you to build those relationships. 


08:18

As you continue to build those relationships, you want to have a standard set of class rules for your STEM space. This is something that you're going to want to keep the same for K through Five and keep them very simple. In episode seven, I shared with you some back to school STEM activities, and one of those is having a game review puzzle where kids are putting the pieces together of your classroom rules. So make sure to check out that episode if you haven't listened. Have those main classroom rules that all the kids are used to when they come into your space and keep them simple. I have my main four rules that students in the class have to follow as a whole class. 


09:40

At my school, we do something called Tiger paws, where classes can earn a paw for great behavior from teachers, including specialist teachers. I have my four main rules as things that, as a whole class, they do have to accomplish to earn their tiger paws. You can check all of these out in the show notes for this episode, but the four main things that I ensure the class has accomplished are: Did we finish today's work? Did we work together and try our best? Did we stay on task? Were we very respectful of everyone's work? We go over these at the end of each day, and if it's a yes, for all of those, they get their class Tiger paw. If it's a no, we will discuss why. 


10:23

The kids will explain, or I will explain why it's a no and what we can do better next time. I remind them that tomorrow is a new day. You can keep track of these tiger paws or class incentives if you want to. Maybe they can earn a certain amount to do a class party. I've considered this idea, but I honestly don't have enough time with the limited time I have with kids. If this is interesting to you, then definitely try it. I know other teachers have done this, and it's been successful in their rooms. 


10:51

When you teach all the kids in the whole school, you will have to modify some things for specific classes. As a former classroom teacher, you know that some classes vibe together, and some don't. So you might need to have specific rules for specific classes. You might even need to adjust things that go along with the classroom and your management style. Some teachers are strict and don't allow collaboration in their classroom, and some are open-ended. Adjust to what the kids might be used to and communicate with those classroom teachers. If you can chat with them quickly before or at the end of class, you can see if there are any specific needs that you need to focus on for the day and academic goals that you can help support. 


11:44

Some classes might even have a class incentive they're trying to work on. When I was a classroom teacher, I sent my kids a grading sheet, so however they did in specials, the specials teacher could write that down on our sheets. If they got an excellent, we got a class marble. This is where they could write down students who did an excellent job and students who needed additional support. If the classroom teachers don't have this, you could start this in your classroom to help bridge the communication gap. Also, if things aren't working, ask that classroom teacher what you can do to help support the class. They might have a certain call to action that you can use with the kids.  


12:27

Finally, for your last behavior management tip, you want to have specific rules for specific materials. You have the class rules we discussed, which don't change. These rules are the same no matter what you teach, but then you have specific materials you will use throughout the year. This is what you want to change up. This can also mean specific areas in your classroom, what grade levels can use them, and specific materials and which grade levels can use them. 


12:57

One example of different rules for materials in my classroom is the tables and chairs that students can sit at and how they know where they're going to be sitting. When all classes enter my room, they come to that shared meeting area we talked about in episode one after that little mini lesson. So if I want them sitting at the tables, I have different rules for my K-One and my second through fifth-grade students. For K-One, I have six different colored cubes that match the colors I have on my six different tables. There are about the same amount of cubes of each color. So there are four yellows, orange, green, and so on. 


13:37

When I'm ready for the kids to go to their tables, I'll randomly (randomly to them. In my head, I know exactly who I'm giving the cubes to), provide them with a cube, and they have to find the matching color on their table. Now, if you're wondering how I put the colors on the table, it isn't anything fancy. It is a page protector with a sheet of construction paper on the inside. On the flip side of that paper, I have about four sticky notes with numbers written on them mixed up. Now the numbers are one through 27. I think I had one through 32 last year. A third-grade class had 32 kids in each class, but I have one through 32 written on sticky notes, one number per sticky note. Those are mixed up on the tables within that page protector. 


14:25

For my second through fifth-grade students, when I'm ready for them to go to their tables, they find their classroom number and sit at that spot. Then I can move kids based on who needs to be moved or whatever assistance they might need. This has worked well in my classroom. There's less fighting, and they know where to sit. Of course, they might work on the floor or do other things for different projects, but sometimes I might need them at a specific spot for a specific reason. 


14:50

I also have specific rules for specific materials in my classroom. For example, when we're using robots, we will go over the rules and procedures for how to use them. We review a certain type of robot and how to handle it properly. We have those classroom rules we want to review when using those specific materials. So when I'm using Dash, we will go over how to hold Dash the robot, turn it on, connect to the app, and work within our roles. All of those things are super important when we're working with specific materials. For my hot glue guns, I will only use hot glue guns with second through fifth grade, depending on how they're doing with projects. Again, we will review those specific rules when using that tool in our classroom. 


