DO STEM Conference 2024

 I have been teaching in the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek School District for 31 years. For the previous eight years, I have filled the role of the STEM teacher for our kindergarten through fifth-grade students. I convinced my district to create a STEM program for our youngest learners, but I needed to develop the curriculum from scratch. I quickly realized that many of the "STEM"-labeled lessons found on the internet, such as on TPT,  were not truly STEM at all. Many were simply science experiments or teacher-directed activities. I believe that a true STEM challenge encourages students to think like engineers and solve a novel problem. STEM develops problem-solving skills and builds creativity. Students need to the Engineering Design Process with every STEM lesson in order to advance their ability to use it independently in both the academic environment as well as their personal lives. In this session, I will share many of my challenge lessons that you will be able to explore and implement in your classroom. We will discuss what makes a high-quality challenge as well as some of the tips and tricks that I have learned in my journey as a STEM educator.  

Resources Provided: Several lessons to use in their classroom and access to new lessons as I create them.