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https://www.successbydesign.com/blogs/news/stem-in-elementary-classrooms

This is a great way to expose how STEM can really be used and why it is so important in teaching and learning.
It provides a few good ways to integrate STEM into elementary school classrooms.
It reminds us to also include the "arts" in STEAM. Integrating the arts is a great way to encourage students to feel included just by learning about their cultural music, art, and dance.

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How to Incorporate STEM in Elementary Classrooms

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Incorporating STEM in elementary classrooms can create fun and engaging environments for every learner. Discover the importance of STEM from Success by Design.

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https://www.middleweb.com/33039/how-do-we-integrate-stem-across-subjects/

This is a great link for integrating STEM in middle school grades.
I like how it breaks down some of the recommended guidelines of STEM.
It also gives a good example of STEM and how it can be used and integrated into the classroom.

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A MiddleWeb Blog

Many schools are attempting to fit all subjects under the STEM umbrella. Can that happen while still holding true to the original purpose of STEM - ratcheting up the rigor and learning in science, math, and technology by using engineering to apply content and solve real world problems?

Can other subjects really tackle STEM with fidelity? At first I had my doubts. Take history as an example. When I heard the suggestion, "Let's teach STEM through history," I asked myself how that could even work.

Then I recalled my fascination with James Burke's book, Connections. In it Burke points out how developments in science, technologies, engineering, and mathematics have driven events and culture throughout history.

So what if we teach history through the lens of inventions and technologies? Well, it's certainly a good start, but is it enough to qualify as teaching STEM? A report from the 2014 AHA meeting proposes that professors emphasize how history complements and enhances STEM education.

That's a great idea, but not a way to actually integrate history and STEM. ( Note: the actual intent of the AHA article is to show the value of history to STEM students, not to integrate the two subjects. I mention it because of the occasional mindset that simply mentioning something about STEM in another subject is tantamount to "integrating" the two subjects.)

Let's recall national STEM guidelines

Take a look at some recommended guidelines for STEM education:

Addresses a real-world problem

Is driven by an engineering design process

Incorporates science and math

Involves students in teamwork

Allows multiple approaches and different possible solutions for a problem

Uses an inquiry-based teaching and learning approach

Involves innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity

Includes the construction of a process or prototype.

These guidelines may cause teachers who work in other subject areas to do a double-take and wonder if they must include all of that in their versions of STEM lessons. To answer that question, I turned to STEM Specialist Judy Duke who works with Whole School STEM Reform, an initiative of the Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF).

A schoolwide STEM perspective

STEM education is a crucial approach for fostering rigorous and engaging teaching in the 21st century. This MAEF reform initiative focuses on helping schools develop a STEM plan to shift instructional practices across the whole school and create a powerful and effective learning culture - a "big tent" where STEM is naturally integrated into the curriculum.

According to Judy Duke, one way of "doing STEM" in history (and social studies) is to look at the problems that "engineers" have solved over the course of time. STEM is not something new; throughout history engineers (or their early equivalents) developed technologies to solve problems.

For example, ancient Egyptians faced the challenge of building tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. They came up with the pyramid as a design to solve the problem. History teachers might help students think of the pyramids as a solution to a problem and then go deeper by asking students:

What were the engineering feats that had to be tackled to build a pyramid? (Some challenges that Egyptians would have faced in building that pyramid include calculating the dimensions; transporting 2.3 million blocks of stone averaging about 2.5 tons each, then assembling these into a pyramid; designing the interior layers of the pyramid; protecting the burial chambers; and so on.)

How would you (students) have approached solving these problems had you been alive then? (Let kids work in teams to design a solution for one of the problems they identified, and then build prototypes of their designs. Their social studies fair displays might showcase their solutions.)

If you're interested in that kind of STEM approach, a couple of resources might help you. TeachEngineering developed a curricular unit that engages students in a pyramid-building experience that parallels the modern-day engineering design and construction process. You might use that as a basis for creating an engaging, hands-on unit while building in the cultural content.

Idea: Collaborate with science and math teachers and ask them to teach the "physics of simple machines" content. That approach would turn this into a truly integrated STEM unit. (Science and math teachers: this activity correlates nicely with both the NGSS and the CCSS.)

Another resource, Use STEM as Your Time Machine for History, also generates useful ideas for integrating STEM and history. (I especially like suggestions 2 - 5.) Get Caught Engineering guest bloggers, the authors of this article, suggest a number of challenges kids could tackle that require them to work together, solve problems, be innovative, and persevere. (The bloggers aimed at primary school, but you'll see the carry-overs!)

All told, this particular approach to teaching history does meet most STEM guidelines and could generate interest, student engagement, and learning.

The primary question

Just as STEM and history could be integrated, Judy Duke sees STEM as a systematic, schoolwide approach to problem solving in all subject areas. Regardless of the subject area she would advise: "Start by asking, What problems need to be solved? "

This question works to start the STEM process and to help kids see the role that engineering plays in every aspect of their lives. Using an engineering design process, all teachers would build on students' curiosity and help them learn to ask really good questions. In every subject, kids would understand and practice the thought processes behind systematic problem-solving.

Connecting STEM & ethics education

One overarching STEM need that all teachers can directly address involves helping kids to analyze the human impact of the technologies we humans invent. ( Technology is anything created and used by humans to meet a need or want.)

Our ability to create, invent, and innovate often outstrips our ability to manage those technologies appropriately. Teaching ethics in STEM is essential!

The study of history is ideal for revealing beneficial and harmful social impacts of past technologies. Current technology creation and use also offers opportunities for analysis. Consider the positive and negative aspects of cell phones as an example. Schoolwide STEM can provide teachers with recurring opportunities to help students form ethical frameworks for decision-making.

And now . . .

As I mentioned at the beginning, I've had my doubts about whether other subject areas were appropriate venues for teaching STEM with fidelity. (Look back at the guidelines I mentioned above.) Judy Duke has no such reservations. She says yes, schoolwide STEM can work!

For the Mobile Area Education Foundation, STEM education goes beyond a change in instructional practice for just math and science students. MAEF believes that schoolwide STEM instructional practices, done correctly, can bring about that rigorous and engaging teaching needed to prepare all of our students for the 21st Century.

And me? If it's driven by an engineering approach, I just may be a believer in schoolwide STEM. What about you?

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How Do We Integrate STEM Across Subjects?

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A MiddleWeb Blog Many schools are attempting to fit all subjects under the STEM umbrella. Can that happen while still holding true to the original purpose of STEM - ratcheting up the rigor and learning in science, math, and technology by using engineering to apply content and solve real world problems? Can other subjects really tackle STEM with fidelity?

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https://blog.kidsparkeducation.org/blog/teaching-integrated-stem-education#:~:text=your%20STEM%20curriculum.-,What%20is%20integrated%20STEM%20learning%3F,an%20overlapping%20set%20of%20skills.

This website and blog offers great benefits on integrating STEM into the real world.
Including STEM into the classroom reminds me to use the things I already know.
I can also use it while incorporating STEM into other subjects, like math.

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The subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) have been proven to enhance a student's education across all subject areas. The skills that students learn through STEM studies support essential life skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, analysis, and creativity.

With an integrated approach to STEM education, these benefits are enhanced even further. What is integrated STEM learning? How do you integrate STEM subjects into lesson plans? And what does a well-integrated STEM curriculum look like? In this article, we'll answer each of those questions and provide practical ways you can incorporate an effective integrated approach to your STEM curriculum.

What is integrated STEM learning?

Integrated STEM education combines two or more STEM subjects into one learning experience. While each individual subject of STEM has their own focused set of skills and knowledge, all subjects share an overlapping set of skills. These shared skills create the foundation of the essential life skills that STEM studies cultivate.

Combining STEM subjects into a single lesson could involve transferring the subject matter of a book or chapter into a hands-on experience; or creating a physics lesson (science) where students are required to design their own experiment (engineering) to solve a problem.

The goal of integrated STEM learning is to encourage students to approach problems with curiosity and find applicable ways to apply their knowledge to real world situations.

The Benefits of Integrated STEM Education

While there are many benefits of integrating STEM subjects together in the classroom, these are some of the greatest benefits that we'll be covering in this article.

1. Higher Retention Rates

Because subject matter is being taught together, students gain a deeper and more dimensional understanding of a concept. Hands-on learning is also a popular method when teaching STEM which also helps students absorb information physically and create more diverse memory connections.

2. Applicable Knowledge

By introducing them to a combined approach to learning, students are actively practicing a combined approach to problem solving as well. This allows students to be more comfortable applying their classroom knowledge to real world scenarios.

3. An Interconnected Viewpoint

Connecting subject matter for students in the educational stage allows them to find more connections in the world. The approach to integrating STEM subjects can also help them find the connections between literature and science, or music studies and mathematics.

This cross-disciplinary thinking helps students see the connections in their everyday lives, and with STEM studies specifically, it highlights how big a role science, technology, engineering, and mathematics play in our world.

Creating Integrated STEM Lesson Plans

Now that you know the benefits of an integrated approach to STEM education, let's cover some ways you can apply this method into your classroom.

Work With What You Know

Rather than creating lesson plans from scratch, work with curricula that you already know and are familiar with within the STEM subjects. Your confidence in the material will transfer to your students and create a strong foundation for the knowledge you're sharing.

