In today’s world, we need to bring STEM into our curriculum and our classrooms. Regardless of whether we are in the physical classroom or virtual space, there are many options available. The benefits of embedding STEM activities into the content that we teach is that we help our students to develop the essential skills needed now and in the future, regardless of their next steps after high school. According to the World Economic Forum, the job outlook for 2022 focuses on skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and emotional intelligence. There will be an increasing need for STEM skills, as it has been reported that the United States will need to fill 3.5 million STEM jobs by 2025.

As many schools may have to transition throughout the year, We need to have some options available that will work well during these times. Bringing in new ideas and innovating is something that will help to keep students engaged during what might continue to be a challenging year.

In implementing a STEM curriculum, many options require specific equipment or access to certain websites, but there are a lot that are available free to educators and students that can be used regardless of where learning is happening. Just taking a strategy like genius hour provided my eighth-grade students with an opportunity to explore a topic of interest and engage in designing something. The benefits are that the topics covered and ideas shared in class will go far beyond simply just the curriculum. It will also help students to collaborate more and build their knowledge in more meaningful ways because they are learning from and with their peers.

Helping students to understand concepts like coding or computational thinking, artificial intelligence, or augmented and virtual reality, are STEM/STEAM-related topics. As a language teacher, I never thought that I could bring these topics into my classroom until I began teaching my eighth-grade emerging technology course and connected it with the language arts. Once I did that, I realized that I needed to create more opportunities that will help students to be prepared for whatever their next steps may be. To do so, I must be willing to try new ideas, to innovate, to take risks, and be open to learning from the students and letting them lead more.

Here are seven resources that I plan to bring into my STEAM course and Spanish classes this year.

1. Ashtrix.Provide students with the opportunity to learn about robotics, coding, artificial intelligence, and more. Available to more than 4,000 students in over 20 countries. The resources are available to students in elementary through high school and even for college-level students. Through Astrix, students can explore these different topics and engage in more interactive and hands-on learning. Astrix offers an Android app developer program for younger students.

2. Code Wizards HQ. Online coding classes available for students ages 8 through 18. With Code Wizards, students can enroll in three week accelerated courses or a twelve-week regular schedule coding class. There are three different grade bands with multiple levels within each that end in a Capstone project for students. Code Wizards also offers an AP Computer Science preparatory course and a high school internship program.

3. Cubit. Provides hands-on learning opportunities for students regardless of grade level or content area. Cubit is focused on project-based learning and provides teachers with resources including sample projects and curriculum to get started with STEAM concepts in the classroom. It offers a drag and drop programming system that makes it easy for anyone to get started right away.

4. Daily STEM. A platform created by Chris Woods where educators and families can find many ideas for exploring STEM activities. One of the features is a “STEM everyday” post where educators share their ideas for STEM activities, a quick way to find ideas in this new school year. Daily STEM also has a podcast that features how educators are bringing STEM into their classrooms.

5. Microsoft. There are several resources available for free for educators to choose to bring the STEM curriculum into the classroom. The options include Minecraft education, Make Code, and Hacking STEM. Educators can find guest speakers, engage in free training online through courses offered, and explore Microsoft partners such as Micro:bit, Kano, and NASA for additional STEM resources.

6. Spinndle. Educators can explore the resources available for implementing project-based learning (PBL), design thinking, social-emotional learning (SEL), and STEAM-related activities into the classroom. Spinndle provides free downloads for student-led learning experiences related to passion projects, STEAM activities, and inquiry-based learning. Choose any of the topics available and have an outline, activities, and materials to get started.

7. Tinkercad. A free online web-based resource for use by educators, students, or anyone looking to get started with some coding, 3D design, and more. Tinkercad is a great option for beginners or anyone looking to build their design skills using 3D objects, even circuits, and additional choices. It is also good for promoting collaboration between students when educators create their classroom space for students to join. There are eight different categories of lesson plans available for areas such as art, design, engineering, language arts, and technology. Lessons come with rubrics, overviews, standards, and a list of materials needed for completion.

As we start the new school year and try to embrace the challenges that may come with it, I think it is important to take some risks with trying new ideas and bringing new learning experiences in for our students and ourselves. When we give students opportunities to engage in more student-driven, independent, hands-on learning, it attaches more meaning and authenticity to the work that they’re doing. It sparks curiosity for their own personal interests and of course, their specific needs can be better met. It also gives students a chance to engage in something different and helps them to build the types of skills that they will need moving forward.

