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.

Photos below are from a recent interactive STEM keynote workshop I conducted for parents of middle school girls attending the Expanding Your Horizons Conference held on February 26th, 2011 at University of North Florida. Parents were actively engaged in exploring STEM concepts through hands-on-minds-on investigations. Key concepts covered during the one hour interactive keynote workshop were: analyzing structure and function in organic and inorganic objects, patterns in nature, biomimicry, applying models in nature to STEM fields. The parents had a great time exploring STEM concepts, a great group of participants. Thanks University of North Florida for inviting me to present during the Expanding Your Horizons Conference.