August 30, 2024 • 44 mins
Today we’re talking about the district’s new STEM program for elementary students. But in a bigger sense we’re talking about engaging curiosity in a hands-on way to look at something and learn how it works and why – or better yet, to build something and figure out how to make it work.
I’m excited to introduce you to our STEM teachers who are on an exploration of their own – building a new program from the ground up, fueled by the natural curiosity of our youngest students.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
When I was a kid, probably like second grade or younger, I was obsessed with this alarm
(00:11):
clock that my dad had.
It looked like the emoji we now have for an alarm clock, except that it was sleek and
black, had a round face and case.
It was analog and the hands and numbers were glow in the dark, that even in broad daylight
seemed to have an eerie glow.
It didn't have batteries, you had to wind it up by hand by turning a silver ring on
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the back.
There was also this curved slide that could moderate how loud the alarm, real bells inside
the casing, were.
I loved to hear it tick and set off the alarm for a few minutes from whatever time it was
and wait impatiently for it to go off.
One day I got a hold of this alarm clock.
Dad might have upgraded or something because it wasn't being used at the time.
(00:55):
I must have had a screwdriver too because I completely disassembled it to look at all
the gears and bells and learn how that volume slide worked.
I didn't dig too much more into the machinery of the clock.
The guts were pretty self-contained and even I knew I didn't want to pull more of it apart.
It didn't really matter though because I couldn't get the thing back together.
(01:19):
I think I hid it under my bed or in a toy box.
No one ever came looking for it so I didn't have to explain how I broke it.
I'm Dan Bader, Communication Coordinator for the School District of South Milwaukee.
Today we're talking about the district's new STEM program for elementary students.
But in a bigger sense, we're talking about engaging curiosity in a hands-on way to look
(01:41):
at something and learn how it works and why.
Or better yet, to build something and figure out how to make it work.
I'm excited to introduce you to our STEM teachers who are on an exploration of their own, building
a new program from the ground up, fueled by the natural curiosity of our youngest students.
Here's our conversation.
(02:12):
Well joining us today on the podcast are three newest STEM teachers.
We never had a STEM program in the elementary school so they're by default new.
Welcome to the podcast.
Why don't you introduce yourselves?
I am Jennifer Hainer and I'm working at Lakeview Elementary and EW Luther Elementary.
(02:33):
I'm Jolene Wazalewski and I will be at Blakewood Elementary and EW Luther Elementary.
And Katie Castleton at Rossin Elementary.
Katie, why don't you start?
Tell me what a STEM program means to you for the little ones.
What are we going to be learning?
Everything.
STEM in the elementary setting is so exciting and South Milwaukee is really the first district
(03:00):
in this area to be piloting a program like this, starting as young as kindergarten.
Some of the things I'm excited for them to jump in is starting to learn some block coding
and really be approaching that coding as a second language.
So just like students are learning Spanish and French, we're going to be teaching them
(03:22):
coding as another language.
I'm excited for this program and just what you see this year is not going to be what
you see in years to come because the program is going to continually be changing and evolving
as technology and things in the world change.
(03:43):
Jolene, what are your thoughts on that?
What's your classroom going to look like and what are they going to experience?
I'm looking forward to having a very student driven classroom.
So they're going to drive the train kind of on what it is we explore and really dive deep
into in STEM this year, things that they're passionate about.
I'm really excited to spark the curiosity through all the grade levels.
(04:05):
I know as kids get older, they aren't as inventive or they maybe start to lose that self-confidence
and creativity so much that a kindergartner would have.
So I'm really excited to work with the third, fourth, fifth grade level and really get to
what they're passionate about because you often find that it's kids who maybe don't
(04:26):
stand out in the classroom that could really get a chance to shine when they're in STEM
class.
And your thoughts?
Yeah, I'm really excited for all of the pieces to come together and this to be a very integrated
curriculum.
I'm excited for students to be able to see how they can apply ELA and science and math
(04:47):
and technology into one problem that is real world, that is hands on.
Being able to work as a team, problem solving together, seeing a project from the beginning
brainstorming phase through the planning, creating and then reflecting, debugging code
like Katie had said, using that language to really kind of go crazy with so many different
(05:13):
ways that they can express themselves and work together as a team to kind of create
really cool projects and masterpieces.
Sure.
You know, we've thrown around this acronym STEM, science, technology, engineering and
math, but from a thinking out of parent perspective, I have a second grader at home.
(05:37):
What math that a second grader is learning is going to be useful in a classroom and do
you coordinate with the second grade teachers to talk about what their capacity is, you
know, what they've learned so far so that they could use it to solve a problem in one
of your classrooms?
Who wants to take that one?
(05:58):
Right away I think of measurement, I think of patterns and sequencing and kids needing
to, you know, when they're coding and they're wanting a character to move 15 pieces, you
know, they can use a ruler to determine that, for example.
They're going to be looking at how they can design things that function, you know, as
(06:19):
an engineer and, you know, take into account, you know, addition, subtraction, how things
are just going to relate sequentially to each other as they create and build.
So I think ideally, yes, we definitely want to be working collaboratively with not only
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classroom teachers, but also possibly specialists at some point, adding in maybe that A into
the STEM.
And you know, the more collaboration, the better.
We're starting off with science and aligning everything to the Amplify curriculum to begin
with and then we eventually want to tie in everything else.
(07:05):
Sure.
What in your background, I was thinking about you were kindergarten teachers last year,
right?
First.
First grade, sorry.
You were the kindergarten teacher.
Okay, sorry.
Your knowledge of classroom education must prepare you to be able to pull these students
(07:26):
in and to be able to say, I know what a third grader is supposed to know.
I know what a kindergartner is supposed to know.
That must play a role in being able to do these new jobs in a great way.
Can you maybe elaborate on that?
I just had that thought myself, so I'm still kind of thinking through it.
How does that work?
How does your knowledge as prior educators in a classroom affect how you're going to
(07:50):
do your jobs?
Yeah.
Katie here.
You know, something that a lot of people that aren't in education and sometimes in education,
they hear the word like standards and the state standards or Common Core standards.
And although they can feel frustrating when you're not sure how to unpack them, for us
(08:15):
coming from a general ed classroom into a situation like this, we've worked with our
state standards.
And so regardless of what curriculum our district is using, we know what the standards are that
are going to be taught and worked on proficiency in their classroom.
(08:36):
So we outside of, you know, we're starting Witten Wisdom for a literacy curriculum this
year, even though we're not masters of that curriculum, we're masters of the grade level
standards so we can look at what we want to achieve in the STEM class and be able to incorporate
(08:57):
those grade level standards into what we're doing.
I'm a little I'm wondering, I'm a little jealous and I'm not even a classroom teacher that
you get to connect the dots a little more than maybe a general ed teacher might have
to do because they have to move to skill building, but you actually get to use those skills and
connect them.
(09:17):
How do you plan for something like that?
Do you guys have like day one like, hey, remember that you did measurements last year?
I'm talking too much.
Who would like to answer?
Jolene here.
So like any school year in the STEM lab, we'll be starting our year out with lots of growth
mindset building, problem solving, and really teaching the kids what STEM class will be
(09:40):
all about this year.
But then in terms of planning, we have we do have a plan, but our plan is flexible and
that we really want to go where the kids take us.
So we're going to follow their lead and what their what sparks their interest in STEM class
and making sure we're really providing them with the skills they need to become critical
thinkers, which is really going to help them across all grade levels and all disciplines.
(10:06):
So on Friday next week, if you guys are successful, what does you know, little Dan Bader come
home and say about STEM STEM class?
This is Jennifer.