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Digital tools, especially in remote learning environments, have enabled teachers to provide more authentic and timely feedback to students and engage them more in learning. Texthelp offers a variety of tools for helping students to improve their reading writing and math skills. Texthelp recently announced their global launch of WriQ, a cloud-based writing assessment and achievement tool. WriQ can be used across grade levels, from fourth grade and in graduate programs, and across the core subjects.

I spoke with Martin McKay, Co-Founder, and CEO of Texthelp, about the launch of WriQ and its benefits for students and educators. WriQ, which started in beta in 2019, is a free extension for Google Documents or a Microsoft Word add-in. It can also be upgraded to Premium for the district and school administrators, who can see overall student progress that can be used to support instructional decision-making for a district or school’s entire curriculum or compare their schools and districts against national norms.

McKay wanted to prove that these learning tools worked. McKay said that WriQ was created because of teachers’ need for tools to help students build their literacy skills. Through learning analytics, teachers can see how much time students spend reading and better understand student maturity in reading, which helps to optimize learning.

The Texthelp team spent two and a half years working on WriQ by collecting data from over 85,000 teacher-graded documents, which then made it possible to create standardized norms for each grade in areas including accuracy (and text maturity for example. With WriQ, teachers can see how students are performing in comparison with peers across the United States.

Benefits of these tools

Teachers need to be able to assess students and provide authentic and meaningful feedback while also tracking student growth over time. With WriQ,  the data is easily accessible to teachers, and with the way the platform is designed, it also leads to increased student engagement in learning. When it comes to reading, teachers are looking at the students’ words correct per minute (WCPM) score. The score involves assessing correct pronunciation, whether there were missed or repeated words, additional words inserted, or words were mixed up. The work can be quite cumbersome for teachers looking to provide feedback to students as they are reviewing student work to come up with the WCPM score.

Now through the automated process in WriQ, it measures all of this and more. It will provide word count, vocabulary age, the time on task, accuracy, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and teachers can give feedback to the students directly in the document.  Focus is on correct word order and spelling accuracy, text diversity, text maturity,  grammar, and punctuation.

How does it work

With access to their own Dashboard and WriQMeter, students are able to track their writing burst measures, along with other key analytics, in real-time to help them understand their own writing progress. Teachers are able to assess students and track their growth in writing skills in a less time-consuming way. McKay said that it also removes subjectivity and decreases the amount of time spent by teachers who are grading papers by hand through the use of rubrics. WriQ promotes consistency in assessments and can be used to measure multiple areas of writing skills. Teachers can look at accuracy, maturity, pace, and productivity. As students write, their progress is monitored and then a single WriQ score is provided. When teachers have the WriQ score, they then look at the chart to see how students compare to the national standard. The WriQ score helps educators to have a better understanding of each student’s progress as well as tracking class progress as a whole. Knowing how each student (or school, district, or even state) is performing with regards to writing is difficult. The WriQ score helps teachers to better understand student progress, at the student and class level. With this data, educators can give more meaningful, personalized feedback, with greater clarity that will help to improve student achievement as well as build their confidence in writing.

Motivating students

In order to promote engagement and the improvement of writing skills, WriQ gives “nudges” to students as they write. These positive nudge notifications and achievement badges appear when students write more and they see the real-time feedback in their own dashboard, the WriQmeter. The WriQmeter allows students to view the cumulative work they have done, their total words typed, and more. As they work, students receive badges for typing more words, increasing the length of their writing bursts, and for writing more academic words. McKay said that students benefit from this somewhat gamified writing experience and that the “nudges” are a way to reward and encourage positive behavior. He said, “we need more than measurements to get the kids to think about writing in a way that is fun.” Students can set goals to improve their writing and also work toward achievement badges, which adds fun to the writing process

It comes down to the process of how we write. When writing, we go through a period of thinking, composing, and then transcribing, pausing in our thoughts, and then repeating the process. We have “bursts of writing.” McKay said research shows that the length of these bursts is indicative of the writing skills. A longer burst of writing leads to being a better writer. With these digital tools, we empower students to develop their writing at their own pace and be more independent in tracking their progress on a daily basis as well as long term.

