Georgia Teacher STEM Academey

This past week I had the privilege to attend the Georgia Teacher STEM Academy in Young Harris, Georgia.  The 3 day event was very educational and really help me to wrap my head around what STEM is and how to incorporate it in the classroom and school. The first two day were divided into two sessions.  One was problem based learning which I was familiar with and the other was Place Based Learning.  My cohorts and I decided to attend the Place Based session.  Place Based Learning is actually taking problems that pretend to your neighborhood or area around you.  We spent two days looking at water and water sheds and mainly the EPA's definition of the Clean Water Act.  We walked away with a number of different projects that pertain to clean water.  Below is a great site with a ton of projects for every grade level.

The last day was my favorite part.  We spent the morning discussing STEM Certification in Georgia, which was very informative and helped us to understand what else our school needs to do to meet the requirements to become a STEM School.  The rest of the day we divided up into grade level groups and learned about Using Technology Effectively.  I learned about some great programs and apps to help students build technology content.  The diagram below is awesome.  It is the Padagogy Wheel, starting with the SAMR model and moving down into Blooms.  If you click on the image it takes you to the PDF with active links of each of the apps shown. 

A few of my favorites that really stood out were;

Canva- Canva gives you everything you need to easily turn ideas into stunning designs.  Create designs for Web or print: blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations and so much more.  This is an app or a online program that would be great for creating info graphics with date.  The program is very simple to use. 

Flipsnack- FlipSnackis everything you need to easily publish captivating online magazines, transforming your pdfs into online flipbook. It works and looks great across all digital platforms, engaging students with interactive experiences.

Kelly Stewart with GDOE had a great power point that she promises to have a available to us soon.  When you share with me I will share with you.  

Below is a picture of the wonderful friends who attended the academe y with me.  We can not wait to share this information with our faculty and staff.