So we first of all want to use CSAW as a platform to be able to show parents to be able to allow
(10:30):
little Dan to show his mom and dad, you know, look at the video I just made of my, you know,
earthquake project or whatever it is.
So we want to definitely use as much technology as we can to to allow students to show those
things.
But we also want them to not only, you know, talk about the physical building or car that
(10:54):
they made, but also to, you know, be able to explain why they made that car, what is
the purpose behind it?
What is the objective that they were they were trying to get out of that lesson?
As far as you know, planning to we we know that each project could take several weeks
for a class, you know, we want them to go through all of those parts of the learning
(11:17):
process.
We want them to to plan to collaborate before they start creating and building.
So they they have an understanding of, you know, the science topic and vocabulary that
they can then use along with the coding to, you know, create an end project.
So to be able to tell their parents, you know, when they have that final creation on week
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two or week three, this is what led up to to my end result.
And this is maybe what failed initially and what I had to debug, what I had to tweak to
to get to this end product.
And we also want to tie in some literature to be able to give them a starting off point
(12:01):
of, you know, this character struggled with, you know, making a scooter for her dog, you
know, attachment.
And I was kind of like her.
You know, I made multiple tries and failed and had to figure out, you know, which part
of this didn't work that I, you know, my partner had to work together as a team to to solve.
(12:23):
So there's so much that goes into these great hands on real world projects that I think,
you know, they'll have a lot to talk about.
I'll even add on to that.
I am really excited for students to understand and work through a productive struggle.
I, you know, with technology, there's so much instant gratification for adults and students
(12:49):
and to be really kind of going back and teaching our students like struggle and fail is OK
as long as where you go from there.
And so teaching them that productive struggle, but then also with their peers, getting back
into those communication skills and how do you work with somebody and how do you fail
(13:15):
with someone, problem solve and come back at it.
Because that too, you know, especially still coming out of covid and students not being
in the classroom or not being, you know, working in groups and stuff so much just being independent
work on Chromebooks, getting them back into groups, problem solving and doing that in
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a team setting.
Do you have a thought on it?
Yep, this is Joleen here.
I want to add on to that.
I really want students to come home just like very excited about the possibilities of the
things they're going to do in STEM class.
And then I think that we'll start to see even more success when we do activities or projects
in STEM class and it sparks their curiosity outside of the classroom.
(14:03):
So they're going to take it home with them.
And I want to whether we're learning about something with space, I want to learn more
about this.
You know, where can we go to the library?
Where can we learn more about this topic?
And so I think that the goal not only is to have them do these projects like within the
STEM class, but kind of to support them in lifelong learning of things that they're passionate
about and then start to even look at a young age like for career paths, things that open
(14:28):
new doors for them.
Yeah, I was going to ask about that because during the referendum, we talked about career
exploration, exposing children to job possibilities throughout their educational career so that
when they get to be get to the point where they have to start choosing a little bit of
a specialty, they might have something in mind.
(14:49):
How do you introduce that to the wide range of ages that you guys are going to be encountering?
Well, so this is Jennifer.
You know, we had a guest speaker yesterday talk about how, you know, kids with learning
disabilities, children who struggle with, you know, literacy or math can shine and stem
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because it's not just one skill that they're using.
And you know, I immediately think of specific kids I've taught over the years who might
not feel very successful in school because of some of those disabilities or, you know,
challenges that they face.
(15:33):
But we're hoping that when they come to us, they, you know, maybe kind of have that tinkering,
you know, mechanic mind that, yeah, they might not be able to read well, but they can build
like amazing houses out of blocks.
And we're, you know, we're hoping that they'll be able to see future careers and in a different
(16:00):
way, you know, and see that there are a lot of opportunities beyond just reading class,
writing class, you know, what they're used to.
I think it'll really open kids' eyes, especially the ones that might not feel as successful
as some of their peers on a daily basis, now come into this new opportunity to shine and
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to explore, you know, other options.
Yeah, you know, kind of hitting on the, I know a Blakewood family who's one of the students
might be kind of what you're thinking about that this summer he fashioned his own crossbow
out of popsicle sticks on a Saturday using rubber bands and with no help or instruction
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from parents.
It's just something that he wanted to do mechanically, but I know he struggles, you know, to sit
still and to do other things.
We might be thinking of the same person.
Oh, right.
Because it might have been my student.
We'll share offline.
But anyway, yes.
But yeah, I mean that, I interviewed so many of our career and technology students who
just said, I knew I wanted to do something with my hands.
(17:12):
Yeah, I took calculus this year, but, and I'm a 4.0 student, but I want to go do this
because I know that that's just where my passion is.
I want to build things and work on things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Katie here.
To kind of elaborate on that, there's so many, when we look at some of our littles right
(17:32):
now, kindergarten, first, second, third grade, the jobs that will exist for them when they're
leaving high school or leaving college don't even exist yet.
Like, we can't even imagine some of these careers that are going to exist.
And so it can feel challenging to how do we set our students up for success for a job
that does not exist yet.
(17:55):
And I think what we're doing by introducing STEM and technology and engineering at the
youngest age, we are at least giving them that foundation so that when they are getting
into high school and beyond, we are laying that foundation where they are going to be
prepared to step into any situation and they're not going to feel behind.
(18:21):
In fact, being the first district in the area to be doing this, we are going to give our
students an advantage when they are getting into those older grades.
They will already have the foundation of engineering and how gears work and inputs and outputs
and that foundation of coding.
(18:42):
I guess kind of back to that question I had a minute ago, though.
When you introduce students to careers, is it profiles of an engineer?
Do you have engineers coming in the classroom?
What are your thoughts on that?
I mean, you're building this from scratch.
This is Jolene here.
This is a great time to advocate for any local businesses that would love to come in.
(19:03):
Please reach out to us because that is one of our goals, especially local businesses
in the South Milwaukee area, to come in and kind of talk to students about their careers
and what they do that is STEM related.
But also we have different varying things within the curriculum we're using this year
that will explore various career paths for students that we're going to use with hands
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on creations and then be like, if this is something you're really passionate about and
you really enjoyed this product, this project that we did, this is maybe the career path
that you maybe you would be interested in when you're older because this is something
that if you were an architect, this is the kind of thing you would be working on day
to day, those type of things.
Yeah.
Okay.
And I just wanted to add too, not only community members, but family members that have specific
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jobs because wow, what a great way for a child to feel empowered and excited about this if
they know I have a family member, I have a cousin, I have a neighbor that does some of
this work and I can relate to that because the more background knowledge we spark in
a child, the more connections we can make to what their world is outside of the school,
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the more excited they'll be about.
Yeah.
And I wanted to thank you for making reference to my specific part of the strategic plan,
community engagement.
I am looking to get members of the community into our schools and our schools out into
the community.
What a great opportunity to do that.
I also have a follow up question.
(20:36):
You are starting from scratch.
What guidance did you find out in the world to start building your programs or are you
inventing as you go?
It's a combination of both.
I will say that we have some really amazing people in our district that have already given
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us some guidance and tools and ideas to help us get started.
But I think as we go throughout this year, being able to have the flexibility to build
and imagine what it will look like for years to come.
So students will not be repeating activities and even activities that we're doing this
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year probably some of them won't be repeated next year as we continue to just build up
what the program wants to look like.
Like Jolene has said a few times, really let this be student driven.
So looking at different themes or ideas that students are interested in and seeing how
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we can align some projects that would match those grade level standards.
We have also attended trainings though for the different curriculum we'll be using.
And we attended a STEAM conference in Oshkosh and we'll be in February attending another
one and possibly talking at it or teaching at it.
