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first year teaching STEM

My First Year Teaching STEM: What Surprised Me the Most [ep. 30]

My First Year Teaching STEM: What Surprised Me the Most [ep. 30]

first year teaching STEM

Check out the full episode on My First Year Teaching STEM: What Surprised Me the Most:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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Episode Summary

While there are a lot of similarities between the general education classroom and the STEM classroom, there are a handful of things that surprised me during my first year teaching STEM. 

Whether you are currently a STEM teacher and this is your first year, or maybe you've been doing it for a while, or you're a classroom teacher who's trying to implement STEM, or maybe you're even a classroom teacher who is thinking about stepping into a STEM role, you will relate to many of the topics discussed in today’s episode. 

In this episode, I’m keeping it real and showing you the behind-the-scenes and the not so pretty behind-the-scenes of my first year of teaching STEM.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn four things that surprised me the most my first year of teaching STEM:

  • Sense of time and how it’s structured is different compared to teaching general education
  • Teaching STEM helps you grow your teaching abilities
  • You are an island, and it can be lonely
  • STEM is impactful but still very new, meaning there are limited resources and supports

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

I originally didn't go to college to become a STEM teacher. In fact, my major is in elementary education. Through my six years of teaching in the classroom, my experiences and passions led me to my K through five STEM teaching and coaching position. I eventually did go back and get my Master's in STEM Leadership and a STEM certificate while always continuing to refine my practice and learn more about this field. While there are a lot of similarities between the general education classroom and the STEM classroom, there are a handful of things that surprised me during my first year teaching STEM, which I will be sharing in today's episode. 


Naomi Meredith  00:40

Whether you are currently a STEM teacher and this is your first year, or maybe you've been doing it for a while, or you're a classroom teacher who's trying to implement STEM, or maybe you're even a classroom teacher who is thinking about stepping into a STEM role, I think you're gonna find a lot of things in this episode that will be relatable to you. I am definitely keeping it real and showing you the behind-the-scenes, not so pretty behind-the-scenes of my first year of teaching STEM. Also, in the end, you'll be hearing from other teachers who listen to this podcast, and they will be sharing how this show has been helpful to them. Make sure to listen all the way to the end for this special bonus. 


Naomi Meredith  01:53

What I realized right away during my first year teaching STEM is a sense of time is different. We always talk about as teachers how we never have enough time to do anything. Well, the same is true as a STEM teacher, just the way that time is structured, it's completely different. I remember my first few weeks and how fast the time went. I didn't get any lessons done. Let's be real, I had a hard time getting things done with my classes. What was really tricky is I only had kids three days out of the week, and it was the same kids three days in a row. But time went by so fast. The luxury of being a classroom teacher is you do have the same kids all day. The downfall is you do have the same kids all day. But you do have the same kids all day as a classroom teacher, and if you don't finish something in the morning, you can revisit it in the afternoon. As a STEM teacher, you typically don't have that luxury. You only have that short amount of time with them. Sometimes kids will even forget that even to this day. I still have kids who are confused about why we are cleaning up, and I can't let them build all day. I let them know, “I have three more classes who are coming to me, you have to put it away. I am so sorry. I'm so glad you're having a good time, but we have to clean up.” 


Naomi Meredith  03:15

Time goes by so fast in a different way. Even that time in between classes, you sometimes get a moment to catch your breath, but not all the time, and you have to gear yourself up for the next lesson. I'm always so sweaty at the end of the day. I used to wear super cute outfits and fancier shoes when I was a classroom teacher. Not to say I look terrible every day, but I pull out a lot more teacher tees and skirts and comfortable pants these days because I am up and down on the floor with K through five years running around all over the place. I even tell people teaching STEM is a lot like hosting a birthday party six times. You have to have the same amount of energy for all six classes and make the experience special and meaningful for every single one. So I am like the cool aunt who hosts special birthday parties all day, every day. 


Naomi Meredith  04:11

Something else when it comes to time, I was always stressed out about materials and making sure that everything was prepped and ready to go for every single class. I still get that sometimes when I am implementing brand new lessons or brand new tools that I have never tried before. I have really tried to develop systems and routines, which you hear about in all my other episodes, on how I can get kids to be independent when it comes to gathering their supplies while also being collaborative. I have moved things around in my room constantly to make sure they are at kid height, kid accessible, and that they can do the bulk of gathering materials, being successful during work time, and also putting them away independently. This has given me a little bit more breathing room in between classes. I definitely didn't have this figured out during my first year teaching STEM. So if you're feeling it, that's okay, you will get there. This is just part of the whole process of building your systems and routines. 


Naomi Meredith  05:12

Another big thing that I learned during my first year teaching STEM is that it helps you grow your teaching abilities. If you can teach K through five all day and have differentiated lessons for all of them while teaching, think about it, every single kid in the school, I really feel like you can teach anything. It's funny because when I first got into teaching, when I was deciding on my major, I was really in between elementary education and also early childhood. Well, you know, I went the Early Childhood route, but I really love the littles. I really see their creativity and all of their amazing ideas each and every day. Now, when I was a classroom teacher, I only taught second and third grade. When I got my third-grade role, I actually didn't apply for that job. I really wanted the Kindergarten job. Funny enough, when I walked into the interview room, I actually knew one of the girls in my interview completely by accident. That's actually not why I got the interview. I knew her, and she was on that third-grade team. So when it came down to it, she really wanted to work with me. I thought, “Okay, why not, I will take a risk. I need to change.” I ended up loving third grade and taught it for four years. 


Naomi Meredith  06:29

However, I still do love the littles. I also really appreciate the older students as well, and how deep we can go in the concepts. I really do love the variety of having all the grade levels and seeing that progression of learning, especially year after year. This has been really eye-opening. It really has been testing my differentiation skills when it comes to particular grades, but also being able to meet the needs of all of my students literally on the fly. Sometimes I will think of ideas right then and there, and it ends up working. Sometimes it doesn't. But being able to teach all the grades really tests and grows you as a teacher. If you are in a rut and you're thinking about getting into STEM, it is really hard at first. But also, it's really exciting because it is so different throughout the day when you have all of those different kids. The cool thing, too, that you don't always get as a classroom teacher is you do get the same kids every single year. Unless you are looping with your students, which I know some teachers do or some schools are really big on that, as a specials teacher, you do get the same kids year after year. I am in year five of knowing my fifth graders, so I have known them since first grade. They forget they have known me that long. I've basically been their only STEM teacher, so it's really cool to see all of the amazing things we have done together and how much deeper we can get into the projects. 


Naomi Meredith  07:54

I really do know those students, even though it is 45 minutes for five days in a row once a month. But really, knowing them over five years, it's pretty cool to see all the amazing things that they do and know their passions and different things that they want to try. Also, when it comes to testing your teaching abilities, not only do you have to differentiate for their students' needs, but also adjust to different teaching styles. Now you're not always teaching with the classroom teachers unless that is the role that you have, which I have had that role before. Also, you may be pushing into the classrooms and helping teachers implement STEM and technology and innovative in meaningful ways. But when you have all the kids come into your classroom, you can definitely see the different styles of teaching that the kids are used to with their homeroom teacher. 


Naomi Meredith  08:46

Some are more laid back about things. Some have more strict behavior management. Some are all about collaboration and creativity. Some where kids have to be silent and listen to the teacher all day. It's very interesting to see how kids will respond to your style, which I am all about being the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage, which the kids think I'm a little bit funny, not too funny. They're a little more impressed that I have a YouTube channel if anything else, but I'm really all about giving them the information right away and letting them run with it and attack the problems. Not all teachers have the same style as me. I thrive in this controlled chaos. So it really does, again, test your teaching abilities, being able to adjust to different classes and what they're used to with their homeroom or general education classroom teacher. 


Naomi Meredith  09:38

Another big thing when stepping into the first year of STEM is that you really are an island. Now, this can definitely be based on the school. I do have a team of specials teachers who are very sweet. They teach PE, art, and music. We do eat together, and we're able to talk about kids, but we're not really planning together all the time. There are moments when the art teacher and I might collaborate on some special projects. But it's way different than being a classroom teacher, where you have a team and you can even divvy up the work where you can talk about the curriculum. You can talk about the units, or you might even be able to switch kids based on differentiation. As a STEM teacher, you really are an island. Now, this really helps you be a self-starter and problem solver when it comes to building your curriculum, which can be super overwhelming. 


Naomi Meredith  10:32

I stepped into a classroom that was brand new and remodeled and had zero curriculum. There were some tools in there, but nothing else. So I loved this challenge because I love writing lessons and trying new ideas, which you can see in my whole year-long plan at naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan, and even get every single lesson that I teach to my students all packaged up together. So you don't have to do all that planning. But it was super overwhelming because I didn't know the kids. I didn't know what tools I was supposed to be using. So you really want to find your community, whether it's other STEM teachers in the community or even neighboring districts, you can join online groups, find me on Instagram at NaomiMeredith_, or even if you find friends who are online, you can join Facebook groups. I have one as well, the Elementary STEM Coach Facebook group, which will be linked in the show notes. But finding our people can really help you collaborate and not feel so alone because it can get kind of lonely. Even though you see hundreds of kids a day, you really are by yourself, and you're not always sure if your ideas are really good or not. So being able to talk to other adults can be really impactful. I learned that pretty quickly and reached out and have my STEM teacher besties, which of course, we heard from one and our first guest interview Jen Sevy, and I'm gonna have some of my other STEM teacher friends on future podcast episodes because it's so important to find your people, especially in the education space. 


Naomi Meredith  12:07

The fourth big thing that I learned during my first year teaching STEM is that STEM is super impactful, but it is still very new in the elementary STEM space. There are various perceptions as to what STEM should look like in the elementary space and even in your own building. I realized this very quickly. First of all, the kids were excited to come to my class., but it was rebranded, as you would say. It also depends on if you've had a STEM teacher or a similar role before. Kids will bring in their biases as well. For my older students, in my first year, not all of them actually really liked to build and be creative. They were so used to past teachers in this role telling them exactly what to do, and it had to look the same. There was not much creativity within that. Then they did coding all the time. So they had a different experience when it came to STEM. It really took a long time to help build their trust and to create an environment where they wanted to create and try something new while also having a growth mindset. I had a lot more buy-in with my little kids because they didn't really have much experience with that past teacher. So it will take time to build up those things with your kids. 


Naomi Meredith  13:28

If you're not finding success that first year or if things are failing more often than succeeding, keep going. You are not a failure. It does take time, you're building a program. It's like as a classroom teacher, you build the thing the whole year, you were building that community for 180 plus days. As a STEM teacher or specials teacher, if you have a unique role, your time is a lot shorter, and it can take years to get to this high-level place that you have in your mind, and you know the kids can do. Keep trying, keep building that community keeps instilling a growth mindset, it is worth it, I promise you. There are also some biases from the teachers in my building as well. Before my classroom was remodeled, it was actually a legit computer lab. A lot of teachers kept calling my class computers tech, which I am not the computer lab teacher or the tech teacher. The kids kept calling me the tech teacher. I'm like, “Okay, so we really are learning what STEM means.” 


Naomi Meredith  14:34

One fun way that I did this is I created something called STEM style. So again, building my brand as the STEM teacher in my building. We really talked about what STEM is and like, okay, well, this is STEM. I am not your tech teacher. I'm not your computer lab teacher, but you do have a STEM teacher. Tech is one of those things in STEM. But here's what the other letters mean. Here's how we're going to be doing them in this lesson. I always try to point out those things even to this day, in my fifth year teaching STEM. I tell them, “Oh, there's a lot of m in STEM. Today, we're doing a lot of math when it comes to our Maker money. So I will point out those things, and then they're like, “Oh, okay!” Sometimes they get a little frustrated with the math, but that's part of STEM.  I did something called STEM style. So we always talked about what STEM means. If kids wore shirts that represented STEM, science, technology, engineering, or math, I would take a picture, and it would go on my digital picture frame. I have all the pictures from the past five years of being in this role. There are hundreds and hundreds of pictures, and kids think if they stand there, they might see themselves. If they do, they're super lucky, and they should go to Vegas. I know they're not old enough, but that could be a lucky charm. But they get so excited. 


Naomi Meredith  15:46

It's really helped them build their vocabulary of how there are so many different avenues when it comes to STEM. Then now they're finally calling my class STEM, and I'm not the computer teacher or the tech teacher. I'm legit, the STEM teacher. Also, when it comes to the admin, there might be a lot of support when it comes to STEM, or there might not be. It could be that there's a lot of support, and they have no idea what you're talking about. So when you're thinking about your evaluations, or who your admin are, and the different people you're dealing with higher up really showing, explaining the reason why you are doing things. That is why planning with standards and using the Engineering Design Process is important because you're really building the backbone of what your lessons mean and the why behind that. When you're thinking about that differentiation and creating your year-long plan while there is a progression of learning, admins understand that they might not understand what coding is, or robotics, but they understand those things. So if you are being more thoughtful in your lessons, you're gonna have more buy-in for your program. You can really explain the why behind you're doing things. Of course, that is just a snapshot. 


Naomi Meredith  16:58

There is a lot of work to be had in the elementary STEM space, and that is a big reason why I created this podcast because, as of right now, there's not a whole lot out there. We need more voices to help make a positive difference in this STEM space. Sometimes for me, it can be a little bit awkward just talking into a microphone, and I don't always know who is listening and how this podcast is even helping. So I put out a call to action for this special 30th episode, where you could leave me a message on how the elementary STEM coach podcast has been impactful to you. You all stepped it up with your messages. They really put a big smile on my face. It continued to instill the drive in me to make a big impact in STEM education when it comes to Elementary in a positive way. So I want you to take a listen and hear all of these awesome words that you all had to say.


17:59

I love how Naomi gives such actionable tips. She doesn't just give you the theory and the why. But she gives you something that you can take back into your classroom and really make it your own, which is so helpful. The elementary STEM coach podcast has been a phenomenal resource for me. This is my first year teaching STEM. And it has been my go to and listening and learning the ins and outs of STEM. I get super excited when I see that a new episode comes out. And I can't wait to hear more.


18:40

Your Blog revives me Just when I think I don't have any more ideas. What can I do? You send me a an idea. And I get revived I think the wheels start spinning and I think I can do this like it had. So it's a jolt of creativity when I don't feel I have any. Thanks so much for sharing.


19:03

Hi Naomi. My name is Amber Fraser and I'm a first year STEM educator at Maplewood Elementary School. I teach Kindergarten through sixth grade and I can honestly say that you have given this first year teacher all of the tools that I need to be able to change the lives of my students every day. I can confidently say that work does not feel like work because of people like you and the resources that you've given us. And the confidence that you instill in each of us with the things that you share. You have changed my life and the lives of all of my students. Thank you so Naomi for all the to do.