"How Does This Apply in the Real World?"

Once you have lesson material to work with, ask yourself, "How does this apply in the real world?" The goal is to find ways to connect the subject matter to application. If you're teaching a subject in science, how can you incorporate a hands-on activity that lets students design an experiment to test a scientific concept, or build a physical model that highlights the content of the lesson (science + engineering)? For mathematics, brainstorm ways you can use physical activities and tools like plastic blocks, or ways to incorporate computer science and technology for creating charts and formulas with mathematical data. Any application to the real world that you can give to your students will help solidify the contents of your lesson plan and increase retention.

Integrate STEM Skills Into Other Subject Matter

The wonderful thing about STEM is that it can be applied to almost anything. We use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to make sense of our world everyday which makes it easy to incorporate these skills into other school subjects. Is there an applied hands-on activity to incorporate what your students are learning in history? How about a scientific approach to how the pyramids were built? Or a trip to the outdoors to identify plants and trees and introduce the benefits trees bring to our air quality?

The more STEM subjects can be introduced to other subjects, the more diversity you can bring to students' learning and provide a more interconnected view of the world.

Focus on Student Collaboration

STEM education is centered around applicable skills and knowledge. This kind of learning is best done with interactive activities rather than traditional lecturing or even classroom discussions.

Hands-on learning and small group discussions allow students to work together and develop their own ideas. This encourages creativity and flexible thinking as students get to hear varied perspectives and work together to solve a common problem.

Considerations for Integrated STEM Education

Effective integrated STEM education goes beyond the classroom. While educators work hard to relay ideas and concepts to their students, administrators can help support their teachers' success.

Structure

Well-structured STEM activities help teachers feel more comfortable with the curriculum which allows them to focus on the creative and interactive aspects of the lesson. Good structure can be implemented at the administrative level, where administrators can set their educators up for success with structured and consistent programming that connects all grade levels.

Supporting Teacher Education

A lack of confidence in teachers who are presenting STEM subjects can easily be transferred to students. It is essential that teachers feel equipped and supported with the tools and resources they need to teach effective STEM education. District investment in training and professional development for teachers can help educators overcome their own anxieties in STEM subjects and pass on excitement and confidence to their students.

Building an Integrated STEM Curriculum

A cohesive integrated STEM curriculum extends beyond the classroom. When the administrators build an integrated system for STEM curriculum, teachers are relieved of the pressure of creating, supplying, and implementing every STEM lesson plan. Of course, teachers play an important role in adapting curriculum to their class's needs, but when equipped with tools, lessons, resources, and a multi-grade curriculum, they are now relieved of the multiple-hat approach and can now focus on effective instruction.

Conclusion

Integrated STEM education can inspire students to pursue careers in STEM fields, apply critical thinking and problem solving skills to other subject matters, and have applicable skills to apply to their lives in the real world. These are all important objectives for the next generation to succeed in a world that relies on more technology than ever before.

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Teaching integrated STEM experiences has huge benefit for creating lasting learning experiences in the classroom and creating higher retention rates in students

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https://www.risevision.com/blog/social-and-emotional-learning-stem-in-the-21st-century-classroom

This link discusses what SEL is and what STEM is and how they both interconnect with each other.
It also shows where STEM education can let students down from lack of confidence as well as other factors.

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STEM education is a major priority for schools, districts, and parents. By the time students are considering their future careers, the increasing need for STEM in the workplace is often on their minds. In a future where work increasingly consists of managing algorithms and handling data sets, STEM skills will be as necessary as literacy was 100 years ago.

Yet, America lags behind competitor nations in STEM graduates and in the quality of STEM education. Attempts to address this shortfall have often focused on increasing the quality of classroom instruction, establishing a standards-based approach to curricula and pedagogy, and building out programs to supply additional learning time for students.

However, these approaches aren't supported by the evidence. The things that really move the needle in STEM learning are often self-efficacy, self-image, conflict management, confidence... the very 'soft skills' STEM is viewed as standing opposite to, particularly by those who have never run a research or engineering project.

Those affect-based issues are influenced by SEL programs when they're standalone; but the most effective approach is to integrate the two, as we'll see. Before we get into that, though, let's briefly look at what SEL and STEM are.

What is SEL?

SEL is Social and Emotional Learning. It means the area of education that addresses personal development, relating to other people and regulating our own emotional lives.
Source
It's most effective when it starts early, continues through high school and beyond, and integrates with the rest of students' school lives, including their STEM classes.

What is STEM?

STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: the hard, crunchy stuff that makes the world go round, rather than arts and humanities. The trouble with that surface-level analysis of the split isn't that many famous scientists and mathematicians were also philosophers, writers and artists, and vice versa; it's that STEM and SEL go hand in hand. They're more effective when they're combined.

Science says SEL is good for STEM everything

SEL is underappreciated as a contributor to life and academic outcomes, largely because of a fragmented view of education that privileges formal instruction over more comprehensive contributors to outcomes.

If you were planning a strategy to improve physics grades, common sense says you'd probably focus on physics instruction. Perhaps more homework, an after-school club, a buddy system in classes, superstar teachers or an innovative curriculum. On the face of it, that's entirely sensible. Alternatively, you might choose to increase the amount of teaching time spent on basic academic skills like math which underlie physics. That's the approach Common Core takes, but the results have been underwhelming. The evidence points in a different, more intriguing direction.

source
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There are huge gains to be made: a large majority of students don't believe their school provides a supportive learning environment, and 83% of students who took part in an SEL program with an academic component improved their grades. This improvement was between 11 and 17 percentage points. The schools that focus on SEL see the best academic results.

Source

Big improvements are there for the taking in most schools, but achieving them means rebuilding curricula to incorporate SEL.

How STEM education lets students down

STEM education is widely regarded as critical. Yet, two major cohorts struggle to achieve adequately in contemporary STEM education: girls and boys. (Yes, that's pretty much everyone.)

Girls' underperformance is STEM-specific:
Source
It arises from multiple causes - including a lack of confidence, a feeling that the subject area is 'for boys,' and a shortage of compelling female role models. Girls often can't imagine themselves in STEM careers and don't know what the career structures look like, and there are few female engineers and researchers to tell them. In other words, it's a classic SEL issue.

Boys struggle more holistically. We've just seen that male students outstrip female students in college STEM graduations. But throughout the education system, and across the developed world, boys underperform girls. By the time they get to college enrollment there's a significant bias: 60% of American college freshmen last year were women. But the problem starts much earlier.

Francesca Borgonovi, senior analyst at the OECD, told the Financial Times, 'In schools, learning is the incidental thing that happens while kids are socializing. There is a lot of, "How do I impress my peers?"'

For boys, this often means defying authority and flouting rules - not conducive to high scholastic achievement.

The most severe deficiencies are in English and math: attention-intensive, these subjects reward engagement and concentration, which boys often struggle with - and which SEL interventions have been shown to improve.

Bringing SEL into STEM

SEL is often brought into schools as a standalone subject - a consequence of its status as an afterthought in many already overcrowded curricula. It's better than not bringing it in at all, but it makes more sense to build it into other classroom activities. The difficulties encountered in working as a team, planning, working alone, resolving conflict within the team, or simply managing our own emotions during a precise and painstaking task like titration or building to a technical drawing, all bring us face-to-face with the importance of SEL. Social and emotional concepts are a part of every aspect of our lives, especially our work lives; they're crucial to group and individual work, self-regulation, and organization.

Emotion plays a key role in how we make decisions, its influence is far greater than many of us realize. So if we want to influence the decisions people make, we have to address emotions and social situations and address their effects. At the same time, it's a goal of school STEM teaching to be relevant in students' lives, helping them to integrate scientific knowledge into their worldviews and identities.

Tania Dearden looks back on her time with Techbridge Girls, an after-school STEM program for girls - just the sort of program you'd institute if you thought more subject-matter pedagogy was the missing element in STEM education. 'I ran one afterschool program in partnership with a fifth-grade teacher, Katryn. I had a strong STEM background, but little youth development experience and she had an incredible SEL background but didn't feel confident to lead the STEM activities independently,' Tania recalls.

'Team dynamics are often the source of most frustration during STEM activities,' Tania explains. (It's a major issue in the adult world too.) 'In one program, two girls were arguing over which of their ideas they would include in their design. Katryn calmly went over and started to ask a series of questions to help the girls empathize with each other.' Interventions like these contextualize STEM in terms of SEL, helping young people develop the social and emotional skills required to navigate the STEM world.

Integrating SEL and STEM DIFFERENTly

An example of the integration of STEM and SEL subjects in the classroom is the DIFFERENT curriculum, developed by entomologists and educators Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker. DIFFERENT integrates the study of arthropod (insects and arachnids) biology with empathy, self-reflection, and emotional self-management. It's designed to challenge students' perceptions of themselves, others, and the natural world, and to help them become more capable of dealing with such challenges.

Designed for grades 4-12 and matched for each grade to the Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS), DIFFERENT is also aligned with the SEL principles and objectives outlined by CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

In some ways, the DIFFERENT curriculum is a bait-and-switch: it places its initial focus on arthropod survival strategies to distract students from the discomfort that many may feel in traditional SEL. Because it's integrated with regular science instruction, DIFFERENT always offers students an escape route: they can skew more academic when the SEL content makes them feel vulnerable or more emotional when the academic content makes them feel constrained.

