Embedded Files
Davidson Academy professional staff members and leaders participate in an ongoing system of STEAM-specific professional learning.
Davidson Academy professional staff members and leaders participate in an ongoing system of STEAM-specific professional learning.
Empowering Educators with In-House STEAM PD
Empowering Educators with In-House STEAM PD
Building Essential STEAM Skills
Building Essential STEAM Skills
The 4Cs of STEAM Education ~ critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication ~ are essential skills we believe our students need to be successful in school, the workplace, and life in general. One of our first STEAM PDs helped to educate our teachers about the 4Cs and their importance and gave them practical ways to integrate them in their content areas. Across all divisions, our educators have been intentional and diligent about incorporating these 21st century skills in their lessons and promoting their importance to our students.
Supporting STEAM Integration
Supporting STEAM Integration
Integrating STEAM can sometimes be challenging, particularly for teachers who don’t specialize in traditional STEAM subjects. While our educators have shown remarkable enthusiasm in embracing this approach, they needed clear guidelines on how STEAM integration would take shape at Davidson Academy. To support them, our leadership team conducted a professional development session, outlining the key components of a STEAM-based lesson. We shared practical examples from teachers across all grade levels who were successfully incorporating STEAM into diverse subject areas. Additionally, we provided resources and ideas to help teachers confidently implement STEAM in their classrooms.
What Makes a Lesson STEAMy PD.pdfEngineering Design Process.pdfEmbracing the Engineering Design Process
Embracing the Engineering Design Process
The Engineering Design Process is one of the most important STEAM practices/processes and is vital to STEAM integration. Our teachers completed this self-paced PD, and in the process, learned that the EDP can be used in any subject area. While more than half of our teachers are already utilizing this practice in some form with their students, many learned more about its benefits and gained knowledge about how to more thoroughly implement it in their content area. By having ongoing access to this PD, teachers can refer back to the instructional videos and resource links anytime they need to. Also, the 'reflections' form that teachers submitted after working their way through the PowerPoint, gave our leadership team guidance about how to better support our teachers with STEAM integration.
The Power of Project-based Learning
The Power of Project-based Learning
Project-based learning (PBL) is a cornerstone of STEAM education, empowering students to actively solve problems, take ownership of their learning, and apply knowledge in real-world contexts. A fellow educator from a neighboring STEM certified school visited to present on the principles of PBL to our faculty. She highlighted the impact of PBL and shared research supporting its importance in STEAM education. Additionally, she emphasized the essential elements of PBL and the critical role of integrating the engineering design process into projects.
Principles of PBLs by Maureen Henderson (1).pdfCrafting STEAM-Inspired Social Studies Lessons
Crafting STEAM-Inspired Social Studies Lessons
This workshop, led by the Education Director of Belle Meade Historic Site, focused on a key element often overlooked in history education—the "how" of history, or the intersection between social studies and STEAM subjects. Our teachers explored strategies to expand their lessons beyond simply what people in the past did, by delving into how they did it. STEAM-inspired history lessons naturally lend themselves to hands-on, project-based learning experiences, making history more dynamic and engaging for students.
Diverse PD Opportunities for Teachers
Diverse PD Opportunities for Teachers
In addition to our "all faculty" professional development sessions, our teachers have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of STEAM integration by participating in courses offered through OTIS for Educators. This online PD platform, to which our school subscribes, provides training, support, and inspiration to help teachers transform learning in their classrooms. For the 2023-2024 school year, our teachers completed 114 OTIS courses, totaling 89 professional development hours. Additionally, faculty members completed 776 hours of professional learning, with over 30% of that time focused on STEAM integration and technology in the classroom. Other STEAM-related PD topics included AI integration, project-based learning, technology for students, and using student data to drive instruction.
Our teachers also pursue opportunities to learn new ways to integrate STEAM into their content areas by attending local, state, and national conferences and workshops. These include the Country Music Hall of Fame's STEAM PD, the annual Tennessee STEM Innovation Summit, and STEM Con & Beyond, among others.
Page updated
Report abuse