Teacher Training By Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski

Had a great second session of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) consulting at Beaches Episcopal School. I will be their STEM Specialist for the 2013-2014 school-year. The first of four STEM professional staff development training sessions took place on June 4th. During the day-long training teachers were introduced to STEM philosophy and investigations, as well as reflective journaling in the STEM classroom. It’s great when a school or district provides professional staff development early in the summer, as opposed to waiting until August. By August most teachers have already planned out their entire school year. Professional staff development during the early part of the summer, and throughout the year provides a strong foundation for implementation of new curricula, teaching pedagogy etc. I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge and expertise of STEM with the staff, administrators, and parents of Beaches Episcopal School throughout the upcoming school year. Check out the STEM investigations teachers conducted during the training.

Great new ebook out on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) by Ainissa Ramirez, a well-known science evangelist, and material scientist. Ramirez provides sound support for the need to introduce students to STEM learning experiences. We are all born curious, we are all natural scientists. But what happens to that curiosity when we enter the traditional science classrooms? The curiosity is lost, and boredom sets in. Ramirez believes that STEM education provides the answer to inspiring a new generation of scientists. Check out the article by Anna Kuchment in Scientific American with excerpts from Save Our Science: How to Inspire a New Generation of Scientists by Ramirez.