Resources

The email arrived totally unexpectedly: “My Girl Scouts and I wanted to express our gratitude by writing a little thank you note. Your page, http://www.ikzadvisors.com/resources has been extremely useful and informative in helping my scouts learn about STEM education. We’re trying our best to put fun and excitement into STEM education for the girls.

As another small token of our appreciation, we thought it would be nice send along a helpful resource that we came across. It’s http://www.elevators.com/a-digital-list-helpful-engineering-games/ and it’s a great resource guide to engineering games.

If you decided to add it to your resources, I’d love to show my troop that their suggestion was up and running to help others. We do our absolute best to follow the Girl Scout slogan of “Do a good turn daily.” 🙂 Please let us know what you think and thank you again!”

I did look and found the site intriguing.

Thank you, Cindy Powell and your Girl Scouts.

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ASCD has proposed some materials that bring two important subjects together:

Writing and STEM: A Crucial Combination | ASCD Inservice

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A document which came across the screen is worth reviewing:Selecting and Sequencing Student Solutions , Facilitating productive mathematics discussions in the classroom. This is from Curriculum Associates.

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The NHL, NHL Players’ Association, and Boston Bruins have paid for an online STEM program for middle schools across Massachusetts called Future Goals – Hockey ScholarTM. This resource is available for you and your classroom in September:

Future Goals – Hockey ScholarTM leverages the exciting game of hockey to teach students foundation STEM concepts while developing inquiry and critical thinking skills.

  • Provided by: National Hockey League (NHL®), the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and The Boston Bruins
  • Recommended Placement: 4th– 7th Grade – Science, Math, and Technology
  • Standards Alignment: Next Generation Science, Common Core, Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Framework
  • Course Length: 3-4 hours (twelve 15-20 minute modules)
  • Demo Video and Curriculum Guide

From the Boston Globe

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As an official partner of the Massachusetts DOE Office of Digital Learning, this course is aligned to the 2016 MA Science and Technology/Engineering Framework as well as NGSS and Common Core. Last year, Hockey Scholar reached over 11,000 students across Massachusetts in its pilot year and we are excited for year #2!

Your school will receive unlimited student and teacher access to the program, as well as ongoing implementation support from EverFi, all at no charge. If you are interested in a demo or learning more, please contact:
Jessica Donovan
Schools Manager
332 Congress St Suite 300
Boston, MA 02210
P (339) 203-1392
jdonovan@everfi.com  www.everfi.com

It is increasingly clear that many people are developing new products for education…especially using technology. When I was in Lexington, I tried to convince a large tech company  in the area to create a program to help students learn to write. So when I see a program that has that potential I am drawn to explore it. The developer of Topical Storm was willing to meet with me to discuss the app.

Topical Storm (topicalstorm.com) is a prewriting tool that uses Socratic dialogue to draw out a student’s ideas and combine them with research to build solid essays. It converses with the student by asking questions and responding intelligently to the answers. It is intended to get students past the anxiety of the blank page and enable them to write with clarity, fluency, and deep thought.

In a single class period or blended learning exercise, each student produces a first draft and a set of Organized Notes that clarify how the answers support a writing goal (see example). The student’s reward, instead of a badge or points, is a showcase of his or her own thinking.

The teacher can view his/her students’ work online and add comments. The teacher can change the questions to reinforce the writing skills being taught. Lessons which are provided include Argument, Personal Narrative, Short Story, and Science Article at different grade levels. Others are under development.

Topical Storm was one of several companies which demonstrated their products at the Learn Launch event at the Park Plaza Hotel on July 18, 2016 in tandem with Alan November’s BLC 16. Contact steve.herbst@topicalstorm.com for more information.