November 12, 2021

A5 iTalks Presents: Full STEAM Ahead with Sandy Bradshaw

Hosts: Erin Darnell and Dr. Paige Mitchell

Introduction:

As our world grows with constant changes and increasing complexities, our students need to be prepared with skills to solve problems, synthesize information, and make evidence-informed decisions. These skills are built into effective classroom practices by integrating the four disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--collectively known as STEM. Some practices would even include the additional integration of the "A" for arts moving STEM to STEAM in support of our humanities disciplines. In this episode of iTalks, we're tapping into our own district resources to bring you expert knowledge from Sandy Bradshaw, Anderson 5's District STEM Teacher Leader Coach, who shares how she supports those practices in Anderson School District 5.

What does a District STEM Teacher Leader Coach do?

Supports all 11 elementary schools in anything related to STEM. Support new teachers with STEM lesson design and making connections to standards. Travel to the schools and teaches STEM lessons in classrooms with students.

The 4 C's:

Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking are skills fostered by STEM/STEAM learning. Students can develop soft skills like perseverance and grit as they problem solve in these types of activities. Our preschools received STEAM kits via a grant written and submitted by Erin Darnell and Sandy Bradshaw. There are five kits for the preschools that include Legos with a Lego board, rubber bands with peg board, whiteboards with dry erase markers, science lab coats, petri dishes, color dye, magnetic board and Velcro board, and a marble run.

Makerspaces:

Designing the ultimate STEM makerspace would include so many things. The three must-haves would be different options for building supplies (hands-on opportunities), technology with real-world application (communication piece to show what they've learned), and a combination/variety of different materials to foster creativity. Be sure to organize and set parameters/expectations. The students dictate the experience; they guide their own learning. The teacher is there to set basic guidelines of what they want them to do, but the experience is led by the student and the teacher is the facilitator. Students don't have the be successful the first time. In the book Stop Talking Start Influencing the author states, "Learning does not occur if an error did not occur." Which tells use by the existence of a failure (error) and trigger to fix the failure, then learning is happening.

Assessments:

What do I grade during a STEM activity to ensure learning is happening? Teachers can use rubrics, informal observations, and student reflections.

Personalized Learning:

The choice aspect that's facilitated through STEM learning, fosters that personalized learning.

Innovation Learning Lab Vision:

Which standards can we address via the robotic tool. An added bonus is to build the computational thinking skills within these activities. For example, ELA teachers are utilizing Ozobots to help students create a retelling of a story. Use the robots to make true connections to the standards. Yes, we have the tools, but the learning goal comes first.