Ultimate STEM
Bio: Stephen Tow
Steve is a technology teacher/coordinator at Goudy Technology Academy. He has been teaching for eleven years and is passionate about technology and the importance of applying real-world application to his students’ learning. In his free time, Steve enjoys tinkering with technology and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
Steve is a technology teacher/coordinator at Goudy Technology Academy. He has been teaching for eleven years and is passionate about technology and the importance of applying real-world application to his students’ learning. In his free time, Steve enjoys tinkering with technology and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
Amazing Teaching Moment:
From Coordinate Planes to Programming
My amazing teaching moment took place over four, 60 minute class periods with fifth grade. For the past few weeks, students embarked on a journey through computer programming. In math class, the students were learning the Cartesian Coordinate Plane. Prior to this lesson, the students discussed the components of their favorite video games and discovered that they can be reduced to a series of coordinates. Students were reminded that computer programming is essentially following a set of directions. In class, they were introduced to Tynker programming (tynker.com), and had completed the lessons on how to create an actor, scene, and the workspace environment.
At the beginning of the class, we reviewed number lines and the difference between a horizontal and vertical number. Students were asked to provide real-world applications of both vertical and horizontal number lines. As a class, we reviewed the coordinates in Cartesian space and how computers use numbers to represent a character’s position on screen. We used number lines as rulers to measure the distance.
Prior to this lesson, I had created puzzles on the floor of the room with starting and ending points of a video game. Students were then given specific words they could use to guide Mario (from the starting point) to the star (ending point). We then related the movement to the coordinate plane. Students completed a partner worksheet about identifying different points on a coordinate plane.
After this activity, students opened up Tynker and worked on making an actor of a game jump up and down and move left and right. Students applied their prior knowledge of the coordinate plane to animate the actor on the screen. Students then shared their coding blocks with the class to explain how they accomplished the lesson.
From Coordinate Planes to Programming
My amazing teaching moment took place over four, 60 minute class periods with fifth grade. For the past few weeks, students embarked on a journey through computer programming. In math class, the students were learning the Cartesian Coordinate Plane. Prior to this lesson, the students discussed the components of their favorite video games and discovered that they can be reduced to a series of coordinates. Students were reminded that computer programming is essentially following a set of directions. In class, they were introduced to Tynker programming (tynker.com), and had completed the lessons on how to create an actor, scene, and the workspace environment.
At the beginning of the class, we reviewed number lines and the difference between a horizontal and vertical number. Students were asked to provide real-world applications of both vertical and horizontal number lines. As a class, we reviewed the coordinates in Cartesian space and how computers use numbers to represent a character’s position on screen. We used number lines as rulers to measure the distance.
Prior to this lesson, I had created puzzles on the floor of the room with starting and ending points of a video game. Students were then given specific words they could use to guide Mario (from the starting point) to the star (ending point). We then related the movement to the coordinate plane. Students completed a partner worksheet about identifying different points on a coordinate plane.
After this activity, students opened up Tynker and worked on making an actor of a game jump up and down and move left and right. Students applied their prior knowledge of the coordinate plane to animate the actor on the screen. Students then shared their coding blocks with the class to explain how they accomplished the lesson.
5 Components of a Great STEM Lesson
- Becoming a facilitator opens the door for students to guide their own learning, and take the lesson in a direction that best serves students' needs.
- Students learn best when they have confidence and support to explore or expand upon their learning. This is when teachers see the most "aha" moments.
- It's important to motivate learners to think about how they can apply what they are learning and give students choices in meeting the learning objectives.
- All lessons use tools and/or technology as supplemental materials to increase student engagement and understanding.
- Lessons provide students with problems and allow them to use creative outlets (drawing, cartoons, software, Socratic seminar, solar car) to take charge of their learning.