STEAM Education

Good morning,

One of the best parts of this project is that it has given me the opportunity to use my old Blogger account to share some of my thoughts about STEAM education.

Before I became a teacher, I was a journalist, so it was natural for me to use Blogger to share the events of the day with the parents of my students.

Before I left school for the evening, I would write a few paragraphs about the important and exciting things the students learned that day and what they needed to do to prepare for the next day.

Using Feedburner, it was set up that the posts would be emailed to all subscribers at 5:00pm. The parents loved this communication, as they had a very good understanding of what we were doing in the classroom each day and it helped them to start conversations at the dinner table with their children.

No longer did parents ask, "What did you do today?" with a student response of "Nothing." With the information I provided each night, parents were able to ask specific questions about the student's learning each day and engage in rich conversation. It was a lot of work for, but it was definitely worth it.

STEAM activities can also seem like a lot of work for teachers. As mentioned in my presentation, teachers can often feel insecure and overwhelmed by the focus on STEAM education and require training to increase their confidence in their ability to create and assess meaningful Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics activities. It is hard work to create innovative and exciting tasks for the students, but the payoff is immense.

When students have the opportunity to collaborate with each other to complete STEAM activities, true deep learning takes place. The students are not just memorizing facts, they are creating products and solving problems, developing critical thinking skills that will help them in their future careers. It is vital that we help students develop these skills through solving Math problems, coding activities and science workshops because many of our students will be working in fields that do not currently exist. We can't prepare students with the specific skills needed for these future occupations, so it is important that we help them develop a diverse skill set that will serve them well in many fields. 

As a parent, I am thrilled when my daughter's teachers engage the students in a variety of STEAM challenges because I know how much she enjoys them and is motivated by these tasks. Simply put, incorporating STEAM activities is a best practice for teachers because they result in more engaged students who are excited about their learning journey.

Thanks for your time.

Craig Skinner

News to Share

Hello,

I wanted to share some wonderful news. Our baby came five weeks early and was born at the end of April.

Nora Rose Skinner is small, but strong. She was under observation for six hours, and we were in the hospital for a few days, but thanks to the amazing nurses and doctors at the Civic, she has been at home with us for a week.

She is happy and healthy and my wife, my daughter Stella, and I are delighted. We are thrilled to now be a family of four!

I will definitely stop by for a visit, but Nora needs a little more time to build up her strength and energy. I am planning to come to the class in June, but I will need to settle on a date with Mrs. Campbell first.

Time for me to go change a dirty diaper. Have a great day!

Mr. Skinner

A Wonderful Send off

Hello,

I wanted to send a quick note to thank everyone for the fantastic send off yesterday afternoon. The students enjoyed playing their board games, and I think they enjoyed eating the many treats even more. Thank you to all the parents and students for providing such a wonderful assortment of goodies.

I had a very exciting first day as a Vice Principal at St. Stephen. The students and staff members were all very welcoming, I had some fun working with the Kindergarten students in the morning and it is pretty cool to have my own office.

But I definitely missed my Grade 3 class. I know they will have an amazing year with Mr. S! I look forward to having them wow me with the knowledge they have gained, when I visit them later in the year.

All the best!

Mr. Skinner

Google Doc for the Party

Hello,

We were working right until the end of the day, filming our commercials, so we didn't have time to decide who was bringing what for the party on Monday.

Everyone is encouraged to bring board games to play. You do not have to bring treats, but if you want to bring nut free items, please add your name and your item to the Google Doc listed below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o9gI-x1OoVbnzRB4PcrncG4mHhehobA13ZspyQ8kEFU/edit?usp=sharing

By clicking on the link, you will be able to view the doc. If you want to add an item, your child will need to sign into their account.

Thanks.

Have a great weekend.

Mr. Skinner

Planning a Party!

Hello,

I am currently typing this blog post during lunch recess, in my classroom. A total of eight students asked me if they could stay in to do some self-directed learning activities. Three students are exploring online Math programs, three students are making presentations on Google Slides and two students are using the knowledge they have gained in Science to build block structures. It is so great to see the students so interested in exploring various learning opportunities and I will definitely miss these times with the students.

We had a wonderful morning, playing handball in the gym, completing our reading group conferences and starting to write a final narrative about a treasure map in Language. We also finished our work on congruent shapes in Math, I also collected the completed forms for "Swim to Survive" and the concussion protocol. If everyone could send in these forms, as soon as possible, it would be much appreciated.

This afternoon, we will finish our work on our healthy eating commercials and plan our party for Monday afternoon. The students are welcome to bring in nut-free treats to share, as well as board games for collaborative play. It should be a lot of fun!

Some students have mentioned they are planning on bringing in gifts for me on Monday. It is a very kind gesture, but there is no need to send in any gifts for me. The real gift is getting to do a job that I love and making a positive impact on the students.

Thanks so much for all of your support throughout this year and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mr. Skinner

Sidney, the Grade 3 Mouse

Hello,

This week, I have been reading "Sidney, the Grade 3 Mouse" to the students and they have really enjoyed the story. I am very pleased with the insightful responses they have given to the questions I have asked and the meaningful personal connections they have made to the story. They wanted me to finish the story today, but I wanted to leave them in suspense and read the thrilling conclusion tomorrow.

Not only am I looking forward to reading the rest of the story, but I am also eagerly anticipating our group discussions on this week's assigned narrative readings. All students should make sure they have read their text, so they can share their thinking and examples with their reading groups tomorrow.

We have concluded the initial performances of our healthy eating commercials and the audience member and I have given constructive feedback to the groups. Now, they are making changes to their scripts and getting ready to record their performances on iMovie.

In Math, we have been exploring right angles, equilateral shapes, quadrilaterals and congruent shapes. Our big point of discussion today was, "Why can all squares be classified as rectangles, but not all rectangles can be classified as squares." It was a wonderful discussion that led to greater understanding. If the angles activity sheet has not yet been completed, it should be brought home to be finished for homework.

Finally, in Science, we talked about how the concepts of our two units - structures and forces - connect together in the real world and discussed the jobs that require people to know about these concepts and how the skills and knowledge they have gained could be put to good use.

Two information forms are coming home today as well. One from the school about the concussion protocol program and one from me about the upcoming "Swim to Survive" sessions, which will start next Friday, for our class. Please sign and return these forms. Thanks so much.

Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner

Wednesday is PJ Day!

Hello,

This morning, we practised our healthy eating commercials and examined right angles in Math. The students should complete the introduction to angles activity sheet for homework and continue to read this week's selected narrative for our group discussions later this week.

A reminder that tomorrow is PJ day. Students are welcome to bring stuffies and $1.00 to buy bookmarks as well.

Click on the link below for more information:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pHPBStdArIJLkMdUm1M0Q8vsgP7mh6SXstzHjZfBJ2A/edit?usp=sharing

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner