STEAM Projects and Integrated Curriculum

The ultimate goal for STEM and STEAM educators is integrated projects (units) where subject specialists work together to create common units focused on solving a problem. They could all work together, multiple classes and teachers, in an open space. Or, they can still work in their separate spaces, on their particular components, and they are all woven together in the “product”, presentation and reflection.

To achieve that in a meaningful way means that we need to start at the end. We need to decide what we want them to achieve (product, knowledge, presentation) and what various subject outcomes will be assessed first. The focus must always be on the learning if this educational approach is sustainable. Each subject has different colour post-it notes, one note per activity and outcome, and they can be plotted and re-plotted to work out the final unit and lesson sequence. Students also need to know why they are doing a particular project to give them purpose and goals.

Georgette Yackman identifies that the best projects are reality based. In other words linked to real situations, community needs, and useful beyond the classroom. This is why she recommends starting with the Social Sciences (Arts) rather in the sciences. Tapping into local issues, student concerns and interests, as well as broadening their world view through exploring other’s experiences and situations give teachers wide scope for open ended projects.

Many of the presenters at the ITEEA Conference stressed that STE(A)M support students prepare for a world where many of the jobs they will do are yet to exist, a world where they will need to be active in finding solutions to global issues.

Georgette identified eight core areas that make up “The Designed Worlds”: Medical & Biomedical, Agriculture and Biotechnology, Constructions, Manufacturing, Information and Communication, Transportation and, Power and Energy. If teachers can incorporate one or more of these into the project, then students are going to build the skills and knowledge needed for the workforce.

In particular, Entrepreneurship has been identified as a key skill and focus for the future. We need to develop our human capital as this is where future careers will evolve from. Within the Science fields, biochemistry, biomedical and biotechnology are the key for future jobs but are rarely taught and explored in schools.

Importantly, the skills this educational approach will develop are far more than the subject content and skills. The so-called “soft skills”, the 4 Cs, that are key to a successful project are even more valuable and transferable: critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and communication. These soft skills are the essential skills all students need, even though they are rarely included in state testing.

All projects should be created using the design process model. This becomes the constant structure between projects and assists in building the 4 Cs. The process works for all subjects, not just STEM and is something I will be playing more with when creating new units.

Schools could do one Grand Design Challenge a year (like the STEM Academy) that purposefully integrates multiple subjects with a big presentation at the end, particularly with a community element, as well as run mini challenges (one week or more) that integrate a number of subjects. Certainly, you couldn’t just jump into a full integrated curriculum!

There were lots of great projects shared over the 3 days of the conference. Here are some of them, and I have added to some of them to make stronger English connections:

• Entrepreneurship project based on Trip Advisor, Yelp etc- groups choose a restaurant with high reviews to focus on. They look at all aspects of the business – dietary, budgets, aesthetics, tables, promotion, jingles etc. Then they can have options: create a presentation on why it is so successful (hopefully including the owners), based on their research they can make recommendations re improving another business or they can use their investigation to design and present (maybe in Shark Tank style) a new successful restaurant.
• Production and Marketing project. Student groups can examine a chosen product for its manufacture, packaging and marketing. Can they improve the packaging and marketing? How would the product, its packaging and marketing need to change if we changed a variable: it is 100 years in the past (or future), you change the target audience, you can only use sustainable materials etc. ** Could amp up the English component beyond persuasive techniques and visual literacy etc by use their study of real products to create a product needed in the text being studied, could even produce a product representative of a key concept or value.
• Design and create a video game or app for the novel, film, poetry etc that they are studying. Will need to explore visual design, decide on format eg Scratch or Unity, learn code, think about story elements (plot, character, setting etc).
• Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes– are they possible in real life. Students could explore children’s stories, such as the Three Little Pigs, to see if what happens in the story is actually possible. Also can add history of both, key authors etc. Great addition to this for English would be to explore how fairy tales would need to change to suit the modern world. Could use the Guardian version as hook. Could design as a picture book, a video etc. Could also rework the original so it was scientifically possible based on their findings.
• What are the factors for Olympic or Commonwealth Games success? Explore past games, analyse results, compare to country data (population, wealth, income, health, climate etc), present results and recommendations. Pitch for the next games and what we could do to improve our results? What would be our mascots, branding etc?
• Things Come Apart – students explore the picture book. Then, groups bring in a machine to pull apart (and see how it works). Once it is fully apart, they can reorganise the pieces to create an art work. These can then be published into their own picture book. Could be easily linked to Shaun Tan’s ‘The Lost Thing’. Variations: Display the art works as a gallery. Use the machine’s parts to create characters and settings for a stop motion video.