(22:09):
So in addition we've been talking with other elementary STEM teachers nationwide.
I know someone in Portland for example that we got on Zoom with and picked her brain for
an hour as to what could we improve starting off which definitely helped us think through
(22:30):
our planning of this first trimester.
Okay.
This is Jolene here.
I think one of the things we're most grateful for with the referendum funds is that we are
able to be really intentional and thoughtful about what we're doing with the students and
we're not required to use all the money by a specific date like a startup date at the
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beginning of the year so we're not pressured to go out and order a specific 3D printers
or materials that maybe we're not going to use.
And so we're kind of using those funds to purchase things as we go along that we know
are going to be the best tools for our students to use.
For your colleagues who might be listening, we've moved to this kind of, it's not kind
(23:17):
of, this professional learning community model.
How do you fit into that?
In my mind I see you as ties that bind between the same way that your discipline does but
how is that functionally going to work?
What do you do when you're sitting in those meetings with classroom teachers?
(23:40):
This is Jennifer.
So first of all we have to find common meeting times and I think for now that'll probably
be our half days on Wednesdays when we're able to meet with as many teachers as possible
or as many grade level teams.
And yeah, ideally we want to be as collaborative as possible with teachers and making sure
(24:01):
that we are only supporting what they're already doing in the classroom.
Which is why we are participating in the ACT 20 modules and making sure not only with math
and science but with all of the content that they're teaching, it's all going to be a part
of STEM whether it's in the acronym or not.
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They're going to be using creative art skills, they're going to be using writing with reflections
and reading with directions of the coding and it's all going to tie in which is what
makes this so exciting.
This is Jolene here.
I think we're also, the three of us professionals have a lot of experience being part of a professional
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learning community so we're not new going into that and we are stepping all new out
of the classroom into the specialist position so we're very in the know of what it's like
to be in the classroom, general classroom teacher's shoes and making sure that we're
really supporting them if there are things that they do with their students as they work
(25:06):
through the new reading curriculum.
If there are particular things that they found their students more passionate about or they
would need more support with and that's kind of where we come in where we would do STEM
projects around those particular themes that they're working through.
Gotcha, gotcha.
Yeah, I guess parents need to know, maybe we should have said this at the beginning,
that in hallway speak I guess you guys are a special, right?
(25:30):
So when your student comes home they'll talk about, oh we had specials this week, we had
library or we had physical education.
You guys, STEM is a special and going back to that referendum we were talking about supporting
our teachers, our classroom teachers.
We identified that teachers at the elementary level needed more time during the day to grade,
(25:53):
to get ready for a lesson, get whatever.
So this is it, we're giving them prep time while you get to have their students for a
period of time so that they get a break to go to the bathroom and do the work they need
to do when students aren't around.
So how does that change the dynamic of your classrooms that you're a special now, right?
(26:16):
You are something that's a break for them from the rest of their day.
That's different, right?
I, Katie here, love the idea now as a specialist that I get to connect with the entire student
body and that STEM gets to be that thing that connects me with the entire building.
(26:44):
And coming out of the classroom knowing that this is offering support for those teachers,
elementary teachers, the planning across all content, meeting with teams, it's a lot.
And I don't know that everyone realizes how much goes into specifically elementary planning
(27:05):
when you are planning for all content areas.
So knowing that we get to offer that support to them and whether it be pre-teaching or
re-teaching concepts and then also just being able to give them that extra time.
So they can get done the things that they need to do.
We're also hoping, this is Jennifer, that they'll be able to make a lot more connections
(27:30):
both in both classrooms to the concepts we're teaching.
So for example, if we're teaching a unit on magnets and they had just learned that maybe
in a different way with their regular ed class, they'll come into us then and say, oh my gosh,
this connects to what we just did with so and so.
(27:50):
They'll be able to make so many more ways of understanding in their brain this concept
versus just one and done kind of thing with their science unit.
And then on the reverse side, if we're the ones kind of starting teaching a specific
concept and then the teacher reinforces that later on in her science unit or math, they'll
(28:17):
again make those connections.
So we're hoping the background knowledge will just multiply in their brain and really solidify
all of the concepts that they'll be using on a day-to-day basis and they'll see how
measurement you can use so many ways, not just measuring the fish in first grade and
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then they're done.
They'll be able to apply everything.
Yeah, and that skill set, the practical skill set and having it stick is something that
last year when I did the story about STEM, maybe it was two years ago, that the middle
school STEM teacher found herself reteaching measuring so that she could accomplish what
(29:02):
she needed and also found that collaboration you had mentioned, she was working on that
because the high school was telling her that students couldn't work together, that they
didn't have that skill when they got to the technology classes.
So I guess the question I have is how do you connect the dots from what you guys are doing
(29:23):
to what's going to happen in elementary or middle school STEM and then when they start
exploring the technology offerings that we have?
Just being really intentional with everything we do, figuring out where needs are in the
(29:43):
classroom.
So, you know, we've even talked about looking at our state assessment.
Are there standards that the classroom teachers are struggling to hit in math that we can
at least expose students to?
But with our group work and problem solving and all of that, just being so intentional
about how we are approaching things and making sure that our students are getting what they
(30:11):
need by us ourselves communicating with each other.
This is Julene.
I'll add on to what Katie said and what you said about what the high school mentioned
about kids struggling to work together or collaborate.
So being really intentional, starting with that mindset in kindergarten of this is what
collaboration looks like.
It's okay to try and make mistakes.
(30:32):
It's a safe zone for all of us, you know, that we keep working to solve a problem and
become really critical thinkers so that by the time they move on to even like middle
school, they will already have those skill sets to be able to kind of take on anything
in any class that they go to, not just STEM class and kind of take it in stride and have
that mindset of like this is difficult, but I'm going to work through it and, you know,
(30:54):
I can figure it out and I can collaborate for support.
Yeah, one of the things is learning to disagree and still keep moving forward on a project,
right?
I mean, I know that that was a struggle at the middle school and actually working that
through all of our, when we talk about social emotional learning, what we're talking about
is productive work skills that you're going to use in your classroom or in your life when
(31:20):
you leave that, hey, I lost this one.
My argument didn't follow through, but I'm not mad at my boss because I'll get a chance
next time.
So I just hope our listeners like grasp that that that's what we're talking about when
we're talking about whether it's a class in the middle school where we learn all the different
(31:40):
ways to cope with our feelings, you know, and, and digest them so that we can move on and
not not struggle with our friends.
But then also a very practical STEM application is someone's going to be the leader in the
team.
Someone's going to make a decision that maybe I don't like and, but I still have to contribute
to that team and, and collaborate.
(32:04):
What's that look like for a kindergartner, a third grader and a fifth grader?
Yeah, no, it's this is Jennifer.
It's really exciting to me.
I was just talking to my daughter about this last night thinking about like seeing in five
years the kindergartners starting this year with us and where they'll be.
We're hoping they will be collaboration rock stars like they're going to be so willing
(32:27):
to to take on projects without blinking an eye.
You know, I think they'll be able to create and not even think that they can't with that
fixed mindset going and they'll just know they can.
And you know, thinking about my own children being in robotics for years and how they've
(32:48):
grown and me watching them, you know, over time take on different roles within that team
and initially be nervous about it.
I'm nervous about starting as a STEM teacher and having having having done this role before.
But again, that's how we teach our students by example, you know, this this might be tricky.
(33:10):
I might say to my fifth graders, you know, let's work together on solving this and being
just honest, you know, from the get go.
We are all a team.
We are all working together.
And you know, I think this is very empowering to students and that will really be evident
as they advance throughout this program over the years.
