ST(EM)POWERED

I field a lot of questions on this topic, and most of them include the words "Harry Potter" in some regard. Those lovely books were in fact part of the inspiration for our House system . A group of students requested to implement a similar program here at STEM, based on Myers Briggs , which all of our students take upon entering in 9th grade. (You can take a quick version of that assessment here ). We use that tool to help the students with the transition from their previous schools to an entirely new peer group in the hopes that it will show students their similarities, and give a new frame of reference for their differences. We refer back to this in our development of PBL groups, in conflict resolution, in teaching the STEM tenets (Critical Thinking, Innovation, Collaboration) and frequently in the day to day. In terms of Houses, we refer to the 4 Myers Briggs  temperaments for "sorting" students into 4 Houses, each of which are named after individuals in STEM

It is time to rethink time, in schools in particular. So many uses of time are ingrained in our educational traditions that we seldom question their validity or purpose. We start at the same times even when report after report demonstrates it is not best for our kids. We require a certain length of seat time, in a day, and in a school year, even when it takes many students shorter or longer than that to learn. We assign (or are assigned by higher authorities) testing windows that take away from instructional time, and often cause high stress levels in students, despite serving no learning purpose. (We can argue about whether they serve other purposes another time, no pun intended.) So let's break some of these down. Many people incorrectly assume the reason for summer breaks is based on farming, check here for an explanation from PBS about the more accurate origins of that decision. Part of the issue was the lack of air conditioning in cities and affluent families leaving those