• Free Little Libraries – use as inspiration for their project. Create the actual library (best size, shape, materials, protection from elements, protect books etc) as well as develop the rules for borrowing, publicity for project, approaching donors etc. Lots of great how-to movies for students to explore (and also create). Research why we should be reading more – analysis of research articles. Could also create their own article based on their research. Could pitch to City Council, P&C, SRC etc.
• Steampunk unit – explore the genre via different texts as well as Victorian literature and history which is the starting point for the genre. Students to create their own steampunk characters including designing/creating their costume complete with industrial elements. Can create profiles, combine all characters of the group into short films, graphic novels, comics, short stories etc. Addition – Tea Dueling and Teapot Racing! Yes, both are a steampunk thing. Google both and you will find lots of examples. I tried the tea duelling and it was hilarious, especially if you are doing it in character and trying to distract the other player.
• Air Quality in ? – research, explored physics, science, weather etc. Create films like the ‘Hateful Eight’ (one character for each of the eight key pollutants), make air quality sensors, purifiers, design information posters to display, descriptive passages describing the selected place before and after etc.
• Explore something from different subjects’ perspectives eg an Apple: Neuton (physics), Locations best grown etc (Geography) Apple as a metaphor (English), still life in Art etc.
• Truth in Advertising. I learnt about this one at Bronx School for Science but want to share it again here as it has a lot of merit. Teams test the claims of a chosen product’s advertising – run tests, analyse the products quality etc and present findings. (Check previous post for more details) Once done, they can create new ads and skits that better reflect the actual value of the product. This could be a lot of fun and having spent four weeks listening to shockingly honest medicine advertisements, I think it is something that students could get a lot out of.
• We The People. Pose open ended questions around morality and ethics. Move to stages of moral development. Start and end with students talking. Give students the opportunity to think, to dive deep and build scholarly discussions and debate about a social justice issue relevant to them. Explore historical examples to get students thinking. How do people become part of the “we”? Applying scientific method to breakdown social problems, use and develop stats and proof. Look at causation, variables etc. How can, and has, that social issue be expressed creatively? Posters, art works, websites, speeches etc.

Resources and further reading:

• 21st Century Skills – English curriculum (US focused but well worth exploring as it includes suggested projects across the 4Cs)
• ICT skills and English – same group as previous resource
• STEAMedu – Georgette Yackman’s site
• Critical Thinking resources, videos etc
• Critical Thinking Consortium – teaching activities, articles etc
• Scratch has good examples for video games including an interactive story lab.

The STEM Academy – Part 3

Film making is a key focus at The STEM Academy and is used in all courses and grades. Green screens are scattered around the school to assist in the production process, the students run a news channel with all classes watching the news of the day first up in the morning, and students are often expected to create short films to explain and display their learning.

All Grade 6 students go through a 9 week introduction to record and develop their own films, as groups or as identified here – production companies. When I visited one of the classes, they were hard at work developing their own figurative devices rap music videos. They had to choose at least 8 devices to focus on and then develop a rap that supplied clear definitions and examples. Students were happy to share their lyrics and beats with me and they were certainly having fun revising a key component of the English syllabus. Definitely going to try this at home!

This introduction then leads into a range of film projects in Grade 7 and 8: Shakespeare Revisited, Short Film Festival and now Sweded Films. The inspiring SWEDED Film Project, initiated by Mary Ann Lamberth as part of her Film Course, is another great example of cross curricular units and the power of collaboration for both students and staff.

Students were organised into production companies: Executive producer, director, script writers, videographers, music, editing etc. Their challenge was to recreate a big budget movie as a low budget, sweded movie. Their budget was $5 and their final film could be no longer than 120 seconds. Restrictions included no transitions, no CGI, no green screen. Going low tech added a whole new level of challenge!

Each production company had to create a name for their company, decide on roles and what film they were doing. Pre- production requirements included a completed film script and its storyboard. This was then pitched to the studio studio heads (Lamberth, Routh and Beck). If the studio heads were not happy with the quality of the script etc the company can be sent back to pre-production (script and storyboard). Once they receive approval, the company begins the filming process. Completed films are uploaded to YouTube, presented to studio heads and watched with students. The best films would also be included in the annual district wide Nevermore Film Festival that Ms Lamberth produces.

On the day I visited the class, one company was struggling to finalise their script ready for the deadline. Their frustrations were reflected in their dealings with each other, resulting in a very frustrated executive producer. Ms Lamberth coached her on how to talk with specific members of the team and, at one point, directed two students back to the ‘Accountable Talk’ guidelines.

Students were fully engaged, even with the tension around the script issues – justifying their concerns by linking back to the examples they watched at the start of the project, referencing to film cliches etc. Ms Lamberth, when giving feedback on their script, discussed concerns about slang, in jokes and even teenage humour and then stressed the need for their film to connect to an audience beyond their own school and age group. As well, their issues were tied back to the real world – arguing with each other is counterproductive- and would cost a lot of money on a real set due to ongoing delays. As such, craftsmanship and high expectations were again evident.

This group project, like all projects at The STEM Academy (and beyond), certainly focused on developing students’ collaboration skills: solving conflicts, negotiating, stepping up, communication and accountability talk. The SWEDED film project also developed students’ critical thinking and problem solving eg script issues, sub groups re- merging as well as creativity, technology skills and align perfectly with multiple English outcomes.

