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A cityscape at night with bright blue lines and nodes overlaid, representing a digital network or data connections, creating a futuristic and high-tech visual effect.

Untangling the Web

by Ian Egan February 2, 2018

written by Ian Egan 6 minutes read

Less face-to-face interaction stunts empathy and compassion by Matthew Howell

Recently, I came across a student who was madly scribbling indecipherable lines in crayon on a sheet of paper. We were in the cafeteria. He was sitting at a table with peers, but at the far end- he was with others, yet by himself.

As I watched from a distance he cycled through the colors; red then green, back to red, purple, yellow, back to green, all at a feverish pace. He was pressing so firmly on the paper that I thought it might rip, or at a minimum a crayon would break from the strain.

As the students around him got up from the table to go outside for recess, he continued scribbling, seemingly oblivious. When nearly everyone had exited the cafeteria I walked over to the table and asked, “So what are you drawing?”

“It’s a spider web with a fly in it,” the student responded.

I looked closely at the work and tried to see his interpretation with my own eyes. “Sure” I said, “I can see the web but not the fly.”

The young man lifted his head and made eye contact with me. He said, “The fly is in there, you just don’t see it because you don’t know where to look. See,” he said, pointing to a black dot buried in the jumbled nest of lines, “The spider is right here in the center.”

With that, he stuffed the paper between his binder and notebook. He stood, wished me a good day and walked off, seemingly happy to catch up with his friends.

The exchange got me thinking about how our students see themselves in our schools and the world at large. While I cannot attest that this student and his artwork intended to convey a sense of being lost in a swirl of chaos and commotion, I could not help but draw the conclusion myself.

As educators we are on the front lines of a shifting society. It is our job to ensure that students are not snarled in the web of activity that is modern learning. Below are three tips that have helped me to find the students who are trapped in center of the web:

Technology and the Din of White Noise:

People have never been as inundated by a constant stream of information, images, noise and ideas as they are today. Immediate access to the internet in various forms has impacted students in measurable and not so measurable ways. With this rapid and continued development, it can be difficult to fully understand the way that this influences the human psyche, especially in students who are in the early stages of development.

What we do know for certain is that access to the Internet comes at a price. Students experience far less face to face communication than previous generations, which leads to the underdevelopment of empathy and the misunderstanding of once common social cues. Bullying is also rampant and pervasive on the Internet in all demographics.

To offset this, create spaces and activities in your schools and classrooms for students to detach from their devices. This is extremely valuable for the learner, as the removal of the stimulation will help regulate brain activity and open up cognitive capacity for creativity and reflection.

What Happens at Home Comes to School

When I greet my students at arrival in the morning I am aware that many of them have already been exposed to a stream of information, and much of it is often traumatizing and negative. I try to imagine them waking in a house where the television is turned to the news. Maybe they have their own unfiltered news feed on their telephones as well.

The parents, not for a lack of caring, may be engrossed by the same streams of information. The time for discussion could be nonexistent. Still, the subconscious mind is powerful, and in these instances the cortisol levels are proven to rise wildly. Even when the stimulation is indirect or unacknowledged, the brain still processes the information and formulates an involuntary response such as anxiety or fear.

These same young people could be listening to the latest reports on the car ride in as well. When they enter the building, they are flung headlong into the mad dash that is modern education without the opportunity to process the information.

It is important that educators cultivate an active awareness this dynamic exists. Pay attention to your students’ verbal and nonverbal cues. Develop sensitivity that an off switch may not exist for your students. This will allow a more compassionate approach in trying times.

Eliminate the Cracks

In the best environments there are students who can go unnoticed. People with unmet needs will seek attention without fail, often in the most counterproductive ways.

One way to make certain that the students in your school are in a nurturing relationship with a trusted and caring adult is to do a school wide roster check.

Simply take the name of each student and post them on your walls during the safety and privacy of a faculty meeting. You can easily do this with chart paper or printed rosters. Have all members of your staff circulate the room and place a checkmark next to the students they have a positive rapport with. Does every student have someone who knows their interests? Does each student have someone who helps them with goal setting?