(33:31):
And we're hoping they'll go to middle school just ready without, you know, blinking an eye
that this is going to be a challenge.
It'll just be new challenges.
I'll always be tackling because I'll be so used to it.
Yeah, I was thinking that they are going to be able to do more in middle school and more
in high school because you guys can be multipliers.
You're going to rocket those basic skills through there so they can don't have to stop
(33:53):
and go back.
They can just keep going forward because we're talking about our youngest in our society.
What role does play have in a STEM classroom?
This is Jolene here.
So in the lower elementary level, play is a huge part of the STEM, especially when kids
are creating things, designing things through play, coming up with problems on their own.
(34:19):
One example would be last year in the kindergarten class I was teaching.
The kids would work during the day and it would be kind of messy on the floor and they
decided to invent and create like their own vacuum cleaners during playtime.
So they had many different prototypes that they walked through and it was very student
driven and it was open ended.
They were able to use all the STEM type toys within the classroom.
(34:40):
So we have purchased some of that stuff for the STEM labs and we'll purchase more as we
see what students really are interested in using and we'll create STEM challenges for
them and as they come to us with problems that they see either in their classroom or
world then we'll work together with them through play to kind of spark that interest in creating
(35:03):
things and making prototypes and trying that out so that they continue with that.
Katie, what is play?
Like if we had to define play in a school or actually in life, what does play mean?
Play is the ability to be imaginative and creative without huge constraints or restriction.
(35:31):
I also think kind of with my own little kids at home and for them like kind of forcing
them to like be bored a little like turning the screens off and through their kind of
I'm bored, seeing what comes out of that and supplying them with different materials but
(36:03):
really kind of laying off of the constraints that they have and seeing what comes out of
it.
Yeah, I mean I have a two year old and I watch her explore the world that way and treat her
baby one second as a real baby and trying to feed it and the next it's on the floor
and she's moved on to something else.
(36:24):
That exploration is fun to watch and I'm a little jealous you guys get to see that in
mass and then actually try to apply it towards a goal.
That's going to be awesome to see.
So we're going to be the ones giving them the box the baby came in though and not the
baby.
You know they're going to have to get creative with random objects.
I think of my daughter too who is now 18 but she is that kid that can make something from
(36:48):
nothing and that's all she's done her whole life.
She never asked me mom buy me all the stuff at Michael's.
She would say can I have that shirt you're going to give to goodwill.
I'm going to tear that apart and make it into a scarf or you know that's kind of I think
what STEM lab is but with a purpose with an objective and I think again it's very empowering
(37:11):
for kids to be able to look outside of the box see things that they can do with everyday
objects to solve problems to make the world a better place to improve life.
So in some way.
(37:40):
Here with us now to give us a little more global view about what the STEM program means
for our schools and the community support of it in the referendum is Superintendent
Deidre Raymer.
Welcome.
Thanks Dan.
I am beyond excited at what we're able to offer to our kids in this next year.
(38:01):
We had a plan around our referendum and at the same time we were busy building our five
year strategic plan for all of our students and our families and our community to know
what are we working on in the school district of South Milwaukee with our students.
So that plan was approved by our board in March and the referendum was passed in April.
So when you tie together our big global goals and our kids having the skills that employers
(38:25):
are looking for whether they choose to go to college or not their communication and
collaboration and problem solving and personal responsibility and showing up on time and
doing the things that they're asked to do.
And so those are skills we want to embed through science math reading English everything else
we teach in schools as well as those content areas standards that we need students to get
(38:50):
at.
And so part of that work is also making sure that students understand from really young
ages what do they want to be when they grow up and we ask little kids that all the time
but then we don't tie some of that to what we're actually doing in schools.
So STEM is one way to do that and then over the next couple of years we're hoping to add
in additional ways to do that just to give elementary students that exposure.
(39:14):
If you really like to code and do these blockchains and all these other things that you're learning
to explore on that are totally aligned to the science standards in that elementary STEM
program if you really enjoy that these are some jobs that are out there that you might
want to explore and then it'll help students choose courses that are middle school choose
(39:37):
courses that are high school so that they leave us knowing what they want to do and
lots of times leave us at least ruling out a bunch of things they learned they don't
like to do because maybe they won't like some of those things and then I'm not going to
pursue some of those other opportunities through middle and high school as I get older.
So that really was the big idea and we always want to look out for our teachers as well
(40:00):
and we knew we needed to find a way to get elementary teachers some more prep time.
So to do that in a way that actually provides a cool opportunity for students and has this
other benefit to it it seemed like a win-win.
Thank you.
I was going to ask about that.
When we talked about the referendum last year and had that conversation we talked about
safe supported and successful and this kind of falls on a couple of those buckets.
(40:25):
Can you maybe just just draw that out?
How did it how did that happen?
Sure yeah safe as we know is about like safety measures but that includes the psychological
safety is to mental health supports and things like that that we offer in our schools.
We've been doing some of that work for many years here and so we'll continue that work
and continue to expand on it as we can and then there was physical safety things like
(40:49):
traffic studies and cameras and door locks and things like that working on all of that
at the same time.
That supported and successful piece was really that exposure to as many opportunities as
possible in their time in high school.
We have so many students who get an industry certification before they graduate from our
high school or already have under their belt five, ten, eighteen college credits before
(41:13):
they leave us but not all of our students even know to access all of those programs
and not all of our families do so this is a way that we can be more strategic and aligned
and communicate with our families around all those opportunities so that again we can have
our kids taking advantage of all the things we do here in the school district of South
Milwaukee that we do well but it's also about supported which means we want to recruit and
(41:36):
retain the highest quality teachers so we were able to make some adjustments to our
salary schedule to have us be more competitive in the area with some of those referendum
dollars and the STEM programming also added some prep time some additional preparation
time for our elementary teachers who don't have a ton at the present moment they don't
get nearly as much as middle school and high school and they teach all the subjects at
(42:00):
elementary so part of that being supportive is having salaries that are competitive in
our area and work conditions that also are at or above what other districts are offering.
In that vein people might wonder why not put in the classroom I think you just answered
that but from a big education standpoint making STEM a special what does that help our kids
(42:29):
to be successful what is that what does that add and not just integrating this in the classroom
or having a push-in where they're not where the teachers sitting in the back of the room
having these rooms and having these specialists what does that get us?
It gets us a whole lot of things one of the things that got us was three classroom teachers
who are super passionate about getting to teach this subject to every single grade level
(42:53):
and when you do a push-in model and you have one teacher in a building you're not going
to ever get to all of the students and so part of it was that right and part of it is
that we have been working on a lot of technology integration with our technology team we have
a coach around that that works with our elementaries in our middle schools who's amazing and fantastic
and has tons of skills in that area but that person can't get to every single teacher in
(43:17):
each one of our spaces so the idea of adding it as a special allows us to make sure every
single student gets that same exposure to those concepts of science technology engineering
and math they're learning problem-solving they're learning how to communicate they're
learning how to collaborate and get along with others and work in a group they're also
learning coding and engineering principles and all of those pieces of that work that's
(43:42):
also exploratory for jobs and futures and things that kids might be passionate about
as well so it really does just let us touch on every single student that we get to get
our hands on in the course of the week.
Well thank you for joining us and thanks for for laying that out I'm really excited to
see what happens this year with those teachers and I know I've encouraged them to send me
(44:03):
stuff that we can put out on our social media and on our referendum tracker so thanks again.
That's our episode for this week a heartfelt thank you to Katie Castleton, Jennifer Hayner
(44:23):
and Jolene Wazalewski for taking the time on a very busy back to week back to school
week to sit down and talk to me and to district superintendent Deidre Raymer this has been
the SMI Podcast we will see you next time.