Classroom signage and SEL/STEM

In STEM classrooms, as with the wider school environment, there's a place for signage that reinforces SEL messaging, making the classroom a more supportive environment and driving improved SEL outcomes. We can use priming and nudging to recontextualize the way students experience their interactions and to encourage solving problems with a better toolkit that relies less on anger, more on compromise and dedication to the project.

We know from studies in the commercial world that digital signage is more remembered and has a greater influence on behavior than static signage, and this effect isn't small; digital signage can deliver a significant boost in the effectiveness of schoolwide and subject-specific SEL initiatives by backing SEL messaging and teaching both in classrooms and in public spaces like corridors and cafeterias.
An important part of STEM discussions are those relating to the humanities.
We can use classroom signage to activate topics concerning ethics and societal ramifications. This is a great way to bring education full circle and get everyone in the room thinking about science and technology from a different perspective, instead of only focusing on calculations.
Download this digital signage template here
Whether it's recess or during STEM classroom activities, it's important to remember to get everyone involved in interacting, listening, and working with others. Signage that promotes inclusiveness can also bring straight-A students and the unengaged together.

Conclusion

STEM classes are an ideal place to introduce SEL themes because they are capable of appealing across the student body and are clearly linked to outcomes. Better confidence, conflict resolution and self-efficacy, and self-advocacy bring clear rewards in group STEM work such as engineering projects or the DIFFERENT curriculum.

But inspiring teachers and teaching assistants can't be everywhere. In-class digital signage can be used to deliver SEL messaging that targets the emotional challenges students are likely to face during their STEM classes, emphasizing and reinforcing the lessons of the official curriculum and the interventions of teaching staff.
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Social and Emotional Learning & STEM in the 21st Century Classroom

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The things that really move the needle in STEM learning are often self-efficacy, self-image, conflict management, confidence... the very 'soft skills' STEM is viewed as standing opposite to, particularly by those who have never run a research or engineering project.

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https://www.famly.co/blog/stem-early-education-social-emotional-learning

This link discusses what STEM means in early education and how important it is.
It follows with why social-emotional learning is important in early education as well.
It goes on to discuss the meaning of both and how closely connected they are.

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In the jargon of early childhood education, we hear a philosophical debate between the value of STEM vs. SEL. Should we teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills (STEM)? Or should we focus on social emotional learning (SEL)?

For some, the social emotional learning wins, with the rationale that children need to develop a sense of self awareness and healthy relationship skills before they can tackle more concrete academics. For others, it's the opposite.

I'd like to propose that we can and must do both at the same time. Solving problems and encouraging academic performance requires relationship skills. So in this article, I'll explore how social emotional learning encourages success in STEM subjects, and vice versa. Early childhood educators play a critical role in this balance - so we'll look at how it plays out in everyday classroom scenarios.

But before we look at STEM and SEL programs work in action, let's take a moment to look at what the two terms really mean.

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What does STEM mean in early education?

The acronym 'STEM' refers to four disciplines that you might not associate with young children - at least, not in a professional sense.

1. Science
2. Technology
3. Engineering
4. Math

Defining and promoting 'STEM' skills is a relatively new concept, which came from a concern that we needed to prepare children more for life in a more tech-oriented world. But children are little scientists by nature - they have been exploring these ideas before we even had the STEM label.

The point of STEM in early education isn't to put children in little lab coats, and lecture them on the properties of chemical formulas. Rather, it's to guide children's explorations and discoveries of how the world works, giving them encouragement and providing them with the relevant vocabulary.

It sounds like this at the water table: "Oh, Jason, if we put all the pebbles in this container, do you think the water will still end up at the top?"

Or, in the block area, we would see the teacher adding pulleys to encourage children to build more complex structures, and learning to solve problems using fundamental engineering and physics skills.

The thing is, this sort of problem-solving shines best when supported with social skills. Children need to learn to manage stress, practice impulse control, and work as a team when they're tackling STEM subjects.

That's why we've got to look at social emotional learning, too.

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What does social emotional learning mean in early education?

Social emotional learning, or SEL, refers to our interpersonal skills. SEL includes skills like self-awareness, impulse control, self esteem, empathy, friendship, conflict resolution, honesty, responsibility and gratitude. These qualities are what enable children to build positive relationships.

Social awareness helps us know ourselves, then to understand others, and then to adapt our behaviors to live in a caring and respectful society.

There are plenty of opportunities for teaching SEL in early education. On a daily basis, that might look like:

Learning to share physical space at circle time so everyone can see the story book

Learning to say thank you when your classmate hands you the toy truck you have been patiently waiting for

Showing empathy for a friend who is upset.

STEM learning is technical in nature. Children explore ideas while they make things. At the end, there is a concrete physical object or action, be it measuring the size of pumpkins, or figuring out if rocks sink or float.

By comparison, social emotional skills aren't always obvious, or tangible: they're 'soft.'

We see them in children's personal behavior and wellbeing, such as a healthy self-identity, managing emotions, developing empathy for others, maintaining good relationships, and making responsible decisions. Teaching social emotional learning isn't about any individual lesson plan, but modeling these skills for children, and supporting them to manage emotions and identify their feelings throughout the day.

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How STEM and SEL skills connect in the classroom

And we could say that these are the exact skills that scientists at NASA or in a pharmaceutical laboratory must have to be successful in their careers. Because in addition to their technical and scientific knowledge, they are usually expected to work in collaborative teams - which is where the interpersonal skills come in.

Let's examine what it looks like for young children to practice STEM and SEL skills at the same time, and how these moments come together throughout the day.

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STEM and SEL in building block play

Theo and Meena are making a road with a bridge, so they can get cars to go smoothly from one side to the other. Wooden block play is a key way for developing STEM skills in early childhood.

They run into an engineering problem: the span is too small, and the cars keep falling off. Meena gets frustrated and leaves in a huff, kicking some of the blocks. Theo is upset and looks discouraged. Fixing this is as much about the STEM techniques as it is our emotional skills.

The teacher says " Humm, it looks like your design is not working. Let's see, you're trying to build a bridge, but the span is not long enough. That's an engineering problem. How do you think you could solve it?" Theo proposes looking for longer blocks. The teacher also calls to Meena. "Meena, it looks like there is a way to fix the bridge, so it works. Could you come over and help Theo find a solution?"

Meena comes and both children continue to work on the situation. Finally, they can get the cars to drive properly. They go to the teacher and say, "Look, the road works now!" the teacher responds, "Good for you, you solved the engineering problem, and you collaborated on it. That means you worked together, bravo!"

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STEM and SEL at story time

This week, teacher Anan is reading the well-known book The Hungry Caterpillar.

In addition to having an enjoyable story to read, she has two teaching goals on her lesson plan: nutrition and self-confidence. With the nutrition goal, she leads the children in life science exploration. She engages the children in discussing healthy foods for caterpillars and humans. Every day, they have lively discussions on eating well to grow strong.

On Friday, Anan asks the children to draw a picture with their version of what they would eat if they were a caterpillar. She writes down the words as children say them. Then she affirms the children for being creative thinkers and writers. In doing so, she builds their self-confidence as learners. While less direct, this form of affirmation is foundational to children's emotional development.

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STEM and SEL at mealtime

Grilled cheese sandwiches are on the menu.

Each child gets a sandwich and a safe wood knife to cut it their sandwich. In the middle of the table, the teacher has put small colorful shapes, showing children examples of a square, triangle, rhombus, and rectangle. She names, before inviting the children to cut their sandwich in various shapes as they eat. Then, she also asks the children to compare their choices with their table companions.

These simple sandwich slices teach children their shapes, which connects to STEM in practicing the groundwork of geometry. At the same time, the deliberate invitation for children to exchange ideas in conversation helps them build better relationships and exchange ideas, which contributes to their emotional learning.

How you can combine STEM and social emotional learning with children

In these vignettes, we can see children learning STEM and SEL skills at the same time. This is because their teachers are intentional in preparing the materials, setting the environment, and in using the appropriate language for each set of skills. Combining these two areas of learning is an ongoing process, that stems from the learning moments already present in your everyday activities.

Here are some tips to include STEM and SEL in your classroom centers and outdoor play:

1. When asking children questions as part of their play, introduce the vocabulary of STEM: analyze, compare, observe, investigate, wonder, measure, assess, test.

2. Make sure your toy box includes simple STEM tools: clipboards, paper, pencils, tweezers, magnifying glasses, pulleys, ramps, scissors, magnets, small blocks, and mirrors.

3. In your values and your conversations, introduce children to the vocabulary of SEL: collaboration, teamwork, accomplishment, responsibility, patience, honesty

4. Make sure your bookshelf includes stories that explore big themes in both STEM (like experimenting, inventing and problem-solving) as well as SEL (teamwork, empathy, and emotional skills).

5. Guide projects that last for several days, so children can delve deeply into the exploration and celebrate with displays that show how well they worked together.

Educators with a STEM and SEL mindset provide an integrated curriculum that addresses the whole child, and gives them a well-rounded education that pays attention to all aspects of their development. In the process, they make learning exciting and fun.

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How STEM and social emotional learning fit together | Famly

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In the jargon of early childhood education, we hear a philosophical debate between the value of STEM vs. SEL. Should we teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills (STEM)? Or should we focus on social emotional learning (SEL)?

