Relational Teachers

A relational teacher is one who can connect with students. There are many people who are absolutely brilliant in their field, but if they cannot engage and reach the students, they will not be effective teachers. As a teacher, I plan to engage my students by getting to know about them, using their name, finding out what motivates them. I will also try to structure my lessons in a way that each student feels like they have a valuable role to play.  There is also a lot of power in praise for job well done or recognition of an accomplishment.

EDU270 STEM Exercise in Learning

Exercises in learning are no different from drills in sports. These activities reinforce skills that have already been taught and help fine-tune understanding.

Beach Ball Elements
In a STEM-focused environment you might want to keep the first 20 elements on the Periodic Table fresh in the minds of the students. For this activity, you would take a beach ball and write the numbers 1 - 20 randomly around the ball. The students would take turns tossing each other the ball and calling out a finger (ie - right thumb) as the student catches it. Whatever number is written closest to the finger called will be the element number the student will have to identify. This could be made harder by asking the student to not only identify the element, but also the symbol or atomic mass. This incorporates movement which helps with memory formation as well.

EDU270 STEM Educational Neuroscience

Educational Neuroscience is an emerging field which aims to provide a bridge between understanding the physical/chemical/electrical functioning of the brain to education. There are many challenges facing today's students that might be helped by additional understanding of how the brain works. Specifically in the cases of ADHD, dyslexia and other areas of learning disabilities, it would be great to understand if there is a specific cause that can be addressed.

The National Institute of Health says that Neuroscience education is important because of it's role in identifying and treating health and disease, it's ability to apply the science of learning in classrooms and the natural curiosity about ourselves and our minds.

Educational Neuroscience is important to STEM teachers because it will help to reinforce the importance of brain plasticity and how various techniques can support good brain development. 

http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/k-12_edu.htm

"Attention" and "Emotions and Learning"

The information contained in the videos Attention, and Emotions and Learning will help me as a teacher in several ways. First, understanding the difference between normal attention difficulties and disorders like ADHD will help keep behaviors in perspective. I think that keeping an open line of communication with the parent is very important as well. Regarding emotional development, it is very important for the teacher to provide a stable, kind environment in the classroom. Even if a child has a stressful situation at home, at least they will have a nurturing environment at home. 

EDU270 STEM Optimal Learning Stages

Acquisition is one of the stages for optimal learning. Connections are strongest when they are both novel and multi-sensory. In my experience as a First Lego League coach, I've seen the excitement that is added when you add Legos to a lesson. There are many Lego math lessons but I particularly like this one about fractions. Legos are brightly colored, tangible and certainly a fun and novel way to learn about math.

Math lesson: Fractions with Legos

Lego Fractions Worksheet

Lesson 2 Discussion - Hearing and Vision

As a teacher, learning to identify signs of vision or hearing issues will be important. Early identification of issues are especially important in the years of early childhood when these senses are developing and making important connections in the brain.

In order for lessons to be successful, the student must be able to understand what is being taught. This includes being able to see visuals and hear verbal instructions.  There are tests for both vision and hearing that are administered by health professionals and various treatments that can be applied to help the student. As a teacher, I can adjust my method of teaching to best meet the needs of my students.  The classroom should be visually stimulating and there shouldn't be any loud or distracting noises that might detract from learning.