I have come across quite a few STEM Education articles lately and it has been the topic of conversation amongst my colleagues. This is a topic I have been interested in for quite a while now. I feel as though it has become a "buzz word" in the field of education. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Educators are urged to teach students in these subjects and get them excited about these fields. As the world changes, STEM careers are being brought to the forefront and students are being encouraged to take part in them.
STEM has a lot to do with project-based learning. Students are being asked to think at rigorous cognitive levels. Kids these days are surrounded by technology and use it recreationally on a daily basis. Whether it is making movies, build websites, create games, etc. students are creating and consuming digital content at hyperactive speeds. The disconnect comes in the way students are learning. They absorb information for fun all day long, but when it comes to the classroom, technology in no where to be found. As educators, we need to bridge this gap in order to change instructional techniques. Students are the ones who will benefit from it.
In my third grade classroom, we do STEM labs every nine weeks. It is on a much smaller scale than say a middle or high school class, but nonetheless students are being exposed to new and innovative ways of thinking. I have had my students construct the tallest structure they can using one bag of marshmallows and one hundred toothpicks. The results were great! Each group came up with a different way to make their structure and best of all, the conversations they were having were high-level. The questioning and reasoning students were doing, as groups, was like nothing I had seen before in my classroom.
Keeping students engaged, motivated, and inspired is a hard task, but with STEM related activities it is possible to make learning fun again! Creating a rich digitally connected environment is something I aim for in the years to come.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016
Blended Learning: Intelligent Adaptive Technologies
After watching a TED Talk on blended learning in the classroom, I feel inspired! I came across this video by chance while I was perusing a TED Talks library on YouTube. Jessie Woolley-Wilson discussed the importance of intelligent adaptive technologies. A program that I use in my classroom daily, comes to mind when I hear those words: i-Ready. i-Ready is an innovative program that adapts to students needs. As Jessie said, "It learns what the learner needs, as the learner learns it". That statement resonated with me quite a bit. I believe those words are very powerful because it sends a strong message.
For those of you who are not familiar with i-Ready, it is a reading and math program that tailors to students' needs. Students take a diagnostic test and the program creates lessons for a child based on his/her test results. If a student is failing the lessons, the program bumps them down a level until they start passing the lessons. This is so find the right niche for students which in turn helps them succeed.
In previous years, I have used i-Ready but this is the first school year in which I truly feel comfortable with it. I am acquainted with the program more and believe I am able to use it more effectively. I am able to pull reports, read the data, use the data to drive my instruction, and add extra lessons for students that need it. Monitoring student growth and projectile gains is something I have been doing quite a bit lately. I am coming to realize just how beneficial these adaptive technologies can be for students.
I have seen the effect it has had on my students. In three and a half months I had a students jump from a level 1 (1st grade) to a mid-3 (middle of third grade level). I teach third grade. This particular student is now exactly where she needs to be in terms of data points. Discussing the importance of the program with students has a huge impact on how they view it. Speaking from my own experiences, I have seen firsthand just how much a pep talk can motivate students to want to do more.
I would recommend all educators get out and search for intelligent adaptive technologies AND utilize the ones they have readily available, to the best of their ability.
For those of you who are not familiar with i-Ready, it is a reading and math program that tailors to students' needs. Students take a diagnostic test and the program creates lessons for a child based on his/her test results. If a student is failing the lessons, the program bumps them down a level until they start passing the lessons. This is so find the right niche for students which in turn helps them succeed.
In previous years, I have used i-Ready but this is the first school year in which I truly feel comfortable with it. I am acquainted with the program more and believe I am able to use it more effectively. I am able to pull reports, read the data, use the data to drive my instruction, and add extra lessons for students that need it. Monitoring student growth and projectile gains is something I have been doing quite a bit lately. I am coming to realize just how beneficial these adaptive technologies can be for students.
I have seen the effect it has had on my students. In three and a half months I had a students jump from a level 1 (1st grade) to a mid-3 (middle of third grade level). I teach third grade. This particular student is now exactly where she needs to be in terms of data points. Discussing the importance of the program with students has a huge impact on how they view it. Speaking from my own experiences, I have seen firsthand just how much a pep talk can motivate students to want to do more.
I would recommend all educators get out and search for intelligent adaptive technologies AND utilize the ones they have readily available, to the best of their ability.
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