When I was a kid, probably like second grade or younger, I was obsessed with this alarm
(00:11):
clock that my dad had.
It looked like the emoji we now have for an alarm clock, except that it was sleek and
black, had a round face and case.
It was analog and the hands and numbers were glow in the dark, that even in broad daylight
seemed to have an eerie glow.
It didn't have batteries, you had to wind it up by hand by turning a silver ring on
(00:33):
the back.
There was also this curved slide that could moderate how loud the alarm, real bells inside
the casing, were.
I loved to hear it tick and set off the alarm for a few minutes from whatever time it was
and wait impatiently for it to go off.
One day I got a hold of this alarm clock.
Dad might have upgraded or something because it wasn't being used at the time.
(00:55):
I must have had a screwdriver too because I completely disassembled it to look at all
the gears and bells and learn how that volume slide worked.
I didn't dig too much more into the machinery of the clock.
The guts were pretty self-contained and even I knew I didn't want to pull more of it apart.
It didn't really matter though because I couldn't get the thing back together.
(01:19):
I think I hid it under my bed or in a toy box.
No one ever came looking for it so I didn't have to explain how I broke it.
I'm Dan Bader, Communication Coordinator for the School District of South Milwaukee.
Today we're talking about the district's new STEM program for elementary students.
But in a bigger sense, we're talking about engaging curiosity in a hands-on way to look
(01:41):
at something and learn how it works and why.
Or better yet, to build something and figure out how to make it work.
I'm excited to introduce you to our STEM teachers who are on an exploration of their own, building
a new program from the ground up, fueled by the natural curiosity of our youngest students.
Here's our conversation.
(02:12):
Well joining us today on the podcast are three newest STEM teachers.
We never had a STEM program in the elementary school so they're by default new.
Welcome to the podcast.
Why don't you introduce yourselves?
I am Jennifer Hainer and I'm working at Lakeview Elementary and EW Luther Elementary.
(02:33):
I'm Jolene Wazalewski and I will be at Blakewood Elementary and EW Luther Elementary.
And Katie Castleton at Rossin Elementary.
Katie, why don't you start?
Tell me what a STEM program means to you for the little ones.
What are we going to be learning?
Everything.
STEM in the elementary setting is so exciting and South Milwaukee is really the first district
(03:00):
in this area to be piloting a program like this, starting as young as kindergarten.
Some of the things I'm excited for them to jump in is starting to learn some block coding
and really be approaching that coding as a second language.
So just like students are learning Spanish and French, we're going to be teaching them
(03:22):
coding as another language.
I'm excited for this program and just what you see this year is not going to be what
you see in years to come because the program is going to continually be changing and evolving
as technology and things in the world change.
(03:43):
Jolene, what are your thoughts on that?
What's your classroom going to look like and what are they going to experience?
I'm looking forward to having a very student driven classroom.
So they're going to drive the train kind of on what it is we explore and really dive deep
into in STEM this year, things that they're passionate about.
I'm really excited to spark the curiosity through all the grade levels.
(04:05):
I know as kids get older, they aren't as inventive or they maybe start to lose that self-confidence
and creativity so much that a kindergartner would have.
So I'm really excited to work with the third, fourth, fifth grade level and really get to
what they're passionate about because you often find that it's kids who maybe don't
(04:26):
stand out in the classroom that could really get a chance to shine when they're in STEM
class.
And your thoughts?
Yeah, I'm really excited for all of the pieces to come together and this to be a very integrated
curriculum.
I'm excited for students to be able to see how they can apply ELA and science and math
(04:47):
and technology into one problem that is real world, that is hands on.
Being able to work as a team, problem solving together, seeing a project from the beginning
brainstorming phase through the planning, creating and then reflecting, debugging code
like Katie had said, using that language to really kind of go crazy with so many different
(05:13):
ways that they can express themselves and work together as a team to kind of create
really cool projects and masterpieces.
Sure.
You know, we've thrown around this acronym STEM, science, technology, engineering and
math, but from a thinking out of parent perspective, I have a second grader at home.
(05:37):
What math that a second grader is learning is going to be useful in a classroom and do
you coordinate with the second grade teachers to talk about what their capacity is, you
know, what they've learned so far so that they could use it to solve a problem in one
of your classrooms?
Who wants to take that one?
(05:58):
Right away I think of measurement, I think of patterns and sequencing and kids needing
to, you know, when they're coding and they're wanting a character to move 15 pieces, you
know, they can use a ruler to determine that, for example.
They're going to be looking at how they can design things that function, you know, as
(06:19):
an engineer and, you know, take into account, you know, addition, subtraction, how things
are just going to relate sequentially to each other as they create and build.
So I think ideally, yes, we definitely want to be working collaboratively with not only
(06:44):
classroom teachers, but also possibly specialists at some point, adding in maybe that A into
the STEM.
And you know, the more collaboration, the better.
We're starting off with science and aligning everything to the Amplify curriculum to begin
with and then we eventually want to tie in everything else.
(07:05):
Sure.
What in your background, I was thinking about you were kindergarten teachers last year,
right?
First.
First grade, sorry.
You were the kindergarten teacher.
Okay, sorry.
Your knowledge of classroom education must prepare you to be able to pull these students
(07:26):
in and to be able to say, I know what a third grader is supposed to know.
I know what a kindergartner is supposed to know.
That must play a role in being able to do these new jobs in a great way.
Can you maybe elaborate on that?
I just had that thought myself, so I'm still kind of thinking through it.
How does that work?
How does your knowledge as prior educators in a classroom affect how you're going to
(07:50):
do your jobs?
Yeah.
Katie here.
You know, something that a lot of people that aren't in education and sometimes in education,
they hear the word like standards and the state standards or Common Core standards.
And although they can feel frustrating when you're not sure how to unpack them, for us
(08:15):
coming from a general ed classroom into a situation like this, we've worked with our
state standards.
And so regardless of what curriculum our district is using, we know what the standards are that
are going to be taught and worked on proficiency in their classroom.
(08:36):
So we outside of, you know, we're starting Witten Wisdom for a literacy curriculum this
year, even though we're not masters of that curriculum, we're masters of the grade level
standards so we can look at what we want to achieve in the STEM class and be able to incorporate
(08:57):
those grade level standards into what we're doing.
I'm a little I'm wondering, I'm a little jealous and I'm not even a classroom teacher that
you get to connect the dots a little more than maybe a general ed teacher might have
to do because they have to move to skill building, but you actually get to use those skills and
connect them.
(09:17):
How do you plan for something like that?
Do you guys have like day one like, hey, remember that you did measurements last year?
I'm talking too much.
Who would like to answer?
Jolene here.
So like any school year in the STEM lab, we'll be starting our year out with lots of growth
mindset building, problem solving, and really teaching the kids what STEM class will be
(09:40):
all about this year.
But then in terms of planning, we have we do have a plan, but our plan is flexible and
that we really want to go where the kids take us.
So we're going to follow their lead and what their what sparks their interest in STEM class
and making sure we're really providing them with the skills they need to become critical
thinkers, which is really going to help them across all grade levels and all disciplines.
(10:06):
So on Friday next week, if you guys are successful, what does you know, little Dan Bader come
home and say about STEM STEM class?
This is Jennifer.
So we first of all want to use CSAW as a platform to be able to show parents to be able to allow
(10:30):
little Dan to show his mom and dad, you know, look at the video I just made of my, you know,
earthquake project or whatever it is.
So we want to definitely use as much technology as we can to to allow students to show those
things.
