Dr. Frank Tiano - Discusses Promoting STEM In The Classroom

A recent focus in the education community is on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, more commonly known as STEM. This is because there is a huge demand in jobs that require these knowledge bases right now. But how can teachers promote STEM learning in the classroom without entirely overhauling their curriculum?

• Use Interactive STEM Activities
• Host A STEM Career Day
• Observing Resources Already In The Classroom

Use Interactive STEM Activities

It’s an old myth that children can’t have fun and learn at the same time. By nature of the hands on work associated with STEM careers, there are literally thousands of different activities that teachers can do with their students to show them a real world application of what they are learning in class. The more interested the class is in an activity, the more likely that it will stick in their minds and translate to a better prepared student for the future.

Host A STEM Career Day

This idea takes a great deal of planning but the payoff can be incredible. Teachers can reach out to the parents or guardians of students and seek those who have jobs in a STEM field to volunteer to speak about or demonstrate what they do for the classroom in a career day type of environment. This gives the students real role models to look up to and to strive to be like in the future. Almost as important, this will help the students discover things that they don’t think they would like doing as well. This will especially come in handy as they grow older and it comes time for them to select their first career or their college major.

Observing Resources Already In The Classroom

Many teachers quickly become overwhelmed because they see this slightly changed curriculum and quickly think about all of the additional supplies that the classroom will need and begin to worry about how this cost will be covered. Instead of seeking to add more to the classroom, think of out of the box ways to use what’s already in the classroom to your advantage. Also, there are thousands of free online resources that can be utilized in conjunction with the topic of the day to reinforce the learning material.