Why use STEAM with young children; isn’t it above their heads? To many, STEAM may seem like it is above children’s heads because it includes science and technology. The reality is that, children are already involved with STEAM aspects in their everyday lives, so it isn’t all above their heads. Different aspects of STEAM help students while they are in the classroom, but also when they leave the classroom and go out into the world. This post will dive into different reasons as to why STEAM is important in the classroom, different qualities it builds in children and give different ideas as to how it can be implemented.
https://www.teachthought.com/technology/benefits-of-steam-education/ STEAM is important because it incorporates different subject areas into one lesson and these different subjects are all intertwined with one another for the lesson. Four of the main reasons listed as to why it is important include creativity, confidence, collaboration and problem-solving. Creativity comes into play because students will need to think outside the box with these projects. Not all the information will be given to them, so they have to come up with a solution. Confidence is what the children will get after being able to complete the project or assignment, especially if it was somewhat challenging. Students will learn how to problem-solve through the lesson and think of ways to solve the problem at hand. Students will be working together and collaborating thoughts and ideas with their peers. This gets them to talk about what they want to do before it is implemented and then implement this idea with another student. https://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/4.9.14-ECE-STEAM-slides.pdf Some of the ideas given on how to use STEAM in an elementary classroom during station rotations include: water or sensory tables, age-appropriate tools, and creation stations. These are all kid friendly ways for younger students to learn different aspects of STEAM. One lesson that incorporates all aspects of STEAM is a Three Little Pigs inspired lesson. For the science part, it could be learning about different materials for building houses, technology could be watching a video on how houses are built or of the book being read, engineering is building the houses of the three little pigs, art is designing the houses to be built and math is measuring out the parts of materials you will need for the building of the houses. STEAM isn't as hard as it sounds in an elementary room is the main theme of this PDF. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/steam-ipdf.pdf This PDF goes into detail on the five different subjects involved with STEAM and how they can be used in a STEAM lesson with younger children. It also goes into detail on how children have been doing STEAM related activities since they were very young, even before school, so implementing a lesson in an elementary grade isn't going to be too challenging for them. It also goes into detail on how to choose a STEAM related book for the lesson to make it interdisciplinary. Some characteristics of a good book include: up to date on current topics, fun to read, keeps children's attention and promotes a positive sense of science are all important characteristics. https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom%20%20resources/benefits-of-teaching-steam/ This website goes into detail on how STEAM projects can be collaborative and unique ways to problem solve. STEAM projects usually involve groups of students working together on one common goal, so they must work together collaboratively to get to the end goal. This collaborative work that they are doing will help them in the future with the upper grade levels and then once they enter the workforce. Being able to work in a group is crucial in this day and age. When working on a STEAM project, the final project is an idea that is outside the box. To come up with a solution to the problem at hand, students have to think of an idea with their group; STEAM is not a teacher directed topic, the teacher lets the students guide their own learning. https://www.educationalplaycare.com/blog/stem-steam-learning-for-young-children/ HOW CAN I IMPLEMENT IT IN AN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM?
Do you see why STEAM is so important now, even in an early childhood classroom? The reality is that children are already taking part in this, so making it more meaningful and something they will gain knowledge and experience from is the key to making learning fun. If there is motivation behind the learning, more knowledge will be engaged and STEAM lessons will do just that.
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Twitter was my main way of communicating with other teachers in the community through the course of the semester. I followed many teachers and staff along with professional organizations. Before this class, I had never thought about having a professional Twitter page for teaching but I’ve realized the many things I am able to learn from it. I am able to see what other teachers are doing with their students and maybe see if I could incorporate into my classroom one day. One of the professional organizations that I followed is called TeachThought and I loved seeing everything that they tweeted about because it was all very influential for me. I DMed them and asked them about first year teachers and what they recommend. I went to their website and learned that they have many resources for teachers and I will for sure use this in the future. From this interaction, I will continue to expand on my knowledge and branch out and talk to more people in the education field on social media. Another user that I interacted with is named Steele Jackson who is a first-grade teacher. I am looking into going into the field as a first-grade teacher so I figured he would be perfect to talk to. He tweeted about how he has students during snack who request to be the reader to the class. I love children’s books and know how important it is for students, especially the younger grades, to develop a love of reading and self confidence in themselves as well. I think what he is doing with his students is very important and useful. I learned through this interaction that it is important to promote self confidence in the classroom and allow for students to “take charge” and read to their peers. I really do like his idea of what he does and I see myself doing this in my classroom as well. One of my other big interactions on Twitter was with a teacher named Bonnie McClelland. She was using Flipgrid around the same time we were in class and tweeted about how her students are loving it. I responded to her tweet about how my class was using it as well and Flipgrid saw my tweet and liked it. This interaction showed me how some tools are used by so many people and how they are able to bring people together. We connected with students in Ghana which is something I would have never been able to do had this resource not been available. I will use this in my classroom so my students can work on collaborating globally like the ISTE Standard says. Collaboration is so important because students need to learn how to work well with one another in groups because that is how life will always be. I found that using hashtags helped to get more people to see your tweet and I found the value of using