Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

It's a busy time of year, and I have a fun episode and game that we are going to play together, and it is Would You Rather STEM edition. Get ready to think of your answers and laugh along with me with these STEM specific questions. And some of them are a lot harder than you think. For this episode, I knew I wanted to do something fun for this time of year.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:03]:

I love sprinkling in these fun and more personal episodes. It is so much fun for me, and I knew I wanted to do something really cool during the holidays when this airs. And it popped into my head one day when I was walking my dog, Frederick, just like everything I plan, it pops into my head when I'm walking him. And I thought, oh, it would be so fun to play a would you rather game and get all of your responses and then share them on the podcast. This is what I do. I just, like, think of stuff, and I say we should, and then I just do it. A while back, I actually asked the questions. I came up with some STEM specific questions for this would you rather game, and I did post them on Instagram.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:55]:

And 50 of you answered and played along with me, and it was so Funny reading the messages that you guys would write to me after you would vote. Like, a lot of you would vote, and then you're like, I'm not sure what to say or, Oh, that was a hard one or, oh, I need to change my answer. It's not what I thought. Or you guys would just send me emojis about the questions. And so this is so much fun to put together and I wanted to release this episode even sooner because I knew it would be a lot of fun to record and see the final results. And I was even sharing the final results with my teacher honey, which one of the fun episodes that I did is I interviewed him the week of our wedding, so you can actually listen to that interview. There's no video. I told him we won't do video, But he actually was laughing at the answers, and he teaches high school Spanish and so completely different than the world of elementary STEM.

Naomi Meredith [00:02:55]:

But he was laughing. He thought they were pretty funny. I asked him if he would vote, and he said no. So, at least he listened to the questions, which is props to him. That's good. So what I'm gonna do for this episode is I have a handful of questions, and I'm gonna read them. And I want you to think about your answer. How would you answer this? And maybe if you did play, is it the same answer at this time of year? Think about your answer.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:23]:

I'm going to share the results, And then I'm gonna share with you my answer and probably some side comments or stories that I have related to all of these because all of them, while I was writing them, I was making myself laugh, and that's a daily thing for me. I do all sorts of stuff to make myself laugh. So let's get into these fun would you rather STEM teacher questions. Alright. The first one is, would you rather have unlimited tape or hot glue? Really think about it here. Unlimited tape or hot glue? They will get progressively harder, by the way. Alright. So 79% of you said you would like unlimited tape, and 21% of you would like unlimited glue.

Naomi Meredith [00:04:12]:

And some of you are messaging me, is it any kind of glue? Yes. Unlimited glue of anything. I would also agree on the tape, and I talk about my tape love, hate relationship very much here on this podcast. And one trick that I figured out actually during COVID was creating baby tape rolls, And I have a couple videos if you scroll way back, in my feed on Instagram, but baby tape rolls are essentially a baby version of a big tape roll. So what you do is you take the amount of tape that you want students to use, like, a couple of feet, And then you wrap it on a popsicle stick around itself, and it doesn't lose its stickiness, and students can save their baby tape roll for future projects. You do have to teach the kids how to rip the tape, and also the younger kids like to squish the tape in their hands. I'm like, no. Don't do that.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:11]:

Like, I can't I can't fix it. So baby tape rolls are my thing. I called them baby tape rolls, and it's something that actually stuck after COVID because we weren't allowed to share materials. So I'm really, really fast at making baby tape rolls, and you can actually see me, like, Do it, like, mindlessly. I have a 1 Instagram reel where it's, like, explaining STEM teaching through Taylor Swift songs. And in one of them, I'm actually making baby tape rolls because I've made probably thousands of them. So, I definitely would go for unlimited tape because I swear the kids eat tape more than they eat pencils. Alright.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:50]:

Second question, would you rather have Your classroom magically clean itself every day or plug in all of your devices each day. Magically clean itself or plug in your devices each day. 85% of you would like a magically clean classroom every day, and that left The 15% of you would like the plug in devices. I would pick the plug in devices. My room, I actually would keep pretty clean, and people would know that about me. I'm not like a scrub kinda clean, like, get on my hands and knees, like, scrub stuff. But I'm actually very, very, very organized, and so I didn't have an issue with having, like, a super messy classroom, and I made my students clean and Do all of that. So I really hate the plug in in devices.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:49]:

I think it's so annoying, especially if you were teaching all the kids in the school and then you have shared devices. It is one of the most annoying things. I hate it. Like, You develop, I swear, you develop these pet peeves as a STEM teacher that you never thought you would have before. Definitely developed pet peeves when I came into the K through 5 STEM space. 1 was plugging in devices, and another one was when Kids would come into my room, and the first thing they would ask me is, what are we doing today? And my response was, I'm gonna tell the whole class at the same time. So plug in devices is what I would choose for that question. Alright.

