Tag: steam classroom

Essential Google Tools to Improve STEAM Instruction [ep.102]

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Episode Summary

Google tools have helped me so much in my teaching journey. They have helped me streamline my workflow and create more consistency for my students. The audio for today’s episode is from an online summit where I did a presentation on Google tools to improve STEAM instruction. In this episode, I am sharing four of my favorite Google tools and sharing some fun and engaging ways you can incorporate them into your classroom.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

4 Google tools to improve your STEAM instruction
An overview of each Google tool
Tips and strategies for incorporating these Google tools into your STEAM classroom

Resources Mentioned:

100th Episode Giveaway Details:
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Grab the video, presentation slides, and other resources for this episode here: naomimeredith.com/pdreplay

Episode Transcript:

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

The first time I ever used Google tools was when I left my second-grade teaching position across town and started teaching third-grade in a new district. I was so confused by these tools, and I absolutely hated them. I'm actually a pretty techie person, but I didn't understand them at all. But I did give them a chance, and I am so glad that I did that. I fell in love with all things Google and how they help me streamline my workflow and help me be more productive. In fact, I am still using Google tools to help my teaching instruction and also for a whole lot of parts for producing this podcast. While the audio from this episode has never been heard, been heard, been heard, been heard, been heard, been heard, been heard, been heard, been heard, for on this podcast. This is a presentation I did in the past online summit. One sad trend that I have seen since teaching during COVID is that a lot of online tools are being ignored.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:00]:

In a lot of ways, I've seen tools being used less than they were before COVID even happened. I get that using technology can be overwhelming to introduce to the students. I hundred percent get it. I did it all day with a hundred and 50 kids a day, k through 5, whether or not their classroom teacher was integrating tools. It can be really, really frustrating. However, we owe it to our students to help them be problem solvers and creators with technology. I know that the tools are going to change over time, and I even tell my students this. But the more practice they have with resources in meaningful ways, the less stressful it is to try new technology in the future.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:46]:

In this session, I'll be sharing with you 4 examples of Google tools and how they can enhance your stem or steam teaching to help you rethink these resources as a teacher. Hey there, and welcome to this session, the essential Google tools to improve your STEAM instruction and make it easier on YouTube. I am your presenter, Naomi Meredith, and this session is geared towards elementary teachers of all levels k through 5 STEM and STEM teachers, library teachers, and homeschool parents. If you would like to use more Google tools in your classroom, and you don't necessarily have to have a Google account for all of these that I'm gonna talk about, then this session is perfect for you.

Naomi Meredith [00:02:59]:

As I said, I am Naomi Meredith. I am a former classroom teacher turned current k through 5 STEM teacher and coach, and I have over a decade of experience teaching in the classroom along with a master's degree in STEM leadership. My goal inside of the classroom and out side of it is to help teachers like you navigate STEM and technology in the K35 classroom. I am also the host of the new podcast, The Elementary STEM Coach podcast. So make sure to go and check that out on your favorite podcasting platform, and also run my website, neomy marinates dot com. You can see in the picture my cute little family and that little guy with the big ears, not my fiance, that little brown guy is Frederick, and he is a 10 pound little doggy full of tons of love. So if you follow me on Instagram, you probably will see him all the time. He is my 10 pound shadow.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:50]:

You're going to see this link in the corner of every slide in this presentation, but I've put together a free resource free guide for you to use. And there is also a worksheet included in this summit that you can follow along. It's I also put the same worksheet within this PDF for you. There are some tips and tricks in there to help you keep track of all of your learning and ideas that you wanna apply after this session. So you can grab the add naomimeredith.com/steamgoogletools. We're gonna talk about 4 different Google tools today. Some of you may have heard of them but haven't thought of how to use them in your STEAM or STEM space, and some might be completely new to you.

Naomi Meredith [00:04:30]:

So for each tool, we're gonna talk about what the tool is, just a brief introduction, why you should use that tool, and how you could use it in your steam space. So some example lessons that you could try out. The first one is Google Jamboard. Now this is a newer Google tool, and this is so amazing. And I wish that they created this a long time ago. Google Jamboard is awesome. It has all of these slides, and it's very similar to a tablet. If you've used a tablet in the past, it's almost like having a giant whiteboard that you can add sticky notes on top of it.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:05]:

What's really great about Google Jamboard is that you can add different elements on top. It uses a lot of the same Google tools, and it is a very interactive experience for you. To get Jamboard, it's within all of your Google tools. So once you log into the Google app as a teacher, you can create a new Jamboard just as if you were creating a Google Doc or Google Slides. It looks like this. It's a giant whiteboard and has all of the limited tools on the side. And, again, it is really easy to share with students. So if you change the share settings just like you do with the other Google tools so anyone with the link can edit, you could make a QR code and share the link with students that way so they don't have to log in to their Google account to respond.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:48]:

You could also share the link with students in a platform like Google Classroom, so you saw whatever LMS you actually use. And that way, it is easy to get access to. One little quick tip. This is not a Google tool, but you're gonna thank me for it later. It is called classroom screen, also a free tool, not Google related, as I said, but you can actually create a QR code on there and use other widgets on your screen. Super helpful tool. So as you can see, it's a really easy to use platform, and students can interact in a variety of ways and have simple response tools. This is a great chance to give students a voice to respond and reflect on a variety of different questions and prompts that you may have for them.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:31]:

You can also save the responses and refer back to them later. So this is helpful if you have a slide deck for each grade level, for each project, and you can compare and contrast responses. At the very top, you can even add more slides. So this is really great. You can go back to the responses later. When you want to use Jamboard in STEAM, here are some ways that you could integrate this into your lesson. First, you can use Jamboard as a connection piece. Maybe you set up questions beforehand, and have them listed on the Jamboard.

Naomi Meredith [00:07:02]:

You can even change the background. So if you don't want students to delete things, you can create an image separate from Jamboard. Save it as the background so it's not movable. But you could have a stem warm-up for the day. It could be a question of the day related to the content they're gonna learn about. STEM topics that are happening around the world, like current events, or even just random questions that you want to get to know students. This would be great for all classes, especially if you teach multiple classes in a day. It's really hard to get to know kids.

Naomi Meredith [00:07:32]:

And see all those unique things about them. So this could be a really cool way as students come in. They answer the question, you talk about the responses, and then move on with the lesson. You can also use Jamboard as a Wonderwall. This goes back to the similar concept with real paper and real sticky notes by your digitizing this, this could be a way where you can assess students about prior knowledge about a topic. So maybe you have the topic as what you're gonna learn about for your STEM project. Maybe you're going to learn about ways to help the environment, and then students can write questions, wondering about things that they know. And they could add all those little digital sticky notes.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:11]:

And this is a great way to assess what they know, what they don't know, and the direction you might wanna take the lesson. If they need more support or not. So this would be a cool way to keep progress in starting off the lesson. You can also use Jamboard as a way for students to share at the end or during a project. Students could take pictures of their final work, so you saw that there's an add image button. They could add images that are already saved in their Google Drive. They could take fresh pictures, and this would be really cool to have a final collage that you could share with the class. If you wanted to, you could even present the collage of students' work at a back-to-school night or an open house opportunity, a STEM night. And these are all pictures from the student's perspective.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:55]:

You can also have students share a strategy that worked well with them during the project and also help others keep going throughout the week. So maybe before students clean up for the day, they add a quick little group sticky note or response on there. What work went well for you? What do you need to keep going? What questions do you have? And then, you could discuss this at the end of class or the beginning of the next day, so this will give strategies for students to keep going on their projects. Again, you can use this even more as a reflection tool, so I like to use the same questions for every STEM challenge throughout the year. So students are used to the questions, but their responses are going to change because the projects are so different. The questions I like to use are I am proud of If I were to try this challenge again, I would change, and then something that was challenging for them. No matter what, there's always gonna something challenging, so it's good to reflect on those things. So having those same questions every time, students could put that on a jam board.

