What is STEM Day?
Every year for the past 5 years, R.B. Wright Elementary has hosted a major STEAM Bash or some of you know this as STEM Day. Each year it has gotten bigger and more meaningful. I took over planning and coordinating the event 4 years ago. 23 teachers each have a design problem or experiment taking place in their class. Students rotate through each classroom of their grade level. I will always love the face of the cashier at Wal-Mart when I wheel into her lane with at least two buggies full of 96 small Coke/Sprite bottles, 12 cans of shaving cream, hundreds of cups and plates, Alka-Seltzer, gallons of oil and vinegar, large bags of baking soda, balloons, well, you can only imagine……
STEM Day Adventures
It’s usually a pretty fun trip, and this year did not disappoint. My partner in crime and I loaded her big rig full of our loot. Then she says, “I can’t find my keys.” Apparently, the keys found their way to the bottom of our loot pile when the backseats to the big rig had to be laid down. So, now we are on a search for the keys and need the backseat doors open to the big rig in nearly 100 degree weather with the humidity of a boiler room. I then carefully climb over all of our loot to unlock the doors from the inside, and they will not electronically open.
In true STEM Day fashion, I am instructed to open them manually while the loot is being loaded back into the buggies hoping the keys surface. As if the situation wasn’t interesting enough, the big rig alarm now begins to go off because a manual opening of the doors from the inside constitutes that a burglar must be near. Did I mention I was wearing a skirt climbing through this car? Y’all…. I lose it. The most hysterical laugh consumes me, and I fall to the floor of the backseat legs high. Eventually, the keys did show up, but not until after the alarm commenced for at least 5 minutes. It felt like 20!
STEM Day Ideas
STEM Day is a wonderful event conducted to motivate our students to love learning. Our students just bask in all of the excitement taking place. The teachers…. it wears us all out! Over the past Christmas, I asked for a little piece of technology that made this day so much better for a lot of teachers. Many of them may be doing a new experiment, or can’t find something. You name it. It happens. I am there to support them, but I can’t be everywhere at once. Enter…. Apple Watch! I make sure every teacher has my number, and know that I have my watch on. You know…..it makes me feel like Teacher Secret Service when I raise my wrist to my mouth to answer back…………very 21st Century Teacher-ish!
Here is a little snap shot of my data from that day. I almost completed my exercise ring without putting on work out clothes.
STEM Day Out!
I love this data! I can’t wait to share with students. We are always looking for meaningful data sets for our students to analyze. Can you believe I almost walked 6 miles at school helping teachers and students. We have moments that do not feel so worthy of being a teacher in the 21st Century, and we have moments worthy of James Bond, as well. What matters is the mission. Did we motivate students? Were we able to make improvements from past experiences? Did we make the most of the time we had available? Yes… we did!
Need ideas for your STEM Day? Check out some of my STEM Challenges!
Check out my ultimate guide for starting a STEM/STEAM classroom: 9 Steps to turning your classroom into STEM/STEAM classroom in any subject!