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https://www.invent.org/blog/diversity-in-stem/teach-empathy-collaboration-skills

This is a short article linking STEM and SEL in their close connection between them.
Empathy being the first that is mentioned.

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While STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education often promotes the importance of learning technical knowledge relating to these disciplines, what is comparatively less common are lessons pertaining to social-emotional learning (SEL).

Defined as the process through which students acquire the ability to manage emotions, feel and show empathy for others, maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions, at first, SEL might seem to make more sense in a language arts or history classroom. However, with the right curriculum, STEM subjects also provide children with opportunities to develop foundational SEL traits including empathy, perseverance and collaboration.

At the National Inventors Hall of Fame ® (NIHF), we have the privilege of honoring some of our country's most influential innovators, and our expert education team uses the lessons and stories of NIHF Inductees to develop invention education programs that promote both STEM and SEL through hands-on, collaborative experiences . In working directly with inventors, time and time again, we've discovered that the inspiration for some of the world's most impactful inventions came from embracing empathy and the desire to improve the lives of others.

From 2021 Inductees Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller and Polly Smith who invented the sports bra so that women could participate comfortably in athletic activities, to 2004 Inductees Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip, whose discovery of isolated, purified insulin has improved the lives of millions suffering from diabetes, inventors have shown us that the first step in creating something impactful is often to think about how your creation can help someone else.

Using STEM Education to Teach Perseverance and Collaboration

By prioritizing SEL, we can help children develop the type of mindset they need to thrive. In an article published by the National Afterschool Association, Michael Funk, director of the after school division for the California Department of Education, argues that STEM education helps students develop the right mindset. "STEM learning helps develop the skills and mindset needed to navigate life," Funk said. "Perseverance is key. We all fail at times. It takes character to learn from our mistakes and to try again."

The belief that progress is always possible remains a guiding principle shared by many innovators. Because of this, it's common for teams of inventors to improve their creations over time. As children are introduced to inventors as inspiring role models, they will see how the drive to overcome challenges and work together to continuously improve upon inventions demonstrates the power of persistence and teamwork.

We know complex challenges often require the contributions of many different people, each of whom brings their own skill set and experiences. Invention education opportunities that support SEL through engagement in STEM have the power to transform children into confident, collaborative creators who will be prepared to take on these challenges and make our world a better place.

To learn more about the importance of combining STEM education and SEL, we invite you to visit our blog.

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The Connection Between STEM and Social-Emotional Learning

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While STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education often promotes the importance of learning technical knowledge relating to these disciplines, what is comparatively less common are lessons pertaining to social-emotional learning (SEL).

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https://www.eduporium.com/blog/eduporium-weekly-stem-education-and-sel/

This link provides helpful information for teachers as is reflects the close relationship between the commonalties of STEM and SEL.
It discusses combining both in the classroom and the connections they have.
It also teaches how to integrate them both in the learning process.

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It's no secret that computer science is one of the most fruitful industries today. This has created increased demand for teaching students STEM skills they will need for that world. Another area of education that CS often collides with, however, is social and emotional learning. You might assume this connection is a bit off, but there are many ways in which STEM and SEL are related. Starting with teaching skills like creative problem solving and persistence, merging these two elements of education can really help kids learn how to embrace the productive struggle they'll likely face in our tech-driven world. So, let's discuss how K-12 educators can combine SEL and EdTech to help students grow into well-rounded problem solvers.

Connections between STEM activities and SEL.

To correct this, educators can start by giving students the right tools with which to learn and try activities that foster both social-emotional and STEM connections. Some technologies, including those for learning computer science skills, actually help kids boost development simultaneously. This also includes encouraging collaboration and helping students learn how to rework problem-solving approaches as often as they need to. Working with computer science software also gives students some opportunities to manage this process. From the time they begin writing programs to the moment they see it run, they are in control. And, that's something that a lot of students benefit from. Coding also helps them communicate their emotions at times, illustrate what they're thinking, and even improve behavior.

Key STEM concepts students learn when coding.

With the amount of already existing and continuing to emerge, students know that they'll need various technical skills. As this continues to shake out, however, we've seen that it's not just technical skills students learn through SEL and STEAM activities that will help them. Far too often, gaps emerge over time when students focus solely on bolstering their technological skills. This can potentially hinder their soft skill development-particularly those social and emotional skills. Since the two are related, however, educators have found creative ways to merge them, including with classroom robotics tools. SEL and STEM remain two of the fastest growing areas in education with teachers and professionals agreeing on each one's vast importance. Though they're both crucial separately, they're now starting to really complement each other.

Introducing SEL from an early age.

In order for STEM and SEL to become second nature for students, it's key that they have experiences with both of these from an early age. Studies show that, the earlier you introduce kids to something, the greater impact it has on them throughout their life. In fact, it's the youngest students-those in Pre-K, kindergarten, first, and second grade-who are often most positively impacted by STEM and SEL experiences. Creating hands-on opportunities helps teachers take advantage of the overflow of curiosity these students have. It also helps them see that they can build things, design solutions, and work together despite their age. And, hands-on experimentation helps them develop empathy when working together in the school community.

Using SEL and STEM in whole-child learning.

Connecting STEM with social-emotional learning and teaching both STEM skills and concepts provides increased value for students. In pairing them, this presents a major opportunity for educators to add new and innovative elements to their instruction-and benefit students in various ways. Educators can weave key elements of SEL development into lessons within almost any curricular subject. They could also use these experiences to promote students developing character traits. Plus, since STEAM learning is largely hands-on, they could have students focus on skills like collaboration, creativity, curiosity, and community. Separately, these two branches of education are valuable but, when paired, they take things up a notch.

So, we know that classroom robotics tools can help students at every grade level learn computer science skills and utilizing a model helps meet students where they are. We also know that a strong computer science foundation will be key in the future. When utilizing robotics in education, however, (specifically in early education), teachers can teach more than just coding. Since robotics tools often help foster collaboration, students can build teamwork skills as they learn and grow together. This helps boost their social-emotional profiles and problem-solving skills simultaneously. While we're unsure exactly what the future workforce will hold, we know technology will greatly impact it. And, while exposing students to tech is one piece of the puzzle, SEL and robotics education allows for additional development, too.

Building STEM skills and SEL skills together.

Learning with robotics tools (or any technologies) is more about what students can do with it to show they understand key concepts rather than the device itself. EdTech tools help students recognize patterns, work together, communicate thoughts, and creatively solve problems-all of which comprise the computational thinking process and include sprinkles of SEL development. Essentially, the soft skills side helps students develop key foundational skills-albeit in a roundabout way. As for , robotics tools help them learn to work together from a young age. Educators can use robotics to teach the importance of sharing, turn taking, selflessness, and group work. Since students typically work in groups of 2-4, it's a fine opportunity to teach the importance of a team environment.

How students develop key skills using tech tools.

Learning with robotics also helps students test out various problem-solving approaches, which contributes to social-emotional intelligence. Why is this? When children get frustrated with their project or assignment, their natural reaction is to show that emotion and give up. Using their projects to show them that there are many ways to achieve goals, however, helps with their social-emotional and academic development. Also, when students struggle with coding, they must communicate with each other and work on team-building skills in the process. Teaching with robotics helps students develop both the soft skills and the computer science skills. Since they'll ultimately be combining them if they pursue a computer science career, what better place is there to start?

Beginner Tips for Bringing STEM and SEL Together

Building SEL skills through STEM learning.

On one hand, STEM experiences help students develop hard skills and the mindset for solving challenges. They also help them to see that perseverance is key in problem solving since their initial approaches might not work. And, what is perseverance? An important soft skill that ties in to social-emotional strength. When students understand that we all fail at times but that we can learn from mistakes and understand how to do things better, they're building up their character. And, that's another nod to SEL. Completing various STEM assignments also helps students build up confidence, which is crucial in many . Feeling like they're equal and that they belong (SEL) can also help convince students to pursue interests in STEM.

Connecting STEM and SEL to the workforce.

Relating SEL to academics.

Putting a focus on teaching social-emotional skills actually increases academic engagement a lot of times. It can also help curb bullying and school suspensions, research shows. With a solid SEL foundation that's formed in their earlier years, kids often grow into even keeled adults. This includes experiencing enhanced mental health, greater success in higher education, or higher income levels. to kids helps in a number of ways, including those in the image above. SEL experiences could help motivate students, help them learn persistence, help them learn how to foster relationships, and, ultimately, better prepare them for different aspects of the workforce. It can also set them up for success.

Shooting for success in SEL programs.

For the latest EdTech, STEM, SEL, and 21st century education news, follow us on and . Like us on , too, or sign up for our to see our latest product additions and offerings. If you have questions about SEL in education, send us a message on social media or get in touch here.

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STEM And SEL In The Classroom: Exploring The Relationship

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STEM and SEL are two of the two biggest pieces of education. But, what makes this connection so natural and how can you get there?

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https://www.weareteachers.com/21-simple-ways-to-integrate-social-emotional-learning-throughout-the-day/

This link offers 38 ways to integrate social-emotional learning in the classroom.
Working in groups is good for students, so this link provides  tips on how that can be useful.
It also discusses how students can manage conflict positively with their peers.