Naomi Meredith [00:09:55]:

Maybe even each group has a slide on the GM board, and they reflect that way or each student. So it's just a cool way to keep things organized and have the experience be interactive where every student gets a voice, it's easy to share, and the tools are easy to use as well. The second tool that you definitely want to use in your STEM or STEAM place is Internet Awesome. Now I might also go call this Google Interland. It's the same thing. The technical term by Google is Internet Awesome. And this is a free digital citizenship curriculum developed by Google. Available for upper elementary and even a little bit of middle school.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:35]:

Why would you want to use this? It is so much fun, and the kids beg for Google and Interland all the time. So we're gonna talk about when you could use this. So it definitely engages the older students in tough digital citizenship conversations. It can also integrate well with the common sense media curriculum. I do use a combination of both because I feel like both have very important messages for students and ways to talk about those things. And it also gives that sense of gamification. As you can see on the screen, there is a game for every major lesson that students can apply their learning. And so it really makes a hard topic more fun and interactive.

Naomi Meredith [00:11:18]:

There are also digital resources for lessons. This is a fairly new feature of the Internet Awesome. It integrates Pear Deck. So Pear Deck is a Google extension with Google slides where students can interact with the slides. So this curriculum actually has the slides already created for you. You can edit them for your needs, so make a copy and edit them in Google Slides. And then, if you add in that extension with Pear Deck, Pear Deck is a freemium. So there are free tools and then premium tools.

Naomi Meredith [00:11:49]:

So once students add in that code, they can interact with the slides and respond that way. So I'm not gonna go too much into Paratek in this presentation. Pear Deck is a cool Google tool. Definitely write that down if you haven't heard of it. It's a great interactive piece as well. I actually used this Be Internet Awesome curriculum when we rent remote in the fall of 2020. Spring 20 20 was so different. But in the fall of 2020, I used this. And I didn't feel like I lost it in learning because I knew I was gonna use this in my STEM classroom anyway, and we had access to the resources as soon as we were able to respond and be reflective.

Naomi Meredith [00:12:25]:

There is a lot to this curriculum, so I would suggest picking 1 topic. For that grade level and then carry it into the next year. You don't have to do it all at once. Now if you're a classroom teacher, you could use this as your whole curriculum for the whole year. Digital citizenship isn't just a one-month, one-day thing. It's part of our real world, part of being a good citizen online. It is needed starting in kindergarten for sure. So definitely use this as a tool to help with those conversations.

Naomi Meredith [00:12:57]:

Here's how you can use it to enhance your steam instruction. Again, you are promoting digital citizenship, which is needed all year, and it's those home resources are really helpful, too, especially with how to communicate with parents. As teachers, especially, we see why digital citizenship is important for our students within the classroom outside of the classroom and how technology is used for academic and fun purposes. There is a purpose for both, but we just need to have that good digital citizenship all year. Sometimes parents don't always know how to have those conversations with students or what may or may not be a problem. So this is a great stepping stone into those resources to share. You can also use Google Interland as an academic behavior incentive. Maybe you have a technology-free day that your class is trying to earn.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:46]:

So this is a cool option to add in there for kids. This is way better than the cool math games, and we all know cool math games are not really math, and kids will sneakily play that. So If they're gonna play a game, how about they work on their digital citizenship? This is also a good way if you need last-minute sub plans. I am not a huge proponent of having kids just sitting on the computer and doing nothing. However, if you need something last minute, it is something productive for them to work on. And kids really love playing it. And then, of course, we could have this as an early finisher. You could add this to a digital choice board. This is something that I will do for the second of the year.

Naomi Meredith [00:14:25]:

Some of the teachers actually use my digital choice board as just an extension of their homework if that's something they wanna work on at home. You could even have Interland be a station rotation if you don't have a lot of devices in your classroom. Maybe you have a few set up in a station, and students can choose to go to that 1. So there's a lot of possibilities of using it once you've used those core lessons and taught through that just to help them keep learning and applying the lessons. You can use this throughout the year. The third tool out of the 4 is Google Drawings. I feel like Google Drawings doesn't get enough attention that it deserves. In fact, this is way better to start kids off instead of starting with Google Slides, which we will talk about Google Slides. But it's really great because it has all of the same tools that Google Slides does, but it is way less overwhelming.

Naomi Meredith [00:15:19]:

The way that I like to think about Google Drawings, it's like having a sheet of paper. So you have 1 slide, 1 sheet of paper to worry about. You can change the size of the Google drawings. So if you know you're not going to print it out, you can even make it a square so that students have more room on the side to create with. You can even change the size 2 a sheet of paper that will get printed out. If you know, that's going to be an option as well. Again, it still practices the same tools as Google Slides, but students are going to get lost resolving the pages. If your students don't have a lot of experience using Google tools, I recommend starting with Google Slides or Google Docs first.

Naomi Meredith [00:16:00]:

Google Docs isn't as much creation. It's more of that text editing. But if you want students to be creating more, definitely start them in Google Google Drawings first because they get familiar with how the tools work and how to use them. What's really great too, and this will help with some of the examples and projects, is that you can create PNG. So that's an image file type that can be downloaded with a transparent background. You can actually do that in slides also, but this is a quick way if you need to create something that doesn't have a background. You wanna layer it and, on top of something, create it in Google Drives. Now thinking about how to use this in your stem classroom, There is that vocabulary development. You can use the drawing tool, and I don't think it'll play from the beginning on this slide, But you can actually use the drawing tool.

Naomi Meredith [00:16:51]:

At the top, there's, like, the different pens, and there's 1 that's like a polyglot polygon, like a tracing type of pen. Students can actually trace images that they insert into the slides and help them understand where different parts of things are. I went to a session, and there was a session about Google and all of the updates. At a conference recently. And this lady, when she was a teacher, actually would trace maps and end up having students trace maps. And was able to create little PNG images that could be used for different things. So then eventually, she had students trace the maps digitally. They were talking about the place and understanding what it looks like, and this actually helped with their geography skills. I'm even thinking about how you could use this for labeling different parts of students might have an image of the life cycle of a butterfly, and maybe they have to trace part, and this can help them with that vocabulary development and also create a digital image and help them be successful with digital drawing, which some students actually might really enjoy.