19:36

Hi Meredith. My name is peg Volek and I teach in paracasei, Pennsylvania. This is my 31st year of teaching. And after 27 years in the classroom, I took on a role of a STEM and gifted support teacher. Your podcast has helped me with management. Because even though I've taught for so long, managing kids once a week, is a little bit different. It's a whole different world. Thank you so much for keeping it real, giving me good ideas and how to look ahead how to look at the whole scope and sequence that has been really helpful. If you can have any tips on how to make 45 minutes last forever, that'd be great. Because I feel like they forget everything from week to week. The least that's how it seems. I love listening to your podcast because your troubles are the same as mine, and it makes me feel like it's okay. It is the ways that the STEM world works. Thank you so much for your podcast. Look forward to the next episode. Thanks.


20:38

Hi, Naomi. My name is Katie. And I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this podcast with all of us, I transition from being a classroom teacher. Over the last Gosh, I've been a teacher for 12 years, and I've taught in a lot of different fifth and sixth grade classrooms, from teaching math, to social studies to English all over, you know, running the gamut. But I made a big jump this year to become a STEAM specialist in a three to five elementary school and I wasn't sure how it would feel about everything if I could handle it all. And I have loved it. And I have loved turning to your podcast, to feel less alone and to get advice on where to move forward. Thank you so much.


21:22

Hi, my name is Donna and I love the STEM coach Podcast. I'm new to STEM this year because I have a stim club for the first time. Some of my favorite things about the podcast are the one day challenges, some tips for management, like the tape around the popsicle sticks. That's my favorite, and all the great ideas for planning and lessons. Thanks for all the great ideas keep them coming. 


Speaker 8  21:46

Hi, I am a 15 year experience high school science teacher who now moved into a new role this school year at a K to eight, school. And my position is to help integrate STEAM into the fabric of our school. Your podcast has been so helpful for me in getting real tangible ideas of things to do as students as K to five is definitely not my area of expertise. And I really appreciated the concrete examples that you give and the resources that you share. It has probably saved me countless hours. Thank you.


22:31

I enjoy the STEM podcast, because it helps me find lessons specific to elementary STEM, which is really hard to find. It gives me lesson plans and different ideas on how to teach STEM.


22:49

Hi Naomi. This is Megan from West Virginia. This is my second year teaching STEAM. I travel between the three elementary schools in the county that I serve. And I listen to your podcasts on the way to give me ideas and be able to keep my mind on new STEAM ideas while I travel between the schools. Thanks so much for all your ideas. You were one of the first people I found when I started this new job after changing over from being a second-grade teacher for multiple years.


Naomi Meredith  23:19

Thank you to all of you who took a moment to record these again. They mean the world to me, you can actually leave me a voice message anytime. Whether it's a question you have that you want me to answer on the show, something you're wondering, or if you want to say thank you, feel free to record me a message. It's super easy to do, you can just go to this link, Naomi meredith.com/voice. And it's also always linked in the show notes. Thank you so much and can't believe we made it to Episode 30. What an exciting celebration! I will talk to you soon.

first year teaching 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!

examples-of-student-learning-outcomes

What are examples of Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) in STEM? [ep. 29]

What are examples of Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) in STEM?[ep. 29]

examples-of-student-learning-outcomes

Check out the full episode on What are Examples of Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) in STEM?:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

Writing a student learning outcome or SLO can be a little bit tricky, especially when you teach all the grades in the school K through five STEM and beyond.

You may be wondering, “Where do I even begin?” I felt the same exact way when I first became a STEM teacher.

If you are looking for examples of student learning outcomes, in today’s episode, I share three SLOs that I have written over the years that you can use for any grade and the type of evidence you need to collect to gather the data.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Using the Engineering Design Process as your base
  • Find ways that students can problem-solve and use resources
  • Use self-reflection as an assessment tool

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:54

Looking for ideas for student learning outcomes or SLOs in STEM? Based on my experience as an elementary STEM teacher, here are three examples of SLOs that have worked well in my classroom that you can use in yours. 


Naomi Meredith  01:39

This episode was inspired by common questions I was seeing in a Facebook group that I'm a part of. With that being said, I want to make sure that I am answering your specific questions and want to hear your voice, and literally, I want to hear your voice. I have set up a special message system where you can leave me an audio message, hit record, ask your question, and even have the chance to be featured on the podcast. I'll link this voice message system in the show notes for today and all future episodes. Can't wait to hear your messages and inspire future podcast episodes! Writing a student learning objective or SLO can be a little bit tricky, especially when you teach all the grades in the school K through five STEM and beyond. You may be wondering, “Where do I even begin?” I felt the same exact way. 


Naomi Meredith  02:32

Here are three SLOs that I have written over the years that you can use for any grade and the type of evidence that you need to collect so you can gather the data. Let's jump on in the first SLO that you can write. This SLO is all about the Engineering Design Process. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while now, there are quite a few episodes that go along with the Engineering Design Process. So those will all be linked in the show notes for you to go back and take a listen, so you can enhance this experience in your classroom and plan lessons that are designed around this process. There are even standards that go along with the Engineering Design Process for K through two and three through five. So this is a perfect connection when you are writing your SLO goals. 


Naomi Meredith  03:19

Here's how I wrote this SLO goal. Students will demonstrate growth when applying the Engineering Design Process by using self-assessment in a project. I created a self-assessment with my STEM PLC team. This was all wrapped around students being able to self-assess during each stage of the Engineering Design Process using a four-point scale. At the beginning of the project, they used this rubric to see where they were at in each stage of the Engineering Design Process. We did it in the middle of the project and also at the end. This same rubric was used for three different projects throughout the year so we could collect the growth on how they use the Engineering Design Process and how they applied it in a lot of different projects. This was also a great SLO goal to write because you really could use this for any grade level, and my PLC teammates and I didn't actually have the same projects going on. But we could compare similar data because we were using the same self-assessment and talking about how this was being applied and different types of projects. 


Naomi Meredith  04:28

Something that we noticed is that students' results were different based on the project. Some students were really strong at the Makerspace projects but oftentimes struggled when things were more digital, or vice versa. This was great evidence to see how we can improve our teaching, get better when using the Engineering Design Process, and the stages that we weren't hitting as well. This was a time when I actually started improving my planning stage because I would just say, “Okay, draw something.” So really refine my practice, and that has really been a great base for my teaching, understanding how students are able to understand the Engineering Design Process, how they're able to self-assess, and then, in turn, it really improved my teaching. If I wanted to, I could even use the same self-assessment on the teacher side, and students are rating themselves. Then on another sheet of paper, I could rate where I think they are at and then compare the data that way. Again, this would be a great start, especially K through five, and having it in a kid-friendly language would be very beneficial. It'd be really great to see that growth in how you use this process within your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  05:41

The second SLO goal that I have written over the years is about how students are problem-solving and using their resources. This is the SLO that I wrote in my fourth year of teaching STEM because I had known the kids since it was their fourth year of me knowing them, and I wanted to see how they were using the resources that I was providing them to be successful. Here's how I wrote that goal. Students will be able to problem-solve and be independent in their work by using available resources and strategies. Just like anything that you teach as a teacher, you are going to build up resources and strategies for ways to attack a problem. This is a lot like when I was teaching writing as a classroom teacher. There were a lot of different strategies that I taught the kids, including going back and checking their work and checking their spelling. I did the same thing for math and for reading. Likewise, this is also very helpful in the STEM space for students to have go-to strategies when they get stuck during any type of project, but also providing resources that they can rely on that are project specific. 


Naomi Meredith  06:53

For example, I have go-to troubleshooting techniques that students can use when they are faced with a technology problem. Things like refreshing the page, restarting the device, closing out the tabs, and reopening them. Those are things that they can use all the time, no matter what website tool we are using. When it comes to specific materials, I will have specific rules and also tips, and tricks to help them use that resource. One way I have done this is with my Sphero sleds robotics unit, where I teach students how to use the robot and how to connect to it. But I go a little further than that. There is an anchor chart to remind students of key things that they need to press. There are also videos that they can scan with a QR code that they can rewatch if they are a little bit stuck. Students even have the strategy of asking three before me so that they can really work on their communication skills and ask for what they need. Instead of following me around like a baby duck and asking me for help with every single issue. 


Naomi Meredith  07:57

For this SLO goal, I wanted to see what strategies students are using and how many. So at the beginning of a project, I asked students the question, “When you are faced with a problem in STEM if you don't know the answer, what strategies do you use?” There were some kids who said nothing. Some kids did say ask three before me, some said to ask the teacher. A lot of them were actually teacher based ask the teacher, ask the teacher. Throughout the week, we were talking, and I was very specific about these strategies that I'm teaching you to help you be independent and problem-solve with this project. In the middle of the week, I had a check-in, and they had to write down the strategies that they might use. Then I would count how many, and then we also did this at the end, a lot like the Engineering Design Process goal. This was something that we did for different projects throughout the year. Then I could track their progress and how they were applying similar or different strategies based on the project. This was a really great one. Again, this was my fifth-grade students. But I recommend doing this with third through fifth grades to see what strategies they have been learning with you, how they're applying them, and then also how you can improve your teaching. So students are using those strategies that you're teaching them, and they can be successful. 


Naomi Meredith  08:28

The third SLO goal that you can write for your classroom is all about self-reflection. You may have noticed all of these goals are centered around the student and how they can really have their metacognition or thinking about their thinking and really be reflective on their experience. I am there as their guide on the side. I'm not their sage on the stage. My goal is to help students build those soft skills in my classroom. It's really not about the cool tools. None of my goals are about how to use a robot. Some kids might be successful, some might not. But the goal is, “Are they problem-solving? Are they collaborating? Are they critical thinking?” So really think about how these goals that you're writing can work with multiple projects throughout the year so that they're really dealing with those soft skills. For this goal for self-reflection, I wrote it as students will be able to improve and reflect on their work by using self-assessment tools. The longer that I have been in this position, the more I realize sometimes students have a hard time going back and improving their work. They finish it, they are one and done, and they're ready to move on. But we, now as inventors, as engineers, as problem solvers, that we're always going to go back and improve, and everything can be improved. 


Naomi Meredith  09:45

Practice makes better, not perfect, perfect doesn't exist, is one of the growth mindset things that I tell kids. So it really is a practice to help kids self-reflect and be thoughtful when they are creating. Some ways that I can collect data on this goal is by using self-assessment checklists that are related specifically to the project, and peer feedback, so they can compare their answers to others based on the work that they have provided. I can even assess them using that same reflection checklist as well. Rubrics are another great way for students to self-assess if they are written in kid-friendly language. Back in episode 26, I talked about how I plan a STEM lesson, and there was a part where I talked about how I structured a rubric for students that are in kid-friendly language and how you can do that on a four-point scale that can be effective when you are grading and also when students are reflecting on the work. Another way that students can reflect is by having the same questions that are used throughout the year. So students are used to these types of questions since their questions will change. When you're collecting evidence, you can use evidence from all these rubrics, maybe you count up how many responses they get, especially if you have a rubric. This would be really helpful because you can base it on the number of points that they get or the overall score. 


Naomi Meredith  11:08

As a recap, here are the three different examples of SLO goals that you can write for your STEM classroom. First is using the Engineering Design Process as your base. Next, find ways that students can problem solve and use those resources. Third, using self-reflection as an assessment tool. I hope this helps you think about the lessons that you are teaching throughout the year so you can gather data no matter what project that you are using and you can see that growth in your students, even if you see them for a short amount of time. As a reminder, don't forget to leave me a voice message. I would love to hear your questions or comments and how I can best serve you on this podcast.

examples-of-student-learning-outcomes

 

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!

how to write a STEM lesson plan

How to Write a STEM Lesson Plan [ep. 26]

How to Write a STEM Lesson Plan [ep. 26]

how to write a STEM lesson plan

Check out the full episode on How to Write a STEM Lesson Plan:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

 

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

Episode Summary

When writing a sound lesson plan, there are a lot of components you want to make sure you include, such as the standards, resources, and what students will be creating.

There is a lot to think about.

In this episode, I give you a behind-the-scenes look into how to write your STEM lesson plan from start to finish and help you improve the experiences in your classroom.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to thoughtfully plan lesson plans
  • How to create lesson plans rooted in the standards
  • My process for planning multi-day lessons

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

When writing a sound lesson plan, there are a lot of components you want to make sure you include, such as the standards, resources, and what students will be creating. There is a lot to think about. In this episode, I will be giving you a behind-the-scenes look into how to write your STEM lesson plan from start to finish and help you improve the experiences in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:55

Okay, I have a confession to make. One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to STEM lessons is when teachers just throw out their robots, Legos, coding, or whatever STEM tool without any real purpose in mind. Yes, the kids are having a good time, but just using STEM tools doesn't necessarily mean that it is a STEM lesson. Don't get me wrong, STEM is supposed to be fun and engaging. But if we want to level up these lessons and have students use higher level thinking skills, the four C's using standards-based learning, we really have to be more thoughtful with our planning. Likewise, if we are creating or teaching well-thought-out lessons, then there will be a change in perception among teachers in your building and teachers in general as to what STEM education means in the elementary space. In turn, people who are not in education are also going to have a different perception as well. Yes, kids are purposely playing, but what is the real goal that you have in mind? So really take a step back and think about those lessons that you're teaching and how those are creating authentic, real-world connections. 


Naomi Meredith  02:19

If you're curious to learn more about what I believe STEM education means and the elementary space, go back all the way to episode two, and you can hear my thoughts about this and help you build up your perception and beliefs of what STEM means as well. Okay, off my soapbox. Let's dive into this episode and how we can really help you thoughtfully plan those lessons so that there are deeper connections. They are rooted in standards and really help students make those authentic, real-world connections. Throughout this episode, I will be breaking down the process that I use when planning a multi-day lesson. Knowing the structure is important if you see kids all five days in a row. If you're a classroom teacher or a STEM teacher and see kids once a week, this structure can definitely be modified for when you see kids and how to have these meaningful lessons in your classroom. To help you bring this planning process to life, I will be pairing it with a real-life lesson that I teach my third graders. 


Naomi Meredith  03:27

In this lesson, students are taking on the role of paleontologists and telling the story of a living thing that is now fossilized based on the evidence found. I use the Engineering Design Process to plan, but you can definitely modify this same structure if you use a different process, such as the launch cycle, design thinking, or project-based learning. I also use a template for my multi-day project. So there builds consistency for me as a person planning the lessons, but also for my students as well. They are used to a specific structure, and they can be more confident using the Engineering Design Process. But the tools, strategies, skills, standards, and connections will change year after year, lesson by lesson, unit by unit. 


Naomi Meredith  04:17

First, when I am creating my lesson, I work on developing the ask. What is the problem students are going to be solving or the question that they are going to be answering? You can have students help you develop this question based on the time that you have with students. Or you can have this pre-written, so you know the end goal that students are going to get throughout this project. Before I get to developing the ask, I already have gone through the brainstorming process. So I am at a place where I do know what I want students to do. I'm really going to dive into the research behind creating this whole lesson plan. If you want to hear more about my brainstorming process and how I got out here, make sure to go back and listen to episode 24. I break down where I gather ideas and really go down through the line and get to where I am today getting into the lesson. I like to plan my units in my classroom around a theme. My K through five themes is all about STEM careers and animation techniques. Each grade level will have their own way to animate its designs while rooting it in standards and STEM skills. 