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50+ Simple Social-Emotional Learning Activities for All Ages

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Teach self-control, emotional awareness, and more by incorporating these easy social-emotional learning activities into your daily routine.

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https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/supporting-english-learners-in-stem-subjects#sl-three-columns-e7b387e5-8e54-4bf6-ba7f-17881fdbed3f

This link offers many ways to provide help to English learners in STEM.
There are books to preview that discuss this, which also give the option to purchase them.
There are also targeted messages from a significant group pf people that provide ways to better assist these students at school.

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https://www.readingrockets.org/article/assistive-technology-kids-learning-disabilities-overview

Reading Rockets offers people a variety of assistive technology.
Assistive technology is ready to help individuals with many types of disabilities from cognitive problems to physical impairments.
It helps to enhance their learning skills by using several effective approaches geared toward their personal level of cognition.

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Assistive Technology for Kids with Learning Disabilities: An Overview

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If your child has a learning disability, he or she may benefit from assistive technology tools that play to their strengths and work around their challenges.

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https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/ac/documents/ab2785guide.pdf

Teaching focuses on both the content and in what ways using many approaches to reach a diverse range of learners.
The classroom has a flexible setup, and both teacher and students have multiple options (e.g., small group, whole group, standing, sitting).
The teacher confers with students, providing student choice when possible, and facilitates how students will learn.

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https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1301785.pdf

This article discusses what STEM is and how students can learn from it by engaging in it.
STEM inclusion for students with disabilities is possible.
Inclusion is a big part of the special needs community. With help from teachers and staff, students with disabilities can also participant and engage in STEM.

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https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/six-strategies-for-challenging-gifted-learners

This website offers six strategies that can be use for the gifted learner or learners in the classroom.
One idea for these learners if to give them choices on what they would like to do that she call, "optional challenge work."
It is also good to find the students' special interests, which it discusses in this link.

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Gifted students-you may or may not spot them in your classroom. They may be highly visible, like the high achievers or straight- A students. But they may also be among those students who don't finish their work (it's never perfect enough), who zone out or act out in class (they're bored), or who test poorly because they overthink things ("Hmmm, this answer might be true in this case, but it might not be true in that case").

Some schools and districts have substantial resources to identify and support giftedness, wherever it shows up. Some offer pull-out programs. Others offer cluster grouping, in which gifted students are grouped in specific classes at each grade level.

Dina Brulles, director of gifted education in the Paradise Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Ariz., believes gifted students need less grade-level work, faster-paced lessons, deeper and more advanced content, and opportunities to work with other gifted students. They also require a different kind of interaction with the teacher, who must be less of a "sage on the stage" and more of a "guide on the side."

M. René Islas, executive director of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), notes one persistent challenge to gifted education-a lack of uniformity in programming. A recent NAGC study found that 19 states don't monitor gifted programs at the local level, only seven require their districts to report on gifted student achievement, and fewer than half report on the race and ethnicity of their gifted students (minorities are significantly underrepresented in gifted programs, according to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights).

But there are promising signals as well, explains Islas. The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states and districts to track the progress of their highest-achieving students and allows schools to use Title I funds to identify and support gifted students. Plus, the law opens up the possibility for schools to use computer-adaptive assessments to recognize student mastery of content above grade level.

Then there are the challenges and opportunities at the school level. With the following strategies, teachers can tend to the complex needs of their high-ability students in the heterogeneous classroom.

"Gifted students don't need to do 25 problems in math when they can do the five most difficult first to demonstrate mastery," says Brulles. She offers this opportunity to all students, not just those identified as gifted. Students who successfully complete the five problems are excused from that night's homework. If classwork is involved, the teacher simply needs to have a few extension activities on hand-tasks that carry the concept to the next level-for students to work on quietly while others complete the regular assignment.

"Most Difficult First" is one manageable way for teachers to compact the curriculum for their high-ability students. With compacting, students get to "throw away" the part of the curriculum that they already know, while receiving full credit for those competencies. This frees up students to work on more challenging content.

Let's say a teacher is teaching two-digit multiplication. He might do some direct instruction for 10 minutes, then offer students the end-of-chapter test, saying, "If you get 90 percent or higher, you won't have to do the homework or practice work. You'll have different work to do." According to Brulles, some gifted students will take this option, whereas others may decide, "I don't know this; I need the practice work." Again, as in Most Difficult First, this strategy requires having extension work for students who test out of the material.

Susan Flores, a 2nd grade teacher in Paradise Valley, meets a range of student abilities by using the standard as her baseline. "My desk serves as a staging area. I have several piles of activities there that take a concept up or down."

For example, when the class is working on the distributive property in math, those "piles" might include differentiated worksheets, word problems, and task cards. Depending on how students grasp the concept, Flores can either reteach, offer practice, or enrich.

Flores also uses "choice boards." In math, she might offer nine ways that students can demonstrate learning of multiplication. "Students can [use] one of their iPad apps or create a game. They jump in where they want to jump in," she notes.

All students in Flores's class can choose whether they want to take their learning to the next level. "I don't say, 'Because you're gifted, you get choice, and because you're not gifted, you don't.'" Optional challenge work is available to anyone who wants to try it.

Janice Mak, a gifted cluster teacher and 7th and 8th grade STEM teacher in Paradise Valley, gives students a menu of options in her computer science class. After stu-dents learn the basics of programming-perhaps through an online course from Stanford University or work with Google CS First clubs-they work in teams to create a robot. Students choose the level of complexity, from designing dogs that bark to building miniature disco rooms in which a record plays and lights flash.

Students can also tailor a project to their interests. In a module on architecture, some students designed a playground for Egyptian students using Legos, Build with Chrome, or Minecraft. One student opted instead to recreate the White House using Minecraft.

The Ignite presentation format offers another way for Mak to differentiate work on the basis of student interest. The presenter has exactly 5 minutes and 20 slides, which auto-advance every 15 seconds, to discuss a topic of interest (aligned to the unit). This activity allows students to share their passion with their peers, be it nanotechnology and its role in medicine, the physics of roller coasters, or the latest advances in virtual reality.

According to education expert Jenny Grant Rankin, knowing a student's emotional intensities-what Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski called "overexcitabilities"-is also key to teaching gifted students. Dabrowski identified five areas of sensitivity that are strongly related to giftedness: psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional.

Overexcitabilities will often appear as quirks, such as compulsive talking or organizing, heightened sensitivity to smells or tastes, insatiable curiosity, or daydreaming. Knowing a student's overexcitabilities can help teachers shape engaging-and personalized-learning experiences. An imaginational student will benefit from an assignment that he's free to complete in a unique way. An intellectual student will prefer to investigate why certain areas of the world struggle with starvation rather than simply listing those areas. Although we tend to see overexcitabilities negatively, they are often accompanied by great creativity, imagination, and drive.

According to NAGC, research shows that enabling gifted students to work together in groups boosts their academic achievement and benefits other students in the classroom, as well. When gifted students work together, they challenge themselves in unexpected ways. They bounce ideas off one another and take a peer's idea to a new place. They also learn that as smart as they are, they, too, must exert effort with challenging content-and that they'll sometimes fail along the way.

That said, gifted kids need to work both in and out of their group. "As adults, we have to be able to work with everyone," explains Flores, "and gifted students might not learn this if they're always separated out." Teachers can provide multiple opportunities for heterogeneous groupings through Think-Pair-Shares, Clock Buddies, and Season Teams.

This approach relies on planning lessons or units at different tiers of difficulty. But does this require teachers to add to their already full plates?

"I don't see it as doing one more thing; I see it as being more strategic," explains Mak. Teachers have to plan for their lessons, so why not develop deep and complex activities for high-ability students at the same time? This one way of planning-providing work at the entry, advanced, and extension levels or at varying Depth of Knowledge Levels-offers a multiplicity of ways to learn. It may take more time in the planning stage, but it is ultimately more efficient because bored students aren't acting out or zoning out in class-they've got challenging work to do-and struggling students are getting support. Once teachers create these tiered resources, they can use them again and again.

Author Carol Ann Tomlinson advocates teaching up -"a practice of first planning a lesson that's challenging for high-end learners and then differentiating for other learners by providing supports that enable them to access that more sophisticated learning opportunity." It replaces "the more common practice of planning for mid-range performers, then extending that lesson for advanced students and watering it down for others." This approach, Tomlinson says, challenges advanced learners more than trying to pump up a "middling" idea-and serves other students better as well.

All students have the right to learn something new every day, whether they are in regular classrooms or in special education, language acquisition, or gifted programs. And every student will benefit from being pulled up to go beyond the curriculum at times.

But as Tomlinson points out, "Learning should be joyful or at least satisfying, rather than just hard."

Is this challenging for educators? Sure. But according to Flores, "Any good teacher can do these things well. It's just good teaching."

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Six Strategies for Challenging Gifted Learners

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Find practical ways to tend to the complex needs of your high-ability students-without taking the joy out of learning.

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https://www.steamcafe.net/classroom-management-tips-for-elementary-stem-lessons-and-labs/

This is a great link for teachers to use for applying useful classroom management.
It goes over Long-term solutions, following directions, lack of participation, as well as others.