There are plenty of questions you can generate to frame the activity. In the end, it is essential that each student has at least one person at a minimum. Learners need a constant stream of support and encouragement to flourish. This will ensure that no one goes unnoticed.

While the student’s drawing I mentioned earlier may have been nothing more than a dash of lines and a release of stress, it cannot be denied that our job as educators and leaders is constantly changing and full of challenge. It is more important now than ever that we find our students where they are, and give them the tools they need to arrive where they want to be.
Author

Mr. Matthew Howell has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montclair State University. He has also earned his Master of Arts Degree from Seton Hall University in Educational Leadership and Supervision. Mr. Howell is certified in English education and as a principal and school administrator.

Mr. Howell has served in the Oceanport School District since September of 2012. In addition to Oceanport School District, his 14 years in education include positions in Somerset, Ocean Township, Millstone and Hazlet. Mr. Howell’s professional experiences include classroom teaching, coaching, supervision, and administration. He has held positions at a number of age levels. Mr. Howell is passionate about education and he firmly believes that every child can succeed. Follow Mr. Howell on Twitter.

Further Reading

Ed World – Stress Is Contagious In the Classroom

TeachThought – 5 Easy Ways To Reduce Student Stress In The Classroom

edCircuit – Countering the Stress and Anxiety of Modern Learning

February 2, 2018 0 comments

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Hidden

Shared Leadership and Communities of Learning

by Ian Egan February 2, 2018

written by Ian Egan 7 minutes read

Focusing our energy on creating a stronger sense of mission by Mac Bogert

We educators are bombarded with data—test scores, graduation rates, GPA’s, drop-out percentages, college enrollment numbers, class size, remediation rates and more.

These numbers are not meaningless. Like the reading on a thermometer, they indicate that something needs attention. We can lower our fever—a number—with aspirin, though changing that number may not treat the condition that caused it. And there are lots of ways (some more fitting than others) to affect numbers like graduation rates. Perhaps schools have taken too much from the industrial mindset—schools as assembly lines— and lost sight of schools as communities. Assembly lines aim for numbers. Communities build on relationships.

What if we focused our energy on creating a stronger sense of mission, centered on the shared value of learning? People rather than numbers. Better health rather than lower fevers, as it were.

Our first public school, the Boston Latin School, opened in 1635. For most of our history, public schools were small. They often mixed ages together and taught all kinds of things from religion to ‘rithmetic. Schools served as a primary location for students to interact socially, to establish a sense of community together. Standardized curriculum? Graduation percentages? Funding indexed to test scores? Not for many, many years.

“I believe that the school must represent present life – life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or on the play-ground.I believe that under existing conditions far too much of the stimulus and control proceeds from the teacher, because of neglect of the idea of the school as a form of social life.I believe that the teacher’s place and work in the school is to be interpreted from this same basis. The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences.”1

John Dewey(1897)

I’m not suggesting we go back to a one-room building heated by a coal stove with a single blackboard. Yet as all our access to data and learning tools—via technology— expands the horizon of information, what about creating a sense that we’re all working together on creating connection, insight and application?

We know that learning and teaching both gain meaning as well as staying power when they occur in a web of relationship. Not only does learning thrive when we interact with other perspectives, we develop the skills of emotional intelligence and learn to see our differences as resources. The more we can create a sense of shared discovery—community—the more learning becomes a value rather than just a series of lessons.

For that community to grow, we can start by examining what we mean by leadership. Do we view it as exclusive—only for a select group like administrators or department chairs? Do we limit student leadership to athletic teams, clubs and the student council? Community comes from the same root word as common (I’m a recovering English teacher). So the more leading becomes common rather than exclusive, we have access to a wonderful truth: the more leadership we share, the more leadership there is. The more we can spread responsibility, decision-making, and open communication throughout our school, the stronger the sense of community.