Benefits for teachers

For teachers, WriQ helps with evaluating student writing across a number of criteria with the goal of helping students to increase proficiency. It enables teachers to focus more on instructional planning, providing personalized instruction, support, and encouragement to students, rather than extra time on grading. It helps with providing actionable and comparative feedback to students right when they need it. Teachers can see students’ writing history and bursts of writing. The burst length can provide teachers with a more beneficial and informative way to measure writing fluency. By having access to the data for burst lengths, teachers are able to see which students may need additional support and those that are mastering the writing process. It helps teachers save time in assessments and they see each student’s progress and track scores over time. The data can be imported from Google classroom.

McKay said that WriQ keeps students motivated, engaged, and achieving in writing. It puts them in charge of their own learning and helps students to think in a meta way about writing, which leads to a habit of writing. He cited research that shows that if we do something for 19 days, it becomes a habit. The goal of WriQ is to help students become more active and interested in writing and sharing their ideas through the encouragement provided within the platform as they write.

Guest post  by laura steinbrink,

Simple. Powerful. Effective.

I’M THE MAN ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN

Teaching during a pandemic presents a lot of problems for educators to face and solve daily, and clearly I haven’t solved the problem of posting regularly since the 2020-21 school year began. However, as we ended the week before the holiday break, I realized that there was something I could share that would benefit teachers both online and those teaching face to face. Something that wouldn’t be overwhelming because we already have it in our toolboxes, although it occasionally falls behind other tools and is temporarily forgotten. The tool is a reversal of our everyday role at school. It’s the teacher becomes the student and the student becomes the teacher tool, or the “Padawan / Master swap” for those like me who are Star Wars fans.

I’M THE DAY, I’M THE DAY

One of my students graduated early this year, and his future plans are to go to college to become a music teacher. As my weeks with him dwindled, he suddenly became convinced that I needed to learn the 2020 slang spoken by the students, and he would teach me. While still working on his content for me, he taught me a few words a day. The fact that I took notes amused him and also convinced him that I took it seriously. He then provided opportunities for me to practice the new words in context. As an educator who teaches English and also lower level Spanish classes, I fully supported his method.

I CAN SHOW YOU THE WAY

We had a lot of fun doing this, and it also helped build that relationship that is very important in the classroom. Not only was I building it with the senior who was about to graduate, but as we practiced the slang on other students, it built or strengthened connections there. A funny thing also began to happen. Other students wanted to teach me slang words. I dutifully wrote them down, had the student spell them for me and define each term. My senior then approved, or not, each new word by the other students.

AND LOOK I’M RIGHT BESIDE YOU

My son, a freshman, soon became aware of my slang lessons, and he is alternately embarrassed and amused when I use any slang words. When my daughter finally journeyed home from college to spend Christmas with us, my son made her aware of my slang lessons. I shared some of the terms I was learning, and she was very skeptical that any of these were used outside of our small community. You too might be thinking that learning slang is not a worthy endeavor or applicable outside your community, but you, like my daughter, have missed the mark. Allowing a student to share a passion with you is a great way to build a relationship, but learning that passion yourself with the student as the teacher holds even more power.

I’M THE NIGHT, I’M THE NIGHT

Show students that you care and are truly interested in them by having them, your students become the teacher. Your teacher. Invest your time into learning what they want to teach you. Learn from as many students as possible, and practice so that you truly learn from them. The power of this is simple. It does not take much time. Consider how you can use this tool as the 2021 school year begins. Building the relationship you have with your students is the tool that provides a solid foundation for student learning, autonomy, voice, and also the desire and inspiration to learn. Such a simple tool, yes, but one that we can all wield.

WITH EYES THAT SEE INSIDE YOU

Now, for fun, here are the slang words my students have taught me so far. Keep in mind that the meanings may not exactly correspond with the Urban Dictionary or how your students may be using them. This is merely how my students, here in rural Missouri, are using them. Also, my Master (student) said that many of these can be combined, so mix and match to your hearts content.