them. The other social media platform that I joined was Pinterest. Pinterest is unlike Twitter in the sense that you don’t make any posts, or respond to posts, you just save things that you like to a board. Because of this, I found it very difficult to find someone to interact with. I decided to tweet out one of my boards which is about digital citizenship and see if anyone had anything to add to it. I unfortunately did not get any responses to my tweet. I created this board after our discussion of digital citizenship in class where we played the game Interland. This is a game by Google where you play little games to learn how to be Internet smart. I played the game where you learn how to make a very protected password. You are on this little board and you go through collecting letters, numbers and symbols. This game showed me that you’re able to teach younger kids how to be Internet safe with a fun activity. The students would be playing a game while also learning how to keep themselves safe. Google did a wonderful job at this game and it honestly could work for any age student or adult. I created other boards on Pinterest which included Math, Reading, English, Miscellaneous and Digital Citizenship. I will for sure be using Pinterest just for myself when I finally have my own classroom because it shows teachers many different project ideas, poster ideas, lesson ideas, and so much more. I loved Pinterest before this class using it for personal matters, and now I’m even more in love after seeing the educational benefit to it! Pinterest helps teachers to fulfill the ISTE Standard of Design because it has many different crafts and projects that can be done in the classroom. Pinterest helped me design a lesson plan for another class that ended up going very smoothly. The professional organization that I joined is the NSTA or National Science Teachers Association. This organization is for science teachers of all grades to connect and talk with one another. There is a Forums and User Community tab and here you can find users who have similar interests to you and forums that relate to you. I went to the forum for early childhood and interacted with some people there. One of my interactions was with a group of people on Technology in the Classroom. I added to this conversation with my philosophy of how and when education should be used in the classroom. Technology has its place in the classroom as well as when it doesn’t belong. It should be used to enhance a topic or discussion, not just to be added for the sake of adding it. I think technology can help to differentiate instruction as well in the classroom with the many tools it provides. Another interaction from this website was from a teacher asking how she can teach science only in a 15-minute time frame. I added to this conversation by saying how science can be taught in other subjects as well. If students are learning about the solar system, they can be introduced to it in science, write about it during ELA and do math problems about space as well. One topic could encompass an entire day’s worth of classes if you do it right. I joined Common Sense Media and I found this resource to be very useful. I had never heard of it before this class but I can see myself using it as a teacher. This is a place for educators to post reviews about different resources they used in their classrooms. I reviewed Minecraft, Evernote and SeasameStreet.org. All of these resources I could see myself using in the classroom one day. I had never thought about using Minecraft in an educational setting, but after reading the reviews of how other teachers used it and listening to the podcast about it in class, I am determined to use it. Common Sense Media relates to the ISTE Standard of Analyst because teachers read reviews, which is data, and use the data to determine whether or not they will use a tool or not. Reading the data from the reviews is beneficial because it helps teachers to not have to go through every single resource and find which they like best based on what others say. Today in my Instructional Technology class, we had someone from CET come in and teach us all about virtual reality and how it is being used more and more in the classroom. We had a wide range of virtual reality devices there including Google Cardboard, a generic virtual reality device, and a more high-tech one. Before this class, I had never used VR before and now I am thinking of ways it can be utilized in the classroom! We went on an app called Google Expeditions and it allows the teacher to choose a destination for the class to explore and he/she can point at different objects in the space and tell the students some facts. For example, we did the underwater expedition and we saw some seals and other creatures. This can allow a class who is unable to go to some exotic place and see underwater the chance to get to do so and actually feel involved in it. Videos are a great tool but there is something about the VR that just takes it one step further than a video ever did.
As for the Flipgrid update! The students responded to our questions and my question was a hit! I asked about the weather in Ghana and a ton of the students responded. I learned a lot about Ghana that I wouldn't have had I not used this resource. Recently in my Instructional Technology class, we connected with a school in Ghana using Flipgrid. Flipgrid is an app where you can take a video of yourself and create a discussion. We are connecting with early elementary students and we asked them questions about their school and about life in Ghana. I asked the students what the weather was like and got tons of responses. They all seemed to like computers over textbooks and life in Ghana is very similar to life in the United States. It is very neat to be able to do this through technology with students halfway around the world! We are creating a flipped lesson for them to try and they will be giving us feedback on how smoothly it went or not. Updates to come!
Today I learned all about digital citizenship and how to be better equipped with how I do certain things on the internet. I engaged in a game presented by Google called "Interland". It was a neat way for an educator to teach digital citizenship to their younger students and to keep them engaged in the learning experience. It allows for the kids to play a game while also learning about how to create a safe password, for example. I also searched on Common Sense Education for lesson plans regarding digital citizenship and there was a nice variety of lessons and each was a little different in the way to approach the topic. Knowing how to protect yourself and others on the internet is a very valuable resource and is definitely something that needs to be fit into the school curriculum, even for the younger students!
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/interland
For an Instructional Technology class, we were asked to make a video presentation explaining reasons why we wanted to become a teacher. After thinking and reflecting on some possible reasons, I decided my four top reasons were from babysitting, being a dance coach, my brother and my first grade teacher. Check out my video below!
https://www.wevideo.com/view/1067653125
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AuthorTeacher in progress. I have a passion for children's literature. Archives |