STEM is such a huge buzz-word right now and probably because educators like you and I know that it's something challenging and engaging for students. It's got a lot of potential to provide fantastic opportunities for our kids. But how do we move beyond the idea that STEM is solely engineering design challenges, and allow for our students to have deeper learning experiences using the four disciplines?
Integration.
I think that often as educators we can see chunks of our day as very black and white. During ELA we're only working on ELA skills, during math we're focused solely on math, and we throw those science standards in when we're able to but they're not always the top priority. This isn't always because of what we believe is best for kids, but because we're doing the best we can with the time, information, and support that we have.
I do a reading centers model similar to Daily Five. I love the Daily Five concept and feel that it creates a lot of space for autonomy in the classroom. Having said that, I've always thought there was very little time to incorporate STEM during reading because Daily Five time is so busy for us.
This took what I thought literacy-relevant STEM looked like and gave me new ideas on what it could be. I never would've thought that having a STEM center during Daily Five could give my students the chance to practice their literacy skills in a realistic context, but the video makes a lot of great points.
Hopefully when I get back into my classroom (I'm being optimistic and telling myself I'll be back before the new school year) I'll be able to try this out.
What do you think? Have you ever tried using STEM centers during Daily Five?