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Classroom Management Tips for Elementary STEM Lessons and Labs - STEAM Café

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Love and Learning STEM-Classroom Management

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Love and Learning STEM-Classroom Management

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https://lovelearningstem.com/classroom-management-for-the-stem-class/

Teacher's perspective and tips on teaching STEM.
Offers some steps on how to handle situations with students during STEM.
There are also useful STEM scenario cards that cane good for students during lesson time. They cost $3.00 for 16 pages. It could be worth it to use if it helps the students.

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Picture my first year as a STEM teacher. I had no classroom management plan for my stem class, but I still thought I had everything under control. You see I already had been teaching four years in first grade. I thought I had a system that could easily transfer over. Little did I know that teaching a STEM class would be very different from a classroom teacher position.

When you're a STEM teacher, you might see your students only 45 minutes a week or 20 minutes a day. You will most likely be in a constant rotation of the students in the school. n my case the entire district! I saw about 400 students a week, and it seemed like the next time I saw the students, they were completely new students all over again.

They barely remembered my name, and I most definitely didn't remember theirs.

Struggles in STEM Class

Another struggle was learning to be flexible in every STEM class. As a cart stem teacher, you go into other teacher's spaces. You will have to use their systems and be comfortable with adjusting your level of comfort for certain things. Some of those things will include noise level and student competency in working in collaborative groups.

This can affect a STEM teacher because it may seem hopeless to try to set up a classroom management system in a room that you will only be in a fraction of the time in the year, but the truth is that it is possible to set up a system for yourself as well learn to be flexible when you step foot into another classroom.

In this post, I will be sharing how I set up my classroom management system in my STEM classes and I continued to foster this system to help to learn more smoothly.

Foundation of Classroom Management in the STEM Class

If you have seen my past Youtube video on classroom management for first-year teachers then you know that the heart and foundation of my classroom management plan is always the care and love I have for my students. I am not trying to control my students with this plan, nor do I want their behavior to be modified just because of this plan.

My goal is for them to see that as a person, I care about them and am setting these guidelines and restrictions (just like engineers have in their jobs) to create a successful setting where students are able to reach and surpass their potential. These systems will remove any doubts of what can be done and what cant be done and allowing the students to thrive.

This is something I always explain on the first day of class because my students need to know that the main priority is to learn in our class. It's not to have fun while building, it's not with their friends, and it definitely is not to hang out with the teacher.

Classroom Procedures

You can read this blog post on classroom procedures for a very detailed look and a list of procedures to set in your classroom.

Classroom procedures in the STEM class are not only necessary but could be dangerous if not implemented. With so many technological pieces, STEM materials, and a hoard of moving bodies in the classroom, it is necessary for a STEM teacher to teach their students how to do certain things.

This will take weeks to fully implement, but the students that you have this year that come back next year will be professionals. You will notice that the explanations and modeling of these procedures will get shorter and shorter because your students have grown so accustomed to them.

Create a Plan and Share it

In my class, my students knew that I had a roster of every class with every guardian's phone number on it. This was something I tried to get year after year because being able to hold my students accountable with their families is very important.

The classroom teacher doesn't have the time to hear the problems you had in your classroom and for you to ask them to take care of it by calling their families. They want to know that when you come into their class, you will handle the situations that arise. This may mean you will have to take time to call some families, reach out to students during non-class times, and contact administration for more support if need be depending on the situation.

When I was creating my system for my classes, I needed to know I could handle this system week after week. I had over 400 students a year, and sometimes it took me 3 months to learn every student's name. So I had to make sure that I could live with the system I created after I shared it with the students, their teachers, and families.

If you know me, then you know the next thing I say will not be a shock.

I kept it simple.

The Three Guidelines

The students were required to follow the three guidelines.

We did a thorough discussion about each one, and the students knew that the first rule was most important to have in class. They also learned that the second rule was to help the students learn and grow in class. The third rule was more about attitude.

STEM is hard, if you don't know yet, read this blog post on STEM misconceptions.

It's hard to hold class when students are complaining about how hard something is or how they feel they can't do the assignment. I will discuss this most in the Socio-Emotional Learning part in this blog post.

Step 1: Reminder by the Desk

Every day I saw them, I would review quickly the expectations of class. I had a slide in my weekly slide deck. It lived there, and my students knew to expect it right after they read the objective for the day.

But for some reason, there was a student that decided to be disrespectful to me, their peers, or the classroom/materials, then I would walk over to them and quietly, at eye to eye level ask them to stop doing the disrespectful behavior. Then I would ask them why they were doing the behavior. This is when they would share their thought.

Sometimes it was a simple miscommunication. Sometimes it was a response to a negative feeling they had within themselves. Oftentimes, I would quickly empathize with them, tell them it was ok and moved on as nothing happened.

Step 2: Conversation Outside the Door

Sometimes, you still have students who continue to push the limits of the guidelines and rules. This is when I give the students a task to complete while I ask the students calmly to come outside the door so I can speak to them. I never speak aloud to students when the other students are listening. I make the time to keep it extremely private.

When the student steps outside, I tell them why I called them outside to speak to them. I will then try to understand what was going on in their head when they did the behavior. I may ask them to explain what they did if I was unsure of their behavior and needed clarification.

If the incident is between two students, then I will ask both students to come outside and explain their side of the story. I teach them that there is only talking from one side until they are done. We listen, and then the other side can speak.

Pulling students out to have a private conversation is the least we can do to try to understand the undesired behavior. Singling out students out in front of their peers will hurt and embarrass them, so providing opportunities for two-way, private communication is important.

Before my students leave to back indoors after I have excused their behavior and done a quick re-teaching of my expectations, I explain that if I call the students outside the door again, then their guardians/families will be contacted to further discuss how I can help them learn the class guidelines.

Step 3: Contacting Families

Through this three-step system is a simple one, it has transformed how I respond to behavior and how quickly students' behaviors have turned around.

The students are able to see my actions of respecting them and keeping matters private. They can also see the love and care I have for them by giving them grace for their first and second mistakes. In all my years of teaching STEM to thousands of students, I've only had to contact families with behavior issues a handful of times.

Though it was difficult, it was a necessary action to get to the bottom of habits that were getting in the way of learning in my STEM classes.

I set this system for my classes, but that doesn't mean this will work for you. After reading mine, think about what you want your guidelines/rules to be in STEM class. How will you share it with your students? How will you hold them accountable? What opportunities will you create for re-teaching of guidelines?

Scenario Cards

If you feel your students need more practice on how to properly respond in all kinds of situations in STEM class, these STEM Class Scenario Cards are perfect to model different types of responses that are appropriate in a stem class.

Sign up for a FREE Guide to Getting Starting with STEM Groups

You will get a breakdown of how to get started with STEM groups, posters, printouts, teacher guides, student jobs tags, and so much more with this All-Inclusive Guide to STEM groups.

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Classroom Management for STEM Class - Love Learning Stem

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Picture my first year as a STEM teacher. I had no classroom management plan for my stem class, but I still thought I had everything under control. You see I already had been teaching four years in first grade. I thought I had a system that could easily transfer over.

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https://carlyandadam.com/thecarlyandadam/stem-classroom-management-tips

This website offers a number of great tips that can be used for classroom management.
There are also many posters with ideas that can be used in the classroom as well.
The STEM expectation poster is a great idea to have. It teaches the students what their expects of them during STEM.

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Elementary STEM Classroom Management Tips - Carly and Adam

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The following is a guest post from Ashley Priest . I love walking into classrooms in my current role as an Assistant Principal and hearing teachers say, "Sorry it looks like a mess in here" or "It is not usually like this, we were just working on a project."

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https://stemactivitiesforkids.com/2021/07/26/tips-for-new-stem-teachers/

This website gives new teachers tips and ideas on how to teach STEM with their students.
A good tip for teachers is to teach their students that failure is a part of life. It is how we learn and deal with it that is what make it important. I think that it the most useful tip.

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One of the best things about being part of an online PLN is the benefit of the hive mind! A lot of questions came up from new STEM teachers in the Facebook Group for STEM Teachers. There were so many great interactions that I asked for everyone's top tips for NEW STEM teachers. Read on to see what they had to say! There is also a PDF of STEM Freebies and Tips at the end of this post JUST for new STEM teachers - be sure to check it out!

Failure in STEM is a GOOD Thing

If you a new to STEM, failure might take some getting used to. One of the BEST things about STEM is that failure is how you learn! When students are required to analyze their ideas and designs, make improvements, and work together to solve problems, it makes them better students overall (not just in STEM class!).

If you are not failing you are not learning. I point out all the mistakes I make and how I fixed them. - Nancy

Don't be afraid of failure! Try the new, crazy project with your students. Even if it doesn't work out how you planned, the kids will learn. And so will you! - Jessica

Get comfortable with productive failure and model cheerful curiosity when things don't go to plan. - Kerry from Feel-Good Teaching

There are no failures, just lots of learning opportunities. Let students make mistakes and ask there peers to help them try again. - Laura

Be willing to try again! It won't be perfect the first time. Chances are the kids will love it and won't notice a mistake but be open to owning up to mistakes if they happen. Be willing to learn from and alongside the students, build relationships with each child starting day 1 and strengthen them over the year, most importantly care about the work you are doing. - Kayla

STEM is MESSY (But Organization is Key)

Walk into any successful STEM classroom and you may find yourself in the midst of a bit of organized chaos. Here are a few tips about organization, material allocation, and how to deal with messes.

