Creative and Fun Stem Challenges

When coming up with creative and fun STEM challenges for kids, you don’t have to look further than your closet at school for materials. All that is needed to create a mind-stimulating maze is a paper plate, construction paper, glue, scissors, and a marble. Kids today may not have any experience playing with pinball machines but after some simple instructions, they’ll be pros at paper plate pinball!

Here’s what needs to be done to make this project successful:

• Acquire all of the supplies needed for each student. If you don’t have these items on hand, see if any parents want to donate them. They may have a huge supply of paper plates leftover from their last barbecue and not know what to do with them. That’s great news for you as it ensures you have the supplies you need to carry out this project without a hitch.
• Demonstrate how to create simple arches and bumpers using construction paper. Create a sample paper plate pinball machine that can be used to demonstrate the process. You may want to experiment with different types of arches, bumpers, and obstacles so your students know what options await them.
• Assist your students in cutting out paper strips and adhering them to the plates. Depending on how late in the day you teach this STEM project determines whether the glue will be dry in time to try out the pinball machines. You may have to extend the project into a two-day time period to ensure that all arches and bumpers are secure on the plates.
• Have fun ‘scoring’ points with the marbles. Let your students explore their games by tilting them to try to get the marble into the proper slot. If your students wrote out scores for the different areas of the game, have them keep track of theirs so they can share it with the class later.

This STEM activity is easy to do. It requires little effort to execute and teaches students in a truly memorable way. It’s one way to incorporate fun and science in the classroom.

Back to school promises to make to your children

If you had any school-related freak outs last year, these tips are for you. These new habits can change your whole approach to your kids’ homework, effort in the classroom, and future goals. And they can create a happier household.

Here are some school resolutions to make to yourself — and your family — to ensure a smooth back-to-school transition.

I Won’t Try and Do Everything
While it may be tempting to become a super parent at the beginning of the year, it’s generally unhealthy to be so micromanaging and engaged. Children pick up on a lot of signs from their parents, and if you’re stressed from trying to do more than you can or trying to do too many things at once, they’ll be more stressed, too.

I’ll Praise Effort, Not Intelligence
This will give kids a healthy understanding of good work ethic – while letting them know raw talent is not the only thing valued in our society.

I’ll Focus on the Moment Rather Than the Future
Back-to-school season is a time of uncertainty. This can create worry and anxiety for both you and your kids. Consider writing down your worries and look back at them in a few days, a few weeks and a few months. Many times, they don’t even come true.

Moving forward, consider that parents, students and teachers all put pressure on themselves to have the perfect year — but our imperfections support creativity, innovation and insight. Remind yourself and your child of this often.

I’ll Get to Know My Child’s Teacher
Whether you have to volunteer, or just send a few emails, make a point to let the teacher know you and your goals for your child. Having a relationship with another adult who spends a large amount of time with your child can help both of you in the long run and is a great way for you to gain insight to your child.

I Won’t Do Everything for My Kids
As much as you want to shelter and provide for your kids, you also need to help them grow into independent functioning adults. Give kids responsibilities at home and before and after school. Teachers say that letting kids make their own mistakes clues them into what they need to help with. If you are correcting their homework and doing their tasks, you aren’t helping them grow.

I’ll Pool Resources with Other Parents
Make friends with other parents in your child’s grade. There are so many ways you can help each other out. Talk about carpooling. Plan back-up care on snow days. Look for parents in your neighborhood who have children at the same school or whose children play in the same little league and invite them to join you in a car pool. This can reduce stress on all parties and give you a little more free time.

My Children will Earn Their Own Grades
Many parents need to resist the urge to correct or complete their child’s projects so they get a better grade than they deserve. Children need to display knowledge of what they have been taught and they should be allowed to feel the pride of accomplishing a task on their own. It’s okay to not turn in something perfect, and it’s okay to fail, as long as you learn something from it. Allow your child to learn these things.

I’ll Have a Regular Date Night
Arranging your life around your kids and job is all well and good, but what about your partner? You two need a little alone time too — away from the kids and other distractions — to reconnect as a couple. Planning date nights is a common resolution at the beginning of the year, but by the time back-to-school season hits, who has time? Celebrate the start of the new school year by hiring a babysitter and getting some relationship time with your significant other.

Steve Hiles’ Educational Resources

https://www.getstartedontherightfoot.com

Get Started on the Right Foot

The emphasis of this book is on the critical first days of school. Although the tips and strategies presented in my book can be used throughout the entire school year. I have compiled strategies that I feel will make the job of the elementary school teacher easier and much more bearable -- particularly for those teachers new to the profession.

