Curriculum & Instruction

An externship program run by the Oklahoma State Department of Education expanded this summer, allowing K12 teachers to gain professional STEM experiences they can bring back to the classroom. During the pilot last year, teachers tested soil samples and worked in a concrete-making lab, among other activities, during a paid two-week externship at an Oklahoma […]

To start creating K12 makerspaces, educators can follow the seven recommendations in the accompanying infographic. Link to main story: High schoolers design games, learn programming skills Drexel Universitys ExCITe Center garnered the information from its recent nationwide study.

Evergreen Public Schools hosted its first Game Design Expo in Vancouver, Washington, showcasing more than 50 video games and interactive apps developed by nearly 70 high school students. Throughout a semester-long design class, students created mini-games to learn the cause-and-effect logic behind programming. Producing a story, game or interactive app for the expo motivated the […]

Principal Doreen McSain of Glenwood Elementary School has taken to heart the quote “Everything I know, I learned from dogs.” She welcomes canines into her school in western Long Island, New York, to encourage her students to read to them. McSain also instituted a program wherein second-graders read to residents at a senior living community. […]

Empathize: Gather information from users In action: Fourth-graders in Colorado solicited ideas from local residents to help their city redesign a local park. Define: Frame the problem In action: Administrators in Glenbrook High Schools District 225 considered student experience when redesigning classrooms. They chose furniture that let learners move around. Ideate: Generate possible solutions that […]

Advocates of design thinking in education know what you’ve heard. “Its hard to look at design thinking and not see it as a buzzword” says Ryan Bretag, director of instructional innovation at Glenbrook High Schools District 225 outside Chicago. “When we narrow down design thinking to just a bunch of steps that you can follow […]