Naomi Meredith  05:31

Developing the ask actually takes me a lot more time than you think that it would because this is my North Star, it is my compass and base for the entire lesson. I really look at the wording of the standards to help me write this ask. Also, keep it very open-ended. When I am writing this question, I don't start with “Can you,” because that really limits the question to have a yes or no response. Instead, I start my question off with, “How can you,” so there are multiple ways to solve the problem and think of a lot of different solutions to their designs and their creations. The standard that I am basing this whole project around is the NGSS standard 3-LS4-1. Here's what it says, “Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms in the environments in which they lived long ago.” This is the standard for third grade. That is why for this project, I thought it would tie in nicely with students taking on the role of a paleontologist and then using the evidence from the resources that I give them. They can infer and make connections as to what that living thing's life was like based on where the fossil was and the evidence that is surrounding it. 


Naomi Meredith  06:55

Now there are a lot of different ways that you can attack this standard. It definitely doesn't have to be STEM or stop motion. But this is how I am blending the two together, making sense of the standard and giving it my own STEM twist. So eventually, the ask that I came up with for this project that students will be answering along this whole week is how can you create a stop motion video to show how fossils have formed from living things long ago. I will be tying in other standards as it relates to Reading Informational Text writing, speaking and listening, producing short audio, and even some math where students have to count the number of frames that they are using in their video to make sure that it's not moving too quickly. All of those standards are part of my research as well. I'm not going to list all of those out here because of time, but just know that I'm using that NGSS standard as my big base. I am connecting in that ELA and maths standards as well. 


Naomi Meredith  08:01

Next is planning at the imagine and plan stage. Like with the standards, this stage takes me the second longest as well. I want to make sure that I am giving resources to my students that are really helping them answer this question and find the evidence and research that they need. So they can produce a script and a storyboard that will then help them create their props and then eventually have their whole stop motion animation video. Sometimes I even will write my own research for students, especially for the younger grades, because I will often find research that is so relevant to the standard, but the reading level is way beyond their grade level. So oftentimes, I will have to research many different things and then rewrite them in a way that will make sense for my younger students. Thankfully, for third grade and up, I can usually find things that work well that relate to the standards. 


Naomi Meredith  09:03

So using some of my favorite research websites and also epic books that have a great collection of things as well. So for this specific lesson, I found a lot of different resources that would be relevant for third graders to research how different fossils are found. It also gives them information on what the life of that fossil might have been like. Students will have to infer and add in their own information as well, to put it in a way that would make sense for a story, which eventually is their stop motion animation. I also like to include two to four video clips that we can watch together as a class at the beginning of the lesson to add to their knowledge and the science behind how a fossil is formed. Of course, my favorite go-to I always check out first is SciShow Kids, but sometimes I will find other resources that relate to the standard and also build that background knowledge. I also will create vocabulary that students will need to know that will be found in their research. Or they will also have to apply to the script and storyboard that they will end up writing some of those vocabulary words. Of course, I tell them what a paleontologist is and all the different types of fossils that they will be reading and exploring about. 


Naomi Meredith  10:23

When I create vocabulary, I like to have the word nice and bold at the top, write the definition in kid-friendly language and include a picture and maybe a little more about the picture to help them understand what those words mean and give them some context. For this planning stage, since students will be creating a video, this is a lot different than if students will be building a project where they might be planning through drawing and labeling. For this plan, they have a small graphic organizer where they can add three different examples of fossils that they have found through their research to help them gather ideas for their video. Eventually, they will be picking one of these examples where they will dive in deeper and create the story for the stop motion, the things that they're looking for in this lesson, and I really try to focus the resources that I'm giving kids are centered around these questions and pieces of evidence, type of fossils that they found about how old is the fossil? Where was it found? What do you think happened? Of course, in this project, and like other projects, my classroom students will be able to collaborate and work together to fill this out if they so choose. 


Naomi Meredith  11:41

I always give the option of independent work because some students sometimes just need that opportunity that students can work together to create this plan. They'll then move on to that create, experiment, and improve stage. During this create, experiment, and improve stage, specifically since they are creating a video, they do have a script where they need to plug in their information and sketch out what they hope to have their props do during their video. With any video and audio project that I do with my students, I always use a script. When I first started doing these types of projects, I didn't use a script. I noticed kids would get off track with their videos, and they would always say things like “like and subscribe.” They would definitely get off topic and not really zone in on what the project is asking and even miss a lot of important details. In fact, I will say writing the script and creating the props for this project for this stop motion animation takes a lot longer than the actual video production. 


Naomi Meredith  12:45

There is a whole lot of high-level learning when students are thinking about the story of how their props are going to move and connect to the words that they are going to say when it comes to the prop creation. To help save time, I give students the opportunity to create one page of the prompts on the computer, whether they use shape tools to create them or insert images. That way, they don't have to worry so much about the drawing, especially since they are making a stop motion video about fossils and things in the past, like dinosaurs, and all sorts of living things, which are very complicated to draw. So I make sure to include that part in the create stage where they don't have to be so stressed about the drawing part. They can have the props ready to go. Unless I'm planning, I also think about overall the types of materials I'm going to need, which grade levels are going to be working on specific projects, and how I'm going to store these projects. For this stop motion animation, I actually only use paper for the props. 


Naomi Meredith  13:48

Typically with stop motion animation, you might see 3D figures, clay, and playdough, which are excellent tools. However, when I'm thinking about how I have four third-grade classes, at least 25 students each, that is a lot of clay and playdough that my budget doesn't allow. So using paper is just as good. It can get the point across, and students can still create a stop motion animation. It's easy to store the materials when they're not in my classroom. So when you're doing that lesson planning, think about the tools that you have, how can you be creative with things that are easy to get to? Also, think about the tools when you're getting to that cleanup time. How long is it going to take students to clean up those materials and move on for the rest of the day? When I am lesson planning, I also like to include mentor examples and even non-examples for students to refer to when I am teaching them throughout the week, especially if this is a project I have never done with the kids before. I want to actually test out the script to see if it makes sense and find any holes and bugs that are missing before I actually teach it to the kids. 


Naomi Meredith  15:02

Of course, when you teach, things to come up, things are going to happen, and you're always going to have to modify. But actually, testing it out yourself is really helpful, especially when it comes to a video or animation. You can show kids your examples and talk about what went well and what are some other things I needed to work on. I will link in the show notes an example that I created for this stop motion video all about fossils, so you can get an idea of where this project is headed for students. Another thing that I like to do if projects are going well, and this is something that I would like to teach the following year, I will save a lot of their projects in my Google Drive, whether it is a link to the video or even the pictures that I take as well. This is helpful for me to show other students and future years of projects that were super successful. It also helps me reflect as a teacher. So when I'm planning for the next year, what are some things that I need to modify for the lesson to make them better? 


Naomi Meredith  16:05

Finally, I like to plan and think about ways how students are going to be sharing their work in a meaningful way and have an authentic audience. My favorite go-to tool is to use Seesaw K through five because it provides a variety of tools to have students share their voices. Students can write, draw, record, and even make videos of their responses, so they can definitely share in a way that works best for them. The cool thing about this project for this fossil's stop motion is students are creating a digital piece. Their peers can definitely see their work once we put it in Seesaw. With video projects, I also like to create a peer feedback rubric that is the same as the modification checklist or self-assessment rubric, it has the same qualification. So it's really good for kids to self-evaluate using this checklist and also for their peers to look for those same things as well. For this project, when I was creating the feedback checklist, I wanted to make sure to include things that were about the specific video editing. So did they take 30-plus pictures so that the video doesn't go too fast? Are their cameras still so that the light isn't flashing? Are those elements about this specific video I added to their checklist? But then I also made sure to include things that talk about the actual standard. Does your video actually tell the story of a fossil and what its life was like long ago and actually answer the question that we are looking for?


Naomi Meredith  17:43

 From there, I also create a student-friendly rubric that students can self-assess if they have time. Or I can use the same rubric as well. Years ago, I took a workshop about rubric writing. A thing that they mentioned when creating a rubric is to have the grade level expectations in the middle. So maybe it's a four-point rubric, you have the three as grade-level expectations, all written out in that kid-friendly language. Then you have the below-grade-level expectations like they're almost there, the twos have those all written out. But then the lowest, the one where they're missing things, is blank, where you can actually write in what they're missing, or students can write themselves what they're missing. Then the highest qualifier, the four, if they are beyond grade level, students can write what they did that is beyond grade level expectations. Or you can write about those things as well. Having a rubric cleaned out really helps you reflect as the teacher, especially for this project. I wanted to make sure that I am hitting all of those integrated standards, that I am providing the resources that make sense for this lesson, and that it really is answering that main NGSS standard. 

 

Naomi Meredith  18:58

So creating a rubric is super helpful. A lot of us are starting to have to add grades to our STEM space. So having this prepared ahead of time for your project can really help with your overall grading for your classroom. As you can see for this lesson, there is a lot of thoughtful planning when creating just one lesson for my third grade stop motion animation unit, all about them taking the role of the paleontologist and explaining the evidence behind why that fossil became the fossil that we have found today. I totally understand that this can be overwhelming going through this whole process K through five and having different units that are thoughtfully planned and standards-based. Lucky for you, I am obsessed with this stuff. I really do love lesson planning, and I just really love seeing the engagement in my students in my classroom and seeing how they're making all of these real-world connections. In fact, I have my ultimate STEM resource library membership that I would love for you to join. You can join one time for one annual fee or pay monthly, and you will get access to monthly themed lessons, but also the K through five core lessons that are planned with this structure so you can get some time back and not have to worry about every single grade level for every single unit. I hope that seeing this process has helped you rethink the way you're lesson planning and really thinking about all those connections you're making, tying them to standards, and bringing those authentic, real-world connections.

how to write a STEM lesson plan

how to write a STEM lesson plan

how to write a STEM lesson plan

 

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!

structure-a-stem-lesson

How Do You Structure a STEM Lesson? [ep. 25]

How Do You Structure a STEM Lesson? [ep. 25]

structure-a-stem-lesson

Check out the full episode on How Do You Structure a STEM Lesson?:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

With all the cool tools and resources out there, it's important to structure your STEM lesson so that it is rooted in standards but still engaging. 

In this episode, I will be sharing with you four different ways that you can plan and structure a STEM lesson and make it work for the time that you have in your classroom.

In this episode, you’ll learn four different ways that you can structure planning your STEM lessons:

  • Multi-day projects
  • Challenges of the day
  • STEM and stories
  • STEM stations

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

With all the cool tools and resources out there, it's important to structure your STEM lesson that is rooted in standards but still engaging. In this episode, I will be sharing with you four different ways that you can plan a STEM lesson and make it work for the time that you have in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:49

In the last episode, Episode 24, we talked about how to organize all of those ideas and lead up to the actual lesson planning for your STEM lessons. So make sure to go back and check that out because we are at the tail end of that episode and are now getting into how to dive into that planning. Also, if you're curious about how actually to plan your whole STEM scope and sequence, I also recommend checking out episode 14, where I go more into detail about that process. So how do you structure a STEM lesson? Here are four ways that you can structure your STEM lesson, and I know that you are going to find a way that works best for you. You may even try all four of these ideas. 


Naomi Meredith  01:37

First are multi-day projects. For this and all of the different ways to plan, I am going to be talking about how I use the Engineering Design Process as my base, especially when it comes to those multi-day projects. I am really zoning in on the Engineering Design Process. If that's a process that you're not using, this is when you can implement project-based learning, design thinking, the launch process, or even the scientific method, whatever method you are using for planning. This is when I think about those longer multi-day projects. When I'm thinking about multi-day projects, I'm thinking projects that will obviously last more than one day, about three to five days, and you have 40 minutes plus with your classes. I will definitely stretch out and use all of my days with my second and fifth graders and really dive into all of those stages of the Engineering Design Process. 


Naomi Meredith  02:37

For my first and Kindergarten students, I typically have their multi-day projects last about three days. Then I use the remaining two days of my week doing STEM stations, which is another way of planning. We're going to talk about this later in the episode. When working on multi-day projects, here is how I break up all of the stages of the Engineering Design Process. Day one is all about ask and imagine, so using all of those resources to build background and really dive into that S-the science part of the project. Day two is finishing up any imagining and zoning in on their plans, and being thoughtful with those plans. Then days three through five are all about creation, experimenting, and improving, which those stages go back and forth a lot. Then eventually sharing their work in a way that makes sense for that project. 


Naomi Meredith  03:31

I do see kids K through five, five days in a row, the same six classes throughout that same week. If you're a teacher who sees different classes every day, here's how I might split up your multi-day projects. Day one would be all about your asking, imagine. On day two, you could finish up the imagining stage, dive into the plan, and start to gather materials. Maybe you don't have them build quite yet because you probably don't have anywhere to store projects that are being built. Then the final week that they come, day three, or if you do want to carry it into day four, the kids are diving into the creation, experimenting, improving, and sharing piece. Again, remember to have smaller projects. This will also help kids get their buildings done a lot faster. If you are storing projects for more than one day, if the projects are smaller then you will have more ways to creatively store those projects. I know storage can be really tricky, especially when we're not always going into classrooms that were originally designed to be a STEM space. 


Naomi Meredith  04:39

Now multi-day projects might not work best for everybody, and that's okay. Sometimes your schedule is out of your control. So this is for my people who do see the kids one day a week, or if you need ideas for sub plans, if you have a weird week, if you do see kids once a week, one day, but then you see them again the rest of the week. So, for example, there was one year that I taught, and my schedule was a bit funky. On Mondays, I taught eight classes a day, I did say eight, for 35 to 40 minutes. I can't remember exactly. But I taught eight classes in a day, it was insane. Let me tell you, I was super sweaty at the end of the day, that was on Mondays. Tuesday, I was co-teaching with the classroom teachers to help them implement STEM and technology in their instruction. Then Wednesday through Friday, I had the same classes, my same six classes K through five, for three days in a row. 


Naomi Meredith  05:40

For my multi-day projects, I had to zone in, make them more simple, and even shorten some stages of the Engineering Design Process. I also, on those Mondays, didn't connect it with my Wednesday through Friday schedule because it wasn't always the same kids that lined up for that week. So I use this method of the challenge of the day on my Mondays, where it was a quick STEM lesson that had elements of the Engineering Design Process and still planned with standards. I would start and finish within that Monday. So that's all the time that we got. 


Naomi Meredith  06:17

So this brings me to my second way to structure your STEM lessons, and that is the challenge of the day. Like the name says, you are done with a challenge in one day. It has elements of the Engineering Design Process, so you can go through them very quickly or zone in on one or two of them. You are literally done in one day. Here are some examples of challenges of the day that I have done in those random one-day lessons. The year that I had that one day is when I did all of those Dot Day activities. They were quick, they were fun, and students were able to express their creativity, but they were complete in one day, which was perfect for Dot Day. If you're interested in hearing about the types of activities that I did for Dot Day, make sure to go back and listen to episode 16, where I give you five different STEM lessons that you can try in your classroom. Another great use of these one-day activities is to do those themed holiday lessons. At the time of this recording, I am in the middle of the fall, and I have five fall STEM activities that you could try in your classroom back in episode 23. Another great use of your challenge of the day is thinking about those quick STEM projects that are rooted in standards that students can explore and zone in on those science topics. 


