Blog Post 3: How is your personal STEMS research going?

     As I think about STEMS and the impact it has had thus far on my research and my teaching as a whole, I've come to realize that STEMS has opened up how I see things as a teacher. In the beginning when we first started this cohort experience, I was naive to STEMS and looked at it as an extra piece that I would be adding to my teaching. As we have been moving forward, my thoughts and ideas of STEMS has made a considerable change. I now know that STEMS is not an extra piece, but an integral piece that I am adding to my teaching. It is a way to enhance my teaching and give it an extra boost that engages students and gets them excited about what they are learning.

     This hold true about my STEMS research. I am no longer seeing the STEMS as the extra piece to throw in to make my lessons better, but the piece that builds a strong foundation that I can build upon with every lesson that I teach. STEMS is a way of teaching and as I research more in depth, I am finding more and more evidence of this. It is an exciting time to be a teacher with the benefits of the internet and the handfuls of resources and tools available all around us. 

     My research is about implementing STEMS lessons into units. What I found out early on, is that though many of us teach just one core subject it is teaching interdisciplinary units and working with a group of teachers with the same teaching philosophy that makes this the way of teaching. Teaming is a way to get STEMS lessons to the students in a manner that each teacher is building off of each other and doing whatever it takes to engage the students in a collaborative unit of learning. What I found makes this aspect difficult is not every teacher is ready to try or is willing to use this way of teaching. Without a supportive team that is willing to go the distance with you, STEMS will more likely be that extra piece of pizazz to enhance a lesson versus being the foundation to build upon. 

     However, if you do no have a team or group of teachers willing to work at this, in no way means that STEMS should be given up. Any teacher can implement STEMS lessons into their units. Of course it will be more difficult, but the results will be that much sweeter and your students will be the sole benefactors of the hard work that is put in to this way of teaching. We have talked many times about the fact that there is not a book of STEMS lessons or a lesson manual to walk us through how to do this implementation. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication on the side of the teacher that is willing to put in the effort. I am finding that there are not pre-made lessons ready to go, but there are ideas flowing all around us. I have found that I need to get past the fear of trying something different and just go for it because when I do I find my students and I are the ones that benefit the most.

Spring 2016 - Blog Post 2

    As I looked through the many articles on Google Scholar, I found that yes there are many articles that I am able to find in regards to my research question. As STEMS is a relatively "new" idea, there are definite thoughts and ideas in regards to it, but I would not consider the question answered. Many people have implemented STEMS lessons into various units, but through Google Scholar I have found that people are trying it out on a temporary basis. There are many willing to try, but the reason there seems to be no set STEMS curriculum made is the case studies that have been done have run out of funding and the timelines that are completed are still ongoing. 

     My research question is: how does a teacher integrate STEMS lessons into a unit? As we are the first cohort in our STEMS master's program, I found it fitting to research how we would be able implement all the things that we are doing into my classroom and of course into my units. As I am at a new school and on a new team, I found the timing to be perfect. My team took to the idea and we are running with it. Our 6th grade theme this year is Aloha ʻĀina and so integrating STEMS lessons into things have been fun and exciting. Our team goal is to infuse WEO - Working Exit Outcomes which are like the DOE GLO's (21st Century Skills and `Ōlelo a Mo`omeheu Hawai`i) into our teaching to engage students in their learning, which will encourage creativity and innovation, critical thinking, stewardship, servant leadership, opportunities for collaboration and communication, and a solid foundation in Hawaiian culture and language. Our focus to do this is to merge our outdoor and indoor classrooms by providing students with an integrated curriculum focusing on STEMS through Aloha 'Āina. What a perfect union between work and our master's program.  

     How did I come up with this research question? Well this cohort and this STEMS2 program is what made this question a possibility. Without having our learning journeys on Oahu and the Big Island this past summer and the opportunity to see things through a STEMS lens, my question would not have come to fruition. Another reason I decided to go with this research question is that my students will engage in STEMS learning in class and while on various huakaʻi. They will apply their learning of STEMS independently to a culminating servant leadership project with a foundation of STEMS through our 6th grade Aloha 'Āina theme. 

Spring 2016 - Blog Post 1

     As I looked over my research question and thought about my unit that leads up to it, I came to the realization that my plan b is a qualitative type of research project. The thing that brought all of this about was a video that my students and I watched called Lessons from a thousand years of island sustainability | Sam ‘Ohu Gon III, PhD | TEDxMaui. One part of this video talked about how our Hawaiian ancestors used to be 100% sustainable and how we are now down to 15%. Sam Gon went on to say, that if the "importation of goods were to stop, that we are just three weeks from famine". My students and I were surprised at this and my unit was created to look how we can become more sustainable in a modern day society. What changes do we need to make in order to bring up our sustainability percentage. My research question that was created off of this unit is: how does a teacher integrate STEMS lessons into a unit?
     Looking at the Creswell reading, I looked to which worldview I felt most applied to my plan b. I feel that my question comes from a pragmatic worldview in that it "arises out of actions, situations, and consequences rather than antecedent conditions" (Creswell, page 10). The drop in the sustainability is what fostered my unit which forced me to look how I could make a change that would affect my students. I wanted them to look to their ancestors and believe that just as their ancestors lived off the land that we too can use the world we live in as our classrooms and make a difference in our learning.
     Just as the Chilisa reading talked about the decolonization process, this in part is what I want my students to do. In the rediscovery and recovery process, is where we can look to our Hawaiian ancestors to "rediscover and recover their own, history, language, and identity" (Chilisa, page 15) as a way to rebuild and further our own personal growth within education. I want them to see that there can be learning outside the four walls of a classroom and that through this learning there is a deeper and fuller and more all around learning that takes place. This is where applying STEMS lessons into my unit will make it so my students can go beyond just scratching the surface of learning, but delve into the deeper thought provoking and inquiry based hands on learning.
     My sources of data for my project will be three-fold: from my students, my team of teacher, and myself. My students will provide their student work as well as their reaction to completing the unit. My team will be interviewed and provide their thoughts and ideas of what we are accomplishing through this interdisciplinary unit. Lastly, I will provide my thoughts, the unit, and journal entries of what I needed to do to get this unit going and leading it into my plan b project. The feedback from the students and my team of teachers will determine whether this kind of unit will continue to be implemented or whether a change needs to be made to better meet the needs of both the students and the teachers.
     I hope that I am able to do this question justice and that I will not skirt around the issue and not be able to find the answers that I seek. I do not want to fall into the attitude where pragmatists "stop asking questions" or where "they would simply like to change the subject" (Creswell, page 11). I want my students to come to the realization that learning can happen in any setting, at any time, and that there is learning to be found in everything they do all around them. If my students are able to come to this reality and learn that you do not need to be within the four walls of a classroom to learn then I have succeeded in my plan b.