The 2022-2023 school year is underway and the hallways and classrooms are alive with chatter and inquisitive minds! Once again I look forward to traveling the nation and world and providing quality, engaging, meaningful, and sustainable science and STEM professional staff development to educators and administrators. Training sessions are available for one-day to multiple-day institutes. Sessions are available onsite as well as virtual. With each training session scheduled a free 1/2 hour ZOOM follow-up session is available for attendees. Sessions are: Available year-round and on weekends throughout the nation and world. All sessions are custom-designed to fit the specific needs/goals of your district/school. Are aligned to national and regional science standards. Incorporate 21st-century skills. Are highly engaging, hands-on-minds-on, and inquiry-based. Empower the participant through engaging investigations and thought-provoking discourse. Use simple, readily available, and inexpensive materials. Incorporate a wide array of affordable technological tools aside from computer-based technology. Incorporate journaling. Provide opportunities for participants to design and create models to bring back to the classroom. Provide opportunities for participants to process what they have experienced as a learner, and how they will take what they have experienced back into their classrooms. A positive learning community is developed by providing opportunities for discourse and sharing among participants and Dr. Diana. For a downloadable PDF brochure with details of the science and STEM professional staff development, I provide please click here. I look forward to the opportunity to share my passion and knowledge of science and STEM with your staff. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or to book sessions by completing the Contact Form found on the Contact Page. The following video gives a bird’s eye view of what your district, school, or organization can expect from the science and STEM professional development training Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski provides.
Tag: 21stcenturyskills
Creating A Culture of Inquiry
I had the pleasure of returning to Auburn City School District recently to conduct an introduction to inquiry-based teaching and learning professional staff development training for K-12 educators. When you think of inquiry what do you envision? The students are engaged, active learning, student-driven, and the teacher’s role is a facilitator versus the more traditional role of the teacher-driven classroom. So why teach via inquiry? There is a great deal of research that supports the benefits of inquiry-based teaching and learning here are a few of the benefits. Preps the brain for learning. Cultivates skills for all areas of learning. Promotes curiosity. Deepens understanding. Thinking critically and solving problems. Creates ownership/student-driven. Promotes engagement. Enhances learning. Works across all disciplines. Creates a lifelong love of learning. Questioning is the heart of inquiry. A teacher must strive to create a classroom culture where students are encouraged to ask questions and seek answers to their questions. As well as modeling higher-order questioning. During the introductory training, teachers were introduced to the 3 main kinds of inquiry including structured, guided, and open-ended. Teachers worked in small groups throughout the day conducting mini math and science inquiry-based investigations. Additionally, they were introduced to a multitude of mathematic and scientific tools to incorporate within their lessons. As well as journaling and establishing questions for the group to research. From exploring patterns and shapes in nature and in man-made designs to geometry, electric circuits, and more, it was an immersive day of inquiry. I truly enjoyed working with this cohort of educators who will spend the year further studying and exploring inquiry together, and incorporating inquiry-based teaching practices within their classrooms. Check out the following photos of inquiry in full action.
Transitioning From In-Person to Virtual STEM Training
It has been a major transition for educators globally to transition from in-person to online instruction due to COVID-19 Pandemic. Since transitioning from in-person to virtual STEM professional staff development I have strived to provide engaging virtual professional science and STEM staff development for my clients. There are several key factors I have incorporated to provide quality and engaging virtual professional staff development training. The following is a list of tips that I believe will help teachers and education consultants deliver quality and engaging virtual presentations. Get yourself tooled up to provide professional presentations which will include purchasing quality audio, video, lighting equipment, and research green screen options. If you choose to not use a green screen your background should not be distracting. I signed up for a professional ZOOM account, allowing me to have up to 100 participants per session, and no time limits on sessions. Generally, I set-up my training sessions as a ZOOM meeting versus a webinar. This allows participants to share their audio and video, and be more actively engaged in the training session. I’m able to do this effectively because I normally have group sizes under 50. If the group size is expected to be over 50, or it is a keynote, etc. I choose the webinar format. Secondly, I provide the client with a list of hands-on materials that all the participants will need to have during the virtual training session. These materials are generally readily available to all the participants, as well as their students within their homes and/or classrooms. I have a narrow six-foot lab-type table set-up in front of me where I place all the hands-on materials I will use during the virtual session. Thirdly, I use the chat feature extensively throughout the entire training session. Lastly, I introduce participants to a variety of meaningful technology that will help to make their virtual lessons be more engaging, meaningful, and impactful such as Jamboard, CANVA, etc. I’m hoping that these basic tips will help educators as we continue to modify our methods of instructional delivery for remote and hybrid learning. For more information about the science and STEM professional staff development, I offer onsite and virtually worldwide check out my current offerings on this site. All trainings are custom-designed to suit the specific needs of the client.