But we also want them to not only, you know, talk about the physical building or car that
(10:54):
they made, but also to, you know, be able to explain why they made that car, what is
the purpose behind it?
What is the objective that they were they were trying to get out of that lesson?
As far as you know, planning to we we know that each project could take several weeks
for a class, you know, we want them to go through all of those parts of the learning
(11:17):
process.
We want them to to plan to collaborate before they start creating and building.
So they they have an understanding of, you know, the science topic and vocabulary that
they can then use along with the coding to, you know, create an end project.
So to be able to tell their parents, you know, when they have that final creation on week
(11:40):
two or week three, this is what led up to to my end result.
And this is maybe what failed initially and what I had to debug, what I had to tweak to
to get to this end product.
And we also want to tie in some literature to be able to give them a starting off point
(12:01):
of, you know, this character struggled with, you know, making a scooter for her dog, you
know, attachment.
And I was kind of like her.
You know, I made multiple tries and failed and had to figure out, you know, which part
of this didn't work that I, you know, my partner had to work together as a team to to solve.
(12:23):
So there's so much that goes into these great hands on real world projects that I think,
you know, they'll have a lot to talk about.
I'll even add on to that.
I am really excited for students to understand and work through a productive struggle.
I, you know, with technology, there's so much instant gratification for adults and students
(12:49):
and to be really kind of going back and teaching our students like struggle and fail is OK
as long as where you go from there.
And so teaching them that productive struggle, but then also with their peers, getting back
into those communication skills and how do you work with somebody and how do you fail
(13:15):
with someone, problem solve and come back at it.
Because that too, you know, especially still coming out of covid and students not being
in the classroom or not being, you know, working in groups and stuff so much just being independent
work on Chromebooks, getting them back into groups, problem solving and doing that in
(13:39):
a team setting.
Do you have a thought on it?
Yep, this is Joleen here.
I want to add on to that.
I really want students to come home just like very excited about the possibilities of the
things they're going to do in STEM class.
And then I think that we'll start to see even more success when we do activities or projects
in STEM class and it sparks their curiosity outside of the classroom.
(14:03):
So they're going to take it home with them.
And I want to whether we're learning about something with space, I want to learn more
about this.
You know, where can we go to the library?
Where can we learn more about this topic?
And so I think that the goal not only is to have them do these projects like within the
STEM class, but kind of to support them in lifelong learning of things that they're passionate
about and then start to even look at a young age like for career paths, things that open
(14:28):
new doors for them.
Yeah, I was going to ask about that because during the referendum, we talked about career
exploration, exposing children to job possibilities throughout their educational career so that
when they get to be get to the point where they have to start choosing a little bit of
a specialty, they might have something in mind.
(14:49):
How do you introduce that to the wide range of ages that you guys are going to be encountering?
Well, so this is Jennifer.
You know, we had a guest speaker yesterday talk about how, you know, kids with learning
disabilities, children who struggle with, you know, literacy or math can shine and stem
(15:11):
because it's not just one skill that they're using.
And you know, I immediately think of specific kids I've taught over the years who might
not feel very successful in school because of some of those disabilities or, you know,
challenges that they face.
(15:33):
But we're hoping that when they come to us, they, you know, maybe kind of have that tinkering,
you know, mechanic mind that, yeah, they might not be able to read well, but they can build
like amazing houses out of blocks.
And we're, you know, we're hoping that they'll be able to see future careers and in a different
(16:00):
way, you know, and see that there are a lot of opportunities beyond just reading class,
writing class, you know, what they're used to.
I think it'll really open kids' eyes, especially the ones that might not feel as successful
as some of their peers on a daily basis, now come into this new opportunity to shine and
(16:26):
to explore, you know, other options.
Yeah, you know, kind of hitting on the, I know a Blakewood family who's one of the students
might be kind of what you're thinking about that this summer he fashioned his own crossbow
out of popsicle sticks on a Saturday using rubber bands and with no help or instruction
(16:48):
from parents.
It's just something that he wanted to do mechanically, but I know he struggles, you know, to sit
still and to do other things.
We might be thinking of the same person.
Oh, right.
Because it might have been my student.
We'll share offline.
But anyway, yes.
But yeah, I mean that, I interviewed so many of our career and technology students who
just said, I knew I wanted to do something with my hands.
(17:12):
Yeah, I took calculus this year, but, and I'm a 4.0 student, but I want to go do this
because I know that that's just where my passion is.
I want to build things and work on things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Katie here.
To kind of elaborate on that, there's so many, when we look at some of our littles right
(17:32):
now, kindergarten, first, second, third grade, the jobs that will exist for them when they're
leaving high school or leaving college don't even exist yet.
Like, we can't even imagine some of these careers that are going to exist.
And so it can feel challenging to how do we set our students up for success for a job
that does not exist yet.
(17:55):
And I think what we're doing by introducing STEM and technology and engineering at the
youngest age, we are at least giving them that foundation so that when they are getting
into high school and beyond, we are laying that foundation where they are going to be
prepared to step into any situation and they're not going to feel behind.
(18:21):
In fact, being the first district in the area to be doing this, we are going to give our
students an advantage when they are getting into those older grades.
They will already have the foundation of engineering and how gears work and inputs and outputs
and that foundation of coding.
(18:42):
I guess kind of back to that question I had a minute ago, though.
When you introduce students to careers, is it profiles of an engineer?
Do you have engineers coming in the classroom?
What are your thoughts on that?
I mean, you're building this from scratch.
This is Jolene here.
This is a great time to advocate for any local businesses that would love to come in.
(19:03):
Please reach out to us because that is one of our goals, especially local businesses
in the South Milwaukee area, to come in and kind of talk to students about their careers
and what they do that is STEM related.
But also we have different varying things within the curriculum we're using this year
that will explore various career paths for students that we're going to use with hands
(19:26):
on creations and then be like, if this is something you're really passionate about and
you really enjoyed this product, this project that we did, this is maybe the career path
that you maybe you would be interested in when you're older because this is something
that if you were an architect, this is the kind of thing you would be working on day
to day, those type of things.
Yeah.
Okay.
And I just wanted to add too, not only community members, but family members that have specific
(19:49):
jobs because wow, what a great way for a child to feel empowered and excited about this if
they know I have a family member, I have a cousin, I have a neighbor that does some of
this work and I can relate to that because the more background knowledge we spark in
a child, the more connections we can make to what their world is outside of the school,
(20:15):
the more excited they'll be about.
Yeah.
And I wanted to thank you for making reference to my specific part of the strategic plan,
community engagement.
I am looking to get members of the community into our schools and our schools out into
the community.
What a great opportunity to do that.
I also have a follow up question.
(20:36):
You are starting from scratch.
What guidance did you find out in the world to start building your programs or are you
inventing as you go?
It's a combination of both.
I will say that we have some really amazing people in our district that have already given
(20:58):
us some guidance and tools and ideas to help us get started.
But I think as we go throughout this year, being able to have the flexibility to build
and imagine what it will look like for years to come.
So students will not be repeating activities and even activities that we're doing this
(21:25):
year probably some of them won't be repeated next year as we continue to just build up
what the program wants to look like.
Like Jolene has said a few times, really let this be student driven.
So looking at different themes or ideas that students are interested in and seeing how
(21:45):
we can align some projects that would match those grade level standards.
We have also attended trainings though for the different curriculum we'll be using.
And we attended a STEAM conference in Oshkosh and we'll be in February attending another
one and possibly talking at it or teaching at it.
(22:09):
So in addition we've been talking with other elementary STEM teachers nationwide.