Most of this book is geared for the elementary school setting and the new teacher facing their first time 'flying solo.' The veteran teacher moving to a new school or wishing to refresh their approach to a new term can also apply still many of the concepts, tips and tricks. The strategies presented here could also be applied equally well to middle an high school environments.

Teachers when you optin to Get Started on the Right Foot.com, Grab your FREE Copy of my "Let's Write A Book." Your kiddos will love this activity and they are going so proud to feel like real authors! Download your Free copy today! 

Also, on the next page of my website, you'll receive information on my book, “Get Started on the Right Foot," Which speaks to how we can 'crush it' during the critical first days of school. Take a look at the super-cool bonuses you will get with your purchase.

https://www.getstartedontherightfoot.com

Prior to the Start of the School Year

The quality of your preparation for the term ahead can make a real difference, not just on the first day but all through the coming months.

The most obvious thing you will want to do is to prepare your classroom. It is not always possible due to issues like last minute cleaning by the school’s janitors, renovations or refurbishments, or building policies. However, if possible, it can be of great benefit to have spent time in the room before school starts. It will give you time to really “make it yours.”

I suggest that you gain access to your classroom a minimum of at least 3 to 4 days to your having to officially report for work.

The point here is to give yourself sufficient time to organize, arrange and even decorate your classroom, without feeling pressured. Also, you will want to organize procedures for such things as issuing textbooks and the necessary forms that will need to go home with students on the first day.

It has been my experience that when you officially report for work, your time will be spent  at district workshops or building in-service classes. Administrators do not always recognize  teachers’ needs to spend time in the physical classroom. You will actually have very little  time to devote to your classroom preparations once you are officially “on the clock.”

Preparing the Classroom

Take a seat in your “teacher’s chair.” Look around you. What do you see? That first impression when you sit down for the first time at your desk can provide some important insights. How do you feel about the room? Does it feel comfortable, welcoming, and even friendly? Or is it sterile or forbidding somehow?

Do you have enough light? Is there a window and does it open? What do you see outside the room? How far from the door are you? Will your students go past you as they enter and

exit? Is there enough space? Can you shift your desk or reconfigure the students’ seating in ways that will improve the atmosphere in the room?

Circumstances vary from school to school. Especially in the upper grades, you may not have the classroom exclusively and may be forced to move to other rooms. However, in most American elementary schools, teachers are assigned a classroom for a year at a time or  more. Science, industrial arts, and vocational programs often use the same classroom for many years. 

Your classroom becomes your “home away from home.” You can put your unique stamp on  it. It will subtly reflect your personality and preferences whether you are conscious of your influence on the room or not. Before the school year begins, I urge you to take the opportunity to try to make the space as comfortable and functional for your teaching as you can. After all, you are going to spend almost as many hours here as at your home!

Parents and Teachers

Whenever you get your Class Roster or other information from the administration about the  students who will be in your class, you will want to track down their families so that you can  be in touch throughout the year. Some schools will supply teachers with contact information for parents; other schools will neglect this but you may be able to request it.

If you cannot obtain current information about the parents, you will want to collect it whenever they come to the campus. Keep a copy of the roster in your desk and write down phone numbers, emails, and physical addresses as you acquire them. If a student’s home situation becomes really puzzling, you can even go on the internet and search for the parents’ contact information.

Once you have the information you need to contact them directly, try to build a relationship  with a child’s parents. Knowing more about the child’s home circumstances can provide crucial insights into the student’s achievement levels, classroom behaviors, attendance and general attitude towards school.

Tip: Call Home

This next idea is one I feel is very important – one that I have done since my first year of  teaching. I personally call every parent of every child in my class within the first ten days  of school. This gives a chance for us both to address any issues or concerns that the parent  may have on their mind.

This strategy has always worked well for me and has paid big dividends with respect to  parent volunteers for the class!

Without fail, I have had parents year after year tell me that I was the only teacher to have  ever done this.

Do this! You really gain parent support!

Too often, the only times that parents and teachers ever meet are the day when the child is  enrolled at the school (if then), possibly on the first day of school, at parent-teacher  conferences which may be called to discuss unpleasant situations, and at “Parents’ Nights.”

There are many ways to get parents more involved in their children’s education – which has to be a good thing, right? Invite parents to volunteer to assist in the classroom, help on field trips, and do presentations to the class about their jobs or interests. Call them up or send them a note when a child has done something outstanding and let them know how proud you are of the child. Do not limit your contacts with parents to only negative circumstances.

Classroom Expectations

 What are your expectations of the first day of school? What are your assumptions about the  people, place, things, ideas, and experiences? Our expectations and assumptions can make big differences in how well things go -- both on the first day and throughout the school year.  Your attitude counts!