Naomi Meredith  07:42

I do take home STEM kits called STEM snack packs. These are quick challenges that families can do together and explore, or it could be a great option for the challenge of the day. If you really don't want to plan using the STEM snack pack models, then this could also be a great sub-plan. One of my lessons for this is the foil boat challenge. Students are given one large piece of foil, and they have to design a boat with just the foil. Then they test different objects to see how much they will weigh. So they make a hypothesis of how many of that same object they think their boat will hold, and then they try lots of different things within that boat. They can even calculate the weight of the items that it held. Things that you could put in your boat would be small marbles, LEGO bricks, popsicle sticks, or any tiny things that you might have laying around. You could find the weight of those things and help them do the calculations. So again, quick one-day activities where it really is a challenge of the day. 


Naomi Meredith  08:46

The third way that you can structure your STEM lessons, it's very similar to the challenge of the day, but that is STEM and stories. This one is definitely a favorite for when I have sub plans. If you're a library specialist who is implementing STEM, this is definitely for you. Of course, read the story to your students, and if you are short on time, I recommend you pre-record yourself reading the story. You could get an ebook version of the book and screen-record yourself reading it. It's even more fun if you're reading it at home with your pets or your children. I have my little dog Frederick when I do this, and the kids love it because I talk to him throughout the story.  The kids feel like they're at home with me, and they have that connection piece as well. If I am personally the one pre-reading the story, the students are just as engaged as they would be if I was reading it in person. 


Naomi Meredith  09:44

STEM and stories challenges allow me to gather any supplies that are needed. Also, when I have students who are coming in that have a hard time with transitions, they come in later in my lesson so that way I can chat with them and handle any of those situations. Once the story is over, all the kids are ready to go. I definitely recommend doing this. This is a great time-saving hack. STEM and stories lessons can last for one day, or you can also stretch it out to multiple days. One of my favorites is after reading the story, Not a Box, students will create a straw marble maze. I use Amazon cardboard as their base, and I have it pre-cut. The students use tape and straws to create the maze for their marble to travel through. You can experiment with different marbles, such as round marbles or marbles with a flat side, to see how it changes the pace of their game. 


Naomi Meredith  10:44

After listening to the story, on day one, students can create their straw cardboard maze. On the second day, they can do all of the math and peer reviews that go along with it. They can calculate how fast the marble goes through their maze. They can add points to their game, write the rules, and then have other people play their game and receive feedback on how the game went. This allows them to make modifications along the way. Just like any of these, you can always extend them further and add even more elements of STEM. STEM and stories are a great way to highlight those common core standards that go along with reading literature. Or you could even do a nonfiction text and really highlight their informational standards as well. 


Naomi Meredith  11:28

The fourth way that you can structure your STEM lesson planning is using STEM stations. During my first few years teaching STEM, I did STEM stations with K through five. This was a way for me to test out all the random supplies in my classroom, see what would work for different types of grade levels, and see my kids' skills and capabilities when it came to using different types of tools. Now while being in my fifth year teaching STEM, I have a pretty good grasp of what the capabilities are for all different grade levels. I only use some stations with K through one. Again, this isn't just a primary thing. I highly recommend using stations when you're short on time, so you can also test out all of those interesting tools. For most weeks, when I'm teaching Kindergarten and first grade, I will do a longer project that is three days or a smaller challenge of the day project around the same theme. The last two days are STEM stations. The way that I like to structure STEM stations, and that has worked best for time, is I have four stations, and students rotate through to a day. 


Naomi Meredith  12:41

So here's how I explain it to the kids, “Hold up two fingers on one hand, put up two fingers on the other hand. What is two plus two?” They usually can tell me four, and I'm all, “Great. We're going to do two today and two tomorrow. If you don't get to your favorites today, when are you going to do them?” They say tomorrow. So they understand that they will get through all the stations as long as they're at school and everybody's happy. I can get through explaining the lessons, often showing a short video that correlates with the science standard. They're able to do the first station, clean up, stand at their clean station, point to the next station they're going to, complete that station, clean up, and they are ready to go all in 45 minutes. Also, I don't throw out random things for the kids to do. I still plan everything with themes and with standards. Again, this does take careful planning, and you can pull out bits and pieces of the Engineering Design Process. 


Naomi Meredith  13:44

Now I told you I like to plan with four stations. So naturally, I plan each station that goes along with each letter of STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math. This also helps make sure that I am planning stations that have a variety of tasks for students to do, they are getting a well-balanced experience and their STEM station rotations. For example, here are the four stations that I used when I taught the sun, moon, and stars to first grade. We first started off with a related video with Sideshow kids. Then the science station was moon phase puzzles, where they had all of the different moon phases cut up, and then they put those puzzles back together and got to learn and recognize the details within each of those phases. The technology station was day and night coding where students used to Bee Bots or Blue Bots. They rolled a dice, and there were pictures on the grid that went to each of those things that can be seen during the day, night, or both. 


Naomi Meredith  14:44

The engineering station was some space inspiration. So students had LEGO bricks to build various things that go along with space and all those different images that were provided to them. If I want to mix it up with that space engineering board, I do have some flash cards I got from the Target dollar spot forever ago. They show real-life pictures of things that can be found in space and interesting facts on the back. I had both options for students, and they could choose what worked best for them. The math station was geoboard constellations, and students had different images of famous constellations that they could build using the geoboards and then check off on their laminated list of which constellations they were able to build during that time. Stations can have a little bit more prep work when it comes to supplies. But if you are teaching a lot of classes, it's definitely worth the time. Then you have the tools ready to go for many years to come, and the kids are even more engaged because they all go together and are planned around their standards and go along with that theme. 


Naomi Meredith  15:51

As a recap, here are the four different ways that you can structure planning your STEM lessons. First are multi-day projects. Next are the challenges of the day. Third are STEM and stories lessons, and the fourth is STEM stations. This episode is about finding a planning structure that will work best for you and really root your lessons in standards and research so that the experiences are super meaningful and you are digging into those experiences in your own STEM way. If you want lesson planning templates for this and really dive into structures and routines when it comes to planning and setting up your STEM space, I welcome you to join my course, STEM teacher 101, where I dive in deeper on all of these topics, give you templates and resources, a bonus community to chat with and you even get five PD credit hours that you can take in your own time and be the STEM superstar that you are.

structure-a-stem-lesson

structure-a-stem-lesson

 

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!

organize-my-stem-lesson-ideas

How Do I Organize All of My STEM Lesson Ideas? [ep. 24]

How Do I Organize All of My STEM Lesson Ideas? [ep. 24]

Organize my STEM Lesson Ideas

Check out the full episode on How Do I Organize All of My STEM Lesson Ideas:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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


Episode Summary

STEM lessons are so much fun to plan, but they can be overwhelming. There are so many cool lesson ideas out there.

But how do you organize them all, especially when you teach Kindergarten through fifth grade STEM? How do you even fit it all in?

In today's episode, I'll be sharing with you my system to organize all of your STEM lesson ideas and help you choose lessons that will work best for your STEM space. 

In this episode, you’ll learn four ways to help you plan and organize your STEM lesson ideas:

  • Brainstorm themes
  • Research standards
  • Plug your lesson ideas and standards into your year-long plan
  • Fine-tune your lessons

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

STEM lessons are so much fun to plan, but they can be overwhelming. There are so many cool ideas out there. But how do you organize them all, especially when you teach Kindergarten through fifth grade STEM? How do you even fit it all in? In today's episode, I'll be sharing with you my system to organize all your ideas and help you choose lessons that will work best for your STEM space. 


Naomi Meredith  00:56

I recently received an email from a fellow STEM teacher that inspired this episode, and I wanted to read that to you. “Hey, Naomi, I've been teaching STEM for a couple of years. My biggest challenge is being organized with all the resources I'm now finding more of, focusing on my plans for the year, and each grade is my biggest challenge. Doing themes would be ideal, but I seem to be all over the place. Any advice?” from Ban K. 


Naomi Meredith  01:24

Before I jump into my response, I want to make sure that I am best serving you with my podcast and answering your specific questions. I want to hear your voice. You are always welcome to email, but I also mean your literal voice. I have set up a special voice message system where you can leave me an audio message, hit record, ask your question, and even have the chance to be featured on the podcast. Think of it like one of those help columns that used to be in newspapers. You don't even have to use your real name if you don't want to. You can say things like struggling STEM teacher, or excited for STEM can be examples of names. I will link this voice message system in the show notes for today and all future episodes. I really can't wait to hear your messages and gain inspiration for future podcast episodes!


Naomi Meredith  02:27

Okay, back to the question from this email. I totally get it. I am definitely an ideas person. I am not one to be running out of ideas, whether it's podcast episodes, lesson plans, things to wear for my bachelorette party, you name it. I always have so many ideas swimming around in my head. If you want to get a peek inside of my brain, it's like when you have so many tabs open. I can only focus on one at a time. But I always have lots of things running in the background that I am constantly working on. I definitely understand how it can be overwhelming when you are seeing all of these cool ideas online, on social media, and in books, you read. You start wondering how you can organize all of these in a sequential way that makes sense for your STEM space so you're not just teaching a bunch of random stuff. 


Naomi Meredith  03:27

I'm going to be sharing with you my system for organizing all of these ideas and putting it all together so that it makes sense. There is a progression of learning. The first step is to brainstorm themes. This is the most fun part, and this is where you are going to start organizing all of those ideas. You don't need to be super specific about what the actual lesson looks like. This is all about getting it out of your head and putting it in a place where you can visually see what is going on. You can do this digitally or on paper. You can do it in any note tracking system like Google Keep or Trello, which is one of my favorites. But this is where you will brainstorm and add in all those ideas. You are going to organize these ideas somewhat so that when you get into the next stages of this system, it's going to make a lot more sense. You're going to set up a piece of paper, physical or digital, and each piece of paper is going to have a major STEM theme that you are planning for. You can definitely take a peek at my free K through five STEM year-long plan to give you some ideas and some major things that you definitely want to have in your STEM planning. 


Naomi Meredith  04:46

The themes that I am thinking of are coding, robotics, Makerspace, and 3D printing. You should have each of these listed on their own sheet of paper, and when you see ideas or you have ideas of your own, you learn something at a conference, you might even learn something from this podcast, add it to your brainstorm list and try to categorize them. This will actually help you visually see what types of lessons you have tons of ideas for and ones that you need more research on. Also, this will help you create a balance throughout your year, so you're not doing one or the other. You can create a whole bunch of experiences for your students. So this will be your first go to place to jot down any of those ideas, it doesn't mean you have to teach them. It's going to help you organize everything that's floating around in your head. 


Naomi Meredith  05:41

The next step is to dive in and do backward planning when it comes to standards research. When you think about it, your lessons really do need to be rooted in standards and have that connection to the NGSS or science standards in your state, Common Core, which includes English language, arts, math, and even those speaking and listening skills, along with the ISTE standards for students. Even if you want to think bigger and broader, the four C's, this is where you want to take a peek at your lessons and what types of lessons can really hit those standards. You might have to do some research on what would fit, what would not fit, and also which activities are more of a filler activity. There is nothing wrong with these types of STEM projects. They have a place for different situations. For example, I love those little filler activities, and so instead of me teaching those in the classroom, I see them as a great opportunity as sub plans for last-minute things when I am super sick and I have to pull that out. I also create take-home STEM kits, which I'm figuring out how to do an episode all about that. This is something that I'm actually experimenting with my own students right now. So it's definitely in beta mode. But think about how you can send home these ideas with students, where families can support them in this learning where it is more guided step by step and not as deep. So those filler activities definitely have a place, but they might not be with your really high-level instruction. 


Naomi Meredith  07:22

The standards research is going to help you pick and choose which lessons should be taught within your classroom. Also, when researching those standards, you might even see some common themes and standards that connect across the grade levels. For my video and audio production unit, I picked standards that went along with earth science and space science and how those all connected together within all the grade levels. Each grade level had its own video and audio production unit, and all the standards connected together, which made the planning a whole lot easier. I could see these connections as a teacher and also when I was creating those lessons for my students over the years to help them make those connections. So research those standards, get to know them, and put them in with that STEM twist. 


Naomi Meredith  08:18

Once you have researched those standards, it's time to plug them into your year-long plan. Back in episode 14, I talked about how to write your STEM year-long plan. So make sure to go and check that out that will really help you with this step. I dive more into detail right there. You have your brainstorm, you research the standards, then plug them in into your year-long plan where you can visually see that progression of learning that I was talking about. Again, this will also help you see the holes in what you're missing and where you might have to go back to that brainstorm stage and find lessons that will be high-level learning standards space that will work well within your classroom. You might have an idea of how you want to teach these lessons. But you don't have to be totally married to that right now. You are just plugging in those lessons and those standards to see where you need to fill in those holes. 


Naomi Meredith  09:17

Finally, step four is to really fine-tune those lessons and decide how you want to teach them. For all of my lessons throughout the whole entire school year, I use the Engineering Design Process as my base. I am always referring to this process and how it changes with all the different ways that we are creating and building to solve a problem that is always my base, every single unit from K through five. Now there are different ways that you can actually plan your lessons when it comes to the Engineering Design Process. So you can definitely mix this up for your students and make it work best for your classroom. First, we have the long-term projects that go into detail within Engineering Design Process. This will probably take about three to five days. 


Naomi Meredith  10:07

If you need help with the Engineering Design Process and you are unsure of what I am talking about or how you can actually plan using this, I have a whole bunch of episodes for you to go back and listen to. It starts with Episode 15, where I talk about what the Engineering Design Process is and how you can use it in your planning. From there, we skip ahead to Episodes 17 through 22, where I have a mini-series about each stage of the Engineering Design Process. Then it is finished off with a nice pretty bow with my first guest interview with one of my STEM teacher friends, and how she even does the Engineering Design Process with quick one-day challenges. Again, you don't have to plan with the Engineering Design Process, there definitely is a place for it within the K through five STEM space. There are actually standards that talk specifically about the Engineering Design Process when you go and take a peek at the Next Generation Science Standards. So you are backed up by standards, and you can definitely plan long-term projects. 


Naomi Meredith  11:10

Here are three other ways that you can plan your lessons. You can also think about how you want to integrate STEM stations. This is especially great when you only see kids once a week. You could do two stations per day. For week one, the kids could do two stations the following week. The students can do the last two stations, so you have four stations total, and maybe each one has a different part of the Engineering Design Process that is linked to the standards. Another way that I like to do stations is, especially with my younger students, Kindergarten through first grade, I might have a long-term project that lasts three days. I really zone in on those stages, and we get them done. The creation might even just take one day for my little babies. Then the last two days, I will have four stations. Again, they will do two stations one day and two stations the next day. Each station will go along with the theme for the week or that long-term project. Then each station hits a different letter of STEM. So one is the science station, one is technology, one is engineering, and one is math. So I have a whole balance of things. 