Naomi Meredith [00:17:54]:

Can also have students create an infographic, and so this could help them synthesize information about a topic that they're researching, which later they can use that information to help them with their project. Maybe they make an infographic about the topic. You print it and then work with a makey makey, which is a little tool that looks little, but it does a lot. A little tool that has clips that you can connect to things. And then, when you touch a clip or when it's touching something connective, it will then perform the task that's coded on the computer. So there is some coding. So you could have them make an infographic that's interactive. So when it's clipped to different parts, when you touch a clip, then it's going to say something of the computer about that piece.

Naomi Meredith [00:18:38]:

You can also have students create video graphics that they could layer within their videos. So maybe they're creating backgrounds for a green screen. So if they're designing something for your school-wide news, maybe they are doing a little project. Maybe one group is in charge of creating the backgrounds within Google Drawings. You can download that and then insert that into the video. Maybe they want to create characters for a stop motion video, and they create the characters within Google Drawings, download them as a PNG so everything excludes together without a background, and then they can create a Google Slides stop motion animation. I've also used Google Drawings in a way for how I can use I have 2 cricket machines. Crickets are those, and I might be saying it wrong. But crickets are those machines that cut out things with l razors, so it reads the image off the computer, and then it cuts it onto paper or sticker paper.

Naomi Meredith [00:19:32]:

I have 2 of those in my classroom since I think it's a cheaper way to go for that type of 2 d cutting. So I've had student students create images for their design using Google Drawings, then I was able to download them as a PNG and insert it into the cricket platform. And then cut it from there. This is a lot easier to do because cricket isn't really known for being made for the classroom setting. So that way, I didn't have to create an account for every single student. We already have Google accounts for the kids. They could easily share their image with me within Google Forms. And then choose the color they wanted.

Naomi Meredith [00:20:11]:

So we did this for digital citizenship. So on the left, you can see some of the final designs that were cut on sticker paper. And our goal was to create an actual one, and we used Google Interland for part of this lesson to build the background. So they had to create a sticker that could be 1 to keep and 1 to give away, so cut out 2 for them that talked about the digital citizenship lessons throughout the week. So we really talked about how to layer designs, how to use thick and chunky fonts, and how to create something that would make sense that could be cut out. So there was a lot of layering involved, and so their digital stickers look exactly like they would when it's cut out, which was really important to think about the future and how their project would actually work. And the last tried and true favorite, which you probably already used, but here's how you can use it in your theme space, is Google Slides. So this, I feel like, is more advanced for students once they have more experience using some of the Google tools.

Naomi Meredith [00:21:13]:

They could definitely get live within slides, but it is so powerful and definitely needed in a STEM space. So why would you wanna use this? Well, it's definitely great for long-term projects. You can have students work on specific slides for the day. So let's say you send out a whole engineering design process notebook that they will be using throughout the week. You might have specific slides that they're going to work on instead of printing everything out. Now when you're thinking about creating your slides, add those movable pieces to make it more interactive. How can you make this even better than paper? You see, here I have QR codes that students can watch videos. They are connected to YouTube.

Naomi Meredith [00:21:52]:

Sadly, in my district, YouTube is blocked for elementary, so I can actually watch it as a teacher. So I'll play the video, and then they'll respond. But think about how you can make it more interactive. Can you add audio? Yes. You can add audio to Google Slides. I'm gonna link in that resource for you actually how I create audio and add that to a Google Slide. You can also embed videos.

Naomi Meredith [00:22:18]:

Maybe it is YouTube if your school doesn't have it blocked. Maybe you create a video using Screencastify and embed that video as well. So make it more interactive how can your slides do more than a piece of paper? Likewise, students can make their slides more interactive too. They can insert their photos throughout a project, so maybe when they have the planning section, when they go to the planning side, you have them draw on a piece of paper. Then take a picture of their design and put it on there so they always have their plan. Maybe you have them take a video and insert that on their slide where they talk about what their work looks like. Maybe they add a photo.

Naomi Meredith [00:22:56]:

This is really great too when students are working in groups who really wanna encourage collaboration, but they have a chance to keep their project by way of photos. Some kids actually don't even like keeping their projects, especially if they're made out of cardboard. They're not huge fans. So that way, they can document their work, and then they can't get rid of it or take it apart or have someone else in the group take it. And again, when you think of Google Slides since there are more advanced features compared to other Google tools, students are continuously working on those digital skills and ways that they can showcase their work. So when thinking about using this in your room, again, this is a great way to have a digital notebook that can do even more than a piece of paper. I teach over 500 kids in the course of a month, So this is definitely my go-to. Once I have my slides set up for the week, they have that digital notebook.

Naomi Meredith [00:23:45]:

I might send them other resources along the way that I forgot to include. But this is really helpful for them. We also talked about Paratek. So Paratek is an extension that you can add on. Oh, sorry. It's not an extension. It's an add-on that you can add within Google Slides. So that can make those slides more interactive, definitely check out Pear Deck. They have templates already set up for you, and they have a ton of different stem ones as well.

Naomi Meredith [00:24:10]:

So that's a great resource to have in your toolbox. You can also have students create stop-motion animations using Google Slides. There are a ton of free resources and things on YouTube out there to help you get started. And then you could also have Google Slides in the stem space via digital portfolio. So after I have a blank digital portfolio document. So or your slides or maybe something that's a template that you share with them at the beginning of the year, and they could keep adding on. So maybe after each project, students can take pictures, and add to their experience. Maybe they even have 1 slide per project, and this would be really cool for students to share at the end of the year with their families.

Naomi Meredith [00:24:49]:

Or even at parent-teacher conferences to help that parent communication. A lot of kids really thrive doing these STEM projects. This would be a cool way to document throughout the year. So again, if you haven't already grabbed it and you haven't noticed the link at the bottom, you can grab this resource, where you it'll keep track of things for you and have some fun goodies in for you. Thank you so much again for coming today. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. I have my email contact Naomi Meredith at Gmail dot com. Check me out on my website, Naomi Meredith dot com, Instagram at Naomi Meredith underscore. It's also the same for Twitter and 10 talked.

Naomi Meredith [00:25:26]:

I use Instagram a bit more. And then my TPT shop, Naomi Meredith. And then I didn't put it up here, but like I said, go and check out my podcast. It's pretty new, so super exciting, The Elementary STEM Coach podcast. Thank you so much again, and I hope to hear from you soon. Good luck with all your Google tools. This presentation had a ton of visuals, and I bet you are dying to see all of the examples and handouts. You can grab the video recording of this episode, the video slides I reference throughout, student examples, and bonuses for only 5 dollars.

Naomi Meredith [00:26:02]:

That's less than a fancy coffee drink. This will all be linked in the show notes, and you can check it all out here at naomimeredith.com/PDreplay.

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

Check out more inspiration on her website: naomimeredith.com
Connect with her on Instagram: @naomimeredith_
Watch this episode on her YouTube Channel: Naomi Meredith
Join the Facebook Group, The Elementary STEM Coach Community | Technology & STEM for K-6 Teachers

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!

From Classroom Teacher to STEAM Teacher with Kelly Hogan [ep.45]

Check out the full episode on From Classroom Teacher to STEAM Teacher with Kelly Hogan:

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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

Episode Summary

In today's episode, I chatted with Kelly Hogan from mathematically enthused.