The power of film, particularly student created film, is definitely something I think could, and should, be incorporated into schools. After all, it is the most significant medium for students today and we need to teach them to be creators rather than just consumers. By doing so, they will have the skills to be able to critically assess what they are watching. Further, it is a powerful learning tool – consolidating content knowledge, building critical and creative thinking, literacy skills, technology skills and more. It certainly has a valid place in the English curriculum and the process of film production mirrors the design process favoured in STEM. A perfect match.

But what about technology access? Lots of different devices could be utilised: an iPad per group, computers, cameras, their own phones, Go Pros etc. iMovie, Adobe Spark, Adobe Premiere Elements and even FilmPond could all be used to produce the films. Both Apple and Android devices have free software available as well. It is possible without dedicated labs and high end devices.

Again, so much to love about Ms Lamberth’s courses, units and approach. Her passion and pride in her students was abundantly evident, as it was with the other studio heads (Mr Routh and Ms Beck). It is certainly something we could easily do, STEM school or not.

You can view Film @ STEM’s YouTube channel with sample videos and how to guides. You can watch some great examples of Sweded films on YouTube, such as Jurassic Park, to give you some inspiration if you want to implement your own film project.

The STEM Academy – Part 2

In this post I am going to share two great courses and a current project that, to me, epitomises the power of STEM (and English).

Stephen Routh is the Maker teacher as well as running the Drones App class. In the Maker class I visited, Grade 6 students were constructing cubes, initially using paper, then recreating them to a different scale in cardboard. Students had to document their work in a weekly blog post via Adobe Spark – answer questions, include photos and a video of their work that week. Craftsmanship is the focus – Mr Routh admits he is hard on them re the quality of their work. He has high expectations re lines drawn in the initial plan/template, the accuracy of the dimensions, angles etc. If it wasn’t good enough, they had to start again. Point of need instruction and teaching moments were evident as he moved around the class eg how to create a sharp edge on a fold and how to check an angle. (This focus on craftsmanship was also explicit in other subjects, particularly in Grade 6 to get them ready for Grade 7 and 8).

Branding was an early introductory activity, with class discussion on the importance of branding and logos. Students had to brainstorm what could be their personal logo/brand, and they then had to create 5 prototypes from which they were to choose one to refine as their brand. This was then drawn within a gear template. These “brand gears” were then created using a 3D printer. When they are working in their different “companies” in future projects, the gears lock together to form the company brand. Love this idea!

This early introduction to the role of advertising and marketing was then stepped up when I observed Mr Routh’s Drone class in action. The students in the class had to create companies: decide on the company’s name, logo, slogan, design and construct their website, business cards etc. Again, Mr Routh gave feedback to the students on the quality of each element and identified areas to for improvement – clearer layout of the website including sub headings, information organised into cohesive units, contact details clear as well choice of images, font etc. There was even a teaching moment about the correct use and acknowledgment of Creative Commons images. (Sound familiar, English teachers?)

Each company focused on drones but they had a different purpose. Two companies were using their drones to assess school infrastructure and identify any areas of concern. They had to pitch their company to school’s assistant principal, Ms Taylor. Another two companies focused on videography using drones and they had to pitch their company to Mrs Lamberth and her film students. The final two companies focused on research and design, specifically the use of drones in long exposure photography, and they pitched their product to Ms Beck and the Graphic Design/Game Design students.

The students in their pitch meetings needed to promote the value of their company, and their product: delivering a presentation, displaying examples of their work, discussing costs and answering questions. They had to use their persuasive skills – written, visual and oral – to secure the job. (Again, sound familiar English teachers?) Some companies came in extremely well prepared, gave an excellent pitch and were immediately hired. In fact, the quality of their work was so high that Mr Routh also shared it with real production companies.

Other companies were not so well organised and thus did not secure employment. Mr Routh was honest in his feedback- where was the promotion? Where was their advertising material, how do they contact you? Who had the rights to the footage? Even truth in advertising was discussed as one group panicked in their meeting and offered something they couldn’t supply. These companies took on the feedback, even making staff role changes, and were expected to re-pitch. (Update – all have rescheduled and are ready!) Mr Routh linked the issues to real world situations and discussed what would be the end result for a company who were not properly prepared. Again, craftsmanship and high expectation were on display.

Once they secured a job, they needed to write up and send a business contract. This was done using a template, and was again expected to use the appropriate level of language, precise vocabulary and correct layout. The company CEO was to send the contract via email and again, what to say in the email was discussed. As well, each company was expected to personally contact their client with updates as well as liaise with the local Air Authorities and Air Force Base re the flying of the drones. Real world skills indeed.

At the completion of the jobs they were hired to do, companies would present their work to the client, make recommendations (if appropriate) and finalise production costs ready for “payment”.

