Like so many teachers, students, parents, and administrators, we’re uncertain about what this school year will bring, especially as school doors slowly start to reopen. Whether learning is going to be taking place in person, at home, or as part of a hybrid model, we know that we couldn’t let STEM learning opportunities fall by the wayside.
Like fellow members of the education world, we’ve realized there’s a bit more to educating the whole child than simply ensuring they have a strong foundational background in STEM. As the school year begins, STEM remains important, but we’re also committed to ensuring students have the chance to focus on social-emotional restoration.
We’re starting to learn more about the plans in the country’s largest school districts, which include remote learning, hybrid reopenings, and an attempt at full in-person education. But, there are still those educators who feel like it remains too unsafe to fully return to normal and probably plenty of others who aren’t completely comfortable with going back part-time either.
Despite so much uncertainty, there’s one thing we know for sure: We don’t want students to veer off course in terms of STEM and real-world skills development, so we’ve been working on creating custom STEAM kits that can be used to help educators teach key topics, allow students to work independently, and are conducive to different environments.
Reopening our school buildings will likely involve one of three action plans: in-person learning, hybrid learning, and remote learning. Once schools first physically closed doors in March, we did not think that things would still be in such a state of uncertainty come August, but the reality is that almost all school leaders are preparing for a back-to-school season unlike any other.
Finding some engaging and academically stimulating solutions for children regardless of where they are learning has become the top priority for some and that’s certainly something we can support. In this week’s Tips & Tricks blog, we are taking a look at two Tech Will Save Us kits that also work well for hybrid learning in the Electro Dough and Gamer kits.
As we continue to make new guesses as to what education could look like come fall, it’s looking more and more likely that hybrid learning will be a big part of it. Despite calls from some of our nation’s top leaders for children to return to school as coronavirus cases continue to build, it definitely doesn’t seem like a risk that everyone is willing to take at this point in time.
State officials and education leaders are starting to announce their plans for reopening schools in the fall. While we know that students and teachers returning to the physical classroom is ideal, there are plenty of opponents to this course of action who think it will be unsafe. There are so many things for school leaders to consider as plans remain in limbo.
We are uncertain about the long-term academic and social effects that this huge distance learning experiment will have on children and, of course, the emotional effects this has all had on countless K–12 educators. Even more so, in many states, they are simply uncertain about whether or not schools will be able to reopen in the fall and it’s not looking too good.
As you know, everybody is doing their part to pull together resources for remote learning and that includes the companies whose STEM tools we sell on our store. Whether it’s at-home project ideas, best practices webinars, or tips for cleaning, we want to keep the learning going as best we can!