Kelly shares her journey from classroom teacher to STEAM teacher and provides tips and tricks for strategies and activities she has incorporated into her classroom.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Kelly became a STEAM teacher
Kelly's favorite part about teaching STEAM
How Kelly structures projects with her students when she sees them once a week
How Kelly stores her students' projects
What surprised Kelly about being a STEAM teacher

Meet Kelly Hogan:

Kelly Hogan is a former classroom teacher turned K-6 STEAM teacher on Long Island, NY. Kelly loves all things Math and is passionate about bringing practical, functional Math skills into STEAM lessons. Kelly is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator and loves helping other teachers simplify their day through the use of Google Technology. When she's not teaching, Kelly loves working out and hanging out with family, friends, her husband, and Rowdy, her puggle.

Connect with Kelly:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript:

Naomi Meredith 00:00

In today's episode I am chatting with Kelly Hogan from mathematically and I have been chatting with Kelly a bunch on over on Instagram over the past few years when she had a different instagram name and throughout her different teaching positions. Kelly is a former classroom teacher turned K through six STEM teacher in Long Island, New York. She loves all things math and is passionate about bringing practical and functional math skills into her STEM or STEAM lessons. She is a level two Google certified educator and loves helping other teachers simplify their day through the use of Google technology. When she's not teaching Kelly loves working out and hanging out with her family friends and her husband. And of course, her little Puggle rowdy, this episode was so much fun. And Kelly has such a great experience from being in the classroom and into the STEM space that I know you're definitely going to connect with. And she even has some awesome tips and tricks of what she has done in her classroom that I definitely want to use and mine and I'm sure you definitely want to use in yours. I can't wait for you to listen to this interview.

Naomi Meredith 01:07

Well, Kelly, thank you so much for being here. today. We're chatting a little bit before this. And you and I have talked over the years and we message each other all the time. And you're so sweet when you tagged me in your stories. So I knew I had a hat? Well, I asked you a while back, I think when I was first launching, well, you'd be a guest. You're like, yes, so they finally got it all together, I figured out how to invite guests, blah, blah, blah. And then I'm just so excited to chat with you and your position because I think your story and I don't know all of it. But I think your story will really resonate with a lot of teachers, because most of us have been teachers who are in the classroom, and then we get thrown into this role. So tell us more about yourself and your background and just how you stepped into your STEAM are STEM will probably say both, but how you stepped into your role.

Kelly Hogan 02:29

So for those who don't know me, I'm Kelly Hogan and mathematically enthuse on Instagram and Teachers Pay Teachers. And to tell you my full STEM STEAM story. I need to go back like way, way back. So before I was in college, I was looking to Yeah, I was looking to be a teacher from as long as I could remember. And I was preparing to go to school for music education. So I was focusing on being a music teacher and being heavily involved in music ensembles that were curricular and extracurricular. But when I got to college, I realized that that was not necessarily the best fit for me. I loved doing music and being part of ensembles. But I realized that as a teacher, I'd be kind of limited in what I was doing with students and impact was important to me. So I graduated from college in 2005, with my bachelor's in elementary education, and in New York State Teachers are required to get a master's degree. Oh, I didn't know that. Yes, after a certain amount of years now. But the time when I graduated, there was no limitation on how many years you had. I think now, once you graduate, you have to have your masters within about three years. So choosing the Masters was hard for me because at the time in 2005, the big push was reading and literacy. And I knew definitively that I didn't want my masters in reading and literacy. So I shopped around for a while. And at Hofstra University where I got my masters from at the time they had a program that was elementary maths, science and technology. Oh, basically. Yeah. So it was Elementary, MSP, and it was lots of integrated projects. One of the things I remember very distinctly about that program was that I had to make a scale model bed for a stuffed animal of my choosing. We had to make board games, we had to write papers about the process. I actually fell in love with math through that program, which is kind of interesting. But I had friends who after we graduated, were getting jobs as the science teacher in schools where science was a push in, or where they were just specializing departmentalized at the elementary level. STEAM and STEM wasn't a thing. It wasn't a job at the time. And I was just kind of using it to enhance my toolbox and my work in my classroom with my kids. I have taught every classroom grade except for second. It's So at some point in time, I have taught everything from K through six. And I was happy in the classroom. And then I ended up teaching math as for about a year and learn that that was not my thing. love math, did not love math is. So I was kind of looking around and thinking about where my next career move would be, what would my shift be. And the district right next door to mine had an opening for an elementary scene teacher. And I read all the ballpoint bullet points on the job and was literally floored. Because I was like, that's the job. That's that's the job I won. So they interviewed in April, I was offered the position a couple weeks later. And then I was appointed in May of 2021. And I have been in that STEAM mindset ever since I've never looked back. But the irony is that if I go back to my high school experience, I always did want to be especially right here. So it was kind of looping back to what I wanted to do without knowing exactly what I wanted to do. So I definitely am in the right space right now. I love my job. And even on my worst days, it's so energizing. So it's the right place for me to be

Naomi Meredith 06:17

Oh, yeah, well, I guess I think really, you're it's a very creative space. And I think your experiences definitely lead us into the STEM position. Because I thought about that, too. Like I had a class. In middle school. I wasn't called STEM because like that term is so new. But it was called technology. But all this stuff was STEM based. So you had all these stations, there's robotics, there was stop motion, there was like these laser cutter things and like, I've always loved science and the hands on stuff. So it just makes sense. Like, so probably stay with you like, oh, this makes sense why I'm in this role, and your masters pretty much is STEM.

Kelly Hogan 06:56

So yes, that that program has evolved. And it's actually now called masters in elementary STEM education. So it's it's really interesting, but I was also always a very love science and technology. So it just, it was the right hat to put on. And it kind of found me at the time that I needed it to find me so I could not be any happier than I am right now.

Naomi Meredith 07:18

Oh, good. I'm so glad. I'm glad it was like a it's a hard but fun transition.

Kelly Hogan 07:23

Yes. Yes, definitely hard. I would yes, definitely describe it as hard. It is.

Naomi Meredith 07:29

Yeah, it's hard. I think being a classroom teacher though before I bet you see those two is super valuable. Because you know how to plan you've obviously taught all the grades. So I think having that experience instead of there's nothing wrong with just jumping into sand. But I think having that background and education and classroom management and planning a lesson and figuring it out really, really helps in your role a ton. I see that a ton for myself.

Kelly Hogan 07:54

100% 100%. I can't imagine coming out of a teacher education program into STEM without having a little bit of classroom time first, because it is amazing how much management it takes.

Naomi Meredith 08:08

Oh, yeah, I that's like the biggest thing. I'm like, Oh my gosh, it's like, wow. It's like sometimes I'm the mean, and I'm not the nicest. Most mostly nice, but sometimes mean. What have been your favorite parts so far? Because I mean, I know you love it, but like, what are your favorite parts about it?

