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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:  

 

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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.

In 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!

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

STEM Teacher Behavior Management Strategies [ep.8 ]

STEM Teacher Behavior Management Strategies [ep. 8]

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

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

Episode Summary

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

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

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

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

In this episode, you’ll learn:

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

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

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


01:10

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


01:41

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


02:05

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

 

02:41

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


04:04

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


04:42

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


05:31

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


06:16

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


07:09

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


08:18

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


09:40

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


10:23

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


10:51

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


11:44

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


12:27

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


12:57

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


13:37

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


14:25

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


14:50

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


15:33

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

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

teacher-behavior-management-strategies

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

back-to-school-stem-challenges

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

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

back-to-school-stem-challenges

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

Episode Summary

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

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

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

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

In this episode, you’ll learn:

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

Resources Mentioned:

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

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

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


01:02

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


01:33

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


01:56

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


02:19

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


02:53

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


03:25

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


03:51

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


04:24

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


04:59

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


04:59

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


06:21

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


06:36

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


12:28

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


13:01

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


13:42

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

back-to-school-stem-challenges

back-to-school-stem-challenges

back-to-school-stem-challenges

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

STEM Favorites that You’ll Enjoy: 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

makerspace-in-schools

Top Tips for Creating a Makerspace in Schools [ep.5 ]

Top Tips for Creating a Makerspace in Schools [ep.5 ]

Check out the full episode on Makerspace in Schools:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Having a classroom Makerspace is a wonderful opportunity to help students think of the world in new ways and design creative solutions with simple materials. 

How do you get started creating one? 

In this episode, I’ll be sharing with you my top tips when setting up your Makerspace. 

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

In this episode you’ll learn:

  • Setting up your space & storage
  • Organizational systems for supplies
  • Gathering Makerspace donations

Resources Mentioned:

Makerspace Organization Options



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

Episode Transcript: 

0:00
Having a classroom Makerspace is a wonderful opportunity for students to think about the world in new ways, and design creative solutions with simple materials.

0:10
But how do you get started creating one? In this episode, I will be sharing with you my top tips for setting up your classroom Makerspace.

0:19
Whether you're a STEM teacher, a classroom teacher or library specialist, this episode will give you actionable tips to make the process more manageable and easier for you.

0:29
I am so excited to talk about this topic today; setting up your Makerspace. I have to be honest, this has taken a lot of trial and error in my own classroom to figure out systems and routines that worked for all grade levels, K-5.

1:27
I definitely had moments where during the lesson things weren't working out, whether it was where I put the supplies, what supplies was being used… (I definitely have some stories to tell you about that!) These are my tips and tricks to help you get started right away so you can have a great foundation in your own classroom and not have to go through all of the mistakes that I made.

1:51
I will be sharing with you three major tips and breaking down each of those tips so that you can have a great Makerspace year.

2:00
The first thing when getting started with your Makerspace is decide on the storage and space, you're going to house everything.

2:08
Now this is definitely up to you and a case by case situation; all classrooms are different. I was very lucky! Ehen I got my brand new job, I was gifted a brand new classroom. I felt like I had won the lottery! But I know that's not the case for everybody.

2:23
Some people may prefer having one designated small location where it has all the Makerspace supplies. Some might have materials spread out along the room. Whatever you decide, make it work best for you. Now, we will talk about organization later on in this episode, but really figure out what space do you have to work with.

2:43
You can make it all work, just work with what you got!

2:46
Once you have that figured out, decide if you are going to have a grab-and-go method where students are going to grab their materials from that location or locations and take it back to their seat, or if you are going to pull out bins as needed for the project. There are benefits to both and I actually use both methods for different times of the year.

3:08
I will start off the year K-5 by pulling out bins of specific materials I want the students to be using. My Makerspace is spread out along my classroom, and everything is organized at kid-height. I will have specialty items in the closet for specific projects put away in my cabinet, but the majority of materials are out on the floor.

3:30
Even when you think about when you're shopping at a store, you might ask, “Do you have anything in the back?”, I usually don't have a whole lot hiding in my closets. I just don't have room for extra things!

3:41
Everything is out in my classroom at kid-height. I get started by pulling out the bins so whatever specific materials that students will need for their project, they will grab the items that they're allowed, or however many I say they can get, and then bring those items back to their seats.

