Using Student Videos to Reveal Hidden Figures Within the Scientific Community

 As an experienced STEAM teacher, I know that one area where textbooks cannot reach is when self esteem and communication skills need to improved within students. Often, such skills are those that need to be developed using project based learning. 

Using video as a medium to achieve such skills is a way for students to begin the work necessary in order to become a strong and confident communicators. With videos, students can begin this skill journey by sharing their thoughts using text over a self selected photo. They can then graduate to adding their voice over images with their video. Lastly, they can evolve into someone who is able to speak on camera clearly and with confidence.

While developing such needed 21st Century communication and social skills, students are also learning new technologies to demonstrate their learning experiences. As students are developing their 21st Century skills, they are also learning about scientists who may be overlooked in the scientific community due to intersections with gender, sexual orientation and race. Learning of scientists who may share similar demographics as students is a way to make connections that boost confidence in oneself and increase enthusiasm for science.

Since our school has the good fortune of being 1:1 with student access to iPads, students are able to use video applications like Clips, and iMovie to create videos. The latest version of iMovie for iPads offers a new feature called "Magic Movie" that is a condensed template version of iMovie for those movie makers who do not require much text. Music is already added to videos made by simply uploading selected photos. With a little more research and practice, students are able to edit videos adding special effects and voice overs to their projects.

Lastly, videos in iMovie can be easily saved to photo libraries on devices and shared in Google Classroom or on Padlet for parents and students to enjoy!

Link to My Scientist Videos on Padlet

Ms. Stone's Bio

 

Carla Stone, Canadian born and raised, is a DePaul Alumni who believes in cultivating calm, creativity and collaboration within the classroom. After graduating High School as Class Valedictorian in 1991 and playing for the Canadian National Basketball Program she made her way to Chicago where she earned a full basketball scholarship to DePaul University. At DePaul, she majored in Science Education and minored in Athletic Training. 

Upon graduating from DePaul in 1997, Carla played three seasons of professional basketball in Finland, Brazil and Italy while later earning her certification in Athletic Training. In 1999 she was sidelined with an ACL injury while playing for Club Villanova in Goiania, Brazil. Pursuing her teaching and coaching dreams became a reality the following year when she was hired by Evanston Skokie’s School District 65, where she currently teaches, as a Middle School Math and Science Educator. 

Two years later, she began coaching High School Basketball at Evanston Township High School where she served as the Freshman/Sophomore Coach and the Assistant Varsity Coach for 9 years and volunteered coaching with the Second City Storm’s Senior Women’s Basketball Team in four Senior Olympics. 

In 2011, Ms. Stone won the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching Math and Science. As a Fellow, she has participated in many areas of the foundation including: the GA Awards Selection Committee, GA Scholar Selection Interviews, Reflective Leader for Scholar Summer Institutes and a member of the STEM Summer Institute Team of educators. 

From 2016 to 2018, Carla was also chosen to co-host the Golden Apple Awards Show on WTTW Channel 11. In 2019 Ms. Stone became a National Board Certified Teacher in Middle School Science, entered several Toastmasters, Int. Speech Competitions and started writing a book on classroom motivation. 2019 was also a pivotal year while Stone also launched S.T.E.M_n_Stone, LLC, an education consulting business, whose mission is to bring S.T.E.M curriculum globally, educating kids in design thinking while creating solutions for waste management and Climate Change. 

Currently, Ms. Stone enjoys teaching 8th grade Science at Nichols Middle School in Evanston, Illinois. In 2022, she earned her Masters in Instructional Technology from Northern Illinois University. 

Ms. Stone's interests are cross country cycling, public speaking, practicing yoga, live music, creating videos on various topics for her YouTube Channel (Live_Cycle_Love_Teach), creating podcasts, blogs and other Instructional Technology for educational reform.

Using Stories to Practice STEAM Skills

Children's Stories Can Build STEAM Skills

I am pretty sure everyone who has had the good fortune of growing up with and around books, loves to be read to. There is something very soothing about listening to a nurturing voice and turning on one's imagination whilst listening to the adventures amidst the pages of a good children's book. 

Not only does a well structured read-a-loud improve speaking, listening, writing and reading skills, they are also a very powerful tool when used to inspire S.T.E.A.M design challenges. S.T.E.A.M is an acronym used to define curriculum that incorporates all parts of the word; science, technology, engineering, art and math. When STEAM is married with an award winning children's book, the affects on the individual is measurable success!

One of my favorite children's books to use in a S.T.E.A.M design challenge is by Kobi Yamda (seen in above photo). After the (gender neutral) main character learns how to grow, support and be confident with their own ideas, they build a safe place to dream. Thus, students can engage in following the design process to build their own "safe place to dream" (student example below).

Using arts and crafts, recyclable materials, children (old and young) can make to their hearts content. The above image is one team's example of a "safe place to dream." Students listened to the story and then engaged within the design process to create and then present their learning experience. The result of any design challenge that involves award winning children's books is endless hours of fun with very little management.

21st Century Index Card Challenge

 21 Century Learning & The Tower Challenge

The new buzz word in education is 21st Century Learning. Under this title falls 12 skills that educators say is the ticked to a job in the future for our newest generation of middle school students. The 12 skillsets are: creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, digital literacy, informational literacy, technology literacy, flexibility, leadership, initiative, social skills and productivity. 

What I recently noticed was that the very simple yet very fun team building STEAM challenge (The Tower Challenge) that only requires 30-60 index cards and a small figurine to sit atop the tower for 10 seconds without falling is all that is required to practice all of these very valuable skillsets. 

If each student team then uses technology to collect video footage of their challenge to create a video of their learning process then all 12 of the twenty first century skills will be met. This activity can be done within the first 20 minutes of class and it is a great way to jumpstart learning and creative thinking for the day.

Using Podcasts to Build Speaking and Listening Skills in Students

 

Using Podcasts in Learning Circles

Podcasts are definitely here to stay. Using them in the classroom to improve Common Core State Standards with regard to improving speaking and listening skills in students may be a new concept for many educators. However, a very easy way an educator can do this while breaking habit from the regular classroom routine is refreshing for both educator and students. 

When students gather in circle, holding the norms of an effective circle to heart, which listening to relevant and rigorous topics, magical things can happen. I witnessed such a wondrous site when I introduced my students to the NIU Podcast series titled, Failure Bites. These podcast episodes are short, under 6 minutes and they are filled with life lessons, hardship and triumph! These are all the makings of a great classroom experience.

After the particular linked episode, students began to share connects of when they moved through failure with grace often making out better than they had anticipated with ample amounts of priceless life lessons. As long as the class has established talking norms and students are connected to the podcast content in some way, the entire class can witness all students being included and participating; hence classroom magic.