Most of our current schools have three barriers that block sharing leadership:

First, faculty, administrators and staff don’t have a vehicle to develop a vision for collaboration or steps to implement that vision.

Second, students don’t participate in curriculum, instruction and governance.

Third, all the members of the school community do not collaborate on developing and measuring success.

We can take simple, concrete steps to address these roadblocks, understanding that structural change takes time and trust—

Why not set aside some in-service time to allow school staff to develop their collaborative skills and build greater understanding? Give them space (and power) to share leadership in developing goals, making budgetary decisions, involving the community, brainstorming learning projects. As leadership becomes less concentrated and more mutual, we know from research as well as from experience that organizations become more agile, innovative, and energized.

“The fact is, the knowledge of how to improve schools has grown a great deal in the last 20 years, and the educators who have put that knowledge to work in their schools and districts hold important lessons for the rest of us. If I had to put into one sentence what the key lesson they hold is, it would be that they focus on improving the knowledge and skill of the adults in schools and give them the time and space to collaborate about what kids need to learn and how to teach it.”2

Karin Chenowith

For the students, we can bypass the artificial separation of grade levels and trust their often-underestimated capacity to manage the classroom. Share power with them about lessons, projects, class norms, setting goals, every aspect that affects their development. Even better, we can work with other teachers to establish and support mentoring, coaching, and across-grade-level projects. After all, how much of our post-school life is spent working only with people of the same age? Teachers can become fellow learners, their greater knowledge and experience a resource rather than an authority. This shift creates an atmosphere of interdependence—community. Learning geometry, language and computer science while practicing leadership is not a bad habit.

Finally, we can start to collaborate on developing a vision for the school’s success. Some of this vision will have to correlate with external standards like statewide testing. Building a community of learning works best as a practical vision—to succeed we need to consider the surrounding realities. Those realities do not negate the idea of agreeing on, for instance, a mentoring requirement for graduation, building student participation into curriculum development, developing alternative paths to achieving recognition (including grades) and giving students more responsibility in developing their own benchmarks for achievement.

I’ve worked in a factory. Swing shift. Two fifteen-minute breaks, ½ hour for lunch. It was soul-numbing. I’ve also worked for most of my teaching life as part of several learning communities – teams (including the students) who share leadership, learn continuously, challenge each other and see our differences as a powerful resource, regardless of position or experience. The tedium of the first helped me realize the power of the second.

If we can see the continuum of education as the assembly line on one end, a community of learning on the other, we can develop plans and programs that help us lead, together, forward and leave the factory behind.
Author

Since 1994, Mac Bogert has been president of Aza Learning, providing innovative coaching and learning programs focused on leadership and creative thinking. He began teaching in 1971 after attending Washington and Lee University and the University of Virginia. He’s taught in a variety of schools, from elementary to college, today providing learning support for 200 clients nationwide.

Mac currently works with districts and education organizations through The Learning Community program, which has been developed by a lifelong teacher to increase understanding, collaboration, and transparency. It’s not a lecture or a presentation, it’s an experience, filled with interaction and shared awareness. For a sample of the course materials and a conversation about bringing The Learning Community to your school, district or university, please click here.

Follow Mac on Twitter. Listen to his podcasts here.

Further Reading

Ed Week – Educator Networks: Building a Community to Advance Learning

Corwin Connect – The Benefits and Drawbacks of Shared Leadership

SEDL – Supportive and Shared Leadership

February 2, 2018 0 comments

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CoffeEd Educators K-12 Teachers Interviews

Chronic Trauma vs. Acute Trauma in the Classroom

by EdCircuit Staff & Pamela Cantor February 1, 2018

written by EdCircuit Staff & Pamela Cantor 3 minutes read

After the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001, Dr. Pamela Cantor was asked to co-author a study about the traumatic effect the attack had on New York City’s students. She did groundbreaking research across the Five Boroughs but had an eye-opening experience when a drawing from a young student in the Bronx showed what that day meant to him. The subject matter he drew was not what she or other researchers expected.