All in all a fantastic integrated unit. Yes they were learning how to use drones but the learning went well beyond that, and it is these soft skills that will continue to be valuable even if they never fly a drone in the future. The strong links to our English syllabuses were abundantly clear and there is so much potential here for similar cross KLA projects. To say I was inspired is an understatement.

Next up, the similarly impressive Film@STEM and the teacher behind it, Mary Ann Lamberth.

The STEM Academy – Part 1

This week I have been privileged to work with the staff and students at The STEM Academy, a middle school in Savannah, Georgia. The school has won multiple awards for its educational approach and is one of the top rated STEM schools in the country. The principal, Dr Jimmie Cave, and assistant principal, Ms Lydia Taylor, invited me into the school and encouraged me to explore their programs, work with the teachers and talk to students about their learning. At every level, I was warmly welcomed and their passion, commitment and engagement was evident.

The school is what I envision a STEM school can be, should be. There are five core subjects: Language Arts (English), Maths, Science, Social Science and Research. In Grades 7 and 8 students choose two Apps courses that included Robotics, Drones, Ted Talks, GIS (mapping), Film and Video Design plus many more. Grade 6 students rotate through an introduction to most Apps courses. The five core class teachers work together to find ways to link the learning within and between subjects. So, concepts are explored in different ways across the subjects and skills are revisited across the subjects as well. In this post, I will focus on how that integrated and collaborative approach occurs through their culminating Grand Challenges.

In Grade 6, the students must complete a Grand Challenge that focuses on the access to fresh water. In English, the students studied two novels (see below) to assist students build their understanding (and empathy through personalising the issue) around the right to fresh water and to help them think of scenarios they could address in their challenge. In Science they looked at what causes contaminated water and ways that can be addressed. In Social Science, they looked at some of the areas of the world where water quality was an issue and they used Maths to build the data behind the issue, presenting their findings in tables and graphs. In Health, they explored the consequences of not having access to clean water, and so on. Once the students have built their knowledge of the issue they are challenged to use the design thinking process to choose an aspect to examine and develop a solution to address that issue. Their Research lessons are time to bring all the various elements together and work in their group on their chosen project etc. At the end of the year, groups will present their projects to teachers and, where possible, relevant community members.

In Grade 7, students explore diseases, especially infectious diseases, and their Grand Challenge is to research a chosen disease such as cholera or malaria and then develop a project to reduce the occurrence of the disease – either through a cure/vaccine and/or through information campaigns. Along the way they had mini tasks to complete to as formative assessment. To support this overarching focus, Health classes studied a novel (!!) in which one of the characters was suffering from cancer. On the day I visited, students were creating lungs out of zip lock bags, plastic straws and masking tape. They came up with some excellent working models. In the next lesson, students were going to add cancer (a mix of chocolate and glue) to their lungs so they could observe how lung capacity was impacted. In the Research class, students effectively learned about the spread of disease through ‘Patient Zero’ where they were given a bottle of drink which they then offered to others (everyone was given a cup). After an amount of time, the accumulated fluid in each cup was tested and some proved positive re an infectious disease (thanks to something added to two of the bottles). Students then had to work backwards to discover when and who infected them and to discover who was patient zero. The kids loved it. English also studied novels that linked in some way to the issues as well as exploring advertising techniques and information reports.

The GIS apps (elective) course extended on the project by exploring and mapping diseases of the brain and then imaging what would happen in a zombie apocalypse! This included thinking about how the brain would be affected and what would be the best places in Savannah to hide from zombies – the students decided islands in the river would be best because zombies can’t swim. Next week, the students get to create a zombie apocalypse: dressing up, spreading the disease via water bombs and having a bit of fun! What a great idea.

Grade 8’s Grand Challenge was to come up with a way to improve the quality of life of a community. In previous years, this has focused on Georgia and Savannah but this year the focus is on improving the school itself. Students were looking at ways to improve the sport facilities or the access to creative spaces or the cafeteria. Each group was given a budget of $1.6 million. Once again, all subjects were adding to the project via knowledge and/or skill development during the semester. Students’ final presentations would include a research report, a model of their proposed improvements and a cost analysis. The plan is to present the best ones to the district in the hope of actually funding the improvement.

The Grand Challenges epitomised the holistic, student centred approach embraced by The STEM Academy. Students worked in small groups, each with a role, to complete the project and this meant they were learning collaboration and communication skills along with critical and creative thinking skills. They all followed the design and/or engineering process. These processes were displayed in all classrooms, regardless of subject.

Design approaches included QUEST – Question & Explore, Understand & Analyse, Evaluate multiple perspectives, Synthesise ideas, Team/Transform/Transmit.

As you can see, all projects had a focus on building students literacy skills as well as their Maths, Science and Technology skills. Reading, writing, speaking, listening and representation skills were integrated into all lessons and were core to all work produced. I observed all core teachers giving feedback on students responses and how to improve the quality of their work: vocabulary, sophistication of their sentences, appropriate level of language, organisation of their ideas etc. Like-wise, I observed the English teachers integrating skills and knowledge more often found in other subjects.

