Meaningful Math / Prior Knowledge
by Michelle Russell · Published 09/30/2019 · Last modified 11/26/2019
How do teachers’ assumptions about what students know impede the learning process? Michelle Russell is realizing the “obvious” is sometimes not so obvious to kids in her math classes. Her two big problem areas: basic rules of behavior and prior knowledge of operations.
Finding techniques to engage students in the learning process is critical for school success. Engaging Creative Minds, a city-based non-profit, facilitates teamwork among artists, scientists and teachers to create lessons that target challenging academics in lively ways.
To develop student-centered classrooms, Laura and Evan Robb believe schools and districts must build teams to both lead and empower teachers as they adapt to new demands. The Robbs outline strategies to support the shift, from redefining roles to fostering teacher agency.
Just how do you build a STEM lesson around a real-world challenge? While there’s no single answer to that question, STEM expert Anne Jolly shares a STEM lesson she and a math colleague designed around a local environmental challenge. Helpful tips and resources included!
Bridging the gap between “real STEM study” and how school stakeholders may understand it is a doable task for teachers, says expert Anne Jolly. She offers some elevator-speech essentials to get you started (and perhaps avoid that virtual lab that could be in your future).
Maker-Centered Learning: Empowering Young People to Shape Their Worlds provides a well-organized and well referenced look at the role of maker-centered learning and offers a perspective that is different from that of the popular press, writes educator Laura Von Staden.
When middle schools see afterschool programs as partners, they help keep kids safe, inspire them to learn, and give parents peace of mind, says Jodi Grant, CEO of Afterschool Alliance. The value added to students’ academic and social-emotional growth may surprise you!
Teaching the “NGSS Way” is challenging, admits science specialist Kathy Renfrew, but unlike 2013 when the New Generation Science Standards were first released, teachers can now find plenty of high quality lessons and video demos to help achieve 3-D science classrooms.
As you relax into summer break, keep an eye on what’s up with STEM learning. Expert Anne Jolly shares resources for keeping up with STEM news and lesson ideas as you reflect on what worked (and didn’t) last year and consider how to amp things up for next fall’s students.
The final bell of the year will soon ring, but teachers still have the opportunity to provide students with encouragement, tools, and an expectation to play, explore, and discover the world outside school. Curtis Chandler’s post overflows with STEM resources to do just that.