3:58
For younger students, if this is hard for them to remember how many, even if you write it on the board, a simple tip that I have for this. Grab a little sticky note, write a number. Let's say I want them to have three straws, I'll write the number three. Then I'll draw three dots on the sticky note and put the sticky note on the bin.

4:16
This is something I will definitely use even if the students are grabbing things from the locations in my Makerspace it helps so much so that helps build their independence. Then, they're not relying on me asking, “How many straws can I get?” This simple little trick has just been a great hack in my classroom.

4:34
Another major thing when setting up your Makerspace in your classroom is have designated locations for projects. Now I know this is actually one of the most tricky things in classrooms because some teachers even see all the kids in the whole school the entire week!

4:51
You definitely want to make sure you have space for all of those projects. (Now I do have a tip that will make storage a lot easier later on in this episode; and you're definitely going to thank me later for this one!)

5:03
Think about where those projects are going to be stored. I like to have on my open shelves, a shelf for each grade level. I just have the grade level written down on an index card with an arrow pointing to the shelf. For smaller supplies, I have a big fabric box from IKEA, the fold- out boxes, I can take apart and pop up whenever I need. Students will place their loose materials in a grocery bag or Ziploc bag with their plan inside. Then, the bags will go in the bucket at the end of class.

5:35
This is really helpful after I teach the mini lesson in our group meeting area, I'll pull out that bucket I might even pull out all the bags and lay them in a row on the floor to help students get their materials faster. This little trick has just worked for so many different types of Makerspace projects.

5:53
Not only are you setting up those materials, but set up a place where the projects can be stored when the class is done for the day.

5:59
The second major tip when setting up your Makerspace is the organization of your materials. Now keep in mind, I was given a brand new classroom, so some of the furniture is very expensive in there. I will look up other things that are very similar that can help with your organization as well.

6:26
Before I start asking for donations, I like to have my organization system set up first. That way I know how much of things that I can ask for and actually hold on to. This is really important! Instead of asking for supplies, let's get organized first! When you are organizing all of your bins and drawers and buckets, make sure to label all of your things with pictures and with words. (We talked about this in Episode 1 when you're creating your systems and routines.)

6:55
This is a great tip and helpful for all learners because that way they know where things go, they might even learn new vocabulary of what things are called. Also as a teacher, you will know where everything goes too! I swear, you will find things on the floor no matter how much you have a class clean up. This will help you know where everything goes in the classroom.

7:15
Even further with your organization, I like to have different categories and locations for those different types of materials. I have a cardboard station where all of the little cardboard pieces will be; thin cardboard that will cut into pieces, cardboard tubes, eggs cartons… anything that is cardboard related will go in one section (and those are labeled, of course!)

7:40
The other station is the paper station. I will have all of the construction paper set up for them, lined paper for planning, scratch paper for building and for planning, and graph paper. All of those can be found together to make it a lot easier for what they're looking for.

7:56
Finally, are the Makerspace items, the other little fun things that they can build with; the pom poms, popsicle sticks, cups….all of those are found in the same location. In another part of the classroom, I have all of the crayons, glue sticks and scissors.

8:12
Now when I first got started, I thought it was a really good idea to have a big bucket of crayons and place it on each table group for kids to use. The older kids had no problem with this.

8:24
I distinctly remember it was my first week teaching STEM, and I had 1st grade. It had been a while since I had 1st grade and taught them. I taught 1st grade when I was student teaching and then 2nd grade my first couple of years when I was teaching, So it had been a little bit of a while. I hear crying and think, “Oh great… Who's crying? Why are they crying??”

8:46
I go over to the table and the kids are telling me, “Oh! He's not sharing the crayons.!” I say, “Well, okay. You need to share the crayons! The crayons are here for everybody!”

8:55
Instead of giving the crayons back, he decided to put the crayons that he had taken in his mouth, chew them up and spit the crayons into the bucket. So nobody could use the crayons at that point…. and then there were more tears.

9:11
I knew I had to change my structure of even just how crayons were in my classroom.

9:16
For some time, I did use little supply boxes. In each box there was a pack of crayons, scissors, glue sticks, 2 pencils and an eraser.

