STEM Classroom

This video gives an overview of the STEM Classroom.  This is information I give to parents during a tour, or what I tell people when they ask about what we do at our school.
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If you ARE NOT teaching in the STEM or the English classroom watch this video, then you may choose to move to the next topic.  If you ARE teaching in the STEM or the English Classroom watch this video, then continue scrolling down this page.
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Video Highlights:
  • We focus on math, science, and technology. 
  • Students learn through direct instruction, songs, games, and experiments.  We play and have fun, but it's play with a purpose.
  • We use worksheets as tools in small groups. They are never used for busy work.
  • We mirror what we are learning in the English and Spanish classroom.​

STEM and REnglish Teachers keep scrolling to continue learning!

YOUR GOALS: Children in your classroom should...
  • Have fun
  • Explore science and math concepts
  • Use technology in new and interesting ways
  • Learn to count and recognize numbers to 150; learn to identify, make, and rename patterns; learn general number sense including one-to-one correspondence, ten frames, and representing a number in different ways; learn basic shapes; to read color words; to read number words to twenty 
  • Learn traditional school routines such as: how to listen to a story aloud, how to walk in a line, raising their hand, waiting their turn to speak, completing an assignment fully, how to cut with scissors and use glue, how to participate in small and whole group activities.

Where do I find my lessons?

JOB PERK: Your lessons are done for you! You have nothing to take home. Go ahead and do a Happy Dance!
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Video Highlights:
  • Each day you will pull up the A+ Preschool website, log into the teacher section, click on "Lesson Plans" and follow that day's lessons.
  • *****YOU MUST TEACH WHAT I HAVE PROVIDED*****
  • Do you have ideas for activities or topics?  Tell Rachel! 
  • Is the lesson your are teaching going south in a hurry?  Change gears. You have freedom in your class to be the teacher.
  • Videos and worksheets are tools used for learning.  Children should NEVER spend their day stuck in front of a tv or told to sit down and complete a worksheet while you play on your phone the entire time they are in your classroom.  We have young children who need stimulation and interaction to learn.  They should rotate between movement, sitting, standing, and working with their hands.

What does my everyday look like?

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Video Highlights:​
  • 8:45-9:10: Your morning routine as the kids arrive
  • 9:10-11:50: Classes with the Giraffes, Penguins, and Bears
  • 11:50-12:15: Pick up routine: All the kids are grouped into one or two classrooms, one teacher brings the children to the parents, two teachers watch the kids. This is still learning time for the children.  ****Should be engaged to prevent behavior issues****
  • After the kids leave: Prepare for the next day, have your classroom "tour ready"

Spanish?

How do Children learn?
Children must do all four with a single topic in order to learn the information.
Reading, or for children who can't read yet, seeing pictures and videos
If I'm teaching about owls I will show pictures and video clips of owls.
Writing, or for children who can't form letters yet, tracing, touching, or moving pieces
The kids will color pictures and complete cut/glue labeling activities with owls. We will dissect owl pellets.
Listening...this includes singing, and dancing along with music, and story time
We will sing songs and I will read stories about owls.  I will give facts and introduce vocabulary words about owls.
Speaking...children should have the opportunity to repeat what they have learned
Each day I will ask kids to tell me or a friend what they have learned about owls. I will ask questions and wait for their answers.

How children move information from short term memory to long term memory

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Video Highlights
Three ways humans convert information to long term memory:
Emotional experience
Repetitive Experience
Assimilation:
​attaching the information to what you already know
Wait time
What is it? Wait time is allowing time, 30 seconds or so, for children to think of the answer.  It is NOT asking the question, then answering it yourself when you see they didn't answer fast enough.
When do we use it? Every day!  When you read a story and ask questions about the text, when you are discussing a topic and ask a question to the students...give them a moment to think of the answer. 
Is it awkward? Absolutely.  No one likes blank stares or awkward silence.  If you think no one is going to answer try asking the question in a different way.
Why is it important? Watch the first video!
Can I see an example? Watch the next video!

Teaching a foundation in math to preschoolers

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Video Highlights:​

Teaching science to preschoolers

Using Technology with Preschoolers

your assignment:

Workshop One:​​
  • Log onto our A+ Teachers Facebook group 
  • Post "I have completed Workshop One.  Here are five things I learned about teaching in the STEM Classroom..."
  • Write five things you have learned.  Elaborate.  Example: please do not simply write "wait time".  Instead, write what wait time is, how you would use it, how it benefits students, etc.  I need to see that you have absorbed the information.