Engineering At Home: Deconstructing Gadgets and Tinkering
During the past two months, parents throughout the world have taken on the role of the classroom educator due to the COVID-19 pandemic and forcing the closures of schools. Educators have quickly adapted to bringing their lessons to an online learning format. However, it has not been an easy task for educators to provide quality, meaningful and engaging lessons for their students. It has come with great effort on educators’ parts to become educated on distance learning /remote learning best practices. The 2019-2020 school year has come to an end for many across the globe but learning must stay alive during the summer. I would hope to see K-12 students continuing their learning throughout the summer with having opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Perhaps one of my favorite STEM investigations to introduce teachers and students to is during my STEM workshops is “deconstructing gadgets and tinkering”. As individuals are given the task to thoroughly analyze a broken household gadget or toy they are strengthening their 21st-century skills, nurturing their curiosity, and being introduced to engineering careers. Furthermore, an item that was destined for the trash, and eventually the landfill becomes a great resource for a meaningful STEM-based learning experience. Deconstructing gadgets and tinkering is ideal for home settings as well as classrooms since broken and outdated electronics and gadgets are readily available in almost all homes. Gather the necessary tools to take the gadget apart, a pair of safety goggles, a ruler, some tape, poster board or cardboard, journal, and writing utensils and you are ready to dive into deconstructing gadgets. I will be conducting a free one hour STEM webinar on Tuesday, June 9th, at 2:00 pm ET USA via Zoom “Engineering At Home: Deconstructing Gadgets and Tinkering.” The webinar is free, registration is required. The webinar is geared for educators and parents of K-5 students however, the content can be modified for upper grades as well. Participants will be introduced to inquiry-based practices, the engineering design process, reverse engineering, tinkering, and more. This is an interactive webinar, participants will be asked to have a broken gadget as well as a few other supplies that they will use during the webinar. To register for the free STEM webinar on Zoom click here. To give you an idea of what participants will be undertaking within the confines of their own home as they partake in the STEM webinar check out the video below of a deconstructing and tinkering session I conducted at a local public library. We are in a time where many parents, educators, and students are overwhelmed but it’s also a time where we can bring about positive changes in the way we engage students in the learning process at school and home.
Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through STEAM Practices and Explorations in the Early Childhood Environment
There is a natural connection between the engineering design process and social and emotional learning core competencies. By incorporating science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) practices, and engineering design challenges young children will have opportunities to develop and nurture SEL skills. When young children engineer and undertake engineering design challenges they learn how to empathize with others, make responsible decisions, regulate their emotions, share materials, collaborate, and communicate with one another. Check out research to support connecting STEM curriculum with social-emotional learning in early childhood here. During a recent teacher training session early childhood teachers were introduced to the foundational principles of STEAM education, and incorporating engineering design challenges that develop and nurture SEL in young children. Through engaging hands-on-minds-on experiences, participants explored how incorporating STEAM-based practices, explorations, and engineering challenges within the classroom and outdoor play spaces provide opportunities for young children to support and grow social and emotional learning skills. Materials used during the workshop were readily available and affordable materials and included recyclable materials. Additionally, participants were introduced to age-appropriate technology and tools that can be incorporated within STEAM explorations and centers. Check out some of the photos taken during the session below. For more information about professional staff development and interactive keynotes that I offer worldwide check out my training and keynote pages.
Introducing Screen-Free Coding to Young Children Teacher Training
I’ve developed a new STEM-based teacher training workshop for the 2020-2021 school year entitled “Screen-Free Coding for Young Children.” During this training, participants will be introduced to the importance of incorporating coding in early childhood. Participants will be introduced to a wide array of affordable screen-free coding gadgets and toys as well as floor games to use when introducing young children to the foundational principles of coding. Some of the gadgets include Botley the Coding Robot, Code-N-Go Mouse, Fisher-Price Code-A-Pillar, Bee-Bot, Ozobot, Coding Critters, The Learning Journey Coding Ladybug, and more. Participants will have the opportunity to use all the coding gadgets as they undertake coding and engineering challenges throughout the training. The one to two-day training has been designed for early childhood through grade 2. Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it’s important for children to understand and be able to work with and understand the technology around them. Having children learn coding at a young age prepares them for the future. Coding helps children develop and strengthen all the 21st-century skills critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. The majority of the research has shown that young children should have minimal screen time prior to upper elementary years thus introducing young children to the foundational principles of coding using screen-free devices, games, and other manipulatives are effective teaching and learning strategies. Check out the following video of children and teachers I have worked with using a few screen-free coding gadgets. For more information about the STEM trainings I conduct or to schedule a training please complete the Contact Form found on the Contact Page.
