Do you love STEM Challenge Activities but find yourself rushed for time at the end to have students do the deeper work? And what about yourself? Do you have time to reflect on your own implementation practices?

In this session from Elementary STEM CON & Beyond, we'll go through seven myths, misconceptions, or outright mistakes about STEM Challenge practices that lead to missed opportunities. And there's no judgment here! I've made a LOT of these mistakes myself over the years, so let me save you the time of doing your own trial & error!

Time stamps:

• Students Research Prior to Building (1:07)
• Students Always Plan by Sketching Designs (9:46)
• The Build Phase is Treated as the Most Important Step (14:23)
• STEM Challenges are Done Just One Time (20:52)
• Assessments Value Product Over Process (24:37)
• Trusting STEM Challenge Labels (25:30)
• Believing STEM Challenges Should Be Fun (33:06)

Included with this training:

• Vetting STEM Challenges Questions Chart

A note about "simple" STEM:

There are STEM resources coined as “simple” STEM that refer to the simplicity of the materials needed and/or teacher setup. That isn’t what I’m referring to here.

The issue is with another kind of “simple” STEM — STEM that is easy. STEM that can be done in a few minutes. STEM that is only a reward for early finishers. STEM that is fun, makes students happy and doesn’t challenge them much or create too much drama. Read more about it on this blog post.

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What did Elementary STEM CON attendees have to say about this training?

"This really made me think about how I teach my STEM and EDP challenges. Thank you for pushing me to be my best self and be okay with changing how I do things in my classroom."

"Very helpful session! You addressed many things that I have wondered about myself! I will be making some 'healthy' changes to my STEM teaching now! Thank you!"

"I still love that my life changed when I first heard you say research shouldn’t always be one of the first steps. "

"This session was AMAZING!! I learned so much. My biggest takeaway was your first Myth ... I am definitely looking forward to doing more stem challenges in the future with a different perspective on the process."

"Excellent information and food for thought! I might be busy this summer revamping my teaching skills. Thank you!"

"I love this new outlook on how to conduct STEM challenges in my classroom. "If your focus is primarily on the build, you’re only scratching the surface of the skills you can help your kids develop." That was such an awesome quote. I really want to make sure that I do a better job of allowing students a second chance at a challenge. I also love the various options to "drawing a sketch", I have seen students shut down when I mention drawing so I look forward to using those options in the future."

"WOW! I loved this session! Your 5 questions on vetting STEM challenges was perfect, and exactly what I needed to help provide quality STEM challenges to my students. I am excited to read GRIT now, that short passage was very powerful. Thank you so much!"

"It helped me see a lot of things that I need to fix when doing STEM projects with kids. I tend to want them to be fun, but for the most beneficial lessons students need to realize that there is actually a challenge and that it is okay to fail or get frustrated, because we can all find ways to improve it."

"I really loved how she broke down each misconception and gave ideas on what you can do with a stem challenge. I loved the visuals, and the vetting questions when determining if something is a stem challenge or science craft. "

"So Good! I took so many notes. I can't even choose a favorite part! LOVE the 5 questions for vetting STEM Challenges!"

"I now realize that I am spending too much time in planning and building....time to change that! Thanks."

"Thank you for helping me rethink the way I do STEM. You really opened opened my eyes to the misconceptions that I am so guilty of doing. Lots of great resources!!"

"Love this presentation! The slide about the 30% - 70% was a great reminder of where my focus should be as we navigate through our STEM challenges! THANKS!!!!"

"I have been teaching workshops/classes on STEM for years, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness on what makes quality STEM engagement. "

"I love how she broke down a lot of misconceptions related to STEM education because as a STEM teacher, these opinions and misconceptions are something I hear from other teachers frequently so it was interesting to hear her opinion and how she combated these misconceptions"

"The sessions just keep getting better and better! This is my 17th year in education and 5th year as a STEM specialist, so I'm always excited when I am able to glean SO MUCH great information in just a short period of time. Thanks so much for organizing this! This session in particular was very useful. Can't wait for tomorrow!"

"Excellent! So many valid points were brought up! I loved the different planning methods. Really helped me see where I need to "tweak" my challenges. I enjoyed the excerpt from the book... spot on about failure. Thank you so very much!"

"This session made me stop and think about some of the methods I have been using in my Makerspace class. I will definitely be reevaluating some of my thoughts and procedures when we start back to school."

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Elementary STEM CON & Beyond is an annual virtual conference that hosts thousands of teachers from around the world each spring. This session was presented as part of the 2020 event.

This resource is priced for a single viewer. For group and site license packages, please contact me using the Q&A tab on this page.