ST(EM)POWERED

This is a question I get A LOT. Sometimes from parents of younger siblings who are on the fence about attending, sometimes from people who have never heard of us, and even sometimes at Starbuck's when I'm wearing a STEM shirt before work. I have too many answers to share them all when I am asked, but I will try to share them here. 1. The number of people who tour our school and say the following: "I wish I had an option like this when I was in school." On the surface this sounds like just a nice compliment, but in reality it says something about the depth of people's disillusionment with more traditional educational models, that have not changed in decades or longer. Research tells us again and again what students needs, but many schools are unwilling to change longstanding practices in instruction, grading, and so on. If you want to attend, or would like your student to attend, a school that believes in changing the paradigm of education, send them to STEM. ...

The answer is simple: be deliberate. We can't teach every skill, in every content, in every lesson, every single time. But, we can plan ahead to ensure that we are providing instruction, formative assessments, and feedback on those skills in our day to day interactions with students. Collaboration is a great example, since many schools highlight this particular skill as crucial. Oftentimes though the emphasis is simply on allowing students to do group work. How does that look different in 9th grade vs. 12th grade? Is there a progression of how students demonstrate their ability to work in a group? Or to resolve conflict? Or to hold themselves and each other accountable? Just putting them in groups, or letting them choose their own, is not an effective instructional strategy and it doesn't provide feedback or allow for self-reflection. In short, it doesn't explicitly teach collaboration, nor does it provide growth opportunities over time. So we have 2 challenges: 1. ...

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 ...

Most everyone agrees this is a crucial component of engaging students and helping them learn, but HOW exactly do we as educators build relationships that empower students? Compliance ---------> Engagement ----------> Empowerment For some of us, this comes easily and/or naturally. These are the "people" people, those with well developed senses of empathy, or other personality types that relate well to others. These might be the popular teachers, the charismatic leaders, the beloved coach, the ones that just seem to get it. I know we can all think of one or more people that fit that category. These people are lucky. For them, student engagement is often not as difficult. But engagement isn't the be all end all . Students can be engaged but not learn or become better at something. It makes it easier to connect with students, and  might make it more likely that they will learn, but it is not a guarantee. We have to move a few steps further and promote empowerment ...

The Real World was a much loved MTV reality show before reality TV all but took over television. But it is also a phrase adults and educators love to use with teenagers, typically in a punitive sense. We tell them that "in the real world" somebody is not going to tolerate their lack of punctuality, or their bad attitude, or their lack of writing skills, or their excuses...and so on. And we have a point, excuses for those behaviors, choices, and lack of skills are not likely to be tolerated in the workplace, or in higher education. But what if we treated school like it was the real world? What if school actually IS the real world? I would contend that it is. Every day, in every school district in this country, there are students who walk through school doors with far more real world experience than some of the staff and students in those buildings. Access to social media means that the very real world is incredibly present and vivid to our children on a daily basis. We will ...

I've touched on this in previous posts, but a lot of people ask questions about HOW to implement what we do at STEM in their own settings. The struggle is often an offshoot of a "yeah, but" statement. "Yeah, it's awesome your upperclassmen have individualized schedules, but we can't replicate that with our block schedule." "Yeah it's great that your students are dual-enrolled, but we aren't located on a college campus." "Yeah, PBL is great but our teachers are too busy writing and posting clear learning targets."  Those concerns are valid...to a degree. Not everyone has access to those options, or a FabLab, or maker spaces, or drones, or robotics teams. That is ok. Those are the bells and whistles, they are HOW we do what we do, not WHAT we do. Instead of a "yeah, but" try a "Yes! How?" The short answer is, match the purpose, not the products . Then embed it in something you already do. This reminds me...