I know someone in Portland for example that we got on Zoom with and picked her brain for
an hour as to what could we improve starting off which definitely helped us think through
(22:30):
our planning of this first trimester.
Okay.
This is Jolene here.
I think one of the things we're most grateful for with the referendum funds is that we are
able to be really intentional and thoughtful about what we're doing with the students and
we're not required to use all the money by a specific date like a startup date at the
(22:52):
beginning of the year so we're not pressured to go out and order a specific 3D printers
or materials that maybe we're not going to use.
And so we're kind of using those funds to purchase things as we go along that we know
are going to be the best tools for our students to use.
For your colleagues who might be listening, we've moved to this kind of, it's not kind
(23:17):
of, this professional learning community model.
How do you fit into that?
In my mind I see you as ties that bind between the same way that your discipline does but
how is that functionally going to work?
What do you do when you're sitting in those meetings with classroom teachers?
(23:40):
This is Jennifer.
So first of all we have to find common meeting times and I think for now that'll probably
be our half days on Wednesdays when we're able to meet with as many teachers as possible
or as many grade level teams.
And yeah, ideally we want to be as collaborative as possible with teachers and making sure
(24:01):
that we are only supporting what they're already doing in the classroom.
Which is why we are participating in the ACT 20 modules and making sure not only with math
and science but with all of the content that they're teaching, it's all going to be a part
of STEM whether it's in the acronym or not.
(24:23):
They're going to be using creative art skills, they're going to be using writing with reflections
and reading with directions of the coding and it's all going to tie in which is what
makes this so exciting.
This is Jolene here.
I think we're also, the three of us professionals have a lot of experience being part of a professional
(24:45):
learning community so we're not new going into that and we are stepping all new out
of the classroom into the specialist position so we're very in the know of what it's like
to be in the classroom, general classroom teacher's shoes and making sure that we're
really supporting them if there are things that they do with their students as they work
(25:06):
through the new reading curriculum.
If there are particular things that they found their students more passionate about or they
would need more support with and that's kind of where we come in where we would do STEM
projects around those particular themes that they're working through.
Gotcha, gotcha.
Yeah, I guess parents need to know, maybe we should have said this at the beginning,
that in hallway speak I guess you guys are a special, right?
(25:30):
So when your student comes home they'll talk about, oh we had specials this week, we had
library or we had physical education.
You guys, STEM is a special and going back to that referendum we were talking about supporting
our teachers, our classroom teachers.
We identified that teachers at the elementary level needed more time during the day to grade,
(25:53):
to get ready for a lesson, get whatever.
So this is it, we're giving them prep time while you get to have their students for a
period of time so that they get a break to go to the bathroom and do the work they need
to do when students aren't around.
So how does that change the dynamic of your classrooms that you're a special now, right?
(26:16):
You are something that's a break for them from the rest of their day.
That's different, right?
I, Katie here, love the idea now as a specialist that I get to connect with the entire student
body and that STEM gets to be that thing that connects me with the entire building.
(26:44):
And coming out of the classroom knowing that this is offering support for those teachers,
elementary teachers, the planning across all content, meeting with teams, it's a lot.
And I don't know that everyone realizes how much goes into specifically elementary planning
(27:05):
when you are planning for all content areas.
So knowing that we get to offer that support to them and whether it be pre-teaching or
re-teaching concepts and then also just being able to give them that extra time.
So they can get done the things that they need to do.
We're also hoping, this is Jennifer, that they'll be able to make a lot more connections
(27:30):
both in both classrooms to the concepts we're teaching.
So for example, if we're teaching a unit on magnets and they had just learned that maybe
in a different way with their regular ed class, they'll come into us then and say, oh my gosh,
this connects to what we just did with so and so.
(27:50):
They'll be able to make so many more ways of understanding in their brain this concept
versus just one and done kind of thing with their science unit.
And then on the reverse side, if we're the ones kind of starting teaching a specific
concept and then the teacher reinforces that later on in her science unit or math, they'll
(28:17):
again make those connections.
So we're hoping the background knowledge will just multiply in their brain and really solidify
all of the concepts that they'll be using on a day-to-day basis and they'll see how
measurement you can use so many ways, not just measuring the fish in first grade and
(28:39):
then they're done.
They'll be able to apply everything.
Yeah, and that skill set, the practical skill set and having it stick is something that
last year when I did the story about STEM, maybe it was two years ago, that the middle
school STEM teacher found herself reteaching measuring so that she could accomplish what
(29:02):
she needed and also found that collaboration you had mentioned, she was working on that
because the high school was telling her that students couldn't work together, that they
didn't have that skill when they got to the technology classes.
So I guess the question I have is how do you connect the dots from what you guys are doing
(29:23):
to what's going to happen in elementary or middle school STEM and then when they start
exploring the technology offerings that we have?
Just being really intentional with everything we do, figuring out where needs are in the
(29:43):
classroom.
So, you know, we've even talked about looking at our state assessment.
Are there standards that the classroom teachers are struggling to hit in math that we can
at least expose students to?
But with our group work and problem solving and all of that, just being so intentional
about how we are approaching things and making sure that our students are getting what they
(30:11):
need by us ourselves communicating with each other.
This is Julene.
I'll add on to what Katie said and what you said about what the high school mentioned
about kids struggling to work together or collaborate.
So being really intentional, starting with that mindset in kindergarten of this is what
collaboration looks like.
It's okay to try and make mistakes.
(30:32):
It's a safe zone for all of us, you know, that we keep working to solve a problem and
become really critical thinkers so that by the time they move on to even like middle
school, they will already have those skill sets to be able to kind of take on anything
in any class that they go to, not just STEM class and kind of take it in stride and have
that mindset of like this is difficult, but I'm going to work through it and, you know,
(30:54):
I can figure it out and I can collaborate for support.
Yeah, one of the things is learning to disagree and still keep moving forward on a project,
right?
I mean, I know that that was a struggle at the middle school and actually working that
through all of our, when we talk about social emotional learning, what we're talking about
is productive work skills that you're going to use in your classroom or in your life when
(31:20):
you leave that, hey, I lost this one.
My argument didn't follow through, but I'm not mad at my boss because I'll get a chance
next time.
So I just hope our listeners like grasp that that that's what we're talking about when
we're talking about whether it's a class in the middle school where we learn all the different
(31:40):
ways to cope with our feelings, you know, and, and digest them so that we can move on and
not not struggle with our friends.
But then also a very practical STEM application is someone's going to be the leader in the
team.
Someone's going to make a decision that maybe I don't like and, but I still have to contribute
to that team and, and collaborate.
(32:04):
What's that look like for a kindergartner, a third grader and a fifth grader?
Yeah, no, it's this is Jennifer.
It's really exciting to me.
I was just talking to my daughter about this last night thinking about like seeing in five
years the kindergartners starting this year with us and where they'll be.
We're hoping they will be collaboration rock stars like they're going to be so willing
(32:27):
to to take on projects without blinking an eye.
You know, I think they'll be able to create and not even think that they can't with that
fixed mindset going and they'll just know they can.
And you know, thinking about my own children being in robotics for years and how they've
(32:48):
grown and me watching them, you know, over time take on different roles within that team
and initially be nervous about it.
I'm nervous about starting as a STEM teacher and having having having done this role before.
But again, that's how we teach our students by example, you know, this this might be tricky.
(33:10):
I might say to my fifth graders, you know, let's work together on solving this and being
just honest, you know, from the get go.
We are all a team.
We are all working together.
And you know, I think this is very empowering to students and that will really be evident
as they advance throughout this program over the years.
(33:31):
And we're hoping they'll go to middle school just ready without, you know, blinking an eye
that this is going to be a challenge.