15:33

So as a recap, here are the three major points when building your behavior management strategies in your STEM space. Again, this is so important, and you want to take the time to get this set up properly in your classroom so you can do awesome projects all year. First, of course, is to build those relationships. Next is to set up those class rules and goals. Third is to have rules for specific materials. You can check out the links to show notes, the transcript for this video, and the video version of this podcast. You can find that using this link: Naomi meredith.com/episode8. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I can't wait to talk to you in the next episode.

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

back-to-school-stem-challenges

5 Back to School STEM Challenges to Try [ep. 7]

5 Back to School STEM Challenges to Try [ep.7]

back-to-school-stem-challenges

Check out the full episode on 5 Back to School STEM Challenges to Try:  

Episode Summary

No matter how long you have been teaching, preparing for back to school is a lot of work. From setting up your classroom and figuring out systems and routines to attending back to school meetings and lesson planning for the first few weeks, it can feel overwhelming even for the seasoned teacher. 

With so much on your plate, what types of activities should you plan that will be meaningful to your students?

In today's episode, I will share five STEM activities you can use in your K through Five STEM classrooms. These activities are great back to school STEM challenges. Many of these activities I will be sharing with you have an element of collaboration to help build classroom community, which is important in any classroom setting.

Whether you are a STEM teacher or a classroom teacher, this episode will provide you with a variety of activities to implement in your classroom!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 5 back to school STEM challenges
    • Classroom Rules Puzzle
    • All About Me Brick Build
    • STEM & Stories: Rosie Revere, Engineer
    • STEM & Stories: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books
    • Apps About Me
  • How to implement the 5 STEM challenges
  • Materials needed for each STEM challenge

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Back to School is a special time for both kids and teachers. But no matter how long you have been teaching, it's still a lot of work: from classroom setup to figuring out your systems and routines and all of the back to school meetings. In addition, you must figure out lesson planning specifically for those first few weeks somewhere in the mix and still make it meaningful. With that in mind, in today's episode, I will share five STEM activities you can use in your K through Five STEM classrooms. 


01:02

With any Back to School activity, you want to ensure that it has a low entry point where students can be successful no matter how they participate. These activities are still academic, but the goal is to help students warm up to the space, you, and their classmates. In turn, many of these activities I will be sharing with you have an element of collaboration to help build classroom community, which is important in any classroom setting. Now, let's jump into those five STEM activities to try. 


01:33

This first one is great, especially if you teach all the kids in the school as I do. This activity is a way to make introducing the rules in your classroom more hands-on and engaging. So instead of you just standing up there and presenting the classroom rules, this will be a fun one for your kids. 


01:56

So first, quickly introduce what your classroom rules are. You're not going to explain all of them in detail. Just read through the rules and show them to your students. When sharing your classroom rules, a great tip is to have pictures and words. Again, just like when you label all of your Makerspace supplies that we talked about in past episodes, you want to have your classroom rules labeled with words and pictures. 


02:19

Once you have this present, either up on your projector TV or printed out, you will have smaller sets of the same rules printed out and cut into puzzle pieces. I made about seven different sets of the same rules. I found a puzzle template online where I layered my rules on top. This was done on the computer. Then I cut out those puzzle pieces beforehand. I printed the seven sets out in different colors, so each table group had a different color. 


02:53

This makes this challenging because all of the rules are cut up and mixed up. The goal is that when students work in teams, either teams they choose themselves or ones that you pick, they will have to put the rules back together. Now, try not to make too many rules. But if you have quite a few rules, maybe about six, cut out about four. That also adds another challenge because if you don't tell them which rules are cut up in their little bags, that will make it even harder. 


03:25

This is a great way for kids to keep focusing on what the classroom rules are. I keep the full images up so they can refer to the image as they are putting together their puzzle. They're always talking about those rules together. So if the rule is tools or materials, not toys, they keep saying that repeatedly. So there is that repetition of my classroom rules. Also, they're learning from the other kids in their groups, discussing it, and figuring out a system that works best for them. 