Naomi Meredith  12:20

Yes, it does take a bit more planning to have that variety of things for the little kids. If you have come from the classroom before being a STEM teacher, you know you need a lot of stuff for those little kids to keep them engaged and excited. It is definitely worth that extra planning, and you will have plenty to do for those little ones. Another way that you can plan is to have a challenge of the day. This could be related to a STEM book, fiction or nonfiction, or even thinking about those quick engineering design challenge sprint's that my good friend Jen Sevy discussed in her guest interview. There are four different ways that you could plan, which are multi-day projects, STEM stations, the challenge of the day, or planning them with STEM and stories. 


Naomi Meredith  13:06

As a recap, here is the structure you can use to help you plan and organize all of those ideas floating in your head and get them organized in a way that makes sense, which can eventually turn into your year-long plan, and then your standard-based lessons. First, brainstorm themes. Next, do your standards research. Third, plug them into your year-long plan. Fourth, fine-tune your lessons. Having plenty of ideas is definitely a good thing, and you have that growth mindset where you want to bring in all those awesome experiences for your students. However, you definitely want to organize them in a way that makes sense, so you're not just pulling out random STEM lessons, but instead, it all cohesively goes together, and you have a whole structure for all of those ideas. 


Naomi Meredith  13:59

In the next episode, we will actually be talking more in detail about those four different types of STEM lessons that I just mentioned. I think this will really help you when you get into that lesson planning stage and how you can make these experiences even more meaningful for your students. Also, don't forget to leave me a voice message using the link in the show notes. I definitely want to hear those questions. I think that'll be a really fun way for us to interact and have a community with this growing podcast.

Organize my STEM Lesson Ideas

Organize my STEM Lesson Ideas

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

engineering-design-sprints

Engineering Design Sprints with Jen Sevy [ep. 22]

Engineering Design Sprints with Jen Sevy [ep. 22]

engineering-design-sprints

Check out the full episode on Engineering Design Sprints with Jen Sevy:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Today’s episode is very special because I have my very first guest here on the Elementary STEM Coach Podcast. In this episode, I talk to Jen Sevy, a K through Five STEM teacher in Colorado. Jen shares with us how she implements engineering design sprints during her students' design challenges in a day. You're going to love her creative ideas for how she taught these quick one-day lessons using the Engineering Design Process, which are perfect if you see students once a week or if you need an extra boost in your sub plans. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

  • Jen's journey from classroom teacher to STEM teacher
  • How Jen came up with the idea for engineering design sprints and why she implements them in her classroom
  • Examples of engineering design sprints Jen has done with her students
  • Practical tips for incorporating engineering design sprints in your classroom

All About Jen

Jen Sevy has been teaching for 18 years. She taught third grade for eight years, then worked to earn her Masters in Technology Integration and moved into a position teaching Technology as part of the specials rotation at her school. For the last three years, she has been teaching STEM and has found her happy place! She loves anchoring everything she teaches with the Engineering Design Process and sees so much value in students understanding the process. Her goal for her students is to experience joy every day in her classroom.

Connect with her at: jsevy@cherrycreekschools.org

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Today, I have my very first guest here on the Elementary STEM Coach Podcast. We are talking with Jen Sevy, a K through Five STEM teacher in Colorado. She is going to be sharing with you how she used the Engineering Design Process with her students' design challenges in a day. You're going to love her creative ideas for how she taught these quick one-day lessons that are perfect if you see students once a week or if you need an extra boost in your sub plans. Can't wait for you to hear this interview!  


Naomi Meredith  00:40

I am so excited to have our first guest here on the Elementary STEM Coach Podcast. I'm being so mindful of the people I'm having on the show to talk about their experiences, and I know that you'll love hearing what Jen has to say. I definitely have a growing list of guests that I would love to have on the show, so this is an exciting step here on the podcast. You are the very first guest here, so this is so monumental. I've known Jen for about five years, and her school is only five minutes away from mine. The students from both of our schools feed into the same middle school and high school. I've had the pleasure of being on her STEM virtual PLC over the years, and she's definitely been a great help to me, especially when I was leaving the classroom and then transitioning into this new to me district and STEM. So I'm so excited to have you here today, Jen.


Jen Sevy  01:56

Yeah. Thanks for having me. It's exciting.


Naomi Meredith  01:59

Yeah, you're so sweet. Well, I know you, and I'll probably learn more when you introduce yourself. I know your position has evolved a lot as an educator, so just tell us about yourself, what your role has been in the past and what you teach now.


Jen Sevy  02:16

Sure. Well, I started out as a classroom teacher. I taught third grade for eight years, and then I decided to go back to get my master's. I knew I wanted to do something outside the scope of just a normal classroom, so I went ahead and got my master's in educational technology integration. I did that from Boise State, almost actually 10 years ago. While I was working on my master's, our principal was looking for somebody to take over the role of the technology specialist to teach technology as a specialist. She asked me to do it, and I was hesitant at first because I was really nervous to leave the classroom. She had to ask me twice, and I finally said yes. The second time she came back asking, at first, I said no, because I just was really, really unsure about doing it. But it turned out to be a great decision.  I taught technology separate from STEM. We actually had five specials at that time, so we had tech and STEM as separate things. But I had always worked with the STEM teacher pretty closely. We did a lot of projects, we kind of partnered up as this, we shared students, and they would see me and then see her, so that was great. Then a couple of years went by, and we ended up getting a bunch of money as a district as you know that we got to redesign our classrooms with these innovation spaces. So I got to sit on the committee that redid the building, and I was then moved into this amazing new space. It was right at the time when our school was shrinking a little bit, and we decided to combine STEM and technology into one specials.  So at that point, the teacher who had been teaching STEM, she and I kind of job shared. So she taught STEM for third through fifth, and I taught STEM for K through two. Then we were actually both instructional coaches, and we did that for a year or two. She ended up going back to the classroom, and I took over STEM full-time. So now I teach STEM K through five. I see kids for a week at a time, 45 minutes a day, and I love it. This is my third year teaching STEM. My first year full time doing it was during COVID, which was crazy. But yeah, now we're back to normal, and life is good. It's a good time in the STEM classroom.


Naomi Meredith  04:30

I love how you have all these different experiences because I feel like all your experiences are similar to those in the STEM space. I know people who teach STEM full time, do coaching, or are technology teachers who want to do part of STEM. I feel like you have such a well-rounded experience when it comes to your teaching and being in the classroom, which helps so much, too, so you can see all the perspectives.


Jen Sevy  04:55

Yeah, for sure. I never pictured myself here when I decided to be a teacher. I thought I'd be in the classroom until I retired. I'm so glad that my educational journey has taken me this way because it's super fun.


Naomi Meredith  05:07

Was that a hard transition to get into STEM from Tech? Or was it easy for you?


Jen Sevy  05:14

It was easier moving from tech to STEM than it was from the classroom to technology. I think, just because I really got used to looking at what we were doing more as like a project-based, and you know, shorter time periods. A  lot of what I did in tech was similar in that I did use Engineering Design Process already. Just the projects were completely computer-based when I was doing that.


Naomi Meredith  05:40

Well, it shows that you're a really good teacher because you can literally teach anything, Jen.


Jen Sevy  05:45

I don't know about that. But sure, we'll go with that.


Naomi Meredith  05:47

Yeah, you could teach anything. So when I was in your classroom a couple of weeks ago, we hosted a little training together, which was so sweet, and it was so fun. But you had hula hoops hanging from your ceiling. I know everybody was asking you about the hula hoops. You were starting to explain to me that you had these Engineering Design Process sprints, and I was like, “I need to have you on this podcast.” I think teachers are going to love hearing about this, whether they teach STEM five days a week or once a week. So you have to tell us all about these. Where did you get the idea? Why are you doing this? Like, tell us all about it because I'm so obsessed.


Jen Sevy  06:32

Well, actually, it kind of happened, as I like to tell my students, from a failure that I think I had last year. I had been planning all these great activities and units for my fourth graders. It was almost halfway through the school year, and I was like, “Oh my goodness, like we have been doing a lot of computer-based stuff,” which, as we just talked about, is my background. When we were in COVID, it was I didn't do a whole lot of the hands-on because we couldn't share materials. It was a lot of computer-based stuff, so I was kind of kicking myself. I'm like, “How are my fourth graders, they've been on the computer a ton?” So I was very intentional about “Okay, we are going to start off the year with zero tech. It's going to be all hands-on, simple materials. What can that look like?”  At the same time, last year, I also focused on the Engineering Design Process, majorly. My main professional goal for the year was to get kids interested in and understand the different steps of the Engineering Design Process. So funny enough, in talking to our PE teacher at my school, we were sharing ideas. She was like, “If you want the kids to learn this process, you should write a song or like a chant or something that would be catchy that they could really, you know, grab a hold of.” I was like, love the idea. Also, I'm sure someone else has already done that. So I went online, and I found this amazing guy named Baba Bomani. He has written this song, it's Engineering Design Process. It's a rap. It's super catchy and super cute.  He goes through all the steps of the Engineering Design Process. I was even more excited when I saw that he had done a music video for it with a class full of students. They have a little dance that goes with it. So for each step of the design process, there's a little dance move that goes with it. So I started teaching that to all my classes last year. I'm like, okay, so this year, we're going to do a hybrid year: I'm going to start out, we're going to remind ourselves every day, for a week, when kids would come in, we would start out with the song and doing the little dance moves with it, which they love and is so fun. Then so, what I did was I'm calling the unit design challenge in a day. Each day we would work through all of the steps of the design process at a rapid pace, just super quick, and they would have a simple challenge that they'd have to work through.  They'd have to go through all the steps of thinking, you know, here's my challenge, here's my question, and I'm going to imagine it and plan it out. I'm going to create it, test it and then improve it. It turned out really cool. The Hula Hoops were a major talking point. All the kids in every grade were like, “What's up with the hula hoops hanging from the ceiling?” I told them it's for fourth grade, which then kids are like, oh, you know, I'm not in fourth grade yet. Or, dang it, we didn't do that last year when I was in fourth grade. It was pretty cute. But the hula hoops were one of the one-day design challenges, and it was building a paper airplane that you could toss through the hula hoop from eight feet away was ultimately the challenge. 


Naomi Meredith  09:39

Oh, yeah, that's far. 


Jen Sevy  09:40

Yeah, well, it actually is far. I was testing it, of course, because I'm like, can I even do this? I marked spots on the floor. So the first one was about three feet out. The second one was eight feet, and then the last one was about 11 feet. The kids would stand at the markers, and they started the three feet, and if they could successfully throw it through, then they would back up. The middle marker was our eight feet, so that was ultimately the goal. If they could do that, then they would back up, which was fun. But it was really neat. Some kids had built paper airplanes before, and some hadn't. So they could either test out their own idea or build something they've done. I also let them get out the iPad, and they could search for different design ideas on the iPad, which was really cool. It was chaotic and crazy but so much fun. You've never seen kids so excited to go back and improve their design than when their paper planes didn't go through the hula hoop. They couldn't wait to go back and fix it up.


Naomi Meredith  10:35

Did they try different types of paper, or did they have a specific kind? Like, are they testing how different papers flew?


Jen Sevy  10:42

No, they didn't. Actually, now that you say that, that's a really good idea. I just had regular old plain copy paper. But that's a really cool idea to test out like construction paper. Yeah. I'll put that on my list for next year because that'd be a really great question to see if they could figure out which kind of paper flew best.


Naomi Meredith  11:01

I tried paper airplanes during COVID. There was a class that went remote last minute, and I thought, well, yeah, paper airplanes. Oh, it was so chaotic online. I, like, physically couldn't help them, and I felt so bad. Like, this is too hard. I'm like, It's okay, guys. Keep going. I don't know what else to say. You're online, I'm here. You're there. I don't know. So that's great you could do that in person with the kids.


Jen Sevy  11:25

For sure. For sure. It's crazy the things you don't think about that they need direct instruction on, like how to make a tight crease on paper, right? things pop up, and you have to be ready. 


Naomi Meredith  11:34

Like a life skill? 


Jen Sevy  11:36

For sure. 


Naomi Meredith  11:38

Did each grade each day have different challenges? Or did you overlap any of them? Or did you do something different?


Jen Sevy  11:48

Yeah, so it was just fourth grade that worked their way through this. The other grades were still doing Engineering Design Process stuff, but the design sprints were just for fourth grade. The fifth graders, I felt like, had a pretty good handle on it. Plus, I was starting out with 3D printing for them just for ease of getting things printed throughout the year. I did focus on the Engineering Design Process with every grade. So every grade did start out with their little song and dance each day. The fourth grade I just focused on primarily because I wanted to be very intentional, knowing that I felt like that was an area that I had lacked in the year before, and wanting to make sure I'm super intentional with fourth grade getting hands-on and building things. So each day, fourth grade had a different challenge.


Naomi Meredith  12:28

Okay, so they had airplanes. Then what were the other ones that they did?


Jen Sevy  12:34

One day, they started out with paper airplanes. There was a day when they got to come in and build a building using only paper and masking tape that had to withstand a fan being blown directly on it. That one was hilarious, and really, it was cool. The things that popped up were great because the conversations we had, I think, really helped with some critical thinking because there were some groups that were building things. Other groups were like, well, that's not a building. Like that's just a pile of paper all balled up. Right. So then we had to get into what defines a building in this situation. They had one that was to build the longest paper chain, you know, when you cut strips, yeah, and loop them together, the longest paper chain using only a single sheet of construction paper.  That was one of my other favorites because while the paper planes were an individual activity, this was a group effort. I made sure to focus on that as it was more collaborative. It was really cool to watch the kids have to figure out what everyone's role would be. They were like, “You're going to be the cutter, you're going to be the taper, I'm going to be like in charge of the wall, or whatever they would do.” So the collaboration and the strategies they developed were really cool to see. I would always give them the planning part was really fast. It wasn't anything that was in-depth every day because we didn't have a ton of time. Most days, the planning phase was just, I'm going to set a timer for three minutes, and you're going to talk to the people in your group that whole time. What's your strategy, come up with your plan. So yeah, so that was when we also did cup stacking. They had 20 plastic cups, and they had to build the tallest tower that they could. So a little bit of friendly competition there with that one and the paper chain. So that was pretty fun.


Naomi Meredith  14:21

I love that. Those are really good. In a way, you were probably teaching the four C's along with the engineering design. So you really had a creativity day with the buildings like maybe let's go, here's what a building could look like. That's a little bit of a two, like, buildings can look ugly, but if they are more beautiful, people really like them. 


Jen Sevy  14:43

Exactly. 


Naomi Meredith  14:45

So you really had a lot of those four C's. And I love how you talked about planning and how you had kids talk about planning because I think teachers think planning always has to be drawing and labeling, which is important, but it just depends on the day. I actually talked about that in one of our past episodes. It's all about planning for the engineering design. I definitely have done that, like kids talking through it and verbalizing because that's an important skill. Also, being able to articulate your thoughts, and you might not have paper in front of you. So figuring out how you can explain it in a way that would make sense. So that's really good that you did that with your kids.


Jen Sevy  15:22

Yeah, thanks. Yeah, it turned out really well. It's really neat to see, especially again, coming back from COVID. I don't know if you've noticed this, but one thing I've seen with my students for sure is they're struggling a little bit to be able to collaborate and work together. I mean, give direct instructions on how to work with a partner, like this is how you take turns, this is how, when there's a disagreement, how you can talk it out and figure out, you know, how you're going to move forward. So it was good to have them working in groups like that, where they get that practice.


