June 6, 2017
Reflection is key to connecting learning to real-life experience. Giving youth time to talk, draw, or explain their thinking makes learning “stick.” This month I’m borrowing a great strategy from Ms. Beth, who teaches robotics and STEM with girls in Omaha, Nebraska. I couldn’t wait to use this strategy in my classroom! Reflection Cards Print multicolored sheets of reflection cards. Each reflection card should contain the following three questions:
May 30, 2017
Yes, STEM subjects are challenging. And yes, it’s nearly impossible to change the difficulty of these subjects. But as educators, we can strive to make these topics more fun and engaging to youth of all ages.
May 15, 2017
It can be emotionally taxing to work with youth in out-of-school time. The less structured environments that come with informal education, although exceptional for allowing youth room for creativity and exploration, also lend well to chaos. Keeping order involves knowing how to manage groups and how to respond when students are having a bad day.
April 24, 2017
Simple conversational prompts — such as questions, comments and hints — can be used to encourage engagement and productive discussion among young learners. When guiding a learning experience with a specific goal in mind, these prompts become powerful instructional tools called talk moves.
April 3, 2017
Is memorizing content the same as learning it? Not according to most afterschool educators, who regularly involve children in investigations, inquiry and local phenomenon. Yet school-day science often insists that students learn by memorizing facts or vocabulary. So, what are we to believe?
February 20, 2017
When youth are introduced to approachable and relatable STEM role models, they are more likely to pursue STEM courses and careers in the future. STEM role models can alter a young person’s perceptions about what STEM professionals look like, exemplify a clear pathway to STEM, and illustrate how STEM works in their community.
February 6, 2017
Girls are considered a marginalized population in STEM because of their under-representation in STEM-related professions. In order to help diminish this gender gap, we've compiled some ways to keep girls engaged in STEM.
January 19, 2017
Click2Science’s mission is to provide valuable resources and information that helps out-of-school time (OST) professionals create quality STEM learning experiences with youth. In an effort to expand upon its lineup of resources, Click2Science is introducing a new STEM Education Expert to its blog in 2017.
November 30, 2016
New Season, New Opportunity to Explore Science! As the temperature drops and seasons change, youth in your program may begin to wonder how icicles form, why snow melts or why we put salt on icy roads. This creates the perfect opportunity to teach youth about the changes in states of matter. In order to encourage this curiosity in youth, Click2SciencePD has compiled a few easy, inexpensive STEM experiments to try out during the winter months.