03:51

I make sure to have a little prize at the end. Something simple like a pencil, a STEM sticker, or something not that cool, but they think it's pretty cool.  After that, whether all the groups have finished or a few have finished depending on how it's going in the class, I will review the classroom rules. Then we'll jump into our lesson for the day. This doesn't take the whole class time, but this is a great icebreaker. The kids are talking and collaborating, learning your classroom rules, and figuring you out as you go. 


04:24

Now you can do the first activity and then do this second activity within the same day. All you need are just a basic bucket of mixed LEGO bricks and the all about me LEGO build. This is a fun one. It's a cool way to get a get to know you to be hands-on, and all students can participate. For this activity, think of questions you can ask kids that are pretty general, and all kids can participate. Some examples of questions are: Do you have a pet too? Did you read a book this summer? I recommend staying away from questions such as, where did you go this summer?


04:59

Questions like that might be a little hard for kids if they can't afford to go on trips. So think of things that most kids might be able to do. Did you play in the water? Did you watch a movie? It could be a movie at home or in the theater. Think of questions that most kids can participate in. So think about those main questions and for each question, add in how many LEGO bricks and what color they need to collect. 


04:59

So, for example, if the question is, do you have any pets, grab three LEGO bricks. Make sure to pause as kids are digging in the buckets. I would spread them out around the room. While they're digging in the buckets and finding green LEGO pieces, you could talk about different shades of green.  This one's great, too, because as they search, you can talk to them about their pet or the answer to the question you asked. Kids who might not be able to say yes to that question if it's not true about them can build with the pieces they have on hand. So having a great variety of questions will allow everyone to grab some LEGO pieces and participate. 


06:21

This third activity goes along with one of our favorite questionnaires Rosie Revere Engineer. Now, as a STEM teacher, you probably have a big love for these sweet little characters. You have Rosie Revere Engineer, Ada Twist Scientist, who now has her show on Netflix, which I highly recommend. It's so much fun. Iggy Peck architect and there are some other friends that are in the collection. 


06:36

So after you read this story with your class, you can have a class discussion about things that fly. Rosie Revere is trying to build a flying machine for her great Aunt Rose. She keeps trying and failing. Finally, she figures out an invention. So, as a class, you can talk about different things that fly in the sky after reading the story. It could be animals, machines, or made up things. Talk about those things that fly, and then students can plan and brainstorm their type of flying machine. It could be real or imaginary. 


06:36

From there, you can provide them with different Makerspace materials. It could be limited supplies that they could build with, such as popsicle sticks, tape, small cups, or whatever you have on hand. They can use cardboard or LEGO bricks. If you don't have many Makerspace materials, you could use those non-consumable items, and students can build their flying machines. 


06:36

If you want to get even more creative, you could print a little picture of Rosie and her Great Aunt Rose to add to their creation. You can think of ways that students can modify and make their designs even better. This activity can be stretched out for many days. You could have each part of the engineering design process while you read the story and research those flying things. Or, if you want to make it quick, you can skip to that building part. 


06:36

Depending on how long you have had your students and their age, this can be a great activity to jump right into and tie in that STEM and stories connection. Another fun STEM and stories activity you can do with your kids goes along with the book. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books. You could do this for any version of the book, but the one about the books is a good back to school one. 


06:36

So after reading this story with your class, you can have images of all the things she swallows. It is crazy, and some younger classes might even start laughing and think it's weird. I did have a Kindergarten class say that this is a weird book.  You can do a lot of different things. 


06:36

The students can build the different things that the old lady ate, make an old lady's mouth, and feed her everything she ate in order of the story. They can get creative with how they build those items using whatever types of materials you want them to use. You can even print out those pictures. You can add robots during your first month with kids if you're brave enough. I'm not brave enough, but maybe you are! 


06:36

You can have those pictures, and kids can code to the different images of the things she ate in the story's order or in whatever order they choose. They can also build the items using pixel blocks. I like to use Bloxels. Now, Bloxels are a little bit expensive. There is a separate subscription that you can purchase where kids can create their video games using the box. I love the blocks because they come on a big grid with tiny cubes. The kids can build pixel art with it. So you can have the images up, and students can build the different things in the story. This could be an opportunity for the kids to have station rotations your first couple weeks with you. So this is a cool and engaging way to take the story further and add many hands-on elements. 