Naomi Meredith  15:55

Oh, yeah, we're definitely like, we teach all these cool skills, but really STEM, when it comes down to it, we're all about those soft skills. The tools are going to change. You used paper and tape, and the kids were super engaged. But really, they're working on, like, the skills that are going to carry them throughout life. I have seen the same thing, like being very intentional about how to talk to each other and what is appropriate and not appropriate. Like, we don't just say, “Help me, help me help me.” Explain what you specifically need help with. So yeah, all those communication skills are so important, especially when they're face-to-face. It's like, whoa, so much happened, like, the past couple of years? Like, I'm so glad you're at school because we can definitely work through these things together.


Jen Sevy  16:38

Right? Exactly, exactly. I was gonna say the competition aspect of it led to a lot of good reflections from kids too. When we did the paper chain, there was a clear winner there, with one of those chains being longer than everyone else's. It was still great to honor everyone's process and talk through their process. Each group would share individually what they did that they found worked well and what possibly hindered their progress. It was neat to see that and, honestly, having a table group that had been the quote winners. It was neat to see everybody really listen to that table. I feel like more than anybody else. In the end, they were willing to hear it.  Instead of telling the other groups who lost that they got the wrong answer and trying to show them the correct way to do it.  The winning group shared the strategies that their group used that worked really well for them. So it was awesome to see the respect and the other groups listening to them.


Naomi Meredith  17:35

That's really good. We're any kids frustrated since the time was shorter? Were there any kids complaining about not getting enough time? Or were they okay with it? 


Jen Sevy  17:45

They were okay with it. Most days with the paper chains, I think I gave them about 20 minutes, which is a long time. But most groups still could have produced more after that time. I'm also famous for putting up a timer on our projector. I just will go to YouTube and type in 20-minute timer, and there are crazy timers out there. There are some that look like little bombs going to explode when the timer goes off. Some of them are happy and cheerful. I always put one up on my whiteboard, and it's huge. So there's no question that they know exactly how much time they have left. That really kind of put a kibosh on anyone saying they need more time. I never got any of that because they knew exactly how much time they had the entire time.


Naomi Meredith  18:27

Okay, good. Because yeah, I get kids who I use a timer with also. When I tell them it's clean-up time, I still get kids that say they need more time. I remind them that they have to leave and they're not here forever. My favorite timer is Classroom Screen. Have you used Classroom Screen?


Jen Sevy  18:43

You showed that to me last year! Yes, I have used that where you can have it on there at the same time, right?


Naomi Meredith  18:49

Yeah. I get scared of the YouTube ones because sometimes I don't personally like the sound. I get scared. Oh my gosh, I'm like really startled, and then the kids start laughing at me.


Jen Sevy  19:03

I learned which ones have crazy alarms at the end. I usually will run up to the computer and pause it right when it has one second left. So they know, but then there hasn't been some crazy siren blaring because nobody likes that.


Naomi Meredith  19:17

So how did you get the ideas for these challenges? Were there specific resources you used? Or were they lessons you've done in the past that you pulled out? Because these would make good STEM sub plants for teachers, too, if they're looking for things to do in a day.


Jen Sevy  19:31

That's actually a really good point. I hadn't thought about that either, making it a little emergency binder or folder to pull from. Every teacher should have an emergency binder or folder they can pull out when something happens, and they don't have the capacity to write those awesome plans. No, I actually just went online, searched around for some ideas, and then modified some of the ones that were there. I also looked for ideas using materials that I had plenty of on hand because some of them would be there. They were simple and required basic materials like paper, tape, and plastic cups. 


Naomi Meredith  20:07

I think that's so good for the kids to see that you can create complicated things out of very limited materials, which is such a good way to start off the year because it's not all robots or coding. You can use paper, tape, and glue to create a giant chain.


Jen Sevy  20:26

Right? Yep, absolutely. It was cool to see. I mean, again, back to those little skills like the folding of paper. I have perfected the art of teaching children how to tear tape because they would say, “Well, we get paper and tape, what about scissors?” I would say, “Those aren't on our supply list.” They would respond, “Well, how are we supposed to cut the tape?” And I'm like, “You're not. You're supposed to tear it.” So I have completely perfected how to if you ever need advice on how to teach kids to tear tape. I'm your girl.


Naomi Meredith  20:52

What do you say? Yeah, what do you say to that? What's your advice? You're leaving me hanging.


Jen Sevy  20:57

I know, right? You pinch it with both hands. Then, after you're pinching it, one hand goes forward, one hand goes backward, done. I mean, as long as it's masking tape, it'll rip easily. So even practicing in the air, one hand goes forward, and one hand goes backward.


Naomi Meredith  21:14

Okay, I'm gonna use that.


Jen Sevy  21:18

I mean, it's a silly thing, right? But it really can be cumbersome with kids trying to use tape when they're trying to cut it, and it's getting all stuck and all over. I mean, it's those quick little things that make life more manageable for sure. 


Naomi Meredith  21:30

Yeah, it's good. It's good all these things. I love all of this, and all the little skills that you're teaching kids it is so, so applicable. I know teachers are going to be so excited to try at least one, if not all, of these challenges. We'll definitely have to make sure to link these challenges in the show notes for teachers or list out the ideas so they can definitely do that in their classroom. I appreciate you being here so much. Where can people connect with you if they have any questions? Can they send you an email? Where would you like them to reach out?


Jen Sevy  22:02

Yeah, email is probably the best for sure. My email is jsevy@cherrycreekschools.org.


Naomi Meredith  22:12

Perfect. We'll link that for people as well. So if they're driving, they don't have to scramble and write that down. But thank you so much for your time. You're our great first guest, the first ever on the podcast. So this was monumental. 


Jen Sevy  22:28

Yeah. Well, thanks for having me.


Naomi Meredith  22:30

Yes, of course. We'll have to have you back because you're full of ideas, and I could just talk to you all day. Well, thank you so much again, and I'll chat with you soon.

engineering-design-sprints

engineering-design-sprints

 

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!

what-are-creative-ways-to-present-a-project

What are Creative Ways to Present a Project? [EDP Series: Share, Ep. 21]

What are Creative Ways to Present a Project? [EDP Series: Share, Ep. 21]

what-are-creative-ways-to-present-a-project

Check out the full episode on What are Creative Ways to Present a Project?:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Once students have completed a long-term STEM project, it’s important for them to share their work with an authentic audience. How can they share their work besides standing in front of their class and sharing one after the other? In today’s episode, I will be sharing four creative ways students can present a project and have their voices heard.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn four creative ways students can present a STEM project:

  • Digitally
  • Answering reflection questions
  • Peer-to-peer sharing
  • Creating a museum-style type of sharing

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

After students have completed a long-term STEM project, it's important to share their work with an authentic audience. How do you do this besides having kids stand in front of the class and share one after the other? In this episode, I will be sharing with you creative ways that you can have students present their projects and have all of their voices heard. 


00:52

This is the last episode of our mini-series all about the Engineering Design Process. I've had a lot of fun recording these episodes and diving deeper into each stage of the Engineering Design Process. All of these ideas can be modified for any grade level that you teach, which makes the EDP such a great way to plan for the STEM space. If you haven't grabbed it already, I have a free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that you can download for your classroom. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP, and I'll also link it in the show notes. 


01:31

You know, when kids get super excited and want to show you what they have created in STEM? I'm really talking about Kindergarten here because they physically want to show you. You can't look across the room and say, “Oh, wow, you've worked so hard on that.” No, you physically have to go see it. If you are talking to a kindergartner, this is a great way for kids to share. However, there are even more creative ways that students can share their long-term STEM projects. This is an important step not to skip when you are teaching using the Engineering Design Process. So let's dive into these four creative ways that you can have students share their work.


02:14

The first way you can have students share their work is to go digital. This is one of my top favorite ways, and this is something that I do with K through five in my classroom. If I'm using the Engineering Design Process or other teaching methods, I love using Seesaw in my classroom. You can also use Flipgrid as an alternative. I provide the Seesaw code for the class regardless of what stage they are in the Engineering Design Process, but especially during that final share stage. I will do this a few ways with my kids. Oftentimes, I will have them take a video or create an audio recording of their final project. This might be a scripted experience, or it might be off the cuff, and they record an action. Both are valuable, and they can have different purposes. 


03:11

One way that I've used a scripted model is with my first graders when they were sharing their final 3D printed designs when we talked about animal families and their traits. Throughout the week, students researched their favorite animals and learned all about the babies and their adults, what they have on their bodies, and how they might be the same or how they might be different. One thing to keep in mind with 3D printing, I usually don't get the prints done by the end of the week. This share piece was the next month once I saw the kids, they got their 3D prints back. They colored their designs with Sharpies to make them look like real animals. When they were ready to share their work, I had a very specific script that was written and first-grade friendly language that we practiced together as a whole class. We made it a fun game, and the kids really liked how when they got to their specific part, they were supposed to share. It was super crazy but really fun. So we practice this script as a whole class repeatedly, and then students were sent off with their iPad. They were to take a picture of their final 3D printed design, draw the habitat using the seesaw Drawing Tools, and then record audio of their script. 


04:35

This script was very specific, and it helped them share the differences and similarities between the baby animal and their adults. The first graders were able to be successful and independent in this task because they understood what the script was saying. It was shown on this screen, and it was also printed on paper if they wanted to use that version. I also had on the script some visual markers, so little picture icons, to help them remember what the script said. It was so great having the kids in first grade be independent with this task because there were a few kids that needed more support from me. I was able to do that since I'm the only teacher in the classroom. 


05:16

Another way that I've had students share it digitally when it's off the cuff is really showing their work in action. I've talked about this in the other Engineering Design Process episodes of this podcast, including how students have been able to take videos during the experiment and improve stage. This can also be part of the sharing stage. For Kindergarten, I have them create a wall maze using recycled materials to show how the different things on the wall can change the path of the ball moving down the wall. Students again use Seesaw as the platform where they can take a video of their work in action and feel like they are taking the project home. In STEM, we use a lot of different materials. Students aren't always able to take all of that work home. Even if it's recycled materials, it just doesn't always make sense for them to take it home, such as the cardboard wall maze. So having them take a video of their work in action is a great way for them to share their designs with me, each other, and their families at home. Now, this can get a little overwhelming to manage, and it does take a lot of work and practice to teach kids how to use technology appropriately in this stage. Sometimes I will go around with my phone, I have Seesaw loaded on my phone, and I will take a video of their work in action. This is also another great option. If you don't have iPads or tablets in your classroom, you could use your phone as an alternative. But that's definitely up to you. 


06:50

The second way that I like students to share their work at the end of this process is to have reflection questions. I use the same three questions for all of my Engineering Design Process challenges year-round and for all of my grade levels. I like having the same three questions because the responses definitely change based on the types of experiences that we do for each unit. It also helps build that consistency where kids are mentally keeping track of how they are growing throughout these processes and working to try their best. The three questions that I like to give students are, I am proud of; if I were to try this challenge again, …; I would change blank, or blank was challenging for me. These are some great questions for students to type their responses to. So you can mix in that digital sharing, record audio or even video of their response. There's a lot of differentiation within these questions. Some students might even want to draw a picture or take a photo to respond to these questions as well. You can even mix these questions and have them as a class discussion throughout the week. Or, if you are pressed for time, this could just be the last day of your share. You have students share as a small group and then as a whole class. 


08:15

The third way that you can have students creatively share their projects is peer-to-peer sharing, especially in the older grades. They love to hear what their other friends in the class think about their projects. Yes, they want me as a teacher to notice their work, but as they get older, they're so focused on what their peers think. So give them that opportunity and teach them constructive ways to respond to one another. One way that I have done this is with the fourth grade, and they created videos that were all about space junk. So throughout the week, they were researching what space junk is, what the problems are, and what are some possible solutions and even thinking of their own solution. They created a short video in Adobe Spark with a voiceover to share their findings in a concise and clear way. 


09:06

From there, students pasted the link of their video in Seesaw. You guys know I love Seesaw by now. They pasted it in Seesaw, and we talked about ways that are constructive to comment on one another's work. Students commented on the videos, and they wrote at least one thing the students did well in their video and one thing that they needed to work on. The great thing is that these comments come to me first, so I was able to review those before they were approved so that the other students in the class could see. During the same unit for second grade, second graders researched different natural disasters that happen in our world, and they created a scripted video that utilized a green screen to teach us about these natural disasters. Again, students have that video posted in Seesaw, and instead of giving feedback through typing, students were given a paper feedback checklist, where they could circle what went well in the video and things that they needed to work on. 


10:10

This could definitely work for the older grades as well using a peer feedback checklist, especially when it comes to video and audio productions of their work. This same checklist was also used for the students when they were modifying their videos and before they were posting them. So all of the qualifications that their peers were marking them on weren't a surprise because these were things that they needed to add to their video anyway. Having a mix of digital and paper was a great way to have students reflect on their work and hear their peers' viewpoints on what their STEM project was. 


10:47

The fourth way that you can have students share their designs is by creating a museum experience. This is one where you will need space within your classroom or somewhere else in the building where other classes can move about and check out the students' work. Maybe consider if there are any display cases in your building that you could use for a month or so, or maybe somewhere in the library on top of the bookshelves, get creative. And This is a really fun, interactive way where again, students have an authentic audience to view their work. I did this when I was teaching third grade. So before I became a STEM teacher, I taught second grade for two years and third grade for four years. My third graders were really obsessed with rocks and minerals. That was one of the standards that we were teaching in science at the time. This isn't, per se, a STEM project. But this is more so to help you get an idea of how to do a museum-style sharing in your classroom. 


11:50

Students were given a specific rock or mineral that they wanted to learn more about. I actually had the real rocks and minerals for them to explore. They researched their rock or mineral using a variety of resources. Then they created an interactive poster for other kids, other third graders, and their book buddies to explore. Students created little short videos and audio recordings that were created in Seesaw. There is a share button that could create a QR code that could then be posted on the poster. When we were at recess, lunch, or specials. The different classes had the opportunity to sign up for those times when my room was empty. They could borrow the iPads and check out our interactive displays and all the different rocks and minerals that we had in our classroom. So this was not only a great way for my third-grade students to have an authentic audience throughout the day. But the other classes had an in-house field trip that they could come and explore as well, and the classroom teachers appreciate it because there are no permission slips or bus forms required. 


13:01

Another way that I have done this museum-style is for a semester when I first started teaching STEM. I taught gifted and talented science on Mondays for the kids who had been identified in giftedness within science. We would work on projects for the whole semester, and then students had the opportunity to share their projects with their peers through a museum style. I did provide a peer feedback checklist a lot like the one that I just talked about and that the other third, fourth or fifth graders were given so they could give feedback to their peers on their project. After this museum experience, students collected those peer feedback forms, and actually created a graph based on the responses that they were given, and then reflected on how they could improve their work for a different type of presentation for next time. Again, those authentic audiences can definitely be those peers. Use the kids who are in your school, use your teachers, and you can really be creative with the time and the space to make this museum type of experience come to life. 


