After a bit of a pause, we're back with the latest edition of our Eduporium Featured Educator interview! For the month of October, we heard from Matthew Strine, who's a STEM teacher in the Monessen (PA) School District. He teaches at the Monessen Middle/High School and has had the opportunity to impact students through STEM learning opportunities. Whether it's with hands-on experiences or challenging students to apply their creative and critical thinking skills, Matthew certainly understands the importance of creating relevant learning for all. He's also taken advantage of various educator resources, which have helped better position him to impact student success.
Matthew Strine
STEM Teacher, Monessen Middle/High School, Monessen, PA
Q&A:
Please share any innovative technology project(s) you've completed with your students or plan to complete soon.
As a STEM teacher, I am certainly out to create opportunities for innovative thinking for my students but I've realized that this isn’t necessarily a natural process for children. To teach them about perspective, I use a web tool called Teach Different. It provides students with simple quotes to paraphrase and then look at from an opposing lens. Eventually, they'll answer an essential question to help them truly take a side in the argument that's born from this process. It opens students up to new perspectives without teaching them what to think but, rather, how to think!
Additionally, another project I will be working on this year is Project Invent. As their mission states, Project Invent helps "empower students with the 21st century skills needed to succeed individually and impact globally, through invention." I'll have two groups of teams participating in the competition with help from local community partners. With all the connections I try to make to STEM, it's also great to give students the opportunity to make a positive difference in the school community at large!
What is a challenge you have faced or are facing with your technology use as a STEM educator?
What STEM resources have you used in your instruction or are in need of?
Time is always a challenge but Teach Different helps make the process so much simpler for educators to implement! It's definitely designed in a way that helps save educators, like myself, valuable time, which I always appreciate. Project Invent could potentially cost some money, but part of the class will be using our makerspace as a fundraising tool throughout the year! With that said, our eyes are always open for funding opportunities and academic or financial resources that could help.
What are some of the real-world or STEM skills you've seen your students develop through regular technology use?
How can students apply them in the future?
Like many educators in similar spots (I assume), I've seen my students start to really develop and draw on some of those key skills. We're talking about critical thinking skills, productivity skills, and creativity at the top of the list. We all know how important these are in 21st century career paths. So, it's really just about making a conscious effort to provide students with the types of learning opportunities that allow them to develop these skills. Even if it means introducing those opportunities in a subtle way, there's nothing wrong with that.
What interests you most about Eduporium's educator offerings?
I'm always excited to learn from others and explore the latest topics on their blog. They're always talking about something that's relevant to today's educators and today's STEM education landscape. I really try to be a lifelong learner as technology in education is always changing and it's very important, in the role that I have, to keep up with those changes. Especially as STEM education continues to evolve, it's great to be able to find up-to-date resources on topics that are relevant to me.
We thank Matthew for taking the time to share his story and accomplishments in STEM education. As always, we hope his words can inspire other educators with similar goals. We also hope these features continue to provide value for our education community and enlighten you about some of the amazing projects you could try given the resources you have. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more of the great things educators are doing with technology. If you'd like to apply for a chance at being an Eduporium Featured Educator, we’d love for you to fill out the application! Whether they're a STEM educator or not, we'd also encourage sharing the application with other teachers in your networks.