Systems of Stress

The drawing shows the Twin Towers smoking in the background, but in the foreground are two stick-figure boys pointing guns at each other. It was an epiphany for Dr. Cantor and her team. They were studying the effects of acute trauma, and the signs of chronic trauma were everywhere they looked. Dr. Cantor explains, ”When you look at what that picture meant, and you actually look at what showed up in the data, we found that these symptoms of stress associated with 9/11 were much more prevalent in our high-poverty communities and schools. And the reason for that was that there were clear and present dangers and risks that kids confront daily in their communities.”

Impacting the Learning Environment

The results show that while some of the anxiety symptoms were set off or re-triggered by the 9/11 attacks, poverty, and many other daily adversities are a stronger and more prevalent source of stress in children’s everyday lives. They are significant factors in the types of issues kids bring into the classroom. Everyday stresses seriously impact the learning environment and prevent students from feeling safe and secure. They feel alienated and alone, unable to learn while coping with multiple distractions outside the classroom.

How Adults Can Help With Stress Factors

But Dr. Cantor cautions that children’s brains are very malleable. She discusses the malleability and resilience side of the equation in overcoming stress factors and says there is a lot that adults can do both in the classroom and at home to help kids cope. “From enabling kids to know why they should feel safe, why they should feel protected, it’s important that parents and school staff need to be embedded in powerful relationships with their children,” she says.

She has learned that the human relationship is the most robust buffer against the effects of stress. Just as stress produces cortisol that courses through children’s systems, the experience of a connected and robust relationship actually releases another hormone that opposes cortisol. So, kids’ connection with their families, whether or not it’s just one parent, is the key ingredient of a child’s healthy development.

“There is a lot that parents, that one parent, can do or just one teacher can do to make a child feel protected and safe in the school classroom to foster a healthy learning environment,” Dr. Cantor says. Just being present and providing a sense of security, continuity, and acceptance in the child’s life can make all the difference in the world.

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February 1, 2018 1 comment

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State Federal

Letter to the Editor

by Ian Egan January 31, 2018

written by Ian Egan 6 minutes read

Texas superintendent Michael Cardona’s letter to Governor Abbott

The past dereliction of duty on the part of many school districts to serve our students, and the failure of TEA to hold districts accountable, are worthy of criticism. TEA must take steps now to significantly increase oversight provided to ensure our special education students are receiving the services they deserve. But while the problems identified in the report started long before your arrival at TEA, our parents and students demand significant actions be taken now to improve special education in Texas.

– Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Dear Governor and Elected Officials,

I was disheartened to say the least regarding the recent statement made by our Governor.

Since our Governor expresses the right to criticize, perhaps as a public school superintendent, I have the right to express some sentiments that would help the public in their perceptions of this pernicious attack on school districts. First, it was exactly that oversight back during the 79th Legislature that got the State of Texas in this predicament. While it may not have been our current commissioner in office, the recent fiascos with a no-bid contract and the removal of someone he hired to oversee special education is worthy of criticism and investigation. Second, TEA under a former commissioner and TEA established the inconsistent mandates not school districts.

As a reminder to the Governor, public school districts serve our students and will serve our students based on their disability but it was TEA who mandated pushing students into the box and not planning based on the student’s needs. As a reminder, it was this current fixation with standardized testing which forced districts to test all students on the regular STAAR or EOC regardless of what was best for the student. If you want to criticize anyone, criticize politicians who have politicized the educational system and have continued to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the current state of the educational system.

Furthermore, politicians who claim to be Christian, the moment they attack and demean an educational system they are meant to support aren’t demonstrating the Christian values they say they live. Jesus did not feed some, he fed all. Public school systems do not exclude some, they include all. Are we perfect, no, but we try daily to meet our students needs in their educational journey.