The STEM Academy approach shows how we can break down the silos and develop common content and approaches to build students learning outcomes and engagement. It is inspiring and has made me more determined to find ways to build cross curriculum teams to create opportunities for more real world, collaborative opportunities for students.

Deeper Learning and Augmented Reality

Day Two of the conference involved a deep dive into a project that would culminate in an exhibition. My project modelled a unit at High Tech High that a photography exhibition as its culminating product. However, the tutor, Brian (different Brian from previous post!) added a new tool he had only just discovered to add augmented reality into the mix. We became the guinea pigs!

The actual student project – What is meaningful in life?

Our project – What is an educational issue that you thinks needs addressing in your own context based on what you have explored at the conference so far?

We then did an accelerated version of a typical project:

1. Learning/research stage
2. Individual brainstorming re driving question
3. Sharing in triads – other two listen and give one “glow”and one “grow” as feedback.
4. Refine our idea based on feedback.
5. Head out to take photographs of objects/people/places that represents the essence of your idea/concept.
6. Choose best photograph, do some tweaking using Photoshop (computer) or Lightroom (phone/tablet).
7. Share photo with teacher for printing
8. Optional – cold press mount your photo (very cool)
9. Sign up to Blippar – a free augmented reality web tool.
10. Create a Blip – start by uploading your photo. Then you can add layers of extra information on top of that photo: other images as part of a gallery, video, audio, YouTube, websites, text and information etc.
11. Once you are happy with it you can press publish. This will take some time to publish (still waiting on my and Brian checking on procedures etc) but just click on Preview and it give a test code.
12. Download the Blippar app to your phone or tablet
13. Go to settings and add the code.
14. Now, when you scan the photo in the app, Blippar recognises it and all the extra layers become visible. So cool!
15. Hold your exhibition, students can use your device in test mode for now. Eventually, once it is published, students can use the app on their own device to scan the image and bring the extra information to life.

The great thing about the deep dive (besides discovering this awesome tool) was that it was an honest representation of a new project. Some “students” had trouble coming up with their concept, others had trouble deciding on the image, others had trouble using the image software and all of us had to learn how to use Blippar and some found that easier than others. As it was new to Brian too he just helped where he could but then just kept encouraging us to figure it out and we did, eventually.

There are still things about the tool that need ironing out eg educational accounts, publishing etc but I am sure once they get sorted it will be become a go to for my classes. Just using it in test mode does everything it needs to do.

This app has so many possibilities in any classroom, including English classes. So far, I have brainstormed the following ideas:

• Student portfolios
• Could be used to create texts in Contemporary Possibilities
• Research projects
• Context study for a text
• Bibliography and Autobiography presentations
• Process journals
• Gallery walks on steroids
• Anchor charts

What else can you add?

Did I mention that I love this so much?!

Fifth Visit – Blue School Part 2

There was much to like about the way Blue School approaches STEM, STEAM and project/design based learning. Their approach helped me to see the possibilities of cross curricular units and projects in a way the previous schools did not in the short time I visited each one.

The school had two STEM spaces, one for the younger grades and one for the older ones. Each space was well equipped with tools and materials to assist students to bring their ideas to fruition. As well, there were two STEM specialists to facilitate the learning and they worked closely with classroom teachers to devise activities to complete in the maker space. Their projects were linked to the work being studied in their other classes and the focus was on product creation. So, when students were learning about measurement, they created rulers, for example. Middle schoolers, were being introduced to ardunio while I visited and were going to use the tool to create/share the music they were studying. They were learning coding as part of the process.

Middle school students had a greater focus on design, not just the product. A recent project asked students to design cities of the future, addressing different issues such as the needs of an ageing population. These design projects incorporated many stages and skills, even before they constructed something that reflected their vision/solution.

Blue School also had a great art space for students to work in. They often included an art focus to their learning journey. For example, the kindergarten students, as part of their study of fairy tales explored dragons and then created a dragon sculpture which was displayed outside their classroom. This again tied their learning in different areas and focuses together, supporting each other.

The school also employs a movement specialist and a drama teacher. Both teachers work across all years, again supporting the learning in other subjects through creative expression. When students were studying ‘Where the wild things are’ they developed a dance piece that would be performed to celebrate the boy’s return home. They used ‘monster verbs’ as their starting point for their dance, with all students involved in both the creation and the performance.

In the middle school, students participate in a course called Integrated Studies, which combines Science with the Humanities. They worked on units that combined different knowledge and skill sets to develop projects. For example, in the lesson I observed, students had been studying the Industrial Revolution through history, literature, economics and geography as well as science. Students were practising their presentations with each other, explaining their working models of industrial innovations that drove the period. Their projects were a mix of all subjects and they confidently synthesised their knowledge across these different areas in their explanations. A combined subject could be possible in our schools, especially as an elective in Years 9 and 10. We could easily do similar integrated units by working in our different classes and then bringing it together via a common task.