It'll just be new challenges.
I'll always be tackling because I'll be so used to it.
Yeah, I was thinking that they are going to be able to do more in middle school and more
in high school because you guys can be multipliers.
You're going to rocket those basic skills through there so they can don't have to stop
(33:53):
and go back.
They can just keep going forward because we're talking about our youngest in our society.
What role does play have in a STEM classroom?
This is Jolene here.
So in the lower elementary level, play is a huge part of the STEM, especially when kids
are creating things, designing things through play, coming up with problems on their own.
(34:19):
One example would be last year in the kindergarten class I was teaching.
The kids would work during the day and it would be kind of messy on the floor and they
decided to invent and create like their own vacuum cleaners during playtime.
So they had many different prototypes that they walked through and it was very student
driven and it was open ended.
They were able to use all the STEM type toys within the classroom.
(34:40):
So we have purchased some of that stuff for the STEM labs and we'll purchase more as we
see what students really are interested in using and we'll create STEM challenges for
them and as they come to us with problems that they see either in their classroom or
world then we'll work together with them through play to kind of spark that interest in creating
(35:03):
things and making prototypes and trying that out so that they continue with that.
Katie, what is play?
Like if we had to define play in a school or actually in life, what does play mean?
Play is the ability to be imaginative and creative without huge constraints or restriction.
(35:31):
I also think kind of with my own little kids at home and for them like kind of forcing
them to like be bored a little like turning the screens off and through their kind of
I'm bored, seeing what comes out of that and supplying them with different materials but
(36:03):
really kind of laying off of the constraints that they have and seeing what comes out of
it.
Yeah, I mean I have a two year old and I watch her explore the world that way and treat her
baby one second as a real baby and trying to feed it and the next it's on the floor
and she's moved on to something else.
(36:24):
That exploration is fun to watch and I'm a little jealous you guys get to see that in
mass and then actually try to apply it towards a goal.
That's going to be awesome to see.
So we're going to be the ones giving them the box the baby came in though and not the
baby.
You know they're going to have to get creative with random objects.
I think of my daughter too who is now 18 but she is that kid that can make something from
(36:48):
nothing and that's all she's done her whole life.
She never asked me mom buy me all the stuff at Michael's.
She would say can I have that shirt you're going to give to goodwill.
I'm going to tear that apart and make it into a scarf or you know that's kind of I think
what STEM lab is but with a purpose with an objective and I think again it's very empowering
(37:11):
for kids to be able to look outside of the box see things that they can do with everyday
objects to solve problems to make the world a better place to improve life.
So in some way.
(37:40):
Here with us now to give us a little more global view about what the STEM program means
for our schools and the community support of it in the referendum is Superintendent
Deidre Raymer.
Welcome.
Thanks Dan.
I am beyond excited at what we're able to offer to our kids in this next year.
(38:01):
We had a plan around our referendum and at the same time we were busy building our five
year strategic plan for all of our students and our families and our community to know
what are we working on in the school district of South Milwaukee with our students.
So that plan was approved by our board in March and the referendum was passed in April.
So when you tie together our big global goals and our kids having the skills that employers
(38:25):
are looking for whether they choose to go to college or not their communication and
collaboration and problem solving and personal responsibility and showing up on time and
doing the things that they're asked to do.
And so those are skills we want to embed through science math reading English everything else
we teach in schools as well as those content areas standards that we need students to get
(38:50):
at.
And so part of that work is also making sure that students understand from really young
ages what do they want to be when they grow up and we ask little kids that all the time
but then we don't tie some of that to what we're actually doing in schools.
So STEM is one way to do that and then over the next couple of years we're hoping to add
in additional ways to do that just to give elementary students that exposure.
(39:14):
If you really like to code and do these blockchains and all these other things that you're learning
to explore on that are totally aligned to the science standards in that elementary STEM
program if you really enjoy that these are some jobs that are out there that you might
want to explore and then it'll help students choose courses that are middle school choose
(39:37):
courses that are high school so that they leave us knowing what they want to do and
lots of times leave us at least ruling out a bunch of things they learned they don't
like to do because maybe they won't like some of those things and then I'm not going to
pursue some of those other opportunities through middle and high school as I get older.
So that really was the big idea and we always want to look out for our teachers as well
(40:00):
and we knew we needed to find a way to get elementary teachers some more prep time.
So to do that in a way that actually provides a cool opportunity for students and has this
other benefit to it it seemed like a win-win.
Thank you.
I was going to ask about that.
When we talked about the referendum last year and had that conversation we talked about
safe supported and successful and this kind of falls on a couple of those buckets.
(40:25):
Can you maybe just just draw that out?
How did it how did that happen?
Sure yeah safe as we know is about like safety measures but that includes the psychological
safety is to mental health supports and things like that that we offer in our schools.
We've been doing some of that work for many years here and so we'll continue that work
and continue to expand on it as we can and then there was physical safety things like
(40:49):
traffic studies and cameras and door locks and things like that working on all of that
at the same time.
That supported and successful piece was really that exposure to as many opportunities as
possible in their time in high school.
We have so many students who get an industry certification before they graduate from our
high school or already have under their belt five, ten, eighteen college credits before
(41:13):
they leave us but not all of our students even know to access all of those programs
and not all of our families do so this is a way that we can be more strategic and aligned
and communicate with our families around all those opportunities so that again we can have
our kids taking advantage of all the things we do here in the school district of South
Milwaukee that we do well but it's also about supported which means we want to recruit and
(41:36):
retain the highest quality teachers so we were able to make some adjustments to our
salary schedule to have us be more competitive in the area with some of those referendum
dollars and the STEM programming also added some prep time some additional preparation
time for our elementary teachers who don't have a ton at the present moment they don't
get nearly as much as middle school and high school and they teach all the subjects at
(42:00):
elementary so part of that being supportive is having salaries that are competitive in
our area and work conditions that also are at or above what other districts are offering.
In that vein people might wonder why not put in the classroom I think you just answered
that but from a big education standpoint making STEM a special what does that help our kids
(42:29):
to be successful what is that what does that add and not just integrating this in the classroom
or having a push-in where they're not where the teachers sitting in the back of the room
having these rooms and having these specialists what does that get us?
It gets us a whole lot of things one of the things that got us was three classroom teachers
who are super passionate about getting to teach this subject to every single grade level
(42:53):
and when you do a push-in model and you have one teacher in a building you're not going
to ever get to all of the students and so part of it was that right and part of it is
that we have been working on a lot of technology integration with our technology team we have
a coach around that that works with our elementaries in our middle schools who's amazing and fantastic
and has tons of skills in that area but that person can't get to every single teacher in
(43:17):
each one of our spaces so the idea of adding it as a special allows us to make sure every
single student gets that same exposure to those concepts of science technology engineering
and math they're learning problem-solving they're learning how to communicate they're
learning how to collaborate and get along with others and work in a group they're also
learning coding and engineering principles and all of those pieces of that work that's
(43:42):
also exploratory for jobs and futures and things that kids might be passionate about
as well so it really does just let us touch on every single student that we get to get
our hands on in the course of the week.
Well thank you for joining us and thanks for for laying that out I'm really excited to
see what happens this year with those teachers and I know I've encouraged them to send me
(44:03):
stuff that we can put out on our social media and on our referendum tracker so thanks again.
That's our episode for this week a heartfelt thank you to Katie Castleton, Jennifer Hayner
(44:23):
and Jolene Wazalewski for taking the time on a very busy back to week back to school
week to sit down and talk to me and to district superintendent Deidre Raymer this has been
the SMI Podcast we will see you next time.
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