Exploring STEAM Education
I announced in my previous post about my upcoming involvement in a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, ART and Math) day at the Nevada Museum of Art. I was trying out a new idea to integrate art into what before had been strictly a STEM (Science, Technology,...
Exploring STEAM Education
When I was approached months ago about being part of this STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, ART, and Math) training at the Nevada Museum of Art this Saturday I jumped at it. There are close to 100 teachers registered and a waiting list ... apparently there is a...
The “Teacher in Space” – Still Touching the Future
I've seen numerous "tweets" today, on the 30th anniversary of the event, from people sharing where they were when they witnessed or heard about the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. I was teaching 7th grade in Oakland, California, and our principal called my...
NASA Pathway to Space Class
Starting next week a team of educators (including me) will be providing a class for local teachers of grades 3 - 12 which will include hands-on training in building and flying drones, rockets, planes and designing payloads which we will then launch on a high altitude...
Solid Professional Development + ALL the Materials to Implement Powerfully = Student Learning
One of the major downsides of 15 years of NCLB and RTTT has been the silo-ing and narrowing out of subjects, especially in elementary schools, and brutally so in the most "at risk" schools. Beside students missing out on the most engaging subjects, after 15 years of...
Waterwheel Challenge – or Ricewheel Challenge
I endeavor to post lessons here I've observed or facilitated when I find them valuable. I'm not always successful in posting them quickly, as my bloated draft blog post file will confirm ... as will my constant frustration these days with lack of writing time. But...
STEM Ambassadors Program
Beth Wells, the Executive Director of the Nevada STEM Coalition (I'm on their board of directors) asked us to provide a training to STEM professionals that have volunteered to be part of our new STEM Ambassadors program. From the STEM Ambassadors web site: "The STEM...
Cool Slow Motion of Demonstrating adhesion/cohesion
We were teaching one of our Project Wet classes tonight when Lou Loftin shot this cool 30 second slow motion video of dropping water on a penny to demonstrate adhesion / cohesion. Enjoy! Learning is messy!
Some Thoughts About The “T” in STEM
In several of my presentations on STEM Learning I share how it seems some grade level planning sessions approach STEM. X Science - "We have science twice a week now for 30-45 minutes." "Check" X Technology - "We go to the computer lab once a week for 30-45 minutes...
Use Powerful Tools Powerfully
Over the years I've had the pleasure to work, via various social networking sites, with Kathy Cassidy, a teacher "of six year olds," in Saskatchewan, Canada, according to her class blog. We've even met face to face at conferences. My class (4th - 6th graders) shared...