Blue School has refined their approach to STEAM over the past few years and now don’t try to force cross curricular project tasks just for the sake of integrating subjects. Dawn made an excellent analogy – we no longer feel the need to hide the spinach in a brownie. The spinach is the core content/outcomes and the brownie is the project based units. They have moved to a more balanced approach that includes stand alone units to build particular content and skills with combined units where coming together is seen as a more effective format for developing content and skills.

In other words, we need to utilise all pedagogical tools and choose the right tool for the job. There will never be one tool that will do everything. Similarly, we need to allow students to have equal access to all subjects and ensure they see all have equal value in their development as a student. This is what Blue School did well – celebrating and promoting all learning disciplines.

Fifth Visit – Blue School Part 1

My last school visit in New York was to a small independent school, Blue School, and it didn’t disappoint. This school starts with day care facilities for two year olds and finishes at the end of middle school- with their first graduates this year heading off to a range of public and independent high schools. Dawn Williams, Head of Admissions and parent of an 8th Grader, took me on a tour of the school and I was really impressed with what I saw happening in the various grades and classrooms. In this post, I will focus mainly on the English teaching but, in this school, so many authentic projects crossover that I will end up going further than that.

The three year olds start their day with free play while the students arrive and then they all have a class meeting where they share, often based around a question posed question by their teacher. Even at this young age, they are encouraged to add on to a student’s response, to ask for extra information etc. In the kindergarten class, the meeting circle discussed, among other things, why the books on display had changed? Why was it important to add new books to what they were learning? The answers the students supplied were fantastic eg so we can learn new words and ideas, so we keep learning etc. So, I could trace a direct through line from the youngest students with the active involvement I first witnessed at Stuyvesant High School. As Dawn said, their focus in the early years is to develop their voice. By middle school, having developed their voice, they then concentrate on developing their ears, ie listening actively to the opinions and ideas of others to extend and clarify their own thinking. Socratic Circles, for example, are used extensively in the middle school. I really liked the analogy between voice and ears.

All grades also have a focus on writing, via their writing notebooks. The four year olds I saw were actively writing in their books – writing on one side about what they did on the weekend and adding an associated drawing on the other, which developed into a picture book of their year, complete with hard cover. What a great idea! Kindergarten students, as well as their writing notebooks, were writing and ‘mailing’ letters to the different characters in their various fairy tales. Mail boxes were positioned in and out of their classroom, so cute. These writing notebooks continue through all years.They are not assessed, but rather are a place to develop their ideas, take risks and develop their voice. Third grade students were observed exploring how to incorporate efferent facts from an encyclopaedia entry on mountains into an aesthetic voice via a narrative so that a reader learned new information but in a more engaging form – wow.The Grade 8 students I met were working on a project focused on social justice. They had been exploring Reiker’s Jail, including talking to jail teachers, and the need for bail reform. The culminating project was to firstly present all their findings to the rest of the school and then write letters to the Governor of New York on the including specific bail reform in this year’s budget. From the presentation to the School community, it is hoped that others will also write to agitate for change.(So much potential for cross curricular units and writing just in these two examples!).

Students work was on display everywhere and, again, it wasn’t always polished pieces. The process was displayed as much as the product achieved at the end. This even included sharing how they edited work and improved their grammar.

This valuing of process is continued into their Wednesday morning presentations. These presentations happen in front of the entire school community, parents and invited experts and community members. A different class presents each week, presenting their work as it currently stands and sharing where they started, where they are up to and where they need to go next. They share sections of their work and answer questions from the audience. Last week, the Year 8 class modelled a Socratic Circle -on a topic they were given half and hour before they started. Again, they focus wasn’t on showcasing polished work but on the skills and the development process.

Book Clubs were again a feature at The Blue School, just as they were at the other schools. One great innovation is that at least once a year, the Book Club extends to the student’s family: they all read it, discuss and share at dinner etc and do some family activities. As well, the whole family comes in to participate in a Literature Cycle. Such a great idea! We all know how valuable it is for the parents to be engaged in the learning and this is fantastic way for that to occur.

So, Blue School was similar in ways and approaches to what I had observed at the other school, but they just amped it up a notch or pushed it out to allow students follow different passions and tangents. Blue School is very cool! More on this in Post 2.

Third Visit – Bronx High School of Science Part 2

With its clear STEM focus, the English Faculty at BSS were conscious of their role in supporting student success in the sciences etc. Teachers did admit to feeling like they were second class citizens, at times, but were also proud of the faculty and the work they did to support students to become articulate, capable and perceptive students.

The English teachers have added more non-fiction into their units of work. While this fulfils a state directive, it also assists students to become more competent in both analysing and composing the types of texts they would be reading in other subjects. They have added in assignments that asks students to write in forms other than narratives and literary responses eg research reports and journal articles. This focus on informative and even discursive writing is something that has gained focus in our own new Stage 6 syllabuses and is very relevant to STEM.

