The versatility of maker education means students get more opportunities to choose how they learn best. For neurodivergent kids, underrepresented students, and others, MakerEd projects can improve engagement, agency, and retention. Makerspace director, Nicholas Provenzano, known as “The Nerdy Teacher,” shares benefits of those projects in this Teacher Talk post.
The skills kids acquire through hands-on STEM activities can help prepare them to show resilience or emotional intelligence when they face adversity as well as helping them learn to navigate modern-day challenges. Dr. Pam Davis founded pop-up makerspace company, Wellbotics, and learned this early on. Here, she talks SEL, social justice, embodied learning, and more.
Through project-based learning, children get to see concepts in action and build up a bigger variety of vital SEL skills like teamwork and responsibility. Science teacher Jeremy Jorgensen knows all about these benefits. For this new Teacher Talk feature, we discussed how he incorporates PBL activities in the classroom and the skills kids develop from hands-on experiences.
In afterschool programs, educators enjoy more freedom to introduce ideas they might not have time to work into a regular lesson plan. For our newest Teacher Talk, I chatted with Mallory Davis, a curriculum director who works with afterschool programs. We had a wonderful conversation about how to integrate STEAM and SEL and the benefits of afterschool STEM education.
We’re kicking off our new Teacher Talk blog series by sharing this interview with Lisa Blais, a fifth grade science and math teacher in the Boston Public School system. Lisa has plenty of awesome insights on the accessibility of STEAM education, how she enhances activities she uses in her classroom, and how learning in the science subjects can help kids build crucial skills.