Kelly Hogan 08:31

I don't want to be too cliche and say everything. But to some degree. Yes, it's everything. But the most important things that I would stick with is that every day is exciting. My students love to come into the STEAM lab, I would say that out of the 360 students I serve. Maybe I have two students who aren't engaged when they walk into the STEAM lab a week, which is outstanding, and the energy that they bring in really energizes me. So that is a huge part of it. The 40 minute periods are lovely. They're I actually they're a blessing and a curse, kind of like what you were saying about being me. And it's great to have 40 minutes when it's a tough day for a certain class and you're just trying to muscle through it. And then you get to send them back to their teachers. Like you're being the fun auntie, right. But I also only get to see my students for 40 minutes a week. And that's the downside is that there's so much I always want to do in STEAM that I'm always strapped for time. And then I think seeing every kid at school so I teach all the kids in my school K through six, which means I have a relationship with all the kids in the school I have relationships with their siblings, and so far I've only been there for this is my second year but I'm already really enjoying seeing kids grow from year to year and how they change. And it's really just it's amazing how I was concerned about the show worked periods not being able to build relationships with my students, and you have a different kind of relationship. But it's so long term. And I love that.

Naomi Meredith 10:08

It's so true. Like I was talking to my kids by fifth graders. And I think my first year with them for a second, I'm counting on my hands. Second, third, fourth it, so I knew them since first grade. And it was cool. Like, they're like, We don't remember the person before. I'm like, Well, that's nice. But it's just like, cool to see them over the years. And I have like pictures of them. And it's just like, that is something you don't get always get as a classroom teacher, unless you loop with them, which I don't know why you want to do that. But yeah, it is so cool. I love that. And I didn't know you only taught was that once a week. So how do you structure your projects? That's a big, a lot of people do that. Like that's hard.

Kelly Hogan 10:51

Yes. So to add on to that, I see them 40 minutes a week. And I have one minute between classes.

Naomi Meredith 10:58

What? Yes. Oh, yeah, I need to know what what do you do?

Kelly Hogan 11:02

Which normally means I actually have students waiting outside my room as I'm releasing them. Because as teachers, most of us are on time, if not early. So structure was really important for me. And I knew that in order to be really productive with all grade levels, my structure would have to vary a little bit only seeing them for 40 minutes a week. So my k one, two lessons, especially in the beginning of the year, they get an instant build when they come in, and I have short challenges up on the board where I give them some free build time I give them a material, I try to rotate materials, so they get a new material, usually every month. And they'll have about three problems they need to solve by building something with their materials, then they get a quick brain break, because my little guys need movement. So if I can beam it with what we're doing for the day, I theme it with what we're doing for the day, then I usually have a short video or short read. And then we go back into a challenge. The second half of the year, I stretch out the lessons more to be like one week is our background and plan. And then the next week is our built, then with three through six is a little different. So obviously a lot faster pace because those kids are doing more in depth projects. So they kind of come into a do now and they do now sometimes it's just as simple as get your materials from last week and chat with your group about what your next steps are. And then I do a mini lesson I know I was just listening to I'm not sure if it was your most recent episode, but your structure of your classes, I was doing like the same thing. I'm thinking about the pie piece, right. So you have the the large IPS is not really teacher time. So I do about five to 10 minutes, some weeks, it's honestly just reviewing what we did last week and reviewing hot glue safety because that comes down again and again. And then they'll have about depending on how much talking I do 2020 to 25 solid minutes of building, and then five minutes of cleaning like crazy. And I tried to get them in line early. So really, my time on teaching is about 35 minutes with the cleanup with everything else that's going on. So the Do Now time is super valuable for me in my structure, because it gets them moving and doing something from the moment they walk in the door. And it helps me transition because I only had one minute on the clock between classes. So sometimes when I'm really desperate, I'm very behind with my littles all instead of reading them the book that we're working on problem solving from, I'll play it on YouTube, just to give myself time to set materials as much as I love to read to them. I do sometimes just need the time to swap over from my kids to my little kids, because sometimes my Thursdays especially today happens to be a Thursday when we're talking to each other. And my Thursdays are I have fourth, second. Sixth, second, fifth. So it's a lot of flipping materials all day. And then yeah, yes, yes. So if I could choose, I would love to have all of my fourth grades one day and my sixth grades and other day, but that really wouldn't work in our school. So yeah, so it's similar structure to what you're doing. But my pacing, obviously a little bit different, very similar to your structure. However, our projects from whatever do you talk about on the podcast and seeing you share is that your projects last about a week where my projects my student, my fourth graders finished up their mini golf design project and it took them about probably eight weeks, but it was one session per week. Yeah. So I really have to I have to backwards plan a lot. I have to really think about what I want the end of the project to be where I want it to land. So my sixth graders right now are making playable winter winter carnival games for the week before our holiday break. And they have to Have you done without a doubt by Thursday, December 15? Because we'll start on Friday, December 16. So I really had to count back. And I'm, I'm hoping we'll make it because I gave them more time than last year. We had Veterans Day on a Friday, and we had our school fundraiser on a Friday that the kids were in all days a lot like Field Day. So when I lose a week with them, it's it's a big hit. It's a big Yeah.

Naomi Meredith 15:22

Oh, yeah, it totally is. It is. But I'm glad I appreciate you like explaining that. Because I think, like I said, your situation is more common. Seeing the kids once a week. And I think some teachers, you might have experienced this struggle with like doing a longer project with the older kids just like how do you structure that. And of course, it's not perfect all the time. And you just have to figure out how it will work out. And it's okay, if it takes long. But I think if you have natural breaks in the project, it's probably really doable, carrying it on every week. It's not ideal. But you know, your older kids can handle it, too. So how do you store everything? I'm sure people are asking.

Kelly Hogan 16:04

Goodness gracious, I that is my biggest, I would say the biggest pit in the peach, right. So I have a classroom that prior to my arriving there was converted from what used to be our computer room and a very small science lab into one STEAM classroom. So I have a lot of space, I have about 1300 square feet, which in theory sounds like a lot of storage space. Yeah. However, I do have cabinets, and the cabinets are chock full of stuff from science kits and stuff from donations and storing is really hard. And what I learned last year in my first year was that if I'm having kids do cardboard projects, there needs to be one grade level doing a cardboard project at a time. I learned last year that one of the things that I can't do is have multiple large builds going at the same time. So my fourth grade does a large build the first part of the year, when they're done, my sixth grade right now is doing a large build than my fifth grade will do a large build next, because I have about three or four storage cabinets that I can use for student storage. And beyond that I don't really have storage space. So we do a lot of what I call with the little guys deconstruction project. Yeah, put it up for a day, take it down, we're using paper towel tubes, and we're taking them back down and putting them away. So that really helps with the space management and the project storage. Last year, I made the mistake of doing a couple of cardboard projects at the same time and I was literally buried in cardboard in the lab and I was miserable.

Kelly Hogan 19:20

So I made that change because I just couldn't live like that. I am not comfortable with clutter. And that's been my biggest point of growth in this job is that it is cluttered all of the time. Yeah, my brain is healthy clutter. Yes, it's healthy clutter, and I generally know where things are. But to the untrained eye, it looks like a hot mess.

Naomi Meredith 19:44

Oh yeah, minus two. It's like what I'll say make mistakes get messy and like my room crashed. Like I will say like I have like a big room but also like no storage. So there's just stuff everywhere. Like I have my wife Lillian, you know you're good. Getting a wagon soon. I have a wagon just chillin. I have like, all my stuff I have like I'm cutting. I have my Cricut machines out cutting sticker like that's it's trashed all the time. But it's very, very organized. Is there anything else that surprised you? I mean, the storage your time, like what like coming out of the classroom getting into this, you're like, Whoa.

