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It was said that the Jr. High teachers will be discussing and planning our defined stem lessons during the January early release. There are MANY teachers on the NGSS team who are required to meet at another building and several others who will be elsewhere for national boards. How will this be handled so that these teachers will also have a voice in the planning and implementation for our building? And get the important information that will be discussed on that day and others in the future?

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It was said that the Jr. High teachers will be discussing and planning our defined stem lessons during the January early release. There are MANY teachers on the NGSS team who are required to meet at another building and several others who will be elsewhere for national boards. How will this be handled so that these teachers will also have a voice in the planning and implementation for our building? And get the important information that will be discussed on that day and others in the future?

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Does the Defined STEM activity need to be at grade/age level or can we choose one that is appropriate for our students academic ability?

The activity should be aligned to the correct grade level- however the readings can be accessed at the student's lexile level as needed.  I would work with our Special Education Teachers for specific questions around IEP accommodations.  Felice

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Creating Links between Standards-based Teaching and Learning and 21st Century Skill

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Creating Links between Standards-based Teaching and Learning and 21st Century Skill

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https://www.definedstem.com/pd_center/classroom?tab=twpt

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to the Real World

Defined STEM is a K-12 project based learning solution that provides engaging, authentic lessons built around careers. Our cross-curricular projects provide opportunities for students to deepen understanding and apply their knowledge in real world scenarios.

inspiring and engaging

The pathway to success

Each project puts the students in the role of a specific STEM career and asks them to conduct an authentic performance task to apply their knowledge and skills to prove their understanding. Defined STEM creates excitement about STEM career opportunities and encourages students to be more proficient in these subjects - providing a pathway to a promising future.

empower students to thrive

Research Proven Methods

Research shows that students who learned through Defined STEM's interdisciplinary projects showed improved engagement, 21st century skills, and achieved +39% higher test scored than students who received traditional instruction for STEM education.

outstanding

awards and recognition

Over 75,000 educators have inspired and enriched their students educational lives using Defined STEM.

See how the INNOVATION of

Defined stem can work for your school

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Defined STEM is a K-12 project based learning solution that provides engaging, authentic lessons built around careers. Our cross-curricular projects provide opportunities for students to deepen understanding and apply their knowledge in real world scenarios.

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https://docs.google.com/a/ksd111.net/presentation/d/1PP9I-4YIF4MtRtD9r5696YwZJPUSIH2TqQF9CdQDfkY/edit?usp=sharing

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How do the Read 180 and Math 180 teachers implement Defined Stem?  We have limited time and Blocks of content to complete.

Karen Brown can help you work through your curriculum materials to see how to best fit in in.
Felice

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Do you have examples of how the high school is implementing Defined Stem? 

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Do you have examples of how the high school is implementing Defined Stem? 

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Yes, there are some- Avis Huff also has been using Defined STEM as well. Felice

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How do I use Defined Stem if I only have the students for 45 minutes a day?

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How do I use Defined Stem if I only have the students for 45 minutes a day?

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Great question, you can work with your SLT team to develop an implementation plan.  You can be flexible, maybe part of the 45 mins a day , a day of the week, early release AM's,  flexible cohorts during the day, the possibilities are endless. Felice

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Taking the time from direct instruction and not having a solid foundation of background knowledge already.  How will our students test compared to students in other distrcts??

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Taking the time from direct instruction and not having a solid foundation of background knowledge already.  How will our students test compared to students in other distrcts??

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The move to problem based learning and performance tasks have proven to make a difference in student achievement. If we focus on quality instruction, the test scores will take care of themselves.  We teach Kids not content. Felice

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Studies have proven that when implemented well, project-based learning (PBL) can increase retention of content and improve students' attitudes towards learning, among other benefits. Edutopia's PBL research review explores the vast body of research on the topic and helps make sense of the results. In this series of five articles, learn how researchers define project-based learning, review some of the possible learning outcomes, get our recommendations of evidence-based components for successful PBL, learn about best practices across disciplines, find tips for avoiding pitfalls when implementing PBL programs, and dig in to a comprehensive annotated bibliography with links to all the studies and reports cited in these pages.

What is Project-Based Learning?

Project-based learning hails from a tradition of pedagogy which asserts that students learn best by experiencing and solving real-world problems. According to researchers ( Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008; Thomas, 2000), project-based learning essentially involves the following:

students learning knowledge to tackle realistic problems as they would be solved in the real world

increased student control over his or her learning

teachers serving as coaches and facilitators of inquiry and reflection

students (usually, but not always) working in pairs or groups

Teachers can create real-world problem-solving situations by designing questions and tasks that correspond to two different frameworks of inquiry-based teaching: Problem-based learning, which tackles a problem but doesn't necessarily include a student project, and project-based learning, which involves a complex task and some form of student presentation, and/or creating an actual product or artifact.

These inquiry-based teaching methods engage students in creating, questioning, and revising knowledge, while developing their skills in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, reasoning, synthesis, and resilience (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008). Although these methods of inquiry-based teaching differ slightly, for simplicity they're combined in these pages and referred to as project-based learning or PBL.

Learning Outcomes

Studies comparing learning outcomes for students taught via project-based learning versus traditional instruction show that when implemented well, PBL increases long-term retention of content, helps students perform as well as or better than traditional learners in high-stakes tests, improves problem-solving and collaboration skills, and improves students' attitudes towards learning ( Strobel & van Barneveld, 2009; Walker & Leary, 2009). PBL can also provide an effective model for whole-school reform ( National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform, 2004; Newmann & Wehlage, 1995).

A 2016 MDRC/Lucas Education Research literature review found that the design principles most commonly used in PBL align well with the goals of preparing students for deeper learning, higher-level thinking skills, and intra/interpersonal skills ( Condliffe et al., 2016).

Keys to Project-Based Learning Success

Researchers have identified several components that are critical to successful PBL (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008; Ertmer & Simons, 2005; Mergendoller & Thomas, 2005; Hung, 2008). While project-based learning has been criticized in the past for not being rigorous enough, the following features will greatly improve the chances of a project's success:

1. A realistic problem or project

aligns with students' skills and interests

requires learning clearly defined content and skills (e.g. using rubrics, or exemplars from local professionals and students)

2. Structured group work

groups of three to four students, with diverse skill levels and interdependent roles

team rewards

individual accountability, based on student growth

3. Multi-faceted assessment

multiple opportunities for students to receive feedback and revise their work (e.g., benchmarks, reflective activities)

multiple learning outcomes (e.g., problem-solving, content, collaboration)

presentations that encourage participation and signal social value (e.g. exhibitions, portfolios, performances, reports)

4. Participation in a professional learning network

collaborating and reflecting upon PBL experiences in the classroom with colleagues

courses in inquiry-based teaching methods

You will find much greater detail on these four key components, along with step-by-step instructions on how to put them into place, in the next section.
Continue to the next section of the PBL research review, Evidence-Based Components of Success.

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Studies have proven that when implemented well, project-based learning (PBL) can increase retention of content and improve students' attitudes towards learning, among other benefits. Edutopia's PBL research review explores the vast body of research on the topic and helps make sense of the results.

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Will the school pay for the materials?  Since we are at the Junior High we have 70-150 students? 

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Will the school pay for the materials?  Since we are at the Junior High we have 70-150 students? 

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Yes, materials can be purchased. I recommend  open ended materials such as poster board, paint, straws, etc....Felice

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How can drama, music, and art used defined stem? There are not any arts examples on the website.

My first thought is that drama, music and art can be a resource for other teachers. For example, the art teacher may help with graphics for an advertisement, or drama may help with the development of a skit or song. Felice