14:12

As a recap, here are the four different ways that you can have students creatively share their STEM projects at the end of the Engineering Design Process. First, they can share digitally. Second, have reflection questions. Third, peer-to-peer sharing, and fourth, create a museum-style type of sharing. This is the final episode of this mini-series about the Engineering Design Process. But we will definitely be talking about the EDP again, and a lot, but I wanted to make sure to go in-depth about each stage, so this can help with your overall planning. Also, don't forget to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that is linked in the show notes to help you organize and streamline those lesson plans and to dive deeper into the EDP. You can grab that using this direct link Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. 

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

 

Check out these creative ways students have shared their designs in some of the projects discussed in this podcast episode: 

3D Print Project: 1st Grade Animal Family Traits

2nd Grade: Earth’s Exciting Events, Green Screen Video

4th Grade: Space Junk Short Video

what-are-creative-ways-to-present-a-project

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!

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

Helping Students Improve STEM Projects [EDP Series: Experiment & Improve, Ep. 20]

Helping Students Improve STEM Projects [EDP Series: Experiment & Improve, Ep. 20]

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

Check out the full episode on Helping Students Improve STEM Projects:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

As students are building their STEM projects, are you unsure of ways they can improve their designs?

The experiment and improve stage of the Engineering Design Process is so important to teach kids that things might not be perfect the first time, and there are always ways to make them better.

In this episode, I will be sharing with you strategies that you can use with your students to help them improve and modify their designs.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn strategies to help students improve their STEM projects:

  • Using a modification checklist
  • Create a rubric for each STEM project
  • Give students opportunities to show what happened in their project

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

As students are building their STEM projects, are you unsure of ways they can improve their designs? When students come up to you, and they say, “I'm done,” do you say, “Oh, now go and just add more details.” In this episode, I will be sharing with you strategies that you can use with your students to help them improve and modify their designs. 


00:53

I can't believe we have already made it to Episode 20. It has been so much fun recording these podcasts and creating episodes that you can immediately apply to your classroom. I am excited about how far this podcast has come and what is in store for the future. Trust me, I have a ton of ideas brewing. So lots more fun to be had in the future. If you haven't grabbed it already, I have a free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that you can download for your classroom. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. I'll also link it in the show notes. 


01:36

I know I've talked about this before, but I like comparing the Engineering Design Process to the writing process because there are a lot of similarities between those two processes. Being a former classroom teacher, that is just something that has stuck in my brain after teaching it for so many years before becoming a STEM teacher. The experiment and improve stage of the Engineering Design Process is similar to the editing stage within the writing process. It is the process for both of these things. A growth mindset that I like to teach my students in my classroom is that practice makes better, not perfect. Everything can be improved, even when you think you're done. This step in the Engineering Design Process is so important to teach kids that things might not be perfect the first time, and there are always ways to make them better. 


02:30

Here are some strategies that I like to use in this stage to make it more impactful and meaningful for students. These strategies keep me from rushing and running out of ideas for kids to make things better, or, after they build something, I don't just send them off to go do a fun activity. This stage in the Engineering Design Process can be very beneficial with some careful planning. 


02:54

The first way that you can enhance the experiment and improve stage is to use a modification checklist. Now, in my first year teaching STEM, I was completely lost on this. I was feeling probably like you are like I have no idea where to even begin with a checklist. I don't even know how the projects are going to turn out. Trust me, I was in your shoes, and I'm in those shoes whenever I'm starting new projects. So here's a little tip that has worked for me. When starting a new project, I will create an anchor chart of ways students can improve their designs as students are working. So with observations and how their projects are going, I will add to this anchor chart and list. I even get feedback from students as to what they would like to add to this list to help the future classes that I'm going to teach. Using the student feedback has been a game changer because I might think the project is going to go one way, but the way students are interacting with the lesson and the supplies are going in a completely different direction. I will always take their feedback when it comes to these checklists. 


04:03

In fact, when I was teaching STEM survival camp for fifth grade, the checklists for the build a shelter design was actually fully developed by my fifth graders. They had the checklist I'd given them, and they were writing all over it and adding in their own categories since I didn't design it in a way that worked best for them. So I recreated that checklist based on their feedback. My fifth graders really liked the layout because kids like them helped me create it. Now, years later, being in this position of K through five STEM, I have created my full year-long plan when it comes to engineering design challenges. Each challenge has different checklists included already, so you don't have to think about them. They are all done for you. There are even checklists for the little kids. 


04:54

For example, with my first graders for a unit, we were talking about Earthlight and light living things. What is that fancy word? Bioluminescent. The kids love learning this word and the meaning behind it. They sounded so fancy when they were sharing this with their teacher when they picked them up for the day. Students were to create their own living thing, either one that already exists or a living thing that would be enhanced if it did give off its own light and the reason behind that light. They were given a checklist the second day of creating, and there were just three lines in this checklist with a thumbs up, and a thumbs down that they could circle on the piece of paper or within Seesaw when I sent it to them digitally. These things weren't required for them, but I did say they had to do at least one of these three things when they were thinking about improving their design. On this checklist, those three things were does your living thing live in water? Does your living thing fly? And does your living thing eat other animals? So this was interesting for them to really think about who their animal was and even the purpose behind the light that they gave them. My example was that I would love it if my little dog Frederick's ears glowed. They had that bioluminescence, so when we're going on walks, he can see more clearly where we're going, and I can also see when I have to pick up his poop. Sorry, super gross TMI right there. 


06:30

Also, when I give checklists to my older kids, I give them those things on the checklist that they may or may not have to do. It depends on the project and the purpose behind the project. There's a space on the side where they can actually explain how the modifications made their design even better. When it comes to my 3D printing lessons, there are specific things they have to do within their project so that it will print correctly. Most of the things on the modification checklist have to be yes before they turn it in. However, there are other projects that we do where only a couple have to be a yes, and the rest are just ways that they can make their design even better. 


07:13

In addition to the checklist, another way that you can enhance your experiment and improve stage with the Engineering Design Process is the use of rubrics. You can use this instead of checklists or in addition to. If I were to use both, especially if I were to give grades within the STEM space, I would have students use the checklist when they are creating and experimenting, and improving. Then, when we are finished with the building stage, and this might even happen on the last day right before we share,  students are given that rubric, and they can reflect on the work that they did within this project. So they might even be done experimenting and improving, and they're thinking about how they really attacked those things. You can use a lot of the same things, even from the checklist, especially if you are planning with standards, which you should be anyway. But you can add some of those elements within your rubric. 


08:14

If I were to create a rubric for my STEM classroom, I would have it on a four-point scale, the one would be categorized as I am missing some things. This is if students really struggled in completing the project. Hopefully, they're not in that one category. Or maybe they were absent, so I would actually leave this part of the rubric blank so students could write in their responses, or I could add my responses. The two category would be I can do it with support. So those would be those qualifications that students were below grade level and had most of those things, but they have some holes. The three would be I can complete the project. So those would be all those qualifiers that are at grade level. They can demonstrate an understanding of the standard and the project. The four would be I can extend my learning. I also like to leave this blank. Or, if I know some ways students can extend their learning, I might write those in as well. So having that four-point scale would be really helpful, and have it written in student-friendly language, so it's not a surprise for them as to how they did on their project. This could be a great addition to the stage of the Engineering Design Process. 


09:34

Another thing too, when you're creating this rubric, I would think about the process first, then the product. I would have both within your rubric. So part of those qualifiers on your rubric you could talk about is did they demonstrate certain processes within the project. So learning a new skill when they are working on the project. The product could actually be how they demonstrate the state standard when attacking this challenge. Having a combination of both, which is really important in STEM. Are they understanding the standards? How are they learning new skills within STEM? Whether it's 3D printing or Makerspace coding, how are they demonstrating mastery within those? If you're interested in more things about grading, we could talk about that in the future. I will say I don't actually give grades in my STEM space. But this is the process I would use if I had to do that. So definitely something to consider and talk about when you're thinking about rubrics. 


10:38

Finally, the third way to enhance your experiment and improve stage is to give students the opportunity to show what happens. My two favorite platforms to use within the classroom, and especially in STEM classrooms, are Seesaw and Flipgrid. Both are very similar, but they also have differences. Having these platforms in your classroom is super beneficial for families to see what takes place within your classroom. We know that kids can't always take home the awesome supplies that they're using in STEM. Of course, they really want to, especially LEGO minifigs that go missing. Those never come back. But kids always want to share all the cool things that we did. These platforms are a great way for students to bring those experiences home through video, photos, and audio. Also, when you use these platforms, this is also a great way to keep kids accountable for the work and make sure that they are staying on task and completing the project. 


11:40

One of my first favorite ways is for students to use video during this improve and experiment stage. A big way that I used it with my fifth graders is when they were creating Rube Goldberg Ecosystems. Every time they were testing their design, I wanted them to take a video of inaction, whether it worked or not. It was great for them to have video evidence of their actual experiment. This was also helpful because they could go back and watch what happened the day before and set it up the same way or differently, depending on the results within their Seesaw journal. They had an abundance of videos to go back and reflect on, and this actually helped them when they came into the share stage when we talked about the project throughout the week. 


12:27

Another way that I've used video within an engineering design project was in second grade. They were working on animal migration Ozobots. Ozobots are those tiny little robots that read color codes when you color them with markers or use the stickers provided. Beforehand, students researched the migration patterns of different animals and understood why they were migrating and how that affected them. Students created the path of the migration within the maps that were provided. I wanted students to film the process of their code and action. It's so cute to see them filming this because you can see them experiment within the video when the code doesn't work. They'll pick up the robot and put it where it needs to go. Again, I wanted them to take more than one video so that if their code doesn't work, they could create a new coding sheet on a new map and then record it. So these are just two great examples of experimenting and improving within your STEM lessons. 


13:31

Sometimes video might not be the best fit to share. This is when photos are a great opportunity. Of course, you can have students take pictures of their work but if their invention is supposed to do something, consider having students take before and after photos. Again, in another second-grade lesson, I had students create an invention to help control the effects of water erosion. We actually tested this using dirt that we found outside, so there was a hill I took students out on, and I wanted them actually to test their invention with the water that we brought. Before taking the students outside, I had them take a picture of their invention before it got wet. Then some kids even went on to explain with audio how their invention was going to work. I then had students bring their inventions back into the classroom. After we tested them using the water and the dirt, they took an after photo and then explained what actually happened. I didn't want the iPads outside with the dirt, so that's why I had them bring the inventions back in. 


14:42

If there are before and after opportunities, consider taking photos. If you're doing projects that are all computer-based, there are some platforms that allow students to do screen recordings. This would be really cool if students are creating a code for a game or if they're 3D printing. They can actually film their screen in real-time and play it back on a hyperlapse to see the progression of their projects along the way. On the flip side, when you're thinking about teacher management, it would be great to keep kids accountable and ensure that they're staying on the screen that they're supposed to stay on. A great platform for students to use for screen recording is Screencastify. They have come out with a whole classroom set. You definitely should check that out because I love using Screencastify as a teacher, but it would be a cool asset to use for your older students when it comes to screen recording. Wii video is another platform that allows screen recording capabilities. So definitely check out those platforms and see how you can fit that in when students are designing digitally. 


15:49

As a recap, here are ways to help your students improve their STEM projects when you are in the experiment and improve stage. First, consider using a modification checklist. Next, create rubrics. Third, give students opportunities to show what happens. We have one more stage left in this mini-series about the Engineering Design Process. So thank you so much for joining me on this journey. Make sure to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and Planning Guide, which is linked in the show notes and are also found at this direct link: Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP.

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

 

 

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

teaching-strategies-to-help-student-projects

Creative Ways for Students to Plan Designs [EDP Series: Plan, Ep. 18]

Creative Ways for Students to Plan Designs[EDP Series: Plan, Ep.18]

students-to-plan-designs

Check out the full episode on Creative Ways for Students to Plan Designs:  

 

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

The planning stage in the Engineering Design Process is an important step. How do we get our students to enjoy the planning stage as much as the create stage? In today’s episode, I will be sharing creative ways to enhance the planning stage so that students enjoy planning designs instead of rushing through this stage.

I

n this episode, you’ll learn ways to boost the planning stage in the Engineering Design Process:

  • Discuss the importance of planning
  • Share the materials before planning
  • Provide a space for students to explain their designs
  • Think about trying creative ways to plan

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

The planning stage in the Engineering Design Process is an important step. Kids always want to jump into the Create stage, but the planning stage is just as important. In this episode, I will be sharing with you creative ways to use in the planning stage of this process and even help kids love this stage to. 


00:55

For this episode in the Engineering Design Process series, I have a free poster and planning guide that you can use to integrate into your lessons. You can grab it in the show notes or use this direct link Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. When I first started teaching STEM, I did have the kids plan their designs. When we got the plans, the kids would scribble their designs. They would legit scribble their designs. Within five minutes, they were all done and ready to create. I knew with my experience as a classroom teacher before being a STEM teacher that this probably wasn't a plan that was going to be helpful. I had to improve my teaching to teach the students how to thoughtfully plan and really make their plan an important stage in the process. In fact, the kids now love the planning stage just as much as the create stage. I'm going to be sharing with you creative ways to enhance this stage in the process so they aren't just scribbling their designs just because they need to plan but drawing something useful for them. 


02:13

The first way to do this is to discuss the importance of planning. Our kids want to know why we are doing this. I tell my students in the planning stage that if we don't plan, we plan to fail. Now failing is good in STEM; however, what I'm saying is if we just jump into the create stage all the time, we're not understanding the reason why we are doing things. It's just try as we go, which is also fine. The create stage is helping students to visualize and bring those ideas out of their heads and onto paper or the way that you want them to plan. I like to relate the Engineering Design Process to the writing process when I'm teaching students. There are stages to go in order for both processes, but you can always go back to a stage. Just because we did the planning stage and we move on to create doesn't mean that you can't go back and plan. This has developed over the years with my students, and I have had students create a plan, and design something, but it doesn't work, and then they really do go back to the drawing board. 


03:28

So teaching thoughtful plans is so beneficial. Classroom teachers will like this, too, because you're helping them with their teaching when it comes to the writing process and why planning is an important stage within this flow. I found a really great book recently that you can read to your students to help them understand the importance of plans. It is written by HDTVs Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott. It is such an adorable picture book. It's called Builder Brother Big Plans. It talks about them as little boys and how they had an idea and wanted to build something. So they dreamed up ideas in their heads and started making lots of different plans for their design. They finally picked a plan that they wanted to build. They got the materials and started building…well, I'm not going to tell you the rest. I don't want to ruin the ending. Definitely check it out. It is so cute and a great way to introduce planning within your classroom. This could be a short mini-lesson. It doesn't have to take the whole time, but I highly recommend this book. 


04:41

Also, with the planning process, think about having criteria for what their plans should align to. This has definitely been a game changer in my classroom. I'm not having kids scribble little things anymore. There is something for them to refer to improve their work. I have a four-point rubric that I post on my TV. You could print this out for students if you would like. I just have it posted. We talk about this for every single project we need to plan for. There are four different categories. The first category is a one-star plan. A one-star plan is just drawing your design. This is something that I expect out of my Kindergarteners and first graders. A two-star plan is drawing and labeling your design with one view. This is what I would expect from my first and second graders. Then we move on to a three-star plan, which is drawing and labeling more than one view. So if I was the inventor of a TV remote, I would draw the front of the TV remote and label all the parts, and then I would draw the back or maybe the inside and label all the parts as well. This is what I expect in second grade and up. A four-star plan to take it to the next level is doing everything in the previous three, including drawing and labeling more than one view and explaining what each part does. This has really helped my students understand how their plans can be more thoughtful. It helps them think about the components that will make up their design and the materials that they might use. This is also extremely helpful if you are implementing the maker menu, which we talked about in episode six, where they are thoughtfully planning their designs. Then they can create a shopping list to coincide with this plan. 


06:37

So if that is a process that you're implementing the maker menu, this is the time where you would talk about the menu as well. If you want younger students to focus on coloring, I also recommend using a coloring rubric. I don't make my older students color because they are trying to be thoughtful when drawing, labeling, and explaining. Coloring could be a great option for your younger students to help them think about the different parts that their plan or design would have. So on your coloring rubric, you could have three different categories. Then it could be stars or smiley faces, frowny faces, a medium face, I don't know how to call that but a straight line face, you know what I'm talking about, right? So you could have three points in your rubric. The first one could be coloring in the lines, colors that make sense, and no whitespace. You can help your younger students be thoughtful when they're coloring their plans. 


08:50

I also like to teach students that planning is a lot like creating a patent for an invention. Over the summer, I went to Chicago with my teacher honey, and there was this cool booth. They had all of these cool plaques that were burned in with different images, and one of them caught my eye. It was a patent of the LEGO brick. It was so cool because it showed all of the different layers of LEGO brick. It had all of these different labels, and it was just so thoughtfully planned. I now have this hanging up in my classroom. When I'm talking about plans, I take the plaque off the wall. I explain to my students that LEGO didn't actually have a patent before they were selling their bricks, and people were copying their designs. So a patent is important for inventors because they need to be extremely thoughtful about their plans and include every single detail. They even have a document that explains every single part that is labeled in their pictures so no one can steal their ideas. The kids are super enamored by this story. It's true, it's history. You can fact-check me, maybe I'm off by some details. But overall, it's pretty much true. So it's important for students to see those connections. When they hear the words patent pending, they know what it means now. So that's why discussing the importance of planning is important for students. So then they really understand that this is an important stage, and it's not all just about creating when we're using the Engineering Design Process. 


09:16

During the planning stage, I also like to have students be aware of what materials they will be working with. This influences your plan since you know what you're working with, and then you can design your drawings from there. You can have a set list of materials or a Makerspace menu. It's up to you and depends on the project, the time of year, and the amount of time that you have. I have a lesson that is a one-day project, sometimes two, but it's a spider poly, and I have very specific materials that I want students to use. They can use a string that is looped on a pencil that will hold the spider ring. So those little spooky spider rings, they have those materials, and then LEGO bricks and a spider web. I make students aware that those are the materials that they will be using, which influence their design. For younger students, if they're planning on paper or Seesaw, I like to have pictures of the materials if it's a set list, and students can draw lines to the materials list to their drawing. That's just another way that they can label. That way, they're not overwhelmed by writing the words. I'm not here in a writing class, although writing is important. But that's a creative way that you can have students plan if you have the pictures and the words of the materials already on their paper. 


10:49

Third, provide a space for students to explain their plans. Planning through drawing and labeling, in my opinion, is just part of the plan. Give students an opportunity to explain how they're hoping their design or invention will work. I would do this by having a question that students can answer through writing, an audio recording, or a video recording, like in Seesaw or Flipgrid. That way, you can see how their plan is getting to the lesson objective, which is ultimately tied to the standard. Kids love talking about their designs. You probably have kids coming up to you when they're done planning and telling you all about what they drew. So harness all that talking and put it into a platform for them, Seesaw, Flipgrid, or any other platform that you can think of where they can do this. This is great for them to go back and reflect. They can go back and listen to those recordings right before they start creating, so they don't forget all of these amazing ideas. 


11:55

Finally, provide creative ways to plan for students. Here are different ways I like to do this. Of course, drawing and labeling are super important. I have the kids' plan on paper, whether it's a specific graphic organizer I want them to use or scratch or graph paper, which are great options too. I love having the kids take pictures of their plans and posting them in Seesaw. So then I'm not keeping track of all their papers class after class. This really helps with the organization of materials. If I am using Seesaw as a planning tool for Kindergarten and first grade, I will have them draw directly in the app. This depends on the project and the day. I will also use paper for them, but I noticed that for Kindergarten and first grade drawing in Seesaw works out great for them because they're not as detailed with their drawings yet. Also, having an abundance of colors and different tools really helps the kids who are not as engaged during this part of the process, allowing them to produce something on their screen. 


13:05

Another way you can have students plan is to verbalize their plan. You can have students think, pair share, and talk to each other about what they are hoping to do. Back in episode 15, I provided this as an option for my fifth-grade students. They ended up drawing their plans anyway. So that was a great success story because they actually did want to be a part of the planning process. Verbalizing your plan is a great way to have students still be involved in the Engineering Design Process. This is a great option if you're short on time. 


13:41

Another way that I've had students plan is to have them gather their materials. Maybe they do have a paper plan. Maybe they don't, or maybe they just verbalized it. Either way, I have them gather their materials, and then I don't give them the tape or glue or scissors yet. They tinker around with what they have first and think about different combinations of how the materials can be put together. Then after a few minutes, I will give them the tape, glue, and scissors so they can manipulate those materials. That's a fun, hands-on way that students can plan. 


14:15

Another type of planning is something that I actually did the other day, and it was an on the fly moment. I hadn't planned this, it was just something that I needed to do to get this student engaged since they kept running out of the classroom. They did not want to draw. They wanted nothing to do with drawing or holding a pencil. We were doing the build a shelter challenge for fifth grade for STEM survival camp. If you want to hear more about STEM survival camp, go back and listen to episode four. He did not want to do anything, so instead of drawing and labeling, I asked the student if they wanted to plan their design using playdough, and they were thrilled to do this. I grabbed different colors of playdough, and they ended up designing their plan with the playdough. Then we took a picture of the plan and put the playdough plan in a bag if they wanted to look at it the next day while they were building their shelter design. They ended up building an entirely different design, which was totally fine. That's normal when it comes to planning. You may start one way, and then it goes an entirely different way, which is great. It was a cool way for the child to be successful in my classroom. The good news was they didn't run away, which I was so excited about. 


15:38

As a recap, let's talk about the ways to boost the planning process when it comes to the Engineering Design Process within your STEM space. First, discuss the importance of planning. Next, share the materials before planning. Third, provide a space for kids to explain their designs. Fourth, think about trying creative ways to plan. I'll be continuing to dive into the Engineering Design Process with this mini-podcast series. Don't forget to download your FREE Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide to help you along the way. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP, and it will also be linked in the show notes for today. 

students-to-plan-designs

students-to-plan-designs

 

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!

dot-day-stem

5 Dot Day STEM Activities to Try [ep. 16]

5 Dot Day STEM Activities to Try [ep. 16]

dot-day-stem

Check out the full episode on 5 Dot Day STEM Activities to Try:  

 

Watch the video version of the episode here on YouTube:

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Dot Day is an international celebration of inspiration and creativity. This is a fun one-day celebration that you can implement within your STEM space. 

In today's episode, I will be sharing with you five Dot Day STEM activities that you can implement in your classroom to celebrate this fun day. 

 

In this episode you’ll learn five Dot Day STEM activities you can implement in your classroom:

  • Augmented reality dots
  • Chalk dots
  • Spiral graph dots
  • Dot launchers
  • Stop motion animation dots

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Dot Day is an international celebration of inspiration and creativity. This is a fun one-day celebration that you can implement within your STEM space. After reading the book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, students have the opportunity to create their Dot that represents them. In today's episode, I will share with you five STEM activities you can implement in your classroom to celebrate this fun day. 


00:55

Dot Day, as described on their website, is celebrated on September 15ish. So really, this means you can celebrate on the day of or choose the day in which you want to celebrate creativity, which can be year-round. I have seen all sorts of posts all over social media over the years. There are schools that go all out on Dot Day and even celebrate for a full month. These activities might not take you a month to complete. They're fairly simple, but they're also engaging and can inspire creativity in your classroom. 


01:41

I tried to choose a variety of things and a variety of media to help you celebrate in a way that would work best for you and for whatever grade levels you teach. Don't worry, there are going to be a lot of links and resources that I'm going to be talking about in this episode. I will link all of them in the show notes so you don't have to pause and write them down. I have done all of the hard work for you. So let's jump into these five Dot Day activities. 


02:11

The first activity is Augmented Reality dots. Just to clarify, here is the difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Augmented Reality is seeing things in our world. So it looks like things are popping up right in front of our eyes on our screen. It seems like they are there with us. Virtual Reality is when we are entering a world. So it feels like we are in that space. This activity is about Augmented Reality, bringing these dots to life, and making them pop out on the screen. This activity does require tablets, preferably iPads, and you will download the free app called Quiver. 


02:58

In addition, there is a free coloring sheet where students can design their Dot using markers. When they scan the Dot using the app, it looks like a magical 3D sphere is sitting on the table. This activity is so magical for students, and they love it. It's especially great for the younger grades because there is high engagement and low prep. I recommend for your coloring pages, instead of printing one full page, print four to a page and make sure to have extras because kids want to create an extra to try out other designs. This is also a great takeaway because students can take their coloring sheet and download the app at home to try it out with their families. 


03:51

The next Dot Day activity is sidewalk chalk dots. Of course, you're going to read this story before you do all of these activities. Then you will take your students outside to have them design a Dot that represents them. You can also have them decorate the outside grounds of your school. This is especially great if you teach multiple classes in the day and you can take them to different locations around the building. So by the end of the day, there are colorful dots that are just covering your sidewalks. This activity reminds me of the book The Questionnaires, that I truly love, and the book Aaron's Slater Illustrator, where he designs things in his way. So if you want another book pairing to the Dot, I highly recommend these books. Sidewalk chalk is very easy to get your hands on. My favorite couple places to grab it besides Amazon is the Dollar Tree and the Target dollar spot or even clearance sections. 


04:56

This next Dot Day activity has a couple of different options depending on your available resources. This is all about spiral graph dots. Spiral graphs are so beautiful and have so much symmetry. With the way the lines curve and using different colors within those designs, you can do this activity by using a free spiral graph maker. It didn't require a login when I last used this with students. Students can choose different colors within the palettes on the computer and then choose different spiral graph templates or those spiky things and create different spiral graphs within the different kinds of symmetry. I also found a really cool video that shows different artists and how they use spiral graphs within their artwork, which I also recommend adding in that connection. 


05:55

You can even make this an even more hands-on activity if you have spiral graph templates in your classroom already. I've been lucky and have been able to find some in the Dollar Tree. But also check out Amazon as well because you might be able to find those. So this is a great math and art connection to teach students about symmetry and how it's used in this artwork, and how they could design a fun spiral graph to express their creativity. Now, with the online version, there isn't a way to technically save the spiral graphs. So what I recommend is having students take a screenshot and share it within a platform that you use in your classroom, like Flipgrid, Seesaw, or Google Classroom. 


06:39

The next Dot Day activity is Dot ball launchers. One of my favorite robots to use in the K through five STEM space is the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop. This is not sponsored by them; I'm just recommending this robot. If you want to purchase something for your classroom, the Dash robot is so much fun. There are a lot of different coding options. You can also purchase the external accessory, which is a ball launcher. This is a one day activity. The ball launchers are a little bit finicky. And it's not an accessory I use for a ton of different activities. But it's a whole lot of fun, and the kids love it. 


07:24

Set up the ball launchers, download the ball launcher app that connects to the Dash robots, and have different cups or a one-page target sheet with different identifiers and STEM that students can relate to. These things can be like I am a mathematician, I am a creator, I am an illustrator, and they can be the targets that students are launching the ball toward or the thing that they are identifying with for the day. I have a whole collection of these made. I use these light bulbs with these identifiers in my affirmation station that I talked about in the back-to-school episode of the podcast. So make sure to go back and listen to that episode. But this is a fun way to use that same resource with a hands-on encoding activity. 


08:14

For the launcher, there isn't a whole lot of complicated coding. So if you haven't introduced robots or coding within your classroom yet, you can still do this activity. Again, it's a fun one-day thing to try. I like to put students in groups of three and give them specific jobs, which I like to do with robots. Here are the three jobs that I like to assign in their small groups. First, we have the driver, and they are the one who is holding the device and tapping the code that will launch the ball. The second is the navigator. They aren't necessarily touching the device, but they're watching the driver to ensure they're using the right code to launch the ball correctly. The third job is the retriever, and they're the one, like the name says, who will retrieve the ball. Wherever the ball lands, they can switch off jobs based on their own decisions. Or, if you have groups who have a hard time hogging certain jobs, you can set a timer on your screen, and when the timer goes off, that can signify the switch. So a fine coding activity to bring the Dot Day balls to life. 


09:30

The fifth and final Dot Day activity you can try in your classroom is stop motion dots. I love teaching with stop motion animation. It is a really old filming technique, but it pushes kids to think critically, and problem solve in front of the camera. There isn't much screen time when it comes to stop motion animation. It requires so much patience to make the characters and objects move smoothly in front of the camera. In reality, it is just a click of a button to put all the pictures together. My favorite app for stop motion animation on tablets is Stop Motion. I will link that in the show notes. There is a paid version. You can get it, but you don't have to. It works a lot bthan just having kids take a bunch of pictures all at once and just scrolling through the camera roll. 


10:27

If you're using Chromebooks, laptops, or tablets, there are a couple of Chrome extensions that I've played around with before. Or you could get the Hue Document camera. There is actually a whole line of software that goes along with the stop motion animation. For their Dot, for this activity, students can use modeling clay. My favorite clay is the Crayola modeling clay because it's super cheap, and it doesn't dry out, which is awesome. You can reuse it over and over again. Students can create a Dot that will roll into the screen, transform it into something that represents them, and then roll off of this screen. So if I were to create my Dot, I would, of course, have a hot pink Dot, but you all knew that by now. I'm sure I would have a hot pink Dot ball that would roll onto this screen, and possibly transform into a podcast mic. I could add other colors, and then it could squish down back into its pink little ball and roll off the screen. This will be a great way to introduce stop motion animation. It's a pretty easy activity but will take a lot of patience and collaboration to make it all work. 


11:43

As a recap, here are the five STEM inspired Dot Day activities you can try in your classroom. First is the Augmented Reality dots. Next, the chalk dots. Third, the spiral graph dots. Fourth, Dot launchers, and fifth, the stop motion animation dots. Again, all of the resources I mentioned will be linked in the show notes, so you don't have to remember them. If you try any of these in your classrooms, tag me on Instagram at Naomi Meredith underscore. I would love to see how I helped inspire creativity in your 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!