STEMchat with Texas Instruments

Last night, I joined a group of educators, parents, and people interested in STEM learning for a twitter Back-To-School #STEMchat. I was one of the panelists in this #STEMchat discussion that centered around how we can foster and promote STEM education at the middle school and high school level. There were seven different questions posed. Myself, the other panelists, and anyone else who wanted to join in offered our own answers to each of these questions. The questions and my own answers are at the bottom of this blog.

A summary of the chat can be found on TheMakerMom blog next week!

 

Prizes

Also, throughout the chat, Texas Instruments (TI) gave a few TI calculators away for free! As someone who was referred to as "You know, the girl with pink graphing calculator," throughout college, I think this is wonderful.  TI Calculators were part of my identity and I think everyone should have the opportunity to have one. Three of these were given away during the #STEMchat.

Selfie Contest...With Your Calculator!

Didn't catch the chat, but still want a sweet TI Calculator?  How about a CLASSROOM FULL OF THEM? Oh, and a videoconference with Mayim Bialik (girl from the Big Bang Theory) to boot! There are still a couple days left in the #TISelfieContest to win this! More details on that here, but basically the rules are:

  1. Snap a selfie with your favorite TI technology

  2. Post to your public Instagram or Twitter profile with the hashtag #TISelfieContest

  3. Write a caption filling in the following: "I make math/science ___with TI." - choose "math" or "science"

 

Questions

1.       It’s Back to School with STEM! What are your aspirations for the year? #STEMchat

- To improve my STEM storytelling abilities through public speaking. Communication is incredibly important in STEM #stemchat
- How will I do this? Practice telling STEM stories simply. If you can't explain it in plain words, you don't understand it well enough.

 

2.        “You can’t be what you can’t see.” How do you expose your kids to a diverse group of STEM pros? #STEMchat

- Go where your kids are at - Find STEM pros on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr etc eg. @thephysicsgirl @Ehmee @IFLScience #StemCHAT

 

3.       How do you see the components of STEM education integrating across math AND science classes for cohesive learning? #STEMchat

- Explaining the basics of a rocket launch includes elements from both chemistry and physics. A great way to combine both math/science #STEMchat

 

4.       How do you or your school ensure that all students have access to the technology they need to succeed? #STEMchat
- no answer here - but others had good ideas: find them later on TheMakerMom blog. 

 

5.       What resources boost STEM learning outside of class? (tutors, websites, homework helplines, etc.) #STEMchat

- If you're lucky enough to have a Maker Lab in your area - its a great way to get hands on STEM experience outside of class #STEMchat

 

6.       What are your favorite STEM clubs and competitions for middle or high school students? #STEMchat

-The FIRST Robotics competitions are a great way to expose middle & high school students to engineering http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc #STEMchat

-Competitions like a pumpkin drop or an egg drop encourages engineering innovation at MS and HS levels #STEMchat

 

7.       Project-based learning (PBL) is a great way to integrate STEM topics. What PBL opportunities do your kids have? #STEMchat

- no answer here - but others had good ideas: find them later on TheMakerMom blog. 

 

Emily CalandrelliComment