The STEM Space

SHOW SUMMARY:
Thanksgiving is one of our favorite times of year for gathering with friends and family, eating good food, and doing awesome STEM activities. Listen in as we share some of our favorite Thanksgiving and Turkey themed STEM activities for elementary and middle school. These activities cover basic computer programming, forces of flight, STEM careers, and circuitry.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

Thankful for STEM free activity on TpT or in our free resource library

Turkey STEM activities are found on this blog post

More Thanksgiving STEM activity ideas

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/20-thanksgiving-stem-activities

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

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SHOW SUMMARY:
Motivating your students can be a struggle. How do we get them to put forth the effort and engage in your STEM lessons? We need to dig into why students lack motivation and get to the root of the problem first. It may be that they need a boost in self-efficacy, or need a way to find value in how the class relates to them personally. Tune in to this episode to join the discussion and hear ways you may be able to better motivate your students.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

Behavioral Learning Theory (From episode 13)

If you don’t want your students dependent on a reward system, listen to this episode on praise in the classroom.

What is a Scientist/Engineer lesson

The Learning Cycle / 5 Es

Launching a High Altitude Weather Balloon

Learn about student sparks in this blog post.

Plants in Space - STEM Space At Home Challenge

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/19-how-to-motivate-your-students

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

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SHOW SUMMARY:
This episode is a follow-up to episode 17 where we introduced an assignment for educators to fail at something! This allows for teachers to be able to empathize with our students so that we can better help them fail forward or learn from their failures. Listen to this episode for tips on how to address failure in your classroom, tools to equip your students for failure, and even how you can score some free supplies for your STEM lab. Perhaps you will be inspired by our attempts and success in failing this week and try to fail forward yourself! Don’t forget to check out the links below for more on failure!

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

Blog post: How to Teach Growth Mindset and Failing Forward

Space Lander STEM Challenge

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/18-What-You-Should-Know-About-Failure

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

VIVIFY FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/vivifystem

VIVIFY TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vivifystem

SHOW SUMMARY:
When was the last time you truly experienced failure? As educators, we need a refresher on what failure feels like to put us back into the mindset of what it is like to be a novice at something. This perspective is how many of our students are walking into our classrooms. We can become more effective at teaching them if we are able to relate to the position they are in with our content.

Tune into this episode to hear more about this and get in on an assignment Claire is trying this week! Join us in the failure challenge and let us know your results by commenting below, on social media, or by sending us an email at [email protected]. One educator’s solution to the assignment is shown in the post on our website. You’ll have to listen to hear what it is all about!

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

Blog post on the importance of failure

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/17-we-all-need-a-lesson-in-failure

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

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SHOW SUMMARY:
Do you meet all of your students’ needs by teaching to each learning style? Maybe you make sure there is an audio recording of your content for the auditory learners or provide plenty of pictures for your visual students. Perhaps you even add some active components for those kinesthetic learners. What if I told you that learning styles are a lie? Turns out, there is no evidence that learning styles are a real thing. Tune in to this episode to hear the “why” and find out how to effectively teach your students without all the learning style fuss.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

TedX Talk: Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection by Tesia Marshik

“The Myth of Catering to Learning Styles” By Joanne K. Olson (PDF)

Onion Satire Article: “Parents Of Nasal Learners Demand Odor-Based Curriculum” 

The Dunn and Dunn (false) method

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/16-everything-you-know-about-learning-styles-is-wrong

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

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VIVIFY TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vivifystem

SHOW SUMMARY:
Do you shy away from addressing students’ misconceptions? According to the constructivist theory of learning, kids make their own knowledge and ideas about how the world works based on their experiences. What if those ideas are wrong? As educators, we need an approach to correcting these misconceptions that first helps students become aware and commit to what they believe. Listen to this episode for practical methods and examples in how you can help your students with their misconceptions.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

Ultraviolet Light Shelter Challenge blog post

The STEM Space Episode 14 on developmental learning theory

Space Club - FREE for all educators!

The STEM Space Episode 11 - 3 Ways to Effectively Praise Your Students

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES:https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/15-how-to-address-students-misconceptions

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

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SHOW SUMMARY:
Do your students struggle with design challenges? Maybe they aren’t developmentally ready for that level of knowledge application. Research shows that abstract concepts often cannot be grasped by children under a certain age (this is the Developmental Learning Theory). We need to make sure our teaching is appropriate for a student’s age and know how to set them up for success in learning these concepts when they are ready. Listen to this episode to learn more!

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

Straw Rockets - K-3 or 4-10

Catapults

Behavioral Learning Theory (from episode 13)

Blooms Taxonomy pyramid

The Learning Cycle

5E Model

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/14-when-kids-are-ready-to-learn-and-how-to-teach-them

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

VIVIFY FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/vivifystem

VIVIFY TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vivifystem

SHOW SUMMARY:
In this episode, we are diving into the first in our series on learning theories. Learn how you can be more aware of how to effectively teach skills to your students with the Behavioral Learning Theory. In applying Behavioral Learning Theory, we realize the incredible value of being present with our students especially in a virtual or distance learning environment. This theory has three steps:

Model - show students how to do something

Practice - students should independently try to accomplish a task

Feedback - teachers need to be able to help students through struggles.

This may seem like an obvious approach, but are you implementing it in your classroom? Listen in to hear ways that educators can help support student learning best.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

The 3 Stages of STEM

How should you walk students through the engineering design process? Watch this example!

The Engineering Design Process: How to Engage Little Kids in Engineering Activities

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/13-how-to-effectively-teach-skills-to-students

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

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SHOW SUMMARY:
In this episode, Natasha provides insight on involving your students in stage 3 STEM which is STEM Competitions. What STEM competitions are available? What is your role as an educator and sponsor? What should you expect in a STEM competition? Get ready to take your students to the next level in their STEM education!

There are many virtual nation-wide STEM competitions available as well as some for your local area. Listen in for a few ideas on how to run your own competition or check out the links below to join an established competition. If you are a STEM teacher and sponsor of a STEM competition team, your role is to provide the framework for STEM competitions, define roles for the teams and help with team dynamics that are developed in the first stage of the 3 Stages of STEM. A sponsor should not be playing an active role in solving the problem in the competition! Build up their STEM skills with one of the Launchpad Curricula in the links below.

Have questions about preparing your students for a STEM competition? Reach out to us at [email protected].

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:

The 3 Stages of STEM

SA Smart Challenge

NASA Space STEM Challenges

NASA STEM Engagement challenges and resources

3M DiscoverE Young Scientist Challenge

Future City Competition

Launchpad Curriculum:

—Mission to the Moon- For Elementary School

—Mission to the Moon- For Middle School (Free when subscribed to our free newsletter and given access to our growing Free Resource Library!)

—Mission to Mars- For Elementary School

—Mission to Mars- For Middle School

First LEGO League (FLL)

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/12-stage-3-stem-stem-competitions

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

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Show Summary:

How should we praise our students and should we praise them at all? There are a lot of similarities between how we should parent and how we should teach kids when it comes to praising effort and not outcomes. Listen in to learn 3 specific ways that you can use praise to protect your classroom dynamic and promote growth in positive habits for your kids.

THE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTES: https://www.vivifystem.com/thestemspace/2020/11-3-ways-to-effectively-praise-your-students

THE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thestemspace/?source_id=1447700748805688

VIVIFY INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vivifystem

VIVIFY FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/vivifystem

VIVIFY TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vivifystem