9:25
I also found out quickly the lids kept coming off of those buckets and they weren't the best quality. The pencils were getting mixed up and the Kindergarteners were really excited that they had scissors in their box. (I don't think they had scissors in their supply buckets in their classroom always out.)

9:42
So, here has worked best for my crayons, glue sticks and scissors and markers. I have them in one area of the classroom. These actually get used more than my Makerspace. I have the crayons in little metal tins with a little handle and buckets can go on each table. This is really great when students are helping pass out supplies, they can carry these buckets. Or if I'm passing them out really quick in between transitions, this has worked great. Two students can share one bucket which is way better than a giant bucket in the middle of the table.

10:17
Then I have an another container for the glue sticks and the scissors. Sometimes I might only need crayons for a Makerspace activity or for something else, students might only want crayons.

10:31
Now it's also helpful having the scissors and glue sticks separate because the younger students love playing with the scissors and you don't want anybody accidentally cutting their hair. (Not saying that ever happened to me! Wink, wink.)

10:49
Markers are in little drawers that are organized by color. If students want to use markers for a project, they can go grab the colors that they need. On each of the tables in the classroom, I keep this out year round, are metal buckets with two big erasers and sharpened pencils for all the kids to use whenever they want. Those simple materials are really easy to grab whenever needed.

11:13
Finally, when setting up your Makerspace after you have figured out the space, you have everything ready to be organized, you're ready to collect items. In Episode 3, we talked more about how to get creative when gathering supplies. There's some tips and tricks to help you be creative when collecting supplies. Also at the end, I talk about a spreadsheet you can download for free, where I inventoried my whole classroom Makerspace supplies included, that will help you get an idea for what you might want to collect for your classroom.

11:48
I did mention you want to create a space where you students can put their projects. This if you don't get anything else from this episode, this is something I want you to remember; small items make small projects They take less time to build, they take up less storage space, they take up less use of materials.

12:12
On the flip side, big items make big projects, they take longer to build, they make bigger groups, and they use more items to build. Also think about the amount of tape! (You know how I feel about tape!)

12:27
I learned this the hard way. I let students create whatever size project they wanted and I didn't have room for anything. I ran out of supplies so fast, that I didn't even have enough for the same classes in one day. When I shifted my mindset to where projects can be smaller, be a prototype and accomplish the same task, it's okay! It really changed how materials are being used in my classroom.

12:56
When I'm asking for donations, I actually don't ask for large pieces of cardboard, big milk jugs, water bottles, I don't have room to store that. They're awesome to build with, however, in my classroom space, I don't have room for that. I really aim for smaller items that can easily be stored and I can get a lot of it. Again, I have those smaller projects and I have more room to store them.

13:21
If you're thinking about a size, what is a good size? Think about a large gallon sized Ziploc bag. I try to aim students, if possible, to create something that could fit in that bag. Now there are some exceptions to some of the projects, but we're not making ginormous things that have nowhere to go in the classroom.

13:42
Creating a donation letter can be very helpful. Instead of sending a mass email out to families, maybe you could think about sending that donation letter to one grade level a month and you can build connections with those families. Each month could be a different grade level. In turn, if you have a specific project that you are going to do with a grade level, you could send out a donation letter to that grade level and very specific items that are specific to that project.

14:10
You probably will get a better response with a smaller group and that way, and then you can really target what you need for the project.

14:17
Also for specialty items, sometimes I'll just send out a staff email and see if anybody has that at home. For example, I needed bubble wrap for a projec. I sent out an email and the next day, all these people brought in bubble wrap for me.

14:31
I might even ask students in the class during a project for items. I needed more grocery bags to store our supplies. I didn't have a lot at home (I really try to use reusable bags; not perfect, but I really try!) and we ran out of grocery bags in our classroom. I told the kids, “Hey, whoever brings in grocery bags tomorrow, I'll give you some Makerspace money that you can spend on your project!”

14:54
(Now if you're wondering what Makerspace money is, we're going to talk about that in a future episode. So hold your horses; that is a whole thing that we will dive into.!)

15:03
There's a lot of creative ways that you can gather materials and donations and easily get things for your classroom.