BSS English teachers also focus on teaching students how to document claims with evidence (and not just literary evidence) and synthesise information to explore an idea. They use ICE to assist students structure their evidence:

1. I – introduce the citation
2. C – cite
3. E – explain effect etc of the citation

When building students critical response skills, particularly in the production of research reports, they use the follow approach:

• Choose their topic & find an authoritative paper supporting their point of view
• Counter argument – find a paper/evidence that supports that
• How could you defend your point of view in light of that evidence?

This approach is also evident in students’ approach to discussion in English – coming up with a point of view, supporting it from the text and then defending it in light of differing opinions. This modelling in English is then transferable to the STEM subjects etc.

The Science faculty run a semester long elective course called Research Literacy. This course assists students develop and extend on their skills to present their ideas, both verbally and in writing. To do that, they conducted different research projects. Here is the course program:

In the lesson I observed, students in pairs were presenting their research into evaluating claims made in advertising. What a great project idea and with definite cross KLA opportunities; with English looking at persuasive techniques and visual literacy etc while in Science they conduct research to prove the veracity of claims made about different products. The teacher, and the students, analysed the quality of each group’s presentations from their use of different graphs and tables to the clarity of their findings as well as their use of appropriate vocabulary.

The class used the 4 Question Model to develop research questions. English and other faculties also use this model to develop questions for discussion, for developing prompts for responses and more. The teachers identified strongly with the need for all faculties and all teachers developing and using common structures to support student learning, and particular their writing.

Marci has been actively looking into ways to build cross subject courses. Take up is beginning to happen, with a combined History/English course that looks at key moments in American History through literature and other texts including political cartoons. Maybe one day there will be a combined unit with STEM such as one using this awesome picture book, ‘Aquatica‘ by Lance Balchin (or its predecessor, ‘Mechanica’) set in 2250 when the world’s animals have been wiped out. I have just discovered this Australian author and his amazing books and can see so many possibilities for cross-curricula units!

When I asked one of the students what the value of studying English was at BSS, he responded that it enabled him to write effectively so he could do well on his Science reports etc. English’s role certainly includes the development of students writing skills and the ability to defend a point of view, but it is definitely more than that. English, through the very nature of our subject teaches students to think critically and creatively about what they read, see and hear. As well, through their exposure to a range of literature, students learn empathy and build their awareness of the world – past, present and future. As one of BSS’ English teachers said, students won’t necessarily realise the value of what they learned in English until some time later in their lives, but when that epiphany comes, it will clarify the world around them. We as English teachers know that, but maybe we need to do more to ensure our students and community know that as well.

I will leave you with that thought.

Second Visit – Stuyvesant High School Part 3

So, besides giving me lots of inspiration to bring back to my faculty and into my classroom, how can I link my visit to the STEM World?

Before I start reflecting, it is interesting to note a conversation I had with a Senior AP student who was curious about the purpose of my visit. When I explained that I was exploring the teaching of English in STEM schools she was quite adamant that the discussion and student centred approach found in English was impossible in STEM subjects such as Physics and Mathematics. Why did she believe that? Because we bring our own experiences and ideas to the study of literature, and there were multiple interpretations allowed. In Physics, for example, she had little to no prior knowledge and the teacher needed to impart that learning. Wow, is that really the case? I would think not, but it does correlate with my outsider observation of many Science and Maths Teachers (but not every teacher so please don’t scream at your screen), who are fixated on the amount of content they have to impart. Does content = learning? Or is it simply the memorisation of facts? RAP data here in NSW and SAT and other testing in the US would suggest most students can blitz the multiple choice (or bubble checking as Eric defines it) as there is only one answer deemed correct, but many struggle to articulate their ideas in the extended paragraph/sentence responses.

So, firstly, can STEM teachers learn something from an English approach to learning? Absolutely! Science teachers, for example, need to learn how to effectively scaffold and model the writing required in their subject. Even last year, I had Science Teachers assuming English taught students how to write information reports etc (umm, no) and we were listed as the source for help for a Physics essay (umm, double no). The same can be said for any STEM subject (I am definitely not singling out Science) including TAS and Maths. Lesson time needs to be allocated to building the literacy skills needed for success in their subjects – to deconstruct what a good response looks like, when to use active or passive voice, and to be precise with their choice of language etc. They need to see that this is time well spent. Time needs to be spent developing their critical thinking skills through discussion, hypothesising and testing their ideas. As Lynn Cole from the Discovery Center said, scientists do not agree on things and argue and defend their point of view using available data – just as English students do in their analysis. The data is different but the approach is similar.

As such, then the Stuyvesant approach (which really is the approach of English teachers everywhere) is something that could indeed be used in the STEM subjects. Could they do their reading and come to class ready to ask questions, debate and test their understanding? Yes, of course. Would that support their learning outcomes, and even their enjoyment of the learning? Definitely. It is something that Eric would love to see occurring more consistently across other subjects, and invites other teachers into English classrooms to see what they are doing.

