Teachers, Adam and Michael, call themselves Goose and Maverick. Their fighter jets are classroom drones, their mission is to engage students in their STEM program and their uniforms are some delightfully patterned short-sleeved shirts.
Collectively as the Head of Teaching + Learning (Adam Hooper) and STEM Coach (Michael Harris) at Edge Hill State School, they have introduced a highly successful STEM Program and helped to position their school as a leading educator.
Watch them discuss their approach to starting a STEM program, including free STEM resources out there for teachers (listed below) and their tips for embracing full curriculum implementation of STEM skills.
This is just the start of this list, we plan to collate many more helpful resources for teachers. We do this with the help of our wonderful extended community of teachers and industry experts. If you have used a resource that has helped you integrate STEM, we’d love you to email us at [email protected] and let us know.
Also, make sure you subscribe to our She Maps newsletter above, if you haven’t already. It’s packed full of resources, information, tips and tricks that will keep you inspired as an educator.
For now, take a look at these STEM resources that will help you teach STEM in your classroom:
Join our Education Director, Dr Karen Joyce as she teaches you the basics of working with drones in the classroom, and how to use them in the Digital Technologies curriculum. Fill in your email below and we will instantly send it to you!
This is from the Australian Department of Education and is a learning hub for teachers, covering things like assessment ideas, and scope and sequence. We found their videos on what’s expected at each level of the curriculum interesting to watch.
Website: https://www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/teachers/australian-curriculum/sequencing-the-curriculum
Australia’s STEM Hub helps connect education and industry by educating about STEM jobs and STEM skills. Start setting your students up for successful careers in STEM.
Website: https://www.stemhub.com.au/stemacademy/
As Adam says, full curriculum implementation is knowing what to do when you’ve learned the skill. It’s not enough just to teach students to fly drones or code, we have to teach them what to do with that data. CS Unplugged has some great activities under Data: Representing Information that you don’t need any hi-tech equipment for.
Website: https://classic.csunplugged.org/activities/
These courses cover an introduction to concepts and example activities that help teach Computer Science and Computational Thinking at both primary and secondary levels.
Website: https://csermooc.blog/
Communities are important when you’re learning new skills and experimenting with how to teach something. When you sign up for one of our STEM education programs, you will gain lifetime access to the She Maps Chat Facebook group where educators are welcome to ask questions, share tips, the moments when they are flying high with drones in the classroom, and, of course, the inevitable tumbles that come with trying something new.
Michael also recommends a discussion thread for teachers created by Education Queensland for teachers to share ideas and communicate about special and ongoing projects and job-related matters.
Website: https://discussions.eq.edu.au/listserv/subscribe.html
These resources will give you plenty of STEM program ideas and a start on how to create a STEM Program in your school. We totally agree with Adam’s comment that the kids will be supportive. We see this every time we run a program. Students want to try out new things. They might be unsure of themselves but once you give them the space to make mistakes and learn from them, they thrive in a STEM environment.
STEM has the ability to engage, fascinate and inspire curiosity in students about the world around them, creating lifelong learners. Starting up a STEM program means setting students up with the skills they need for the 21st Century.
If you have a STEM Program at your school, or you’re thinking about creating one, drop us a line and let us know how it’s going at [email protected]!
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