A little about myself. I went to private Catholic school k-12, Texas A&M University, and have been a public school educator for 26 years (I am a former special education teacher). I went to a segregated system, yes, a segregated system that my parents paid for by working multiple jobs. They paid their property tax and my mother is still appalled by the notion of a voucher because she made a choice knowing her responsibility was to also pay for her property taxes yearly. Everyone in my educational experience was like-minded. If they did not conform, they were uninvited and sent to the public school in their attendance zone.

In my entire 13 years of private education, I had experience with one student who would have qualified for special education services and that was in high school. He was with us for two years before he passed away his sophomore year. It was my fellow classmates and myself who would help him because he did not have an instructional assistant or nurse to help him. You see, private schools do not have to meet those needs. In the public school district worthy of your critique, we would service that student with either an instructional assistant or for some students a nurse. Many public school districts also currently serve students who require special education services but are in home school or private school. I digress though.

A major difference and the biggest difference in my private school education was the lack of focus on standardized testing. I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the high school entrance exam for Catholic Schools, and the SAT. At no time in my entire private educational experience was I burdened with having to pass numerous standardized tests or else I would not be deemed worthy. At no time in my journey did teachers have the burden of meeting an accountability test that does not even measure what students will experience in real life.

Politicians created the accountability system that burdens students, parents, and teachers. Students and teachers should not be getting physically ill because of an accountability system that is incongruent with the needs of the students. Should we be held accountable? Absolutely. We have TSI, ASVAB, AP, ACT, PSAT, and SAT that provide us with the roadmap to prepare students to be career, college, or military ready.

This public school system you seek to critique has continued to push forward even though accountability has continued to change and is an ever-continuous moving target. The weight of the accountability system, imposed by legislators and mandated by TEA is your responsibility. As a leader, I may not have been responsible for some things that happened prior to my arriving but I own them. I accept responsibility for everything that happens in my district. For you to absolve the current commissioner and yourself by this attacking letter displays a lack of leadership.

The public needs to understand that there are many ways for a public school system to fail but only one way to succeed. At last count, potentially, high schools will have numerous accountability measures that would result in them as being rated as not successful. This system is not being created by those school districts you critique but rather by this constant movement to attack in an unChristian manner a system that should be supported as per the Texas Constitution. Article Seven Section 1 of the Texas Constitution sums it up fairly well, “A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.”

It is my hope that the public seeks to understand the complexity of the education system that has been created by politicians. All of our public school students, parents, and teachers deserve our legislators to perform their duties as stated in the Texas Constitution.

Professionally, Michael A. Cardona

Superintendent of Schools
Author

Michael A. Cardona was named Superintendent of Schools for San Marcos CISD on May 2, 2016. Prior to this position, Michael served as the Chief School Officer in the Houston Independent School District, the state’s largest school system.

Prior to joining Houston ISD, Michael was a secondary principal and assistant principal in the North East Independent School District in San Antonio and an assistant principal, teacher, and administrative intern in San Antonio ISD. During this period, he earned numerous awards, including being a state semi-finalist in both 2011 and 2012 in the Secondary Principal’s Category for the H.E.B. Excellence in Education Award. In 2014, he was awarded the Paul R. Hensarling Award for Distinguished Scholar from Texas A&M University.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M University – College Station in Political Science. He went on to earn a Master of Education from Texas A&M – Kingsville in Mid-Management and is currently working on his Doctor of Education at Texas A&M University-College Station.

Follow Michael Cardona on Twitter.

Further Reading

Huffington Post – Texas Superintendent Wants Accountability Controlled by the Community

edCircuit – Overwhelming a Broken System

Community Impact – San Marcos CISD names superintendent finalist

January 31, 2018 0 comments

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EdTech Global FETC 2018

Bringing Global Experience to EdTech

by Ian Egan January 31, 2018

written by Ian Egan 4 minutes read

https://vimeo.com/247518605

Shepherding EdTech for English Language International Schools

John Mikton’s introduction to English language international education was in Africa over 24 years ago, and his first concern wasn’t just teaching. There was also the lack of electricity, water and crumbling infrastructure to tackle. So he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Since then, from creating an educational technology system where none had ever existed in Africa to teaching in Japan where the educational technology was some of the most advanced in the world, John has seen as many different educational systems, edtech variations, and educational philosophies as he has seen cultures. The one thing he has learned from his global experience is that a theory or method that worked in one location may not (and usually doesn’t) work in another.