• cap–false, lies, fake
• no cap–truth, for real
• minty–perfect, awesome (like mint condition)
• drip–cool stuff like your outfit, swag, etc.
• sweaty–(from video gaming) over the top, too much, working too hard; a person who is way into something with intensity. Whatever the person is doing they are in the thick of it, pedal to the metal.
• That’s a flex–bragging openly, not subtle
• That’s highkey a flex–straight up and outright a brag
• That’s lowkey not a flex–when one thinks they are flexing, but totally aren’t.
• Weird flex but okay–a brag about something unusual, like a dog with 7 toes.
• G.O.A.T./G.O.A.T.ed–Greatest of All Time (the best)
• cash nasty–a good deed, someone did something nice for you
• uncash nasty–Opposite of cash nasty. Someone did something not nice to or for you.
• on jah–similar to cap, meaning truth, but stronger, like swearing it’s true.
• hate to see it–used when a negative happens, or used sarcastically when a positive happens
• love to see it–used when a positive happens, or used sarcastically when a negative happens.
• aight bet–okay
• aight g–in response to see you later, meaning okay, homie (friend, bestie)
• g–homie, friend, bestie (use with those closest to you)
• yeet–excited exclamation
• cuh–dude or cuz (cousin)
• Icy–super good or super cool
• Fire fit–awesome drip or super good drip
• spill the tea–Tell me the scoop or gossip
• Go off–Kind of like “you be you” or knock yourself out, with a slightly negative connotation like you’re talking nonsense. Basically, “what you’re saying is wrong or crazy, but if you want to keep going I guess I won’t stop you.”
• check the fit–look at my (the) outfit
• slaps–super good (That pizza slaps!)
• hit different–super good (That pizza hit different!)

HEADINGS ARE PARTIAL LYRICS FROM RAINBOW’S MAN ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

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Guest post by Debbie Tannenbaum

On Episode 52 of EduDuctTape, Jake Miller discussed how when we look at all the technology tools available to us, it can be overwhelming. It’s like walking into a hardware store. With so many options, it can be hard to find what you are looking for. Sometimes, you need to narrow that search, in order to find what best fits your needs.

He discussed certain tech tools being on our toolbelt- we use them all the time. There are other tools we use less often, but take them out as needed- those tools would be in your toolbox. There are still lots of great tools out there that we might not use, but that’s okay.

So with that thought in mind, I thought I’d share my toolbelt and toolbox tech tools in this post.

My Technology Toolbelt

My technology toolbelt has changed quite a bit over the years. In the past two years, I have really worked to refine it. To make “my toolbelt,” a tool needs to be very versatile and provide students with opportunities to learn and process information anywhere and anytime.

1. Flipgrid: It is no secret that I am a huge Flipgrid fan! I love how Flipgrid’s video based discussion board allows students to share their thinking anywhere and anytime. Flipgrid is not only versatile, but gives students opportunities for student to student interactions something that all of our students need in our current educational settings. In my 4/23/2019 post, I share my Flipgrid journey- check that out.

2. Google Slides: I believe that Google Slides is one of the most versatile programs out there. Not only can you use it to present, but there are so many more uses. One of my favorite ways to use Google Slides is for collaborative slide decks. I love how this use allows students to see each other’s thinking and comment on it. Another great use is the linking feature. My students have used this feature to make an app like experience (Thanks Micah Shippee for the suggestion) and Choose Their Own Adventure books. Google Slides also offers a great way to share video ad free and edit as needed. These are some of my favorite ways, but there are so many more.

3. Pear Deck: Pear Deck takes the power of Google Slides to a new level. I love how these interactive questions give every student a voice. This has been extremely vital in our current educational setting. In last week’s post, I shared the amazing ways my staff has been using this awesome tool.

4. Wixie: Wixie, like Google Slides, is a fantastic kid-friendly creation tool for students in elementary school. Its easy interface combined with royalty free images, photographs and sounds make it a great way for students to share their learning. Like Google Slides, it also allows collaboration and now you can even add video into your projects. In my 3/19/2019 post, I share all the great things Wixie can do!

5. Padlet: I have a love/hate relationship with Padlet. I love all the amazing things that Padlet can do, but wish that it wasn’t freemium. Luckily, this year, my school has a Padlet Backpack subscription. Like many of these tools, I love how it helps students to interact with each other and see each other’s thinking. Padlet allows many ways for students to respond video, audio, text, and drawings and gives students choice and voice as they respond. The variety of formats make this tool one that you can use so many different ways.

My Technology Toolbox

The technology tools in my toolbox are also valuable. I love using them but find that they are more specialized and pull them out of the toolbox as needed.

1. Smithsonian Learning Lab: The Smithsonian Learning Lab brings the magic of any Smithsonian museum to your device’s screen. I love using this tool with students and it works particularly well with the Thinking Routine, See, Think, Wonder. I shared all about one of my awesome experiences using this tool in my 11/2/2019 post.

2. Pear Deck’s Flashcard Factory: Pear Deck’s Flashcard Factory is amazing tool that many people do not know about. It allows students to create collaborative flashcards. This program like the others works in any environment. This fall, my students completed this in breakout rooms and loved it! You can use this for any subject area, even math. I shared all the amazing ways Flashcard Factory can benefit your students in my 12/15/2019 post.