Use clear bins with lids to swap out materials from time to time. This is not only helpful to see what you have available, and that they stackable, but it helps when you are removing them to clean periodically or to keep materials fresh/on rotation so the kids are excited to see materials again they haven't seen in awhile.

Don't spend your own money to supply the classroom with materials! Ask for donations from families, the community, and local businesses.

Messes happen, but have students take ownership of the space by setting time aside each class for everyone to clean up.

Start saving recycled items now - cereal/ cracker boxes for the easy to cut cardboard, empty TP and paper towel tubes, mesh berry baskets, empty yogurt and Krueger cups. Also contact hospitals to see if they'll save items for you (once they open a packet of batteries in a surgery they can no longer use them even if they only use one from the packet! We received loads of batteries that way). - Wendy from Get Caught Engineering

Plastic table cloths for anything messy. Never scrub paint off your desks again! Also those foil baking pans are great for containing messy things too. - Marijo

Supply survival tip - Never hand a group the whole roll of masking tape . Pull off a length and attach it to the table for their use . ( trust me on this 😄as I learned the hard way !) - Wendy from Get Caught Engineering

Words of Wisdom from the Pros

STEM isn't just a class, it's a mindset that challenges you, your students and your environment. You can literally find an element of STEM where ever you look. If you think something is cool, you can probably make a lesson from it!"-Lindsey

Whoever is doing the doing, is doing the learning. When you feel the need to jump in and help, wait longer. - Phillip

I have plenty of times told the kids, "I am not sure what you will do with this, but you are creative and great thinkers." I have also told them "I wasn't sure what materials you would want to use so after you make your design, let me know what you want. If I have it, you can use it." -Elana

Process trumps product. I think this is a hard one for anyone who is a perfectionist. Kids don't have to "finish" projects, the less your (teacher) hands touch it the more they will learn, failure is actually a success and kids need to learn how to learn from it and keep going, and you likely will have a lot less wall and display case collections because the end product is not the priority. - Erin

Save time at the end of projects to reflect. Even asking - What worked? What was hard? - helps me and my students. - Catherine

Be brave. Be ready to pivot. Be interested in what the kids are doing and thinking. - Monica

You've Got This (Or, if You Don't, You Will)

Things don't always go as planned- it is ok! - Kristy

Don't feel incompetent at the beginning... STEM is a rabbit hole of amazing stuff that could cave in on you. One step at a time - Janelle

Share your passion with your students. Your enthusiasm for your lessons and projects is infectious. If you're excited about what you're doing, it's easier for the kids to be excited with you. Stay open to new ideas and keep on learning. The nature of STEM education is change and growth. Also: Have a system in place. Systems are key to keep things working with lesson planning, project management, and organisation. - Shai

Find your PLN

Work with a team that is as passionate, flexible, and willing to try something new as you. - Christopher

If you don't feel supported in your current position, there are so many online communities to join to learn from, connect with, and bounce ideas off of! Here are a few to check out:
STEM Teachers Group Technology Teacher Talk with Brittany Washburn STEM Teachers for Middle School and High School
Free Download for New STEM Teachers

Download your free Survival Guide for New STEM Teachers, with even more tips, downloads you can use in your classroom, and a shopping list just for STEM teachers!

Save these ideas for later on Pinterest:

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Tips for New STEM Teachers - STEM Activities for Kids

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One of the best things about being part of an online PLN is the benefit of the hive mind! A lot of questions came up from new STEM teachers in the Facebook Group for STEM Teachers. There were so many great interactions that I asked for everyone's top tips for NEW STEM teachers.

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https://www.vivifystem.com/blog/2021/10/23/classroom-management-tips-for-a-stem-class

This website offers many tips for teachers on classroom management.
It offers teachers a number of useful strategies to use while teaching and incorporating STEM into the classroom.
It offers ways to maintain learning objectives.
All of the tips can be beneficial for a more positive learning environment.

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Guest post by Julie Lyons November 2, 2021
Do you remember the scene in the movie Tangled where Rapunzel is reflecting on her recent actions and oscillating between joy and frustration? Take that scene and place Rapunzel in a STEM classroom. Funny scene when it is Rapunzel, but can you relate? That can be the range of teacher emotions in some STEM lessons.

Would you like to spend more time on the joy side and less on the frustration side of STEM teaching? Me too! Let's talk about classroom management strategies in the STEM classroom. I hope you finish reading this feeling like you can "let your hair down" and truly enjoy all of your future STEM lessons!

The following is a guest blog post Julie Lyons, a STEM and Technology teacher for Grades PK - 5 in a Maryland private school. She previously taught 3rd and 4th grade and college technology classes. Her family, traveling, and always asking questions are a few of her favorite things! Read on to learn her top 10 tips for classroom management for STEM teachers!

Unique Challenges of Managing a STEM Classroom

STEM is an inventive, creative, thought-provoking process. Creative processes are usually not linear. They are curvy, winding, and often back-track again and again or take a tangent on a completely new path. In a STEM classroom, we take this creative process, throw into the mix a bunch of supplies, choice of partners (who we may or may not enjoy working with), and open-ended projects that lead to a sometimes chaotic environment!

How do we manage all of this as a teacher trying to foster a creative STEM process yet maintain learning objectives and behavioral order in our classrooms?

Here are my top 10 tips for classroom management!

Tip 1: Get to know your students

How good does it feel when a professor or teacher really knows you? We all like that feeling of belonging and being seen and heard. I have learned so much about football, not because I particularly like football, but many of my students do. Knowing what team won over the weekend connects you to them at the start of a lesson.

So many classroom management behaviors can be smoothed over or short-circuited by really connecting with our students. Learn your students' personalities by finding out not only their strengths and weaknesses but also their interests. Cater lessons to their interests and be sure to give them opportunities to shine in their strengths.

One year I had a struggling reader, but she had impeccable scissor cutting skills. I asked her during a STEM challenge to be the scissor assistant. She shined in her strength and really helped her struggling classmates! When students feel like you "know-know" them and still enjoy teaching them, it creates buy-in to open their minds to learning and cooperating.

Vivify also has this great blog post on using students' interests to connect to STEM careers. Many are also struggling with distance learning so I recommend these great activities here !

Tip 2: Give teacher-led choice.

Students love making decisions, but make sure you are in control. When you are offering several choices that all lead to the same outcome, students sense they have made their own decision. Most students really like that feeling and will work hard to continue to be allowed to choose.

Choice in selecting partners for STEM challenges can sometimes work. I usually reserve this choice for shorter STEM challenges. I always have pre-organized groups of 2 and 3 ready to go when I know we need to get some STEM learning done in a timely fashion.

When I choose partners, I try to give other choices like which STEM role they would like to have in their group or if they would like to test their challenge inside or outside. However, you decide to give choice, make sure to think through the options so that no matter what choice students pick, they will have a productive learning experience.

Tip 3: Positive words

Positive words. Always. That's my classroom management style.

I squash the negative behaviors by calling out all of the good. It's amazing how fast groups will get quiet for instructions or when I compliment a quiet group and sharing the positive behavior. In addition, I lollipop my "extra" helpers. The ones who go above and beyond and choose to help a classmate without me asking. I want students to become natural problem solvers and team players.

Tip 4: Model how to work as a team

I try to keep things humorous and demonstrate all of the behaviors that would make a team un successful. Come up with names for those behaviors, like Can't-stop-talking Cathy. Then I ask students to help me model great teamwork.

In addition, I give roles to each team member. I use these role names:

Supplier: supply gatherer, organizer & returner

Reader: read the task & read brainstorming

Recorder: record testing info

Videographer: video building, tests & any other points of interest.

For groups of 3, I combine Reader and Recorder. The whole group does brainstorming/blueprinting and records what the recorder wrote down. This often leads to some great discussion in the groups of what occurred during their tests.

Lastly, we take the next class period (or whenever we finish testing) to view every group's videos and share results along with glows and grows - things we did great and things we could work on.

Tip 5: Assign seats

Assign seats, tables, desks, whatever your STEM classroom set up looks like. Everyone needs a space to call home to feel comfortable in the classroom. Even if it's shared with 14 other classes of students. Though we don't sit in our assigned space for very long during each class, students know it's there if they need a home base.

Tip 6: Portable Nametags

We create our name tags the first week of school. I like the simple nametag tents. Inside, we glue and write codes for all tech logins, apps, and our computer/iPad number. Everything stays organized in one place so it's easy to move seats if needed and great for when a substitute teacher is in the room!

A bonus nametag activity is to turn it into a STEM challenge by creating these light-up from VivifySTEM!

Tip 7: Signs everywhere

Anything that I have to repeat more than 3 times, I make into a sign!

Sounds silly, but once kids know where to look, they begin to help their classmates too. This is troubleshooting 101 - know where to find your info. I make signs for login information, passwords, pre-assigned groups per grade, STEM rules, and the STEM process. During a lesson, I will also display information digitally on my smartboard such as design constraints or a supply list.

Click here to download my STEM Activity rules poster!

Tip 8: Clear consistent routines.

The activities may change, but the flow of the class stays familiar. For example, I begin each class with kids sitting on the carpet for opening instruction. I close class the same way with a few moments of reflection on the lesson. We do this even on days when we are in the middle of a STEM project and the students want to just keep working. Routine is important and really helps with classroom management!

