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Where do I start? First of all we know very little about it. We don't even know what to do most of the time. I have the Science Olympiad group and they tell me that they've done everything during club time. I have to plan activities for them, and usually it is just to kill time. The days I can't find anything, they play games on their computers. It's impossible to take them away from their computers when there is nothing to do in class. It is definitely a challenge to keep students concentrated during STEAM after 7 hours of work. I think we should have this time to plan for the next day, instead of forcing students to do something that they are not interested in.

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From the students' perspective, when asked about their experience with STEAM at FSA, nearly all of them -- even the exceptionally good, conscientious students -- say that it has become an unnecessary stress in their already busy lives. They claim that the CERP/CMP model was more valuable and enjoyable to them. Some students say that being required to create a website and update their blogs weekly has become the focus rather than any meaningful research or production.

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I am not a STEAM teacher; I just want to put that out there. I do, however, have STEAM time with my AP students. Everything I have heard from students and teachers is that this time is a burden and the least productive part of their day. High school students look worn out and exhausted as I try to get them to focus, and teachers dread even spending a second with the middle schoolers who don't want anything to do with STEAM.

Coming from the perspective of someone who is not a STEAM instructor and can view the situation objectively, I think it would be better to make STEAM time optional. Allowing students to go home after 7th period puts less burden on the students, who already spend 8 hours a day at school, and would ultimately increase the happiness of all teachers involved.

Now speaking from a bit of a biased perspective, club involvement should be optional as well. I can't speak for every teacher, but having to lead two clubs a week is a burden at the end of the day. I think a lot of us would be much happier to come into work if those last two hours of the day were not mandatory, especially those of us who have no club on three days of the week and would prefer to go home and rest after a long day with the students. It would allow us to come into work more refreshed and ready to teach.

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Students do not care about the STEAM period.  To them it is a joke and waste of time and they make zero effort to do anything meaningful during this time.

Students don't care. The teachers are dubious. There is absolutely no administration involvement. Without all three of these, STEAM time is worse than just having free time.

How were these groups formed?  I thought the group makeup would be better this year, but somehow the groups I have were all made up of friends, many of whom spent the entire time last year doing nothing.  Putting the all the students that don't care about STEAM together does not make them care about it more.

I am happy that we are counting STEAM as a grade... but I can't actually give anyone a bad grade for several reasons.  1. Little guidance.  The binder was at least something I could point to and say what they need to do each week.  2. Some group members do some work at times, while others have done nothing.  It's hard to separate this when grading something like journal entries (one student is responsible and everyone gets a grade).  3. Parent pushback.  I can't blame them for this.   Of course it seems every parent thinks their child is the only one doing any work when in fact none of them actually are. 4. I can't say that I even know what is required of the students outside of the blog. I have my students doing all the things from last year -- a trifold, presentation, video, and prototype. It turns out that they don't need to do all this?  I'm not even sure so how are my students to know.

Who is following up on this?  Who is even in charge?  Again, zero guidance for students or teachers on what we are even doing.

Put simply, STEAM has failed. It has failed our students and it has failed the school's vision. At this point it probably too tainted to salvage and should be mercifully
ended and completely rethought and overhauled if it is to return.

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In response to "Another thought..." I agree that this could be a time for students to pursue an individual interest: writing a novel, learning to code, etc. My only concern would be how to "police" students who would inevitably waste this valuable time. There will always be students who, without specific direction, will default to computer games. 

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In response to "Another thought..." I agree that this could be a time for students to pursue an individual interest: writing a novel, learning to code, etc. My only concern would be how to "police" students who would inevitably waste this valuable time. There will always be students who, without specific direction, will default to computer games. 

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Many students are consistently late but we're not supposed to mark them tardy...I regularly have students making up tests/quizzes or other missing assignments for other teachers during STEAM time...the students have the impression its not really that important. I truly haven't seen any groups that were REALLY motivated to do  yet another project...they often call it "Science Fair 2.0"
Most students would benefit more from study hall/tutoring...or having the opportunity to explore areas of interest...enrichment, without specified requirements such as tri-folds....maybe they could put together a portfolio of some sort.....?

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1. I had science olympiad students, and they didn't have enough time to get out all of their building supplies by the time it was time to pack up again (35 minutes is very short). if STEAM stays as is, it should be combined with club time ONLY on the day they have those events. Then, they would have 2:40-3:10..enough time to really work.
2. students always came late, so this time was not valued by them.
3. As a new teacher, STEAM was an additional "to-do," but i did not feel like me or my students were growing from the experience.
4. STEAM should be optional. Not all students have intrinsic motivation, so they ended up wasting their teachers' time (and their own time)

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In my opinion STEAM should be optional for those students who WANT to do it...otherwise it is difficult for teachers to "force" them to participate...students waste time and then throw something together at the end. Keeping all students "on task" for STEAM time, 4 days a week for roughly 3 months is a nightmare and the worst part of my day...everyday. I would literally have to walk around the room the whole time redirecting students.

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In my opinion STEAM should be optional for those students who WANT to do it...otherwise it is difficult for teachers to "force" them to participate...students waste time and then throw something together at the end. Keeping all students "on task" for STEAM time, 4 days a week for roughly 3 months is a nightmare and the worst part of my day...everyday. I would literally have to walk around the room the whole time redirecting students.

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I think it is a neat concept...but only for students with those interests.

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In response to the extending comment and the "no 8th period" comment, I would like to point out that if we got rid of 8th period, we could have normal 8 hour days instead of the nearly 9 hour days we currently have!

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Is there a possibility to go back to extending academic periods and stop STEAM?. 

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Is there a possibility to go back to extending academic periods and stop STEAM?. 

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STEAM is a burden to teachers and students. It's not the fault of any of the teachers, but requiring students to come up with an innovative idea when they have so much on their plates is misguided. Consistently, regardless of the changes we try to implement, students are not motivated and what results, frankly, is a waste of valuable instructional time. 

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STEAM is a burden to teachers and students. It's not the fault of any of the teachers, but requiring students to come up with an innovative idea when they have so much on their plates is misguided. Consistently, regardless of the changes we try to implement, students are not motivated and what results, frankly, is a waste of valuable instructional time. 

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Despite the efforts to give more direction to STEAM, I believe the bulk of the issue lies with student motivation. No matter how many checkpoints we give them, they blow everything off. Theres very little buy in. I feel like STEAM should be a "club" or "academic team;" an optional after school activity if they have a great idea they're passionate about. We already expect the students to keep up with rigorous coursework in 7+ classes on top of clubs. When compared to math homework and science fair projects, STEAM is always going to come in last. I almost feel like we dont even need an 8th period, because I havent seen serious attitudes about enrichment, either.