06:36

This last STEM back to school activity for you to try is a digital option that I recommend for second grade and up. It is called apps about me. You can create a slide deck for students that have different phone outlines. On each outline, there's a different app, a fake app. We're not coding on this one, but a fake app that students can create and get to know more about each other. Again, this can be something you can do in one day or have a different slide each day. You could print this out if you don't want to go digital. The reason why I would keep it digital is so that you're not printing a million things. Depending on the platform you're sharing it with, whether it's seesaw, Google classrooms, or Schoology, you're allowing students to practice logging into the platform that you will be using in class, navigating that platform, and using the tools within it. Once they log in, it's pretty self-explanatory what they need to work on. 


12:28

It's not a super high overarching hard task. It's fun because they get to share about themselves differently. Once they're logged in, include a slide where they have the front pages and pictures that go along with their favorite things like favorite animals and color. There can be another slide showing the map app, and they must create a map of their favorite space school, restaurant, or bedroom. You can think of five different things that relate to real life apps. It's a way for students to share about themselves. 


13:01

Now you can have them share creatively, whether it is in seesaw and creating a voice-over about it, or they can work in small groups and share their favorite slide. You can work on this fun activity all week or as a fast finisher. If you're doing a separate project like I do STEM survival camp, which I discuss in episode four, I assign this apps about me activity, so if they finish the part for the day, they have something else to work on. Again, I've had the kids for a few years, so they're used to what platforms I use already and are a little more independent. This is a fun digital option that you can have kids design digitally. 


13:42

As a recap, here are the five back to school STEM activities we discussed in today's episode. First is the classroom rules puzzles. Second, the all about me brick build. Third, the STEM and stories activity with Rosie Revere Engineer. Fourth, the STEM and stories activity with There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books. Fifth, the digital apps about me activity. I have all of these linked in my show notes for today, Naomi meredith.com/episode7, where you can see pictures of these activities in action and grab all the links to save time with your back to school planning. Thank you so much again for joining me on today's episode, and I will chat with you soon.

back-to-school-stem-challenges

back-to-school-stem-challenges

back-to-school-stem-challenges

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

STEM Favorites that You’ll Enjoy: 

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!

makerspace-in-the-classroom

Managing Your Makerspace in the Classroom [ep.6 ]

Managing Your Makerspace in the Classroom [ep.6]

makerspace-in-the-classroom

Check out the full episode on managing your Makerspace in the Classroom:  

Episode Summary

Setting up and organizing a classroom Makerspace is half the battle. The second half is managing the supplies and ensuring students can be independent when using them in their work. 

Now that you’ve set up your Makerspace, how do you manage it?

In this episode, I will be sharing with you my Makerspace management hacks that have been a game changer in my Kindergarten through 5th STEM classroom.

Whether you are a STEM teacher, classroom teacher, or library specialist; this episode will make this process more manageable and easier for you!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Management hacks for a Makerspace in Kindergarten through 5th STEM classrooms
  • Steps to complete before, during, and after implementing the Makerspace menu and money
  • How to incorporate math when implementing Makerspace supplies
  • How to make your Makerspace supplies last for more than one lesson

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript:

Introduction

Setting up and organizing a classroom Makerspace is half the battle. The second half is managing the supplies and ensuring students can be independent when using them in their work.

I will be sharing with you my management hacks that have been a game changer in my Kindergarten through 5th STEM classroom, which makes managing your Makerspace a lot of fun. Yes, the kids are very excited to build, but this system is so much fun, and the students get even more excited about this part of the Makerspace unit. I can't wait to share all these tips with you in this episode. 

Are you tired of running out of Makerspace supplies after one lesson with a class?

Are you wanting kids to be independent with their supplies but not sure how?

Or how can you add more of an element of math when implementing Makerspace supplies?

I totally get it. It can be a lot to manage with a small class of 25 or even all the kids in the school. 

Do you want to know my secret? It's having a Makerspace menu and money assistance!

In this episode, I will explain the steps you need to do before, during, and after the lesson using the Makerspace menu and money. This will answer all of those questions. And again, it is so much fun, and you're really going to love it too.

What to Do Before Teaching a Makerspace Lesson:

First, let's talk about what you'll need to do before teaching a Makerspace lesson and a little prep work before diving in. If you haven't already, make sure to listen to episode five, where I talk about how you can organize your Makerspace and gather materials for your space so that you are ready to go. This is a big part of ensuring you have enough materials.

Now when you're asking for donations, something that I like to ask for is grocery bags. You might already have a ton at home, making shopping for supplies much easier. Also, when in between classes, students will keep their supplies in these grocery bags along with their money, their plans, and the small things they have built. The grocery bags are going to go inside a big box. I like to use the IKEA fabric boxes.