15:09
I also have a few places for dropping off materials. In my building, I have a box by my classroom and in the front of the building. I would love to add another box in the teacher's lounge. So just really great high traffic areas where students and families can drop things off that can be used in my room.

15:27
Another way to gather supplies in your classroom is to have students deconstruct. Now some students are obsessed about taking things home, which is awesome. Some kids really don't care. They loved the building process, but they don't have a desire to take it home. So after they take a picture, and Flipgrid, Seesaw or any other platform that you're thinking of, students can take apart their projects and then put away the supplies like be can be reused for other projects. This is a great little in the moment mini lesson to talk about conservation and materials as well.

16:00
On the last day of your projects, while students are deconstructing, just make sure you leave enough time for them to put everything away and clean out those bags. I will also reuse bags when possible if they don't have any holes or they're not broken. The more that you can reuse in this space, it's just really great. You can get more life out of all those materials.

16:22
As a recap, here are the three major things when setting up your Makerspace for success, so that you have a great system that will work all year long.

16:32
First, is to set up that space and storage and where everything is going to go.

16:37
Next, set up an organization system for all those different types of materials.

16:42
Finally, think about ways that you can gather Makerspace donations.

16:47
To make this setup even easier. I made you a Makerspace Bundle for getting started that comes with 180+supply labels with words and pictures, different colors, an editable donation letter and Makerspace Menu with money (which we will talk about in the next episode), anchor charts for specific supplies and getting started lessons.

17:11
This will be linked in the show notes or you can grab it using this direct link: naomimeredith.com/tptmakerspacebundle.

17:20
Thank you so much for joining me today for all of these Makerspace tips. I can't wait to see you in the next episode!

makerspace-in-schools-2makerspace-in-schools

makerspace-in-schools

stem-donation-letter

makerspace-labels

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

STEM Favorites that You’ll Enjoy: 

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

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

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

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

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

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

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

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

need-for-a-stem-classroom

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:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

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:

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

Episode Transcript: 

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.

 

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

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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!

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Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List

Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List

stem-lab-school-supply-listAre you wondering what to put on your STEM Lab school supply list? Maybe you are setting up a brand new space or hoping to add some upgrades. Either way, this post will help with planning and finding the right materials for your classroom.

This blog post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you purchase through my link, no extra added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return. 

 

Watch the video replay down below:

 

Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List | #1 List Current Assets

stem-lab-school-supply-listSome STEM spaces are fortunate enough to have supplies already stocked from previous teachers. Others are bare bones and have nothing to work with. Wherever your status is, take stock of what you have. Also ask, “Will this be used?”

It’s ok to get rid of things as well! No, you won’t need the CD player “just in case”. Be realistic about what is available, the space given and who will be using the space. 

 

Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List | #2 Create a Budget

stem-lab-school-supply-listOnce current items are assessed, if possible, create a budget. Understand the guidelines for your school and deadlines when money needs to be spent. 

Something to keep in mind is a class set is not required for most items. Think about how students can use the materials in pairs and also small stations. Check out my STEM Station post HERE. 

Especially trendy and technology items, those age-out quickly. Being stuck with fancy “paper weights” can be a pain but also make purchasing more items in the future not as convincing for those who provide the classroom budget. 

When creating my shopping lists, I look at multiple sources before purchasing. Don’t shy away from deals or even ask for them! 

Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List | #3 Plan Ahead

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Likewise, create shopping lists for the current year, but also future years. Not everything will get purchased at once. However, create a plan of what you hope to gather in the future. 

Sometimes there are opportunities when community stakeholders and local businesses are looking to purchase items for schools. Having a ready-made list will make the decision making a lot easier. 

Finally, set aside some funds for repair costs. While not common, it’s hard being in a situation when an items needs repairs but there aren’t any funds to do so. 

Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List | #4 Consumables vs. Non-Consumables

Find a balance between consumable (items that are typically used once) and non-consumable items needed in the class. 

Some consumable items are inexpensive, but require a large quantity over time. The cost can add up fast! 

With non-consumable (items that can be used multiple times) be thoughtful in what products to choose. Some items are worth the higher price tag, which will be addressed in the next section. 

In addition, think about how these items can be used in multiple projects. Classic LEGO Bricks can be used in endless projects for grades K-5 and are worth investing in. 

