PBL

Through project-based learning, children get to see concepts in action and build up a bigger variety of vital SEL skills like teamwork and responsibility. Science teacher Jeremy Jorgensen knows all about these benefits. For this new Teacher Talk feature, we discussed how he incorporates PBL activities in the classroom and the skills kids develop from hands-on experiences.

While we don’t want to place too much pressure on any educators starting new STEM programs, there are some key suggestions we can provide. The first of those is to decide on and define the direction of the STEM program, including its identity, purposes, and objectives, which often means that the learning experiences should reflect real-world problem solving.

In addition to key STEM skills that students will likely need, they are going to need strong soft skills, like communication, collaboration, and listening, too. As such, the social-emotional aspect to teaching exposes kids to the process through which they acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for managing emotions and building relationships.

Whether it’s robotics, circuitry, engineering, or something else, there are obviously a myriad of STEM solutions available to today’s K-12 teachers. With all these options, they often look for something to differentiate them and, regularly, that’s the curricular component. With the NAO V6, Dash Robot, Finch 2.0, and more, they can get those key guides included.

Since our mission is to get every student learning and exploring with technology, we know that we first need to make completely certain that every STEM tool on our store is useful to them. That’s why our team vets everything we recommend to educators, so they know it’s worthwhile for both them and their students as they work to prepare

PBL units can be incorporated into just about any subject. Students can take part in projects, design simulations, and work together to better their school community or actual community. As plans for the 2021-22 school year are developed this summer, PBL could be a top strategy for ensuring access to game-changing learning opportunities.

PBL involves students working as part of a group most of the time on a community-focused project designed to affect authentic change. You can see how this might be tough to do in a remote environment, but a lot of progress has been made. It takes true teamwork, but PBL IRL (in remote learning) is certainly a possibility.

While not impossible, planning for STEM in remote or hybrid learning does present obstacles for educators, including finding the time to fit it into class meetings, creating lesson plans, and getting materials to students. Online STEM platforms have provided one solution, but, in order to replicate that classroom experience, it can become tricky.

We’re ramping up our Eduporium Featured Educator series to share more accomplishments from teachers, librarians, makerspace leaders, and others! For this post, we’re excited to introduce Sharon Clark, whose made great use of technology in her instruction as a STEAM teacher, using it to help teach both real-world and soft skills.

In what’s rapidly becoming an unprecedented time for those in the education world (as well as other industries that notably include technology and professional sports), the dangerously quick spread of news is something all of us—educators included—have to be weary of and soft skills can play a role for teachers, administrators, and students.