Head Start Teachers Introduced to STEM Practices and Content
Over 60 Madera Head Start Teachers and administrators gathered for a day of STEM training. The room was filled with excitement, building blocks, a mountain of recycled materials to be used in engineering design challenges, low-cost technology and tools, STEM-based children’s literature, and more. Teachers were introduced to the foundational principles of STEM education including teaching via inquiry, designing lessons that engage and empower students, incorporating 21st-century skills within all STEM-based lessons, and incorporating real-world STEM challenges for young children. During the day-long training, teachers were introduced to using low-cost, meaningful technology mathematical and scientific tools, using the outdoors to teach STEM practices and content, building dimensional structures, patterns, shapes, ramp science, tinkering, block building, journaling, and incorporating STEM-based children’s literature within STEM explorations and centers. The teachers were engaged throughout the session, experiencing the beauty and power of STEM education like their young students. I am grateful to be providing ongoing STEM teacher training for Madera Head Start, it takes time and quality professional staff development experiences for educators to truly feel confident to implement STEM learning experiences within their own classrooms. I am excited to see what takes place during the 2019-2020 school year in Madera Head Start Classrooms, the teachers and administrators have truly embraced STEM education. Check out the following video below which gives you a birds-eye view of two different days of STEM training conducted for Madera Head Start Teachers. More ongoing training to take place in February of 2020.
Turkish Teachers Introduced to Best Practices in STEM Education
I had the pleasure of traveling to Turkey in January 2019 as the STEM Expert for an American Embassy Grant Program to provide a five-day Train the Trainer STEM Education Institute to middle school teachers. ORAV the hiring agency obtained a grant from an American Embassy Grants Program to provide a two + year project to provide sustainable STEM education to teachers and students throughout Turkey. The project was kicked off in January of 2019 when I provided an intensive five-day STEM Institute for 40 + lead trainers and administrators. During the five-day Train, the Trainer STEM Institute participants were introduced to best practices in STEM education which included inquiry-based teaching practices, developing and delivering investigative-based STEM lessons and learning experiences, 21st-century learning skills, engineering design process, journaling and connecting STEM across the disciplines. These lead trainers will provide STEM training and mentor over 250 teachers throughout Turkey over a five-month period. The 250 teachers trained will incorporate STEM learning experiences within their classrooms reaching thousands of students. I am truly grateful to have been selected to provide the foundational STEM training to the leader trainers of this project. These educators and administrators are extremely dedicated and motivated and have embraced the foundational principles of best practices in STEM education. I look forward to seeing the long-term benefits of this project on both the teachers and children of Turkey. The following video provides a sampling of the STEM learning experiences and discussions that took place during the five-day Train the Trainer STEM Institute in 2019.
STEM Explorations for Young Children
Looking for ideas to incorporate STEM practices and content within your early childhood through the primary-level classroom. Check out the following photos of VPK and Kindergarten students conducting hands-on STEM investigations as they rotate through a dozen or so STEM-based exploration centers. Children were free to explore a dozen STEM exploration centers of their choice and spend as much or as little time as they chose. Children had the opportunity to build dimensional structures with recyclable materials, code with simple robotics, explore electronics with Snap Circuits and Circuit Conductors, build a model robot, explore unique states of matter, test out an earthquake table, build with bricks, build ramps with paper tubes and marbles, use levels and draw in the block center, tinker, take household gadgets apart and more. Each of the centers helped to develop and strengthen 21st-century learning skills as well. The following photos and video provide a wide-array of STEM-based exploration centers that are age-appropriate and manageable. The following photos and video are from a recent STEM-based program I conducted for a local school for VPK and Kindergarten students. [envira-gallery id=”1568″] [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvRLomlZstQ[/embedyt]
Teachers Explore the Principles of Biomimicry During STEM Teacher Training Workshop
One of my favorite teacher training workshops focuses on the concept of biomimicry. Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate)is a new science that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Think of biomimicry as “innovation inspired by nature.” Nature has inspired scientists and engineers in developing camouflage clothing, adhesives, solar energy, filtration systems, transportation systems, drones and beyond. During the biomimicry-based teacher training workshops, teachers are introduced to the concept of biomimicry by studying a wide array of man-made gadgets and systems and discussing how scientists were inspired by nature in designing the gadget. During a recent STEM teacher training workshop, I conducted teachers were introduced to the principles of biomimicry. We ventured outside to observe “real-world” examples of biomimicry. Upon returning to the classroom teachers studied a wide array of examples of gadgets that were inspired by nature, teachers used an assortment of mathematical and scientific tools in their analyses including incorporating digital photography. Each group was asked to construct a mind map of their discussions of biomimicry as well. Teachers were then given the engineering challenge to look to nature in designing a prototype of a gadget that would help to solve a problem that humans face. Teachers incorporated the engineering design process as they brainstormed, designed and built prototypes of gadgets and structures that were based on inspiration from nature. Teachers built solar chargers, shelters, floatation devices, lighting systems, and more. When teachers introduce their students to biomimicry concepts, as well as giving the students an engineering design challenge based on the principles of biomimicry, this is truly an authentic and “real-world” STEM-based learning experience. For additional information on biomimicry check out the Biomimicry Institute website. The following photos were taken during the biomimicry/ STEM teacher training workshop. [envira-gallery id=”1526″]