“International schools are so different from each other even though in general philosophy it’s a group of expatriate parents who are often stationed or have professional opportunities in geographic locations,” John says. “And for them to have that English language international education — they will go to an international school.” In addition to expatriates, local families who want to avail their children of a Western-style education make-up a good percentage of enrollment.

Often the needs of the students and the needs of the world they’re going into are very different from the needs perceived by parents and teachers. John says that at the end of the day he sees his job as being able to answer the following: “What is it about people that you can support, engage and provoke in an empathetic way to get people to change and to meet the needs of the students?”

At the beginning of his career, the major issues he faced weren’t just getting cumbersome and expensive 1995 desktop computers to Africa with English keyboards, but also the licensing of the software. But now, because of cloud computing and affordable devices like tablets and smartphones, the playing field is leveled and (with the exception of China and other areas that have purposefully blocked the internet) the same resources and curriculum are available around the globe. “I would say a large percentage of international schools can leverage cloud computing to their advantage,” John says, “and then it’s much easier to provide those digital ecosystems across borders.”

Today, with cloud computing and the BYOD (bring your own device) movement gaining momentum globally, the responsibility worldwide is being pushed onto the parents and the students. In both the United States and internationally there’s an emphasis on bringing the hardware to schools, and then allowing the institutions to provide the pedagogy, the bandwidth, and the necessary cloud technologies.

John Mikton sees a bright future, but further down the road he sees trouble brewing with the thought processes and the need for assessment from governing entities, boards of trustees and finance committees who simply want to know, “What is the return on the investment?”

The technology isn’t the point, John says. The technology is merely a tool; the lessons themselves must be engaging to be effective. The technology alone is not going to improve learning. “I think that’s a hard one, sometimes, for a board of trustees to understand because they want a tangible result ─ test results ─ or evidence of better learning,” he says.

To be a thriving learning environment, John says the question should be “What can we do to ensure that we have good teachers facilitating excellent learning and enhancing kids’ understanding of the world while making it engaging and authentic?” And then we need to bring the pedagogy, the tools, and the resources into their lives to accomplish that.

About John Mikton

John Mikton is currently the Head of Education and Media Technology/ Assistant Principal at the International School of Luxembourg . Previously he was the Director of eLearning at the Inter Community School in Zurich, Switzerland and the Director of Information Technology at the International School of Prague, Czech Republic. John is also a trainer at the Principal Training Center – facilitating the Technology Leadership and Digital Skills for Internationals School Leaders courses. He is also an Appsevents presenter and summit speaker.

He has 24 years experience working in International School (Africa, Asia and Europe) Education and Media Technology and 12 years as a Senior Leadership Team member in International Schools (in Europe).

John is the author of the Beyond Digital and Digital Life blogs. Follow John Mikton on Twitter.

January 31, 2018 1 comment

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Educators STEAM in Education

STEM-STEAM: Not Just for High School

by Barbara R. Blackburn January 31, 2018

written by Barbara R. Blackburn 5 minutes read

Recently, there has been a push in education to integrate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Many high schools even have STEM academies. But it’s important to remember that incorporating these areas can happen at all grade levels, not just high school.

For example, in preschool and kindergarten, teachers combine snack time with a lesson on simple machines. Using an apple corer, the teacher cuts the apple. First, teachers can discuss the properties of the apple including the color inside and outside. Students can count the seeds, notice the stem, and then the teacher can share a book about how apples grow.

