Teacher Training By Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski

Had the pleasure of conducting a STEM teacher training workshop for a middle school in Florida that has become a STEM school this year. It’s an exciting time for the teachers and students to become a part of the ever growing STEM movement. All teachers of the school will incorporate STEM concepts within their classrooms, whether they are a foreign language teacher, reading or social studies teacher. The entire staff at CASE will incorporate STEM, and they are excited to be involved with such an endeavor. During the STEM teacher training workshop I conducted teachers explored an array of STEM concepts from conducting experiments. We began the workshop with teachers exploring biomimicry concepts. Incorporating biomimicry investigations into the STEM classroom helps to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the student. Teachers also conducted experiments with nano-technology products as well as designing, constructing, and testing parachutes. In addition to the many hands-on-minds-on inquiry-based investigations teachers conducted to explore STEM concepts they were also introduced to literature that reinforces STEM concepts. The following photos are a sample representation of some of the hands-on-minds-on inquiry-based STEM investigations the teachers undertook during the STEM teacher training workshop.

Just back from presenting at the Midwest Conference on Differentiated Instruction in Chicago, hosted by Staff Development for Educators (SDE). I presented three different workshops during the conference. Exploring Physical Science Concepts for middle school teachers, Exploring The Big Ideas in Science to elementary teachers, and Developing Critical Thinking Skills via Exploring Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Concepts for middle through high school teachers. Teachers were actively engaged in hands-on-minds-on investigations throughout each of the workshops. The workshops were inquiry-based which provided the teachers with opportunities to discover, explore, and share their ideas with one another and the entire group. As always, I’m grateful to be sharing my enthusiasm and expertise with teachers nationwide. Looking forward to future visits to Chicago to conduct teacher training.