If you enter the classroom with the mindset of someone who “assumes the worst,” you may  expect that the students will be noisy and difficult to control – and so they probably will be  exactly that. On the other hand, if you are expecting quiet, well-behaved students who raise  their hands to ask questions and remain quiet whenever you want to speak, you may be  bitterly disillusioned. No classroom in the world is entirely filled with “good” or “bad” students.

When your students walk into the classroom, how will you greet them? What will be their  first impression of you? Will they think you are friendly or formidable? A wimp or a tyrant?  That first impression can shape the whole school year. Striking a balance between creating a  positive relationship with students while retaining a level of authority and control can be  key to a teacher’s success.

The first impression on the very first day is CRITICAL.

Consider how adults socialize when they make new acquaintances. Don’t we take time to  ask each other our names, where we live and where we come from? Don’t we want to share  information about our jobs, hobbies, interests and our families? Maybe we have mutual  acquaintances or have been to the same places. We may even have met before. Those initial  conversations establish our connections and we take in a lot of information about each  other.

Non-verbal impressions communicate even more strongly than do words. Some social  scientists estimate that perhaps 93% of our communications are non-verbal. ² We observe each other and gather thousands of subconscious impressions. Eye contact, body language,  tone of voice, facial expressions, quality of energy in gestures – these are just some of the  ways we communicate who we are and what we gather as our impressions of other people.

When you start planning for the first day of school, I urge you to “put yourself in your  students’ shoes.” Think about the students’ impressions of you. How will you appear to them? Young people are just learning to negotiate social roles and many are very “fashion conscious.” Your clothes, hair, skin, and general appearance will tell them a lot – or they will assume they know – about who you are.

Even such small items as the jewelry you wear can convey meaning. Do you avoid jewelry  altogether or do you load on the bling? One college professor became known on campus for  wearing a colorful scarf looped through a solid gold ring every day instead of a tie. Long  dangling earrings can become a distraction for students but small pearl or gold studs can  help students focus on watching your face.

It is the small but crucial choices you make about your appearance that will communicate most about you in the early days. In another chapter, we will talk about your other non- verbal communications, especially what your body language conveys.

Consider the appropriate attire for your school.

In many private and religious schools, teachers are usually required to dress quite formally.  In schools that require students to wear uniforms, there is normally a dress code for the

teachers as well. However, throughout the U.S. within the public school system, dress has  become increasingly informal.

Teacher Preparedness

As a student teacher, you may have encountered some of the time-consuming routines and  occasional time-wasting problems that occupy a teacher’s day. I hope you took notes on how they were handled. If not, please do talk to an experienced teacher and ask how they handle these kinds of issues. Ask several teachers the same questions and compare their solutions to problems. A simple idea but sometimes we forget that teachers can also be mentors. Most teachers love to share their skills! So feel free to ask!

I have always felt that student teaching programs should encompass both the start of the  school year as well as how to effectively close out the last days. Then at least, a prospective teacher would have a better idea of what to expect.

Too often, however, college schedules do not mesh with those of elementary schools. If at all possible, I urge you to try to make the time to monitor classes by experienced teachers,  especially at the beginning and end of the school year or before and after holiday breaks.  You may notice there is a different atmosphere in the classroom at those times from the usual term days. Experienced teachers will have the know-how to modify their curricula to suit the changing situations. Notice what they do differently at different times of year.

Review what you know…

Examine the academic knowledge and practice the teaching skills that you have acquired to  date. One key skill that you will need is the ability to transform content – your knowledge  base – into teachable activities that engage your students in learning. Do you feel confident in your mastery of the material to be studied? Do you know how you will present it to your students in ways that will interest them?

If you feel at all uncertain about either the content or how to teach it, go back to basics.  Look at how you were taught the material by your teachers. How did they structure it?  What activities did they do?

Review materials and do further research so that you feel confident in your knowledge. Your  feelings count – notice your level of confidence. If you feel tentative, uncertain, or that 

there is something lacking, that is a sure sign that there is more research and preparation  for you to do.

It can be very helpful to look at how other teachers approach the topic you must teach. You  can find many examples available on the internet – there are literally thousands of  resources available to teachers today, most that were out of reach even ten years ago.  Watch a YouTube video, take an online class, google your topic, and seek out the educational sites for your grade level.

Review what you know and what you need to know. It is important for teachers to utilize  “Critical Thinking Skills” themselves, as well as to instill the skills and ideas in their students.  The essence of critical thinking is questioning, so always question!

·         Question - whether there are more effective ways to teach subject matter that meet the particular learning objectives of your class.

·         Question - if you have found the most effective strategies to get your students  engaged and interested enough to make the effort to learn. Learning does take  effort!

·         Question - if you have provided sufficient motivation, clarity, and information for the students to master the content you teach!

Much will depend on the energy and commitment  that you demonstrate