3. Adobe Spark: Since Adobe Spark was not approved for student use under age 13 in my district until last year, it is a relatively new tool for me. I love the ease in which students can use the components of this tool: Post, Video, and Page. If you click it, you can change it. Last year, my third graders used Post to make collagasauruses- I described this in my 3/8/2020 post. My fifth graders used it to make illustrated picture books about light and my sixth graders made awesome trailers for their American Revolution Museum exhibits.

4. EdPuzzle: Students are visual learners and look to video based platforms such as YouTube for everything. EdPuzzle capitalizes on that and makes any video interactive. This is an amazing tool for flipped learning and a huge library of premade videos are available. Plus, you can edit and make your own video interactive. In my 3/4/2019 post, I share all about EdPuzzle.

5. Google Forms: Google Forms is a great way to check in with students. It allows you to gather formative data and easily converts into a Google sheet. You can add videos, pictures and even your voice inside a form. Plus, using the branching features inside of Google forms, you can create responsive assessments. In my 3/13/2019 post, I share all about Google Forms.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks  

I was interviewed by a good friend on Sunday who recently started up a new podcast (@Brad_Hughes). Our discussion took an organic path as we conversed quite easily about students, our educational experiences, and the back story from the book that I authored and illustrated, Liv’s Seashells. (@codebreakeredu)

The casual banter took a bit of a serious tone when I was asked to describe my journey through the sorrow and grief of losing my father + sister to what has brought me CONTENTMENT and JOY. This morning I listened to the recording of our podcast and had to stop for a moment to collect my emotions.

Honestly, it’s oddly humorous to be asked questions and then give unrehearsed answers having no powers of recall to remember what was said. As I listened to the show, I could hear my ability to hold complicated emotions together as I spoke.

I reflected heavily on the words that were expressed through our dialogue.

GRIEF + JOY.

Grief sucks.

I would never wish it on anyone. It’s ugly. It’s dark. It’s a myth that it makes anyone feel better to say, “Oh, but they are in a better place.”

I would think…”Really? For them, yes, but not ME. I’m still HERE. Hurting, aching, full of regrets and unfinished conversations, wishing I could just have a few more days, months, or years with them.”

Not a day goes by that I don’t replay their final breaths on earth in my mind. I remember every milestone. The birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays that are void without them. There is an intense presence of loss when you know they should still be there experiencing all of the celebrations + family gatherings.

Which leads to…

Grief Myth #225: You will move on and get over it.

NOPE. You won’t move on, forget, find closure, or get over such a loss. It’s not like that at all, and to anticipate that as a normal behavior is detrimental to the grieving journey. While there is no one-size-fits-all blueprint for the process, each person finds their way to restoration.

Grief does not keep us from living a healthy emotional life and loving others. We are created with an amazing capacity to manage our thoughts, feelings, and inner self. Our expressions are unique and tailored differently with purpose.

Sorrow is natural. We live in a world that sees heartache and suffering on a DAILY basis. We have permission to grieve. ANY type of loss. We should allow it to be conveyed in an unadulterated and explicit manner however we feel comfortable doing so.

There is NO shame in grief. We learn to carry it with us and to integrate loss into our lives. Share, listen, cry, shout, find an outlet for release – whatever it takes.

Our tears are an autograph of our love and pain. BUT. They do not exclude JOY.

There is a time when the angst and pain slowly evolve into contentment, peace, and joy.

I cannot remember the exact moment when that happened, but I know that it felt like I had come out on the other side of the mourning into a beautiful realization that the loss was lighter and I could take deliberate steps toward healing.

With JOY.

Perhaps the greatest conductor of this healing was that I was able to write my emotions into a blog and then my book. This book became the connection between the purpose and the pain.

It was clear. We grieve because we loved. Deeply.

We remember because we STILL love. Even as we move into the understanding of the void, we recall the treasured memories, the laughs, the challenges, and the brokenness.

Our souls have an amazing capacity to hold everything we need. There IS room in our hearts to carry forward heartache and JOY together. We can embrace the peaceable satisfaction and contentment. It’s well-earned.

And one glorious day we find that the JOY is stronger than the grief.

With CONTENTMENT.

Listen to our podcast episode here: https://anchor.fm/brad-hughes/episodes/Episode-1–Featuring-Jillian-DuBois-eoifle/a-a498a30

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks