Graphing calculators help most all high school students visualize math concepts and the results of their work. But if those students have learning disabilities, graphing calculators with vibrant color displays are even more effective at making math come to life. Read more
“I teach mainly high school freshmen in an urban inner-city environment on the South Side of Chicago,” writes Mr. Lothspeich, a 9th-grade teacher at Chicago Vocational Career Academy,in
Chicago, IL who is committed to his students. “Despite their daily struggles outside of school, my students are funny, hard-working, and intuitive kids. In my class, the students often write about their life experiences, using both their struggles and triumphs to weave together a classroom narrative of life on the South Side. The work that we do in my classroom is expressive and introspective, encouraging students to explore their identities and reflect on what makes them who they are, both as individuals and a class.” Read more
Students in Ms. Gresham’s George Ranch High School classroom in Richmond, Texas were eagerly learning computer programming skills. But Ms. Gresham, who is eager to provide her students with the best STEM learning experiences possible, wanted something more – an expandable robot, able to move and equipped with sensors, that her students could program to interact with its environment. So she chose to apply on DonorsChoose.org for funding to buy a smart robot car for her classroom. Read more
Running a store offers a great opportunity to learn practical business skills like budgeting, not to mention “soft” business skills like responsibility and dealing with the public. Read more
Art is art, STEM is STEM, and the two don’t really connect, correct? No, incorrect, because art and technology come together when students study computer graphics! Read more
About 140 students are enrolled in classes in Mrs. Niles’s 11th-grade food lab, at Orville H Platt High School Meriden, CT, learning the basics of safe food preparation and handling. “Giving our student a chance to work in hands-on food labs exposes them to many possible career options in the culinary industry,” she explains, “as well as careers in food sciences, and health and nutrition fields.” Read more
The ability to create videos and multimedia presentations is a skill that can open doors to careers in corporations, news organizations, online enterprises, and other companies today. Yet students cannot learn the skills they need unless they have basic equipment like LED lights, backgrounds and microphones. Read more
“The classroom environment is very positive,” writes Ms. Nozik, a 9th-grade teacher at Carlmont High School in Belmont California. “Students enjoy doing labs because they get to engage with science directly, instead of hearing about it. The students enjoy doing inquiry work – figuring out things by themselves. This is engaging for them and helps develop their critical thinking skills and their independence. They work well with each other in the lab and have the opportunity to get to know each other better. This makes their learning more interesting, engaging and enjoyable.” Read more
In a traditional mathematics class, the teacher stands in front of the room and teaches a lesson. But what if some of the students aren’t there? They miss the lesson. And what if lots of students aren’t there? The effectiveness of the classroom is brought to a halt. Read more
The students in Mrs. Riley’s classroom were eager to learn computer science, but the East Bernard High School in rural Texas lacked the funds to equip their classrooms with the computers they needed to learn to code. So Mrs. Riley, who is committed to providing the best learning opportunities possible for her students, came up with a solution. If she could equip her classroom with Electronix Express Micro:Bit Basic Kits, which cost only $22.95, her students could study computer science and learn skills similar to those being taught in larger school systems. Read more