Need help on what to choose? Check out my top 20 favorite STEM supplies HERE

 

Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List | #5 Quantity vs. Quality

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There are a lot of great, quality STEM materials that are inexpensive that are non-consumable. However, there are items that are quite the opposite. 

Think about how many students, on average, will be using the items. Often, purchasing a higher priced, durable item, is worth the cost. 

Compare Models

For example, the Code & Go Mice and Bee-Bots complete similar tasks. They are robots for primary students that use directional/arrow coding to move. For a general classroom, with about 24 students, I would recommend the Code & Go Mouse. They are inexpensive and will last through a typical class size. 

For use with more students throughout the year, like a STEM specials class, I would recommend the Bee-Bots. While more expensive, they are more durable and can withstand high use. 

Check out this blog post with all of my robot recommendations for kids.

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Create Your STEM Lab School Supply List | #6 Donations & Grants

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Once shopping lists and budgets are created, think about ways to gather materials from outside sources. 

Again, many local businesses look for ways to support schools. It never hurts to ask! Writing grants also bring the opportunity to include higher priced items into the classroom space. 

The site I’ve had the most success with is Donors Choose. The site walks teachers through the grant writing process, creates a space for donations to be collected and even handles purchasing the items when funds are raised. 

Another option is to create an Amazon Shopping List. Like a wedding registry, friends and family can purchase items you’re hoping to add to the classroom.

Consumable Purchases

For consumable items, like cardboard, tape, and recyclables, consider asking families. Often, these are items that will be thrown away and can be given new life in a Makerspace. Emailing the school staff never hurts as well! There was a project where I needed bubble wrap, I sent an email, and got more than I imagined the next day. 

To help conceptualize what consumable items would be helpful, check out this editable Makerspace letter. 

makerspace-letter

Just Tell Me What to Buy!

Still need help as to where to begin? Here is a complete inventory list of my K-5 Innovation Lab. Included are organized categories of types of items and must-haves with different budget price ranges. 

Just type in your name and email down below and it’s all yours to help with planning your STEM space!

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Resources Mentioned in this Post:

Other Blog Posts You Might Enjoy: 

Must Have STEM School Supply List by Naomi Meredith 

Why You Need a Station Rotation in STEM by Naomi Meredith 

Best Robots for Kids for STEM & Technology Lessons by Naomi Meredith 

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What other questions do you have about setting up your STEM space? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!

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STEM & Technology Holiday Gift Guide for Kids 2020

STEM & Technology Holiday Gift Guide for Kids 2020

STEM & Technology Holiday Gift Guide for Kids

The ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for kids! This is to help you decide on which STEM and Technology gifts you should keep an eye out for your classroom or even your own children. Each item is paired with a resource from my shop that can implement in your classroom right away.

These are tools that I've used in my K-5 STEM classroom as well as a few others that are on my wishlist. Below each image are the clickable links to each of the resources.

 

Want a magazine-style of this guide? Click here to get the FREE downloadable version you can flip through.

 

Amazon Affiliate links are included in this guide. When you purchase through my link, there is no extra cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

5 STEM Gifts for Kids You Need in Your Classroom | Watch the recording down below:

This video originally aired LIVE on my Facebook Page; Naomi Meredith: The STEMTech Co. 

Come and join in on the fun on Facebook, or watch the recording of this episode.

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Science | Holiday Gift Guide for Kids

1 // Human Body Model Torso Kit & Human Heart Digital Interactive Notebook

2 // National Geographic Hobby Rock Tumbler Kit & Rocks & Minerals Reading Comprehension Worksheets

3 // National Geographic Mega Fossil Dig Kit & Fossils Reading Comprehension Worksheets

4 // Talking Microscope for Kids featuring Bindi Irwin & Life Cycle of a Spider | Robot Coding & Unplugged

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Technology | Holiday Gift Guides

1 // Makey Makey & All About Donuts | Unplugged Coding Activity 

2 // Osmo Genius Starter Kit & Digital Math Manipulative Bundle 

3 // Touchscreen Chromebook & Getting to Know Google Tools Scavenger Hunts

4 // Blue Yeti USB Microphone & Video Recording in the Classroom | Printable & Digital Posters