The next time they come into your room, you just pull out the box, and everything will be right there for them. Of course, you're setting this up based on a lesson you want to teach using the Makerspace. I don't use this system for every single lesson. I didn't use the money system in my first Makerspace lesson, STEM survival camp – episode 4. I actually will only pull out the supplies that they need. So this is something that you probably want to work up to.

As you get started, it will take some trial and error, but again, you're setting this system up for success. You can use it for multiple grades and multiple times throughout the year.

About a week or month before the lesson starts, depending on your time, you want to print out all of the money and have those different denominations you want students to use. Now our money is all green in real life, but I like to print out the Makerspace money, the different denominations, in different colors. It's really helpful having those visual cues when students are counting things out.

When I'm counting things with them, we can easily see which money is what. It's almost like having Monopoly money in your room, but it's your Makerspace money, and they know it's fake, adding to the excitement.

Once I have printed and cut out all the money, I like to store all of the money in my bank, which is just those simple little photo boxes you can get at Michaels or Amazon. I have three: one for the $1, the $5, and the $10 bills. I pull those out when I'm ready and lock them up when I'm done. It’s just an easy way to have a bank account. I also would really love to have one of those waitressing aprons. I still haven't bought one, but that'd also be helpful.

You can have your bank out while walking around the classroom so students can pay you on the go. During these times, having a little apron could be helpful.

Next, set up a budget you want students to have when designing their project. I keep my budget around $25 to $35 per project. If students work alone, they will have a $25 budget. If they're working in a group of two or three, they must share the $25. So make that very clear with the kids. It can be a bit confusing initially but think about the budgets you want to make.

I like to pre-make their little wallets. Now again, nothing fancy. Just grab those little snack-sized Ziploc bags and make the wallets. You could also have an older student help you create these money wallets.

If you have the wallets created ahead of time, this will save you time the week of starting the Makerspace project and keep you from scrambling to put together money for your students. Also, in this setup project, edit your Makerspace menu based on the materials you have and want the students to use.

For certain projects, some kids might have specialty items. For example, during a first-grade project, they needed to have glow sticks to show their bioluminescent animals. I didn't want any other grades to shop for those things, so they were listed under specialty items for the first-grade class.

On your menu, you can have all the regular items from which all kids can shop. At the bottom of the menu, you could have a section discussing specialty items that only certain grade levels can buy. This is important because if you are planning your lessons with the standards, there are specific things that their projects may require.

I won't put specialty items in the regular Makerspace. I put the specialty items in a bin that I will pull out separately because they are special. Make sure you organize your supplies that way.

What to Do During a Makerspace Lesson

Now you are ready for the fun part.

How will you use this time with the Makerspace money and menu during the week?

Trust me, you're going to love this so much!

Of course, you have to have your project in mind. You're going to introduce the project to the students. We'll talk more about planning in other episodes.

Have the students build a background about the problem they’re trying to solve. They can research using different mediums, epic books, podcasts, videos, pictures, and books you have available in the classroom. 

Next, I will introduce the Makerspace menu. Even if we have used the Makerspace menu before, we will go over it again just to ensure we're clear on how to use it. I will talk to them about their budget, what supplies are on the menu, where supplies are located, what items are free, and which items are not available.

I include free items like paper, glue sticks, crayons, markers, and materials for cutting and designing. We'll talk about where everything is in the classroom so they know where to find it and how to use it.

Then they will ask any questions they may have. Part of that planning process is creating a thoughtful plan by drawing and labeling the design. The other part of the planning process is they need to create their shopping list.

The shopping list will help students think about how they want their project to look based on how much money they can spend. I use the same process for all my kids. I usually start this in Second grade, so second through fifth grade will use this system, and then I'll use a modified system for First and Kindergarten.

My students thoughtfully plan their designs and create their shopping lists. They have to write down all the items they would like to buy, how much of each item and how much it will cost. Then, on their paper, they're going to total up all those amounts and then write down how much money they might have left.

Once they have thought out their plan and shopping list, they must show them to me. You might have a better way of doing this, but this has worked well for me to make sure that there are some checks and balances in this system. This system ensures kids aren't just rushing into my Makerspace.

When taking things out, students will show me those things, and I'll give them some feedback. If they're missing things or not, I will always check their math right away. Once they come back with their supplies, we add up their items' costs.

