Using STEM : Reflection

 


    I am very confident in teaching STEM in my classroom. I feel this way because my eyes have been opening up more and more with every STEM course that I take on how I already teach this. The advantages I have is that I have incorporated it for the past two years in my class during science, during half day instruction, and on STEM Fridays if we have gotten our work done during the week that we needed to get done to stay on pace with the pacing guide. Other advantages is that I have many many years of observation of other teachers incorporating STEM into their classroom lessons, I have one year of observation and assisting in a 6th grade STEM Gifted Education class, I have one year of STEM Teacher Quality PD that came with a two week course in the summer, and now I have the knowledge of this current STEM Certificate Program. The obstacles that I have that's now not a big obstacle, is that the school I'm going to doesn't have much in the way of STEM so I will have to reach out a lot and there will it's own frustrations that will come with it.

    What I can implement immediately is the Engineering Design Cycle, Design Thinking, or whatever you call it and Novel Engineering. In looking over the curriculum that I will be teaching this coming school year, I will be starting the school year off with a review of what the cycle is using Novel Engineering. I have done this process before teaching 5th grade so I am very confident that we will start the school year with a bang. Now after the first unit after this unit of the Engineering Design Cycle, I'll have to wait and see but I know my science class is going to rock!

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