MWSubstack 018: Class culture; Launching STEM
Why (and how) successful teachers spend scarce time building strong class communities. And some step-by-step tips to launch a true STEM program.
Welcome to MiddleWeb Substack. It’s a twice-monthly, two-topic, five-minute read for middle grades educators, featuring a selection of MiddleWeb’s most popular and influential articles, a book review, and a noteworthy 4-8 resource or project we’ve spotted. That’s it!
►CLASS CULTURE
Building a community pays big dividends.
One of the great teacher mentors – Julia G. Thompson – centers much of her advice around this key concept: establish a strong classroom community and culture. Thompson, a 40-year teaching veteran, has authored five editions of the bestselling The First-Year Teacher's Survival Guide.
In a 2016 article for MiddleWeb, How to Build a Tight-Knit Classroom Community, Thompson shares her timeless plan for class community-building. She writes:
At first glance, creating a classroom community may appear to be one of those professional tasks that can be assigned a low priority. With the stress teachers experience covering the mandated curriculum, preparing students for standardized tests, and attempting to maintain an orderly classroom, who has the time for something as hard to measure as community building?
Students who are part of classroom communities feel safe, respected, comfortable, and engaged. The positive atmosphere that exists...prevents many of the problems that can plague a disorderly class because students work and learn together in harmony instead of disorder and disruption. Establishing a strong classroom community is a key component of a positive academic environment that can generate student success.
Other MiddleWeb contributors agree. Here are some of their ideas:
Building Community by Sharing Identity Slides (Megan Kelly)
A UDL Strategy to Help Students Communicate (Samantha Layne, Susanne Croasdaile)
Co-Create a Learning Culture with Students (Jackie Walsh, Emily Brokaw, Anna Salazar)
Using Chain Letters to Shape a Positive Classroom Culture (Mackenzie Grate)
How Classroom Circles Help Us Build Community (Laleh Ghotbi)
How to Be a Culturally Responsive Teacher (Julia G. Thompson)
Regie Routman “believes that we are most fully ourselves when ‘teaching, learning, and living are interwoven and seamlessly integrated.’ To show us this full self, she shares stories that might help us navigate our own worlds.“ – Read Sarah Cooper’s review of The Heart-Centered Teacher.
► LAUNCHING STEM
Preparing for a successful year!
MiddleWeb has enjoyed a decade-long partnership with master educator Anne Jolly, an award-winning science teacher turned STEM curriculum expert. Anne's recent credits include co-writing national STEM curriculums for both the middle and elementary grades in an initiative funded by Amazon, Google, Snap-On Tools, and Airbus. A second edition of her bestselling book STEM By Design will be published this year.
Since 2012, Anne has posted more than 150 articles at her MiddleWeb blog. We're highlighting several here that promise help for teachers who may be new to STEM teaching or ready to add more depth to their program.
Let's begin with her definition of "true STEM" —
The term STEM isn’t used consistently in schools across the United States. Some school systems may use it synonymously with “Science.” When I talk about STEM, I refer to the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics taught using the engineering design process.
Remember that STEM is a relatively recent area of study that engages students in non-traditional ways of learning. Few teachers have specific training in teaching STEM, so you’re part of a cutting-edge effort being developed by teachers of all experience levels.
Anne's recent article New to STEM Teaching? Five Things to Do First offers guidance in launching a successful STEM program this year. Her top priorities: know your students; understand project-based learning; develop a well-equipped STEM toolkit; begin with simple STEM challenges, and take time to teach kids how to work effectively in teams.
Where might you find some STEM challenges to use as starters? Try Anne's posts Launch the New Year with STEM Mini-Lessons! and Use a STEM Launcher Activity to Kick Off Your Program!. For more lesson ideas, check out Build Skills with Quick STEM Lessons, How to Make or Find Good STEM Lessons and STEM Lessons Sparked by Real World Problems. And for project ideas addressing one of Earth's most pressing environmental issues, see Need a Real World STEM Project? Try Plastics Pollution.
Finally, if you need help convincing school and community leaders that investments in authentic STEM courses are worthwhile, you might share insights from STEM Skills Kids Need for Our Volatile Future and Why Industry Leaders Value STEM Educators (which might also boost your morale!).
► ELSEWHERE
STEM students tackle a large lizard's mobility problem
Students at Kirkwood Middle School in Clarksville TN applied their STEM skills to enhance the life of Cruella, a three-legged Bearded Dragon, and learned a lot about prosthetics and 3-D printing along the way. See the story and pictures at Clarksville Now.
►OUR BOOK REVIEW
Try It! Math Problems for All by Jerry Kaplan
Kaplan's book is just what math teachers want, says middle school math teacher Michael Hernandez – a collection of offbeat, open-ended problems, riddles and brain teasers to engage the most reluctant student. Mike can’t wait to lure in his middle schoolers this fall. Read the complete review.
►REVIEW FOR US!
Browse our complete list of free professional books available for review.
►NEXT TIME
We share some secrets of great math instruction. And offer convincing (and colorful) evidence that graphic novels deserve a place in today's English Language Arts curriculum.