Tip 9: Build in clean up time

Set a timer for 5 - 10 minutes before class ends so you have built-in clean-up and re-cap time. We often get in the creative flow, and time just slips away. Then we are hurrying to clean up the mess of supplies before the next class.

Instead, introduce cleaning as a part of engineering. Engineers need to keep tidy workspaces when creating to keep track of supplies and for safety. Plus it helps set us up for success in the next STEM class if we know that all of the supplies are returned. Hurry always makes everyone's behavior harder to tolerate.

Tip 10: Quiet think time

STEM can be exciting and loud. But, it is also okay to have a quiet break. It is okay to do independent activities. It's okay to think in our own heads and not share right away. I like 15 minutes of silent think tank time for my older grades. I have even done independent STEM activities for one class and then brought groups together with their independent ideas for the next class. This really helps accommodate the different personalities and needs of my students!

Bonus: Tip 11 - Always have a plan B

My plan B is Legos. Sometimes lessons just do not go as we planned, and they turn into more chaos than creativity. So I punt on the lesson and pull out the Legos!

Ask students to build something related to the STEM challenge you were working on. I keep Legos pre-sorted into bins, ready to go if needed. I divide up the students into partners, spread them out around the room, and let them build. This gives me a few moments to reassess and see how best to proceed forward.

I hope these tips help in your classroom. I feel each year we start off with a rookie team, and it takes a bit to get our team playing the same STEM game. Here's to a year full of joy-filled STEM a-ha moment classrooms!

Tagged: STEM, STEM Classroom, Classroom Management

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10 Tips for Managing a STEM Classroom - Vivify STEM

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STEM is an inventive, creative, thought-provoking process. But it also involves a lot of supplies, choice of partners (who we may or may not enjoy working with), and open-ended projects that lead to a sometimes chaotic environment!

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https://www.eie.org/

EiE offers curricula, training and materials you need to implement engineering and computer science in your classroom.
It discusses career paths that are possible within subjects of STEM for middle schoolers.
It also implements hands-on learning in engineering.

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Engineering is Elementary | Developed by the Museum of Science, Boston

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EiE is an excellent inquiry-based STEM curriculum that teaches students thinking and reasoning skills needed for success. Built around the engineering design process, EiE teaches kids how to solve problems systematically . . . creating skills, optimism, and attitudes important for their futures. Life is not multiple choice.

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https://www.ck12.org/teacher/?_gl=1%2A9gshqc%2A_ga%2AMTYzODY5Mjc2LjE2ODQ2Mjk4MDA.%2A_ga_7PBE4L0PZZ%2AMTY4NDYyOTgwMC4xLjEuMTY4NDYyOTg3MC4wLjAuMA..

A great resource with many useful tools and links for teachers and their students.
Pick a subject and a grade level and start exploring all of the wonderful information is has for you.
It offers a wide variety of things to read and teach.

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https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/

This is a great learning resource link for students because it explores the entire realm of STEM.
There are links for each subject to study and explore.
You can browse by grade level.
An Arts section is also there if students would like to incorporate STEAM for more exploration on the arts.
It has excellent informational videos to watch as well.

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PBS LearningMedia | Teaching Resources For Students And Teachers

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Inspire your students with thousands of free teaching resources including videos, lesson plans, and games aligned to state and national standards.

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/stem-everywhere-science-technology-engineering-and-math-real-world

This is a phenomenal website that has much information that explores STEM education in a beneficial way.
There are great videos for students to help them learn and explore.
There are additional resources and articles to view and read as well.
This link can also help college students learn all about STEM and how it can teach them to be great STEM teachers in their future classrooms.

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STEM Everywhere: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in the Real World

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Explore STEM education in settings beyond the classroom walls, and see how opportunities to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are all around us.

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https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/

Dr. Universe is an interactive cat that serves to ask and answer people's questions and curiosities.
She offers students in the elementary and middle school level many things in science to study and explore through videos and activities.
Students can ask her questions questions about brain and body, culture, and plants and animals.

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EPISODE 12: MEET A PLANT DOCTOR + PUMPKINS

Hello young scientists. I'm Dr. Universe and if you are anything like me, you've got lots of big questions about our world. Today's special guest is Lydia Tymon who is really curious about plants and why they get sick-yes, you heard that right, plants can get sick, too. We'll also investigate some questions about pumpkins along the way.

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Ask Dr. Universe | Washington State University

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EPISODE 12: MEET A PLANT DOCTOR + PUMPKINS Hello young scientists. I'm Dr. Universe and if you are anything like me, you've got lots of big questions about our world. Today's special guest is Lydia Tymon who is really curious about plants and why they get sick-yes, you heard that right, plants can get sick, too.

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https://www.nasa.gov/stem/forstudents/5-8/index.html

This is a wonderful STEM website that offers students so much to do like explore in all STEM categories.
It takes the STEM program to a new level of learning and thinking with the math, technology, engineering, and science in the cool videos and books.
It also breaks down the levels of learning by grades for more accurate learning. So, a student can choose their grade level and then be led to a page with a multitude of learning options to choose from.
There are many categories in the specific grade level, like "build it," where a student can build and design something on their own. There are also other categories like, "play it," that offer games. "Watch it," is another one that offers great videos too. This looks to truly be a great resource for students and teachers.

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Students grades 5-8 can dig deeper into STEM topics and experience the thrill of exploration and discovery.

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https://tinkergarten.com/

Tinkergarten is a useful platform for teachers and families of young children that encourages them to get the most playing and exploring outdoors.
Children can get so much for observing the things right outside in their own backyards. There are play-based curriculum.
There is also teacher trainings and useful resources that include helpful tip and videos for better learning.

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Tinkergarten - Outdoor Classes, Activities for Kids

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Tinkergarten provides early childhood education with outdoor classes and activities. We match families with local community leaders who offer play-based classes.

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https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/

This is a useful website for students probably more at the elementary levels using fun videos and interesting science facts.
It can offer them facts on many different topics, from animals to technology.
It also has games, lessons, and quizzes for the students to obtain more useful knowledge.

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Science Kids is the online home of science & technology for children around the world.

Learn more with our fun science experiments, cool facts, free games, activities, lesson plans, quizzes, videos, photos and science fair project ideas.

If you're looking for a specific topic then head over to our topic section.

Find resources on a range of different science topics covering everything from plants to space, animals, chemistry, biology and more!

Earth facts

Our earth is a fascinating place that is home to such wonders as volcanoes, rivers, deserts and more.

Scientist facts

Find out more about the scientists who changed the world we live in thanks to their research and discoveries.

Space facts

Enjoy our space facts and learn the truth behind some of the mysteries that relate to distant stars and galaxies.

Check out some amazing science and technology videos that feature the best experiments, processes, chemical reactions, projects, facts and general information that science has to offer.

These entertaining videos will help you learn while having fun at the same time!

Check out this amazing video of an intelligent dolphin as it plays with bubble rings, performing a number of impressive under water tricks.

Enjoy this fun egg experiment video which involves an egg being sucked into a bottle, do you think you can figure out why it happens?

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Check out our huge range of science images, pictures, photos, drawings and diagrams.

Perfect for science lessons, projects and presentations, the images are free to use as you please.

Find science pictures covering everything from chemistry to space, experiments, biology, weather, animals, technology and more.

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Science for Kids - Fun Experiments, Facts, Games & Projects

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Science Kids is the online home of science & technology for children around the world. Learn more with our fun science experiments, cool facts, free games, activities, lesson plans, quizzes, videos, photos and science fair project ideas. If you're looking for a specific topic then head over to our topic section.

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https://www.engineergirl.org/

I thought this was a fantastic website for girls that want to be and engineer! It has so much information about many things in engineering.
It offers a section about the history of women engineers, stories, and interviews with many people.
It also has sections about engineering design, as well as the many careers that women can have in the field of engineering.

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#EngineerGirlShow

This video series highlights amazing women in engineering to inspire the next generation. This series was produced by George Retelas with his digital art students at SAE Institute. Here are just a few...

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EngineerGirlShow This video series highlights amazing women in engineering to inspire the next generation. This series was produced by George Retelas with his digital art students at SAE Institute. Here are just a few...

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https://bookcreator.com/

Bookcreator allows students to be creative in making their very own books, which can store a wide variety of things from different subjects.
A teacher can create a specific question about something students have recently learned in class and have the students respond to the question in class at the end of the day.
It is a good way for teachers to read and see the students' responses and to get a little bit more of an understanding from them.Like more of an insight.

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Book Creator - Love Learning - Book Creator app

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Teachers love it. Students love it. Book Creator is the simplest, most inclusive way to create content in the classroom.

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https://padlet.com/

Padlet is is a free online platform that allows teachers and students to connect and share thoughts and tools.
It can also be used to add things like links, photos, and videos.
I also can be used as a discussion and reply board for teachers to create lessons for their students. Students reply to teachers and then they can also reply their peers/colleagues.

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https://wakelet.com/

Wakelet is a digital platform that allows students and teachers to organize, create, and communicate in discussion boards.
Teachers can assign lessons through Wakelet, which then requires the students to open the platform and respond.
Students can also read and reply to other students in the class for further communication and relationship building.

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Wakelet | The All In One Content Platform

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Wakelet allows you to bookmark, organize, collaborate and present on content all in one platform. Harness your content to build remarkable things.