Don't worry too much about the math; you can, but you’ll check what they're adding up anyway and even do more mental math with them. Once they're good to go, I tell my students, “yep, you have a great plan. Yes, you have enough money. Here is your shopping bag.”

Then the students will go into my Makerspace. Everything is at the students’ height and labeled with pictures and words. They will shop for all their supplies, put everything in their shopping bags and grab what they need.

Once they're done shopping, they will come back in line to wait their turn. I talk to my students about how real stores work, and you may have to wait your turn. I also remind them that they don't come and put things in my face.

Once they wait their turn, I'll take everything out of their bag. I make sure to have the Makerspace menu on the TV for them to view. If you use the same menu for the second through fifth graders, your students will start memorizing the prices, and there won't be a question about the costs.

I'll take everything out of their bags and then tell them their total. For example, I will tell a student, “you have two plates and a ball that cost five dollars and three dollars. So five plus three is…,” and I have them answer me. This allows us to work on a little bit of those fast facts and mental math.

Once they have added that up, they'll count their money and pay me. Then I'll put it in the cash register. They can always come back and shop for more items or make returns. While students are shopping, some kids may still be working on their plans, which is okay. This system differentiates itself and helps kids be independent and work on their needs.

It's really fun having this whole system in your classroom, where they feel like they're in charge of their projects. I am checking in with all of them to see and discuss their designs, which is exciting.

So the shopping part will take place at the end of day two. So let's say you have five days for this project; this will happen at the end of day two. Day three is the biggest shopping day, and kids might be returning a few things here and there on days four and five. Some kids might be purchasing a couple of things like a straw. That's why having a little apron helps.

There's this whole flow in the classroom. It's super exciting and energetic. The kids take charge as they get going with this project, and I’m not managing so much.

Students will always ask questions about returns. They will want to know if they can return something. I tell them yes, as long as the item can be reused.

For instance, if they bought a straw that has only been bent a little, it can be reused. But if they bought a straw and cut it into tiny pieces, they can’t get their money back. I also don't let them get their money back for tape or hot glue gun use unless they didn't use it. I don't give them their money back even if they use a little bit. But for most things, they can have their money back.

Tape and the hot glue gun are expensive items that they can purchase. They can have the option of buying a little bit of tape for $5. I don't think they actually can buy a little bit of hot glue gun. They can buy a small amount of tape for five dollars, unlimited use of tape for ten dollars, or unlimited use of the hot glue gun for $10. That's about half of their budget.

The kids are so funny! Some will not want to spend anything and only use free items. Nothing happens if they don’t spend their money. I could have an incentive, and some kids spend it all right away.

What's awesome about this process is when kids are in that planning stage. They will start bringing stuff from home as they build and want more things. I don't ask them to bring things from home. They don't have to since I have plenty of materials unless we need more grocery bags.

Some kids will even think about how they can use their breakfast trays. I had some girls who wanted a specific size bucket for their design, so they decided to use the bowls they used for breakfast that morning. They rinsed out their cereal bowl at the end of breakfast at school and brought it to class for their project. Your students may even get creative with the trash and recyclables they're using already.

What to Do After a Makerspace Lesson

On the last day of the lesson, make sure you leave enough time for kids to clean up all of their materials. That is part of taking care of the space and the whole process of the Makerspace menu. Give them about 10 minutes to put back any supplies they didn't use, return any money they didn't use, and any projects they don't want to keep.

They can take apart the unused projects and put back items that can be reused. Again, some kids will bring things from home, and they'll let me keep the rest, which is awesome because I'm restocked for the next group of kids. Having the students clean at the end must be added to the system. Don't say, “Okay, good job, you're done. Bye,” and your room is a disaster.

Part of the Makerspace experience is cleaning up. I tell my students, “I don't care if you make a mess, but I care if you don't clean it up.”

Conclusion

I know this sounds like a lot, so I wanted to make this setup even easier for you. I have made you a Makerspace bundle for getting started that comes with the Makerspace menu and money that I just shared with you about.

The bundle includes 180 plus supply labels with words, pictures, and different colors to match your classroom theme. The Makerspace bundle also consists of an editable donation letter, anchor charts, and getting started lessons. This will all be linked in the show notes, or you can grab it using this link Naomi meredith.com/tptMakerspacebundle.

Thank you so much for joining me today! I can't wait to hear how this system works in your classroom.

makerspace-in-the-classroom
makerspace-in-the-classroom

makerspace-in-the-classroom

makerspace-in-the-classroom

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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!