Kelly Hogan 20:25

I touched on it a little bit earlier. But honestly, it was the amount of classroom management that I took. Because as a fairly established classroom teacher, when I left the classroom to go to AI s already had about 12 years under my belt. And then when I went into STEAM, so now I have 13 years, and I thought, Alright, I have systems, I know my systems pretty well, I feel very comfortable with them. So I thought I had it on lock. And I was just going to walk in and my systems were going to work, and some did, and some didn't. So what I didn't realize was how many more systems I needed last year. And this summer, I spent a lot of time just thinking about systems that would help class run smoother, and create a common experience with clear expectations for my students. So I have even more systems this year than I have probably ever had. And could I use a few more? Probably yes. But it actually it feels a lot better in my classroom this year with more systems. So I would say I have at least twice the amount of systems in place that I did when I was a classroom teacher and I didn't expect it to be that much more.

Naomi Meredith 21:35

Yeah, yeah, I agree. Yeah, I felt the same way. Because I'm all about classroom management. Ever since I started teaching. I was like the biggest thing I had to work on. So I'm like, huge on that. And I had, there's so many things I did so wrong. My first year like I've had, I think I talked about this, like the crayons, I had a big bucket of crayons, someone ate them and spits them out. Like a lot didn't work. That's not good. But yeah, I totally agree with you. And it just comes with time and how things are moving in your room? And it depends on the project. Sometimes I think I've noticed that for sure. Like, oh, or the grade some grades, do certain things. And some?

Kelly Hogan 22:16

Well, and I was just going to say that. And I think yes, some grades can can manage a lot of materials, some grades can't manage as many materials. And also from year to year. Sometimes the grades are not the same personalities. They're not the same kind of maturity. And I've had to adapt and change some things even from last year that I did, because they just didn't fit with the incoming group. And not because they couldn't meet the expectations. But because the constraints have had to be modified a little bit to require less materials to be used or to simplify some of the building that we were doing or be really specific about how to use scotch tape. Yeah, is something I never thought I would have to teach anyone had to use scotch tape because I I remember using scotch tape as a kid. I am shocked at how many young hands need explicit direct instruction about how to use a tape dispenser. I did not expect that last year, but this year I'm rockin and rollin.

Naomi Meredith 23:16

Yeah, it's like dangling everywhere. Like no, no. Oh, my goodness. Oh, no,

Kelly Hogan 23:20

We were just making parade balloons today was second grade. So I was teaching them that. If we can't rip the tape off, we can use our scissors and we can cut the tape off the dispenser. Because otherwise we'll be there all day trying to take things

Naomi Meredith 23:34

Oh yeah, it's so funny. You said that was one girl I interviewed as Jen, we were talking about tapes. It's a real thing. I never thought seriously. I'm all about the tapes.

Kelly Hogan 23:46

I did last year too. That was one of my other big shockers was masking tape kids who couldn't physically rip the masking tape without like closing it. Like it would just be a string of close tape. And that didn't even dawn on me as a muscular skill until kids started doing it. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I need to teach them how to rip the tape.

Naomi Meredith 24:10

Yeah, we're in the business of life skills right here. If any, they don't learn anything from us, at least they know how to use tape.

Kelly Hogan 24:16

Oh, how do you see they'll be able to wrap a present like you won't believe Oh, yeah,

Naomi Meredith 24:20

Actually have a lesson. I've done that. And the kids got so mad at me. It was like, they had to find the area and perimeter of the wrapping paper that they were doing and how many pieces of tape. They did choose a method and the kids did not like that project like how to give most kids had it like oh, well this is good life skill. I haven't done that in a while but it was interesting. Yeah. Oh, I'm

Kelly Hogan 24:47

sure it was.

Naomi Meredith 24:49

I'm so I know because you okay, you leave the nicest feedback on my TPT store. I always know it's Yeah, and it's just so kind of Yeah. I like oh, you remember Did you realize someone the other day, but I'm thinking other resources, I know you've used what have been some of your favorites of mine, that you've seen success in your classroom.

Kelly Hogan 25:10

I've used a lot of them. My my favorite, honestly, this year is the Makerspace menu. I know you also have an episode that where you talked about that. So I'm gonna plug you for you, people should go back and listen to that episode if they're interested in this. So the Makerspace menu has been a huge time saver for me. When I took the same role. Last year, I always had STEAM budgeting on my mind, and my kiddos thinking differently about their tasks and having some strong constraints in place. And in my mind, I was going to create STEAM lab money thing out, and then I heard you talking about it. And I was like, why am I going to sit down and build this all out myself when I can just get the resource and give myself peace of mind. And it's actually been really great because you have the front of the menu page where you have all of the items set already. So I go in and take out things that I know I either don't have a lot of that I know it's in the past have not used in a way that made sense for the material, or something that just doesn't fit a certain project. And I just have it out. And right now in my classroom. Just this week, I set up like a $1 $2 and a $3 drawer that they pull out of a cart. So that's cool. And what my kids shot like that. So that's been huge for me. And like I said, I've used a lot last year I use the spider web.

Naomi Meredith 26:45

Oh, yeah, you sent me a video. I remember you tagged me the spider polies.

Kelly Hogan 26:49

Yes. So I did that with my Kindergarten last year Kindergarten this year is not quite ready for that. They're very young. They're Yes,

Naomi Meredith 26:56

same.

Kelly Hogan 26:59

Five and six. They're not ready for that just yet. But when we did push pull, we did that last year that was super fun for them. And my students do a board game project and we use a lot of the materials from your seam survival camp board game unit, but what I do is we don't use exterior outdoor materials because we do ours in the winter. Oh, perfect. And the thing I've been using a lot lately is your Google Classroom Google Suite posters and your hot glue gun holsters. So I use them when I'm teaching my students have glue safety because they don't really know a lot about a part of the hot glue gun. And so I have them in Google Classroom for instruction but then I also have them actually framed and hanging up in my lap.

Naomi Meredith 27:42

Other frames.

Kelly Hogan 27:46

Listen, they're printed on cardstock with color they need to stay nice

Naomi Meredith 27:54

Framing the poster that's adorable. Get to so frame.

Kelly Hogan 27:57

Yes, I will frames and command strip frame hangers are like Velcro. Yeah.

Naomi Meredith 28:06

That makes me so happy like I'm so all these like things have helped to save time. I love them, then you tell like that i i was playing around with it for years. And then I was like, How can I make this makes sense for other people. And I just added an update. I don't know if you've used it yet. I just added it like a few weeks ago. But it's like a table. So they have to write down like the items how many and then the the total costs which your your math brain would love and I just added it and my kids are like, Oh, I like this update. I'm like perfect.

Kelly Hogan 28:40

I'm chuckling listening to you because I made one really quick because I want them to have a budget ledger. So my kids have been using a budget ledger with I'm gonna download. I'm gonna download the update because I didn't know it was there.