Next, the teacher can lead a discussion as to how the apple corer works, including the amount of pressure they must exert to cut through the apple. The teacher can ask what other tools are used to cut apples and can then explain that corers and knives are examples of wedges, one of the six simple machines.

Then, you can integrate math by asking, “How many pieces of apple are there? Is that enough for everyone at the table to have one piece? How many apples would we need to cut to allow everyone to have two pieces? You can also discuss the shapes of the pieces and introduce the idea of fractional parts of the whole apple.

Anne Jolley, in her blog on Middleweb, shares topics for middle school that can easily teach all areas of STEM. They are particularly motivating to students, because of their real-life connections.

Possible STEM Problems

Oil spills

Water pollution

Endangered species

Invention of a Band Instrument

Invention of an Electric Gamebox

Invention of a Confetti Launcher

Finally, a great idea for secondary classrooms is for students to create paper rockets. As NASA explains, “Few classroom topics generate as much excitement as rockets. The scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical foundations of rocketry provide exciting classroom opportunities for authentic hands-on, minds-on experimentation.” On their website, NASA provides a full lesson plan, including information on the history of rockets, how rockets work, and how to create a rocket race.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM)

A popular adaption of STEM is STEAM, which incorporates arts into the science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum. Proponents remind us that the arts can improve learning by enhancing the growth of cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor pathways in the brain. Inez Liftig believes combining science and the arts “also lets students see how both of these have been and still are quests to examine and explain the world around us… Students see that curiosity, creativity, imagination, and attention to detail are traits common to artists/writers and scientists.”

Let’s go back to the concept of the apple corer and simple machines we explored in the STEM section, and look at how the arts can be integrated. In kindergarten through fourth grade, students can look at pictures of simple machines and draw them, explaining what they think each part does. In grades five-eight, students can look at, analyze and discuss Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions, asking if they work, how they work, and why. They may choose one of his machines and copy it. Using their skills of observation, students can identify the parts that make the machine work and apply the appropriate scientific principles to explain how.

In high school, after viewing images of Rube Goldberg machines, students can design and build their own simplified machines. Then, they create an accompanying display, report, or presentation explaining the scientific applications of how the machine works.

Another way to incorporate the arts into any STEM lesson is through the use of a tableau, which is the creation of a living depiction of a topic. In small groups, students work together to decide how to best represent the concept as a tableau. They must focus not just on representing the concept but also pay attention to their poses, facial expressions, and gestures. Movement, dialogue, sound effects, and music are also allowed. As an added feature, one student can assume the role of reporter and interview members of the scene.

Soap Box Derby as a Project Example

A great STEM/STEAM example that is particularly engaging to students is a Soap Box Derby. You may remember these from your childhood or your own children may have participated in one, but today’s activities can be directed toward STEM and STEAM. For example, students are able to learn about friction and force of motion for science, they can use technology for design and simulations, engineering incorporates design, building, and testing the stock car, the design elements are enhanced through art skills, and math concepts such as measurement and speed are valuable.

One interesting concept is the idea that students who “think” in 3D perform better in math and science in later years. For primary and elementary teachers, giving students the opportunity to use basic engineering skills to build simple cars out of existing materials will prepare them for later, more complex work.

What I particularly like is that activities for a soap box derby also incorporate social-emotional learning skills such as responsible decision-making, self-management and relationship skills, which are also necessary career skills.

(Resource Tip)

Soap Box Derby has created curriculum materials (for a fee) that incorporate activities for STEM and STEAM. They also provide free videos and plans for building stock cars.

Conclusion

In order to truly prepare students for life after high school, we must teach connections among science, technology, engineering, math, and if possible, art. However, it is too late if we wait until high school to focus on these areas. Using practical strategies and hands-on learning will excite students of all ages, and increase their interest in STEM and STEAM.

Further Reading

EdTech Magazine – The History of STEM vs. STEAM Education (and the Rise of STREAM)

Education Closet – What is STEAM?

The Conversation – STEAM not STEM: Why scientists need arts training

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January 31, 2018 1 comment

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