But STEM is more than just the teaching style of a particular subject. STEM in many schools is introduced as project or design based learning, where students work in groups to develop a project such as robotic challenges. The student centred focus I observed at Stuyvesant where questions were posed and challenged, observations tested and decisions evaluated and reflected on is exactly what we would do in PBL. In my school, we run the Year 8 Group Challenge and one thing that students struggle with each year is the formulating of an topic, arguing different approaches and working from disparate opinions to develop a common project, tested and trialled ready for production.

Are we doing enough in our subjects to build our students into active and critical learners? Probably not. I know many teachers, STEM based included, are working on ensuring this is being addressed through changes in teaching and learning approaches but there is more to be done.

Interestingly, Rob Stokes has also had lots to say on STEM today – https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/stem-has-become-a-buzzword-and-a-fad-nsw-education-minister-20180321-p4z5iw.html

To conclude, the current focus on STEM is an opportunity for ALL subjects to re-evaluate their pedagogical approaches, to build on students opportunities to be responsible for their own learning through active engagement, high expectation and opportunities to be critical and creative thinkers. If part of our role is to prepare students for the world outside of school, including the world of work, then we need to give them skills needed for that world. Bubble checking and rote learning are not high in the priorities outside of school.

Just my immediate thoughts, I will be testing them as my data set grows and refining my understanding as my journey continues.

Second Visit – Stuyvesant High School Part 2

During my visit, I had multiple opportunities to discuss the Stuyvesant approach that Eric developed and it was nice to find a kindred spirit in regards to his pedagogical approach and passion for English and teaching.

Eric and his staff have worked hard to change to student focused and driven lessons. He started with two drivers:

1. Don’t set an assignment you wouldn’t want to read, and
2. Don’t ask a question you aren’t genuinely interested in hearing the answer.

How many of us would start from those drivers?

English study is divided into core classes and electives. Students must take at least one semester of core units and then have options to add to their study, if they wish. The core units are focused firstly on American Literature, and then on literature Britain and the Rest of World. Elective options include poetry, drama and film. They read multiple texts in their semester long courses – at least four novels and three or four shorter texts. They have clear expectations re their reading schedule. Certainly, they would explore, in detail, far more texts than we do in the average class. Should we be pushing our students more? What would be our core unit focus if we took a similar approach and what would be the interest electives? Would it be possible to incorporate a similar structure in our schools? Do we celebrate Australian Literature enough, and should we do more?

Some of the activities that were in most lessons observed included:

• Students nominated a character to track as they read, with the expectation that they jot down points from each set reading to share in class, with key quotes.
• Writing on the board quotes they think best represent the themes/characters/style etc or they just think stood out or intrigued them. The teacher also shared theirs. Those quotes were then discussed by the class and referred back to during the lesson/s.
• Students were regularly asked to jot down questions they wanted answers to for the section they are currently reading as well as any comments, epiphanies etc. They then had opportunities to shares those – and for both other students or the teacher to respond to. That sharing occurred in small groups as well as with the whole class.
• Students expected to read out and comment on passages from the text.
• Almost all, if not all, students were actively involved in the lesson. Each had their moment to lead the learning through their questions and sharing. (How many of us could say the same with our own lessons?)

Teachers set their own assignments (no across the form tasks here!) and were encouraged to be creative and challenging in their choices. While they were all expected to study American Literature from different generations, there was no expectation that they should all study the same texts, or even if they did, approach them in the same way. From what I understood from the day I was there, the only formal across the form testing was the state run standardised testing.

There was a large focus on formative assessment, even the questions and discussions from the students in each lesson were used to assess their understanding and to drive further lesson aims etc. So too with their regular writing assignments.

Some of the assignments that Eric has set his students are:

• The Cloud Atlas style task – students write three stories; one set in the past, one set in the relative present and one set in the present. As well, they must all be written in different genres but loosely linked by theme.
• The So What? task – in this task, students are to explore the value of reading two or three of the texts they have studied. What resonated with them, what moved and or challenged them? In other words, why should we read these texts in particular, but literature in general?
• Group task – small group responsible for devising the lesson for a section of the text being studied. They have to follow the lesson scaffold ie Lesson aim, Do now, discussion starters, key passages to examine etc. The group needs to hand in their proposed lesson plan in the days before presentation for feedback. At the end of the textual study, all students are to submit a reflection on the value of the process, specifically on their lesson but also the task in general.

Again, lots to think about here. Some of this would be impossible in our current system but much of it would be possible if we were happy to let go of the straight jackets. Some of us are already moving away from the focus on summative assessment and the new Stage 6 syllabuses is providing opportunities for similar approaches eg Reading to Write.

I am going to leave you with an approach to student reading that I had never really thought about (but maybe you have). When students are asked to read from the story they are allocated a role – the narrator, and the different characters. As such, the narrator read most of the text, but each different character read their dialogue. Simple, obvious and really effective.

Part 3 will be where I start to make links to STEM 😊