1. The Buzz: World Languages Framework Out for Public Comment
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The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted on December 15 to send the draft revised Massachusetts World Languages Curriculum Framework (download) out for public comment. Although we are happy to receive your feedback on the draft via an online survey at any time on or before Monday, February 22, we recommend that you attend one of two virtual information sessions first. The first will be held from 4-5 p.m. on Thursday, January 7, and the second will be held from 10-11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 19. In addition to using the feedback survey link above, you may also provide feedback via email to Andy McDonie at d.andrew.mcdonie@mass.gov.
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2. Teacher Reflection: STEAM Education
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Tori Cameron, who was recently named the Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon Technologies Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year, runs the STEAM Lab in East Bridgewater at the Gordon W. Mitchell School, which serves grades 3-6. Here she talks about her passion for STEAM: science, technology, the arts, and mathematics, and provides some ideas for how to supplement the curriculum frameworks with STEAM activities. You can learn more about STEAM through her podcast.
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This year has definitely been one of the most challenging in my teaching career. At the start, I wondered how my classroom would function when it is primarily hands-on and group project-based learning. Students rotate through my lab as they would for art or physical education, but this year, students are learning through a range of models, from completely remote to four days a week in person.
By using materials that are washable and creating at-home learning STEAM boxes, I’ve been able to help students continue to STEAM up their learning, no matter where they are. Students learning at home received glue, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, elastic bands, paper, twine, and pompoms in addition to grade-specific items: Grade 3 got seeds and dirt for growing plants, grade 4 got copper tape and LED lights for learning about electricity, grade 5 got hand sewing materials, and grade 6 got Alka-Seltzer tabs for at-home lava lamps.
To me, STEAM is hope. Hope for students to learn passionately and hope for students to learn hands-on. Hope that STEAM will continue to push the envelope of positive change in education so that as my own children grow up, education will continue to get better and be more inclusive of different learners and different ways of learning.
As a STEAM teacher, I constantly aim to provide my students with opportunities to strengthen 21st century skills, be creative, and work together to problem solve. It’s so important to me for students to be able to “see themselves in STEM” so that they learn from and connect with others who can act as mentors and motivators. This year more than ever, students need time to tinker and create, to be able to fail and try again, and to be excited about learning. STEAM allows for all of those learning opportunities and more.
Have you thought about including STEAM/STEM in your classroom but are unsure of how? Try one of these ideas and fall in love with STEAM:
- STEAM and literacy love to pair up: Have students create a setting, a significant object, or their own interpretation of a theme.
- Social studies is perfect for hands on learning: Create a piece of technology from the past, travel via green screen to a famous place, or create a replica monument.
- To celebrate a time of year, build snowflakes out of marshmallows and toothpicks, design leprechaun traps, build a bird’s nest, or design a way to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
- If you’re on a low or budget or don’t have a budget: Use recycled materials and cardboard for creations. Build cardboard arcades, cardboard shields, soda bottle boats, newspaper towers… the possibilities are endless!
I love connecting with others about STEAM! Please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @steamuptheclsrm!
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3. New Resource: Equity & Instruction Blog
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The Center for Instructional Support has launched its first blog, called Equity & Instruction in Massachusetts, for teachers and school leaders. We hope to use this as a way to spark a conversation with educators about issues of equity in teaching and learning. This year’s focus is on educator evaluation: the ways it supports you to learn and grow as an educator and the ways it could be improved to be more meaningful, supportive, and culturally responsive for everyone.
We will use the blog to highlight best practices and new resources, share perspectives from teachers and school leaders, and solicit your feedback through surveys, polls, and comments. We are excited about this opportunity to elevate educators’ voices, especially those of Black and Indigenous educators and educators of color, as we progress towards more equitable systems supporting teaching and leading in our schools.
Click here to “Follow” us and join the conversation!
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