Naomi Meredith 28:52

No, like they had like a few weeks ago. I'm like, I should probably have this in there. So that's so funny like, well, you. I'm glad I made you proud with my mask.

Kelly Hogan 29:01

Yeah, I was like, oh, we need a budget ledger. Yes. Because it's, it's easier for them to kind of track what they're spending. So that's awesome. I'll download that as I just been printing all of mine from a single project I made for the kids instead of actually adding it to my resources. Not so yeah, so I'll download that. Yeah, I love the menu. And it's great. I love what I love about it. And what I love about having budgeting as a constraint in STEM and STEAM is that having done it without the budget last year going to using the budget this year, the change in the conversations and gathering materials is so powerful and so impactful because they're really evaluating what they actually need versus I'm just going to take it because it's there. And I find that we're creating much less waste because of that as well as as a human being but also as a STEAM teacher waste is really important to me and I'm trying to reduce reuse as much as I can. It's inevitable because we do build out of recycled materials. But I like to think that before we recycle, those materials are kind of getting a second life before they actually become actual recycling or trash. But I do try to reduce waste as much as possible. And the budgeting has really changed that piece.

Naomi Meredith 30:18

Oh, I see that too. And you probably say this, you don't have to restock as much. And it keeps them super independent. Like they have their little list and they're very thoughtful. They're like, Oh, I don't have enough money for this. And like, while you're gonna have to make a choice, like that's how it is, if you're remodeling a house, you don't have unlimited money. That's just, you have to be creative with what you got. I love it, too. I'm like, obsessed, and they don't have the kids laughing like, I'm the banker, and I'm the cash register. I am all the roles, and they just start laughing.

Kelly Hogan 30:51

When I when I framed it for when I started budgeting with the kids was when you decide you grew up, and you might want to be an engineer. Engineers do have constraints like this when they're working for companies to engineer video games. They have a finite budget for that video game, maybe? Yeah, they pitch their idea. And their idea, oh my gosh, it's kind of like my mom. They pitch their idea. And their bosses love it. But then they say, okay, yeah, you can make a mock up for $3,000. And if you can't do it for $3,000, then you can't do it. Yeah. So I'm trying to drive home the message that for those who already know, they have an engineering mindset, and they want to be engineers, that it's not all sunshine and roses, and just making what you want, you have to actually budget and plan. And just think about what you're doing. And that is part of the Engineering Design Process. But and you you might like this, too. So part of my process for them is, after they budget, I also have them write up a plan, I have them write up from third through sixth, they write the first five steps of their plan. So as a group, they'll write what they're doing. And we talked about how we're not writing, get the materials, but we're writing attach cardboard, a cardboard. So after they write the first five steps and their budget, because I am working like one week at a time, they'll submit it to me, I bought a stamp that says building permit approved from Zazzle. It read through their plans, I look at their diagrams and labels. And I look at their budget and just check that their math was right. And I stamp them for approval. And then the next time they come in, they get to shop and they can get whatever change they need and all that kind of good stuff. And it has been so much fun for me honestly, even with the stamp, but it's really changed the way projects are flowing to have those, you know, and some kids for some kids, yes, they don't want to work with a plan in front of them. They just kind of want to dive in and go. So that's why I only said five steps because after those five steps, they are going to dive in and go. But I want them to have something to start with. Because often I found last year that when they didn't have a place to start definitively. There was a lot of I don't like this anymore. I want to start again. And I don't see that as much this year,

Naomi Meredith 33:12

saying, but how does Yeah, cool. I've never thought of having it's almost like writing a how to I never thought of that. That's so smart. And especially carrying it on the weeks for them. They're not Oh, I remember I was going to do this like, oh, that's what I was working on. That is so that is a cool way to plan. That's like that's really good.

Kelly Hogan 33:33

I was in part from hearing the I heart STEAM podcast, she had some ideas that were similar to that and my own thinking about it and then the stamp I just kind of got the idea in my head so I it just really took off and that stamp was not cheap, but it was worth the money.

Naomi Meredith 33:53

Yeah. Well on YouTube everyone so you'll use it a ton. Yes. Well, I appreciate you sharing all this stuff and I'm so excited for I'm no other teachers are gonna want to reach out to you. Because I'm sure that your story is so much like, they're like mine. But do you Where can they find you and do you have anything you want to share with them? Just that they would love?

Kelly Hogan 34:20

Cool. I am mathematically enthuse, which is a really long handle, but I'm mathematically enthused on Instagram. I'm mathematically enthused on tick tock though I don't post as much or interact as much on tick tock, but I consume a lot. And mathematically enthused at Gmail. I do have a blog that I am slowly building at mathematically enthused blog.net and I am super responsive on Instagram. So that's really the best way to get me. But I'm happy to answer any questions that anybody has, especially if they're considering making the change from classroom into STEAM as I'm sure you are and your role is As someone who's also a STEAM coach, so I anyone has any questions anyone wants to figure out how to turn a math lesson into something STEM or STEAM just to put some energy into it. I will talk to anyone I also happen to be an extrovert. So there's, there's no wrong way to contact me. I'm good.

Naomi Meredith 35:21

Well, I love chatting with you. I appreciate you so much. And I'm just excited for this episode and just where your journey and STEM is going to be. So thank you again for being so excited today.

Kelly Hogan 35:35

Thank you for having me. This was a blast.

Naomi Meredith 35:37

Good. We'll chat soon.

Kelly Hogan 35:40

Yes, yes.

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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What Do You Need for a STEM Classroom? [ep. 3]

What Do You Need for a STEM Classroom? [ep.3]

Check out the full episode on what you need for a STEM classroom:

Watch the video version here on YouTube:

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Episode Summary

Are you in charge of setting up the STEM space in your school? Have you been gifted a classroom with a collection of supplies but not sure what to keep, what to toss and what to buy?

And let’s mention budget; what should you be buying within different budgets and balancing that between consumable and non-consumable items?

Let’s break down what you actually need for your STEM classroom and create a system that will work best for you.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Tips and tricks gathering materials when setting up your STEM space:

- #1- List those current assets
- #2-Create a budget
- #3- Be creative when gathering materials
- #4- Plan ahead

Resources Mentioned:

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Episode Transcript:

Are you in charge of setting up the STEM space in your school? Have you been gifted a classroom with a collection of supplies but not sure what to keep, what to toss and what to buy?

And let’s mention budget; what should you be buying within different budgets and balancing that between consumable and non-consumable items?

Let’s break down what you actually need for your STEM classroom and create a system that will work best for you.

The first step when setting up your STEM space is to list your current assets. Now you might be starting with a blank canvas, so you have nothing to list; you can skip this step! But you might want to keep it in mind for next year so don't write me off completely! First, pull out everything that you have in your space and notice:

-What are some things you absolutely want to keep?

-What are some things that you can toss or recycle? (like an old Boombox or CD player. I'm sorry you're definitely not going to use that!)

-What are some things you can donate within the district?

-Are there items that are actually not age appropriate?

Maybe the items are actually too young for your students and you can get them to other schools or preschools that are within your district. Maybe even your ILC/SPED programs in your school would like them.

You might even have items that are actually too advanced for your students; that could be a possibility for an after school club. Or they actually might be better suited for your middle school or high school programs.

I actually had a lot of these types of supplies when I entered my STeM space that were purchased by other STEM and tech teachers who were in my school [before me]. I was able to donate those to our middle schools and they could definitely get more use out of them.

Once you have the items that you know you're definitely going to keep, think about what type of balance of materials. Are you overloaded with robots? Are you overloaded with coding materials (like I was) and are you in need of more building materials? Or maybe vice versa! Maybe you have a lot of Makerspace items and don't have any robots at all!

Definitely think about the balance because when you move forward with these supplies, this is going to help you keep in mind the types of lessons that you want to be planning. Again, you definitely want your lessons to have a balance.

Once you are aware of all of the assets that you definitely have in your classroom, next you need to think about creating a budget.

Budgets are really tricky, especially in the STEM space. Some teachers don't have a budget, some have a little bit, some have a lot. There are opportunities to gather materials whether you have money or not; we will be talking about how to be creative with the funds you may or may not have.

First, you want to know how much money that you have available and when you actually need to spend it. Some schools are really particular about when money needs to be spent at certain times of the year. Some of them are flexible and let the funds carry over year after year. Find out what this means for your school and how and when you need to spend your budget.

Once you know how much you do (or do not have), this is a great time for you to create a donation opportunity. Amazon has a great selection for you to get started on a wishlist. You can easily get that set up and keep adding items throughout the year. You can share with your families and friends outside of your school.

Donors Choose is also another awesome website where you can create a grant opportunity and they walk you through step by step how to create that grant. They actually will gather the supplies once the funds are fully funded. The process is so easy; I've definitely had things funded in the past and now paying it forward into other classrooms and helping fund their projects as well.

Another way that you can be flexible with your budget that actually won't cost you anything is to reach out to other STEM and science teachers within your district. They might have items that they have purchased already and they might be willing to let you borrow them for a unit. This can really help you as well to try things out if you do or do not or actually want to buy them! Likewise, you might also have items that another teacher would love to try as well and you guys can do a little bit of a swap. I have a few friends in my district where we do this and it's such a great opportunity to help out their students that they have enough supplies and vice versa.

That last suggestion actually goes into this next tip; be creative with materials. There are a lot of ways to build up the supplies in your classroom that doesn't cost anything.

Think about consumables and non-consumables in your classroom. What I mean by this is consumables are the things that once students use them, they are used up; you can't use them again.

No matter what your budget is, you want to somehow get your hands on lots of tape. Kids LOVE tape. I think it's the new pencils; I'm pretty sure kids eat tape. Definitely set aside a budget for that! I set limits on tape, I make baby tape rolls (where I wrap a certain amount and wrap it around a popsicle stick and that's their tape limit), but I swear I don't know where this tape goes. They love it!

Think about those consumable items that students love, and how you can have a budget for that.

Sometimes you might want to purchase things that are a little bit more expensive because you know are going to last a longer amount of time.

My best example is when I'm thinking about robots. There are the code-and-go mice and the BeeBots. They are very similar robots; they pretty much do the same thing. When teaching over 500 kids, the code-and-go mice are not the most durable. The code-and-go mice are awesome for a home robot and I suggest this for students if they love coding at home. This is a great robot. It's about twenty bucks or so.

I do purchase the BeeBots. or even the BlueBots. The BlueBots even cooler; they can connect to iPads using Bluetooth. If you can invest in BlueBots and have iPads to connect to, I definitely recommend those.

Either way, the BeeBots and BlueBots are a great investment of my money. I will buy one or two each year based on my budget because I know that they're going to last. They're durable and also they don't use batteries. They have a rechargeable battery so they are worth the investment.

When purchasing, especially when it comes to those non-consumable items that will eventually become out of date, you don't always need a class set. A big part of STEM is being able to collaborate and use those materials as a team. So if you're buying one for every kid, where's the collaboration!?

Think about how you could buy items where it works for about half of the class, where they can work in pairs. Could they work in groups of 3 or even even smaller; how could they work in a station rotation? If you're unsure about a material you would like to buy, start small, enough for where it could be a station rotation, and build up from there.

Don't go all in when you're none getting started! You might not even like the tool or have found you don't even have time to use it.

Another way to build up your materials is to ask for donations. You can get very creative when you're asking for those donations! You know at the beginning and end of the school years when teachers are cleaning out their closets teachers are getting rid of stuff and you're so tempted to not look but you don't need anything?

Okay, as a STEM teacher, go look! You will be amazed by how many science supplies you will find from past science kits, math manipulatives that kids can build with, even lined paper which is great for planning. You can find a ton of stuff in your own school building!

Even sent out an email. Some teachers have kids who are growing up and they want to get rid of a big bucket of LEGO (take them up on it)! There are resources in your own building that you can definitely pull upon.

If you know you're going to start a Makerspace project, set out a box in your teachers lounge. Have teachers put in the boxes from their breakfasts and lunch meals that they're heating up in their microwaves and save that cardboard for your projects. That is the best cardboard to use by the way; all kids can cut it with regular scissors.

Be creative with the things that already are happening within your school building!

Another way that you can be creative when gathering your materials is to have a LEGO Donation Day. Have kids bring in those little snack bags filled with some basic LEGO bricks. If you have about 500 or so kids in your school, that's a lot of basic bricks that you can add to your collection! That would be a really cool thing to do for your Back to School Night!

Have kids bring you in a snack size bag filled with the LEGO and maybe you give them a cool sticker in return or another little behavior incentive for thanking them for their donation.

Also consider reaching out to local businesses. Businesses are looking for ways to have tax write offs, especially when it comes to STEM education. This is a big opportunity that businesses are just waiting for. They might have materials from their company they would love to give you. Or even if you write a grant, in return, they'll purchase items that you're looking for.

Finally ,when you are building up the supplies in your STEM classroom, you want to plan ahead. You won't get everything that you want your first year. [If you do, I want to come to your class because it would be amazing!] Having an ongoing list of supplies that you would love to have.

This is great because what if a business reaches out to you and they ask?, “What do you need?” You will have a list of things you already know that you would want and you can hand it over. Same with PTOs or parents; you will be prepared with that list also for your planning ahead.

Also, plan for repairs you're going to set all those systems routines and rules for all of the things in your classroom, but things will break. Now less things will break if you do have those systems and routines and rules, and you won't have as many repairs. But, accidents happen, things break with wear and tear. If you can set aside a budget or what you're going to do if things do break, have a plan for that.

Let's have a recap of now that you have all of these tips and tricks for setting up your STEM space.

#1- List those current assets

#2-Create a budget

#3- Be creative when gathering materials

#4- Plan ahead.

Now that you have this system for setting up the supplies in your classroom that you can use year after year, you probably want to know, “What exactly do I need right now? Just tell me exactly the things I need to buy!”

I actually went through and inventoried my whole classroom and created a spreadsheet of the must have items that work well in K-5. You can download that whole inventory spreadsheet for free here: naomimeredith.com/stemsupplylist

Thank you so much for ah thank you so much for hanging out with me today I will chat with you in the next episode.

Have a Makerspace donation box outside of your classroom and near the front entrance of your school.

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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!

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