STEM

What is a CCA?

•A Co-Curricular Activity is a 30-45 minute activity that occurs during the school day that is tied to regular curriculum but not to specific indicators or objectives.

•It is not formally assessed!

What is STEM?

•A natural connective integration between Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. But more than that it is a new unique way of thinking that helps us prepare our students for success in a 21st century world.

Does this pretty much describe your thoughts right now?Let’s see if we can get you to a point where you are more like this:

We think that by making a couple minor adaptations to your thinking

can have profound, positive impact on the way students think and learn in

your classroom. We are starting that movement in the Middle School using

CCA’s.

We call it: Academic Recess

COW-A-BONGA

In our CCA project we have moved away from the

conventional views of who the teacher is and what their job is. We no longer refer to them as the teacher or instructor. They are tasked with nothing more than monitoring this academic

recess.

At an early age, children have a natural curiosity to discover how things work, which is why grilled cheese sandwiches end up in DVD players and apple juice gets mixed with milk.

When kids enter the formal education system, this natural curiosity is often stifled with didactic, standardized pedagogy.

What if students could explore their world in an environment where they are the ones coming up with creative solutions? An environment where the teacher could partner with an expert to help serve as a resource and just not simply a source of “answers”?

The children of today are preparing for future jobs that currently don’t currently exist. The CCA program is designed to re-ignite the spark of curiosity and have students investigate paths that may lead them to a 21st STEM career.

Essentially, as the STEM Recess monitor, you should be willing to allow students to:· Be intellectually messy· Get out of their seats and onto the floor· Fail on their own before they succeed on their own· Explore and discover aspects that interest them· Emphasize their efforts on design and problem solving· Shift away from learning discrete bits of information and rote procedures to the facilitation of their own learning. Limit your instruction!

Don’t worry about grading, curriculum, objectives or indicators. Spend some time with your students playing, exploring and having fun at STEM Recess. Leave them wanting more!

• The STEM recess philosophy

• The change in your role from instructor to monitor

• The celebration of failure

OK, Let’s model an activity with you. Remember you are the students at recess and

we are the recess monitors.

Challenge: Roving on the MoonDesign Challenge:Using only the materials given you, design and build a rubber band-powered rover that can scramble across the surface of the moon (floor).

Materials: corrugated cardboard body (6-inch/15-cm square) 2 corrugated cardboard wheels (6-inch/15-cm square) 1 sharpened round pencil 2 rubber bands ruler tape 2 round candies (the hard, white, mint ones with a hole in the middle) 1 plastic drinking straw scissors

STEM is not about the activity.

It is more about the process and thinking within the activity!

What is the 2-dimensional shape of this tire?

In what ways could we quantify this automobile tire?

What formulas could we use to help us quantify this tire:

Area of a circle?

Diameter of a circle?

Radius of a circle?

Circumference of a circle?

Which would cross a finish line first if they were both traveling at the same rate?

•A tire with a small circumference?

• A tire with a large circumference?

.           

Diameter = 2r.

C = r × 2π

How does all this impact your individual classroom?

If we are tasked with equipping kids for the 21st century. The 21st Century employer is very concerned with finding

employees that can think and solve problems and work collaboratively. They will teach them the specific skills they

need to perform their job to produce their product.

•21st Century jobs are highly specific, employees will need to learn specific skill sets. So set and maintain high classroom standards and classroom rigor.

•Focus more on the process than on the product. Learning is a voyage not an event!

•Celebrate failure, don’t punish it – it’s a big part of the learning process and ultimately leads us to our success.

•To close in the wise words of my 11 yr old daughter…

http://www.mtv.com/videos/miley-cyrus/348983/the-climb.jhtml