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Implementing STEM in the Classroom

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Henry Campos Henry Campos 695 Points

STEM stands for (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). All of these subjects are highly important in children's education. They include subjects that are rich in numbers and hands on experiments. Now in days there are a lot of schools that are suffering in these specific subjects. One way to implement them in my classroom, would be by making the content age appropriate for the students. If the student does not understand the level of the content they will most likely not learn anything. I would make my lessons/activities children friendly and appealing to their eye, by grabbing their attention with a great hook at the beginning of the lessons. STEM are subjects that require a lot  of thinking are typically a challenge for all of the students, but it is up to us the educators to differentiate that for them. 

Nayeli Salas Nayeli Salas 990 Points

Hi Henry, Yes, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and aims to close the gaps seen in these subjects. These four subjects are missing in many classrooms in schools all around. It's sad to see and hear that many teachers only have a textbook to teach these subjects and do not have the funding to purchase proper equipment and materials. Most teachers do not teach them because administrators do not enforce it. My goal as a future teacher is to implement STEM into other subjects. I do not want to teach the subjects because we had extra time. I will make time to teach STEM. For example, I can combine technology with any subject or teach some science in an ELA lesson. It will require a lot of work and planning for me but I know it will all be worth it.

Danielle Pinto Danielle Pinto 400 Points

Hi Henry and Nayeli, Unfortunately it is a sad truth that STEM subjects are often overlooked in the classroom (I've experienced it many times since starting my education in teaching, and probably even before). What I see lacking most often are exciting, engaging science lessons in which students have enough time to explore and ask questions about the content presented to them. I think it is important for teachers, though, to be sure to implement science, technology and mathematics into all subject areas because we see these things around us all the time. When students are able to recognize that they don't only use what they learn in one subject ONLY in that subject, they grow as learners. Part of being an exceptional teacher is taking the time, effort, and planning that you mentioned in order to teach STEM to provide the best education for our students.

Brenda Velasco Mizenko Brenda Velasco 2695 Points

I try an incorporate STEM into different subjects across the curriculum including subjects like social studies and literacy. If we are studying for examples habitats in Science, I'll chose books for literacy that related to that. With social studies we look at regions of the world where these habitats are located. I teach at a Catholic School so I also incorporate it into religion lessons especially with caring for creation and environmental issues. STEM is just about teaching it during science time. You can be creative by incorporating it in other areas too.

Hussein Pacha Hussein Pacha 795 Points

All, STEM as said by all of you but will repeat is a curriculum based-approach on educating students in the 4 disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM is designed so all 4 disciplines are taught cohesively and not to be separated. Currently I am in an elementary school where the focus or goal of STEM is to pique students' interests in inquiry-based instruction that follows state standards. We want students to be able to apply what they are learning to real-world problems and go from there. We cannot deny that a lot of careers are now STEM-based and require workers as such. In terms of implementing STEM in a classroom, you want to challenge students, have students work together/collaborate, design, and experiment. Lessons that are taught should first be presented as a problem or question. For a math class, you can have students work together in designing something to sell. You can have fake money involved and make-believe that students are working in a business or corporate America. You can also have students measure things that are located in the classroom when it comes to the measurement lesson and have them compare or relate that measurement to other things. The possibilities are endless. A lot of people have the misconception that STEM can only be implemented in math and science classes, but this is wrong. A reading class can also implement STEM. You can have middle-high school students create a blog/vlog to be posted online and have students look/read their peers' posts and comment as such. Great stuff, everyone!

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