 

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Engineering | Holiday Gift Guides

1 // Marble Genius Marble Run & How to Make a Cardboard Marble Maze

2 // Brain Blox Wooden Blocks & After the Fall Book Activities

3 // LEGO Bricks Basics & Monthly STEM Activities Bundle | Engineer Inspiration

4 // Straw Connectors & How to Make a Cardboard Airplane

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Art | Holiday Gift Guides

1 // 3D Doodle Pen & Themes Bundle | Engineer Inspiration Boards

2 // Holographic Wrapping Paper & Gift Wrap STEM Challenge

3 // Pipe Cleaners/Chenille Straws & STEM and Stories: Ten on the Sled

4 // Assorted Playdoh & Snowmen Playdough STEM Station

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Math | Holiday Gift Guides

1 // Plugo Count Math STEM Game & Digital Unifix Cubes

2 // Geoboard & Toothpick Snowflakes STEM Station

3 // Wooden Tangrams and Pattern Blocks & Cardboard Maze STEM Station

4 // Visual Countdown Timer & Cardboard Wall Maze

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Robots | Holiday Gift Guides

1 // Sphero Bolt & Sphero Sleds STEM Challenge

2 // Dash Robot & Snowman Robot Coding

3// Ozobot Starter Kit & Animal Winter Migration Ozobot STEM Challenge

4// Bee-Bot & STEM and Stories: Very Hungry Caterpillar 

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Makerspace | Holiday Gift Guides

1 // Magnatiles & All About Magnets | Beekle Lesson Plan 

2 // Crayola Modeling Clay & Stop Motion Animation for Kids | Basics for the Elementary Classroom

3 // Elmer's Celebration Slime Kit & Engineering Design and Kid-Safe Slime

4 // Jumbo Colored Popsicle Sticks & Pumpkin Bridge STEM Challenge 

Other Blog Posts You Might Enjoy:

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What's on your holiday list this year?  Feel free to direct message me or tag me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!

 

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Prime Day 2020 STEM & Technology Shopping Guide

Prime Day 2020

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Stock up during Amazon Prime Day 2020 on your favorite STEM & technology tools to add to your classroom. This is also a great way to grab presents for the special kids in your life before the holiday rush starts.

Below are some great deals and resources I recommend:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. #ad

 

Prime Day 2020: 3D Doodle Pen

Don't have a 3D printer in your classroom? Having a 3D pen station is a great start. The pen works just like how the extruder of a 3D printer works. Students can understand the concept of 3D printing by creating layers (like icing a cake) to create their design.

 

Prime Day 2020: Playdoh

Stock up! Especially when sharing is limited in classrooms during this time, this is a great time to add to your Playdoh collection.

 

Prime Day 2020: Osmo Coding Starter kit

Have students interact with coding in a hands on way. All you need is an iPad and these attachments. There is a Kindle Fire version as well for a different price.

LEGO-Like Base Plates

Perfect for Stop Motion Animation projects (you can read my blog post about that here) and min-STEM challenges.

New Robot Friend: Botley

Add a new robot friend to your classroom. Perfect for students who are learning the basics of coding. This is a device-free robot; not external tablet or computer needed.

Apple Air Pods

I am obsessed with my AirPods and I love how they connect easily to my iPhone and Apple Watch. (Click here to read a blogpost about using the Apple Watch in the Classroom). Use these during your virtual meetings, remote teaching and while listening to professional development podcasts.

 Personal Laminator

During one of my birthdays during college, as I was pursuing my teaching degree, my mom bought me a personal laminator. I still have it to this day! The quality of the smaller sheets is a lot sturdier than the school laminating. Perfect for keeping your STEM station materials sturdy after many uses.

Small Plastic Drawer Storage

Organize unique pieces that are small in the STEM classroom: batteries, extra LEGO parts, 3D printer tools. Know exactly where these items are at all times.

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

Awesome Prime Day Finds- 2019 by Naomi Meredith

20 Ways to Use Your Apple Watch in the Classroom by Naomi Meredith

Must Have STEM School Supply List by Naomi Meredith

Getting Started with Stop Motion in the Classroom by Naomi Meredith

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What's in your virtual shopping cart? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!