I have always wanted to write a blog but just didn't know where to start. My change in position from the Technology Teacher at Point Road School to the STEM teacher has provided me with that opportunity! I am anxious to share my story and maybe, help others that beginning their elementary STEM journey too. What I can tell you is that from what I have found, there are not many of us at the elementary level. What else I have found is STEM (or STEAM) is an evolving field, which is what makes it so exciting to be a part of it!
My journey began this summer when I was tasked with writing the STEM curriculum for our K-4 school. To be honest, this was an overwhelming task. First, there are no elementary curriculums that I have found that truly address the elementary student. Yes, there are lots of ideas, lesson plans and parts of curriculum. There are also companies that are willing to "sell" you what they have as a boxed curriculum. With money being tight, a purchased curriculum was not an option and to be honest, I wanted to teach things to the students that I was interested and excited about in hopes that my enthusiasm would be infectious and create excitement in the students as well. Let me tell you though, this did not make my job easier. There are just so many ideas out on web it is hard to pick and choose what will best satisfy my needs.
After much discussion with my principal and our curriculum supervisors, we decided that defining a curriculum for the K-1, 2 and 3-4 students for the 1st year would be a great start. I agreed. That being said, while writing the curriculum, I have kept in mind how I will then build on what they learned this first year to create the projects for the next year for my 1st and 4th graders. So while I was only documenting and writing what was needed, the searching and notes so that I could grow the next year all had to be documented.
I was lucky enough to be able to not only visit some schools in the area that already have STEM programs (even though they were both middle schools!) but also to go to the ISTE (International Society for Technology and Education) conference in Philadelphia and the Global STEM Initiative training at Fairleigh Dickinson. At the ISTE conference, I was able to talk to vendors about different STEM products (robots, coding, 3D printers) and also see how many schools are currently undertaking their own STEM journey. With the Global STEM Initiative training, I was able to learn and discuss strategies with other elementary science and STEM teachers that are also integrating project-based STEM learnings into their classroom. Both of these experiences really helped me to solidify what and how I wanted to teach STEM at Point Road and I cannot thank my school enough for allowing me to attend both of these functions.
My journey began this summer when I was tasked with writing the STEM curriculum for our K-4 school. To be honest, this was an overwhelming task. First, there are no elementary curriculums that I have found that truly address the elementary student. Yes, there are lots of ideas, lesson plans and parts of curriculum. There are also companies that are willing to "sell" you what they have as a boxed curriculum. With money being tight, a purchased curriculum was not an option and to be honest, I wanted to teach things to the students that I was interested and excited about in hopes that my enthusiasm would be infectious and create excitement in the students as well. Let me tell you though, this did not make my job easier. There are just so many ideas out on web it is hard to pick and choose what will best satisfy my needs.
After much discussion with my principal and our curriculum supervisors, we decided that defining a curriculum for the K-1, 2 and 3-4 students for the 1st year would be a great start. I agreed. That being said, while writing the curriculum, I have kept in mind how I will then build on what they learned this first year to create the projects for the next year for my 1st and 4th graders. So while I was only documenting and writing what was needed, the searching and notes so that I could grow the next year all had to be documented.
I was lucky enough to be able to not only visit some schools in the area that already have STEM programs (even though they were both middle schools!) but also to go to the ISTE (International Society for Technology and Education) conference in Philadelphia and the Global STEM Initiative training at Fairleigh Dickinson. At the ISTE conference, I was able to talk to vendors about different STEM products (robots, coding, 3D printers) and also see how many schools are currently undertaking their own STEM journey. With the Global STEM Initiative training, I was able to learn and discuss strategies with other elementary science and STEM teachers that are also integrating project-based STEM learnings into their classroom. Both of these experiences really helped me to solidify what and how I wanted to teach STEM at Point Road and I cannot thank my school enough for allowing me to attend both of these functions.