Teach Engineering K-12 STEM

Teach Engineering is by far my favorite STEM resource to use when planning a lesson plan or activity for my classes, or students. This website provides a variety of engaging STEM lessons that include all materials, worksheets, pictures, videos, and the amount of time that is needed/ required to spend on each lesson. It also provides students and teachers with additional resources to utilize during learning/ teaching the lessons in order to expand thinking, and learning. Another great feature that this website has is that there are units for teachers to utilize for each grade level. Each unit focuses on a certain topic/subject, such as physics and math. Students are also able to use this website for additional help on certain STEM areas. In addition, all activities provided on this site are hands-on, which tends to allow students enjoy learning more. All activities provide a detailed procedure and directions of how to build models needed. 

Corona Virus and Teaching with Technology

When working with young children. It is extremely important to maintain a set schedule to maintain the overall structure of that classroom. For instance, if a teacher is out sick even for a couple days, each student's world gets rocked. From birth to the age of three, a child makes 700 neural connections a second. As this is happening in their developing brains, more emotional responses are exuded, and less logical. This leads to unconsolable students.

 With the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have been forced to close. This unexpected incident leaves parents and teachers unsure and unprepared. Parents have to provide the child care we teachers have had the privilege of giving their children and the lack of everyday structure like they are used to (such as circle time, independent work time, group activities) creates a different dynamic to that of which they are accustomed to. This also leaves a lot of early childhood educators feeling helpless.

 I had a parent email me a few days ago saying that their child misses circle time so much that she sits on the living room carpet at home and sings to herself. This email and missing my students gave me an idea. I decided to create a youtube account and post a video of me doing circle time in my classroom just like everyday with all the songs we usually sing and a book at the end. I posted it and sent the link to all the parents in my class. It was a hit. I had beautiful responses such as videos of students singing along and comments from parents in regards that the video made their child’s life feel a little bit more normal.

 The response I got to the video gave me so much joy in such an odd time. I believe that technology brings us as a classroom and learning community together in times like this. Being able to provide impact through technology is so beneficial to educators.

FunBrain

FunBrain is an educational browser game website for children. You can select a grade K-8 and FunBrain will give you content specifically aimed at your age/grade level. FunBrain has games and lessons for most subjects, but focuses mainly on math, reading and science content. You can choose to play an educational game, watch a video, or read a book or story. It was on this site that Diary of a Wimpy Kid was first published before being turned into a successful book series and movie franchise. Pretty cool, huh? You can filter the content in two ways, you can either choose a grade level (k-8) or choose a subject area like "Math Zone", "Reading", "Games", "Videos", or "Playground". In each of these categories you will find a variety of lessons, games and educational content that will support or enhance students current skills and knowledge. I liked this website it integrates several subjects in one area. Instead of having to visit one website or app for math and another for reading and another for science, this website allows you to practice all of those subject areas in one place. Based on reviews, students enjoy the interactive games and stories and have had great success with enhancing their education through use of FunBrain. Another great feature is that it is completely free to use so any child with access to a computer can hop on and start playing! FunBrain also has a sister website, FunBrainJr., which was designed with toddlers and preschoolers in mind. Same great concept, but only with content that supports the learning of Pre-K children. I think with as much as children enjoy playing games on their tablets and phones, they would be sure to find FunBrain both fun and engaging and teachers/parents can use this website as a way for students to practice and refine their skills both in and out of the classroom!

Discovery Education: Virtual Field Trips

Discovery Education is a virtual learning platform packed with over 180,000 assignable, editable activities and resources for K-12, based on core curriculum concepts and popular topics in math, science, social studies, ELA, and health. Discovery Education Experience has everything teachers want and students need to enhance virtual learning like fun videos, interactive activities and complete ready-to-use lesson plans! The one feature that stood out most to me however was their virtual field trip option. Discovery Education offers virtual field trips for a variety of subject areas, even STEM! You can take your classroom, at no cost, on a number of STEM related virtual field trips complete with a companion guide packed with standards-aligned, hands-on learning activities! Some examples include TeenDrive365 where students go on "road trips" to learn the engineering and science behind safe driving. Or FutureU where students go to the Johnson Space Center to meet the STEM professionals who are writing the next chapter on human space exploration. These virtual events allow educators to take students to some amazing places and give them incredible experiences, without ever leaving the classroom. Students have the opportunity to visit places all over the world and engage in fun hands on activities that follow up the virtual field trip. I love that it doesn't cost anything and you don't have to worry about keeping track of a large group of students as you would with a standard field trip. So if a field trip across the country to visit a Science Center or Space Station is out of the question, or if you are looking for a no cost alternative to a regular field trip, consider checking out Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips. 

Dash by Wonder Workshop

The Dash robot by Wonder Workshop is an incredible tool for introducing young students to the big wide world of coding. Intended for ages 6+, Dash comes with 5 free apps to sync to such as Wonder which uses picture based coding and Blockly which introduces advanced concepts of coding through playful projects and puzzles. These apps can be downloaded using any Android, iPhone or iPad. Dash is Bluetooth capable so no internet connection is required to use the robot. Dash can be programmed to do anything from reacting to the sound of a clap to performing a victory dance to detecting and avoiding obstacles. Dash can also sing and dance, which makes for a fun and interactive learning experience for kids! The programming is basic and easy for children to learn. Dash is more fun than coding on a website or app alone because children actually get to see their coding work come to life through Dash's silly personality. This will inspire children to want to learn more so they can interact with Dash even further to make Dash learn new behaviors. Getting familiar with coding and using Dash will encourage students to continue building their critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills. Dash comes assembled and ready to be used. Dash can be purchased for the home or for the classroom and has many accessory options such as the ability to be transformed into anything using LEGOs, a xylophone that Dash can play, a bulldozer bar and a launcher. While all of these features are awesome, they also come at a price. For one robot alone it costs $149.99. For one robot for the classroom that comes with a curriculum and accessories its $425! This is a steep price especially if you are the one purchasing it instead of the district. The price is the only disadvantage to Dash in my opinion. Price aside, I think this is a great way to get students familiar and interested in coding and all that coding has to offer! 

Read Theory

Read Theory is an online reading comprehension assessment tool for students. This tool gives students a variety of literary passages to read and then follows up the reading with comprehension questions. It is very easy to set up. Teachers create an account and then create their classroom by adding each student in as a user. Once set up, students can log in to their individual accounts and take the pretest which determines their reading level and the content they will be able to choose from when selecting their passages. Once their reading level has been determined they can begin choosing passages they want to read. Read Theory provides content for every culture and every country and there are thousands of passages, so students never have to read the same thing twice. When they have finished their reading, they will answer the comprehension questions that follow. If a student answers correctly, they earn points which they can see in their menu bar. All of the students progress is available for the students to see on their account which parents can access as well. Student's progress is also linked back to the teachers main account where he/she can track the progress of each individual student. This is helpful in assessing where a student may need more practice and where they are excelling. My favorite thing about this tool is that it is free to use for everyone and very easy to use. There are great reviews and many success stories linked to this tool and students really seem to enjoy using it. It is a great resource for teachers and student alike.