Importance Of STEM Practices In Education

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Recommended: Learning skills 21st century

Originally when I entered Concordia University, I had chosen to study curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on online learning. After completing EDGR 602 and researching the potential impact 21st century skills could have on our future economy, I switched my emphasis from online learning to STEM. The first week of Introduction to STEM, I felt I made a huge mistake changing my emphasis, and I felt I could never create a STEM environment in my cyber-classroom at Agora Cyber CS. However, the coursework over the last 16 weeks has changed my teaching in many ways, and I am moving towards creating a STEM environment in my classroom and at the fourth grade level through my work with other teachers.
As a teacher in a cyber-school in PA, I face …show more content…

Drew (2011) identifies strong leadership as a need for educational reform, and I seek to be a leader of STEM practices within my school. I hope that through modeling the practices and presenting my students’ work, I can create excitement for STEM education. My hope is that after obtaining my Master’s in Education that I can become a Lead Teacher within my school and to lead by example. As a Lead Teacher, I would run daily PLC’s and create professional development opportunities for my grade level. This would provide an excellent opportunity to introduce the eight STEM practices (NGSS, 2013) to the Agora faculty. Within the PLC environment, I hope to create an open dialogue with teachers to encourage them to try new practices within their classroom. Additionally, in the PLC environment, we can work as a team to follow Vasquez’s (2013) guiding principles of focusing on integration, establishing relevance, emphasizing 21st century skills, challenging students, and mixing it up (Vasquez, 2013, pp.18-19). Teachers will feel supported and willing to develop change with an ongoing dialogue and opportunities to learn and support each

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