Naomi Meredith [00:07:29]:

Next question. Would you rather teach August kindergartners or May 5th graders. August kindergartners or May 5th graders? And I got the most comments on this one. This one, you guys cannot The side. So here's the results on this one. For kindergarten, 47% of you said You would teach August kindergartners, and that left the remaining 53% of you who would teach May 5th graders. And I would say both are very, very comparable, and those results make sense to me. I would rather teach August kindergartners.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:15]:

I love the little ones. I was so close to getting my degree in early childhood, but went a different pathway, thought there'd be more opportunities in elementary. I actually did teach at a preschool and college, and I just love that age group. If you hear squeaking, by the way, that is little Frederick, who is acting like a toddler and wants me to play with him right now. So he keeps throwing toys at my feet. But I would definitely teach August kindergartners. May 5th graders are so annoying. No.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:47]:

Like, I would take a little kindergartner who pees their pants any day over a stinky 5th grader in May. Alright. Next question. Would you rather go on a field trip with Miss Frizzle or have an in house field trip with Bill Nye, the science guy? I told you the questions are going to get progressively harder. Alright. 46% of you said Bill Nye, and 54% of you said Miss Frizzle, and I feel the same way. I am so torn on this question.

Naomi Meredith [00:09:29]:

I'm obsessed with Bill, and I loved that show as a kid, and I want him on my podcast. And I have reached out through Instagram before and didn't get a response, which he has so many followers. It probably was in the, the hidden messages. So I need to try a different avenue know, because ever since I started this podcast, I've wanted Bill Nye on this show. I think it would be amazing. It'd be a childhood dream. I've told my Students, I want them on the show.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:00]:

I have been manifesting Bill Nye to be a guest on the Elementary STEM Coach podcast. So go, like, at him on Instagram. Go message him. Tell him to be a guest because that would be an absolute blast to have him on this show. But on the flip side, Miss Frizzle's not real now. I guess Bill Nye is not real. He's a person playing. Well, Bill Nye is no.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:22]:

Bill Nye is real. That's his real name, But he, like, plays kind of a character. Anyway, miss Frizzle's a cartoon, and I'm talking about the original Miss Frizzle. Okay? Not the new one, but the new one's good. I was Miss Frizzle for Halloween 1 year, so I was Miss Frizzle, and Frederick was Liz, the lizard. I found a little lizard costume, and we dressed up as them for 1 Halloween. And I also had my 1st keynote speech. It was all based on lessons from Miss Frizzle, which is episode 100.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:57]:

You can hear my 1st keynote speech that I did for Wonder Workshop. So I took a lot of lessons from her, and her field trips would be pretty cool, but also I think really scary when she does the field trips where she's really, really tiny. So I would take Bill and I probably a little bit more over miss Frizzle because, like, that's a little bit dangerous. And also okay. Question. Would you rather go on a field trip where Miss Frizzle by yourself, or would you wanna go on a field trip with Miss Rosalynn all the kids, because some of those kids are freaking whiny. What's what's his name? Ralphie or Ronald or something? The one with the orange hair and glasses is So whiny and so annoying. He he I'll take his spot.

Naomi Meredith [00:11:39]:

You know what? I'll go with the kids, but he has to stay back. Like, he can't come. That kid's so annoying. So Bill Nye for me, but Miss Frizzle a close second. Alright. Last question. Would you rather teach year long STEM on topics you're unfamiliar with, but have unlimited resources. Okay? So, this is a little confusing.

Naomi Meredith [00:12:06]:

Or teach your favorite stem topic with minimal resources. So we have Unlimited resources, but you're teaching stuff you've never taught before, or limited resources and you know what you're gonna teach. That one's pretty hard. Unlimited, but you don't know what you're gonna teach. Limited, you do know what you're gonna teach. And here for this one, I thought it was interesting. So 61% of you said you would rather teach unlimited resources with unfamiliar topics. And then 39% of you said you'd rather teach familiar lessons with limited resources.

Naomi Meredith [00:12:45]:

And I feel like I've been in kind of both situations. Now I wasn't with unlimited resources when I taught Stan. But when I first got started, I had a really big budget and I don't know why. So I was really lucky and was able build up my program and trial these materials and, in turn, give my students a lot of experiences, but also I remember those and can share those with you. And a lot of us who are in the STEM space don't know anything we're teaching, and so I think I would be, like, the majority on this question, I would definitely want the unlimited resources and don't know what I'm teaching, but I like that open ended, like, What if, what could we do, what are the possibilities? That's why I like Miss Frizzle, but, I definitely thrive in those types of environments. And when I feel really restricted, I can actually do a lot with limited materials, but if I'm teaching the same thing over and over and over and over again, I get really, really bored. I think partly why I got a little bored teaching 3rd grade because it's the same topics every year, but that's just my personality. I like keeping it up and make it get fresh.

Naomi Meredith [00:13:54]:

So that's definitely a hard question, though, because I can definitely see the other side. Alright. Well, that is it for this fun Would You Rather game. If you liked it, send me a DM. If you're watching the video, put it in the comments below. But I love doing these fun episodes, sprinkling them in for you. Thank you so much for playing along and voting on Instagram when I posted these. And, also, for those of you who are listening along with me wherever you're at, I know you were playing along too, and you were thinking of your answers.

Naomi Meredith [00:14:26]:

And I appreciate you guys so much, and I can't wait to do more fun episodes like this and keep bringing in All of those fun STEM concepts for you in the new year.