Beginning Stages of STEMS2

From what I have learned about making an effective learning environment, the students need to be able to work well together, trust, and to be blunt, like each other. In order for me to get this started, I have taken the Marshmallow Challenge and used it in each of my classes. I used the challenge with minor "tweeks" of not allowing the students to use tape, they would use string and 2 more marshmallows instead, because I had a feeling that a few students may have already done this challenge. From this challenge I got to see some of the students' strengths, weaknesses, like who in my class I could view as leaders and who in the class needs to work on their speaking and teamwork skills. This challenge can be seen as something perfect for Engineers, but it is perfect for any individual that wants to build their teamwork and social skills, which are great skills to have in any job or future goals/plans that the students have. From this, I have noticed the students that worked together in the challenge are more friendlier. Therefore, I plan to create different teamwork challenges throughout the school year so that they each get to experience working with different types of people and personalities, further strengthening their social skills.

Besides teamwork, my science and engineer classes require the students to build their observations skills. Kilo was the perfect word that came to mind. According to wehewehe.org (Hawaiian dictionary, check it out.. click on it.. type a word in.. it's awesome and accurate), the type of kilo that I'm referring to is observing in great detail. Scientists and engineers use this skill to help them with asking questions, solving problems as well as discovering and creating new things. To introduce my Kilo assignment to the students, I asked them if they knew what the word meant. The students that spoke up mentioned kilogram, kilometer, etc. Probably because we just went over the metric system together. I backed up and asked them what language did they think it was. They guessed that the language was Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, French... not Hawaiian! Not one of them guessed Hawaiian. I asked the students where they were from, forgetting to realize that majority of them were born from the Phillippines. So I rephrased my question, where do you live? The response: "America!" The thought "oh dear" went through my head and finally with more pushing they said they lived in Hawaii and I told them that the word originates from the Hawaiian language. The fact that they are not involved with the Hawaiian culture was very surprising to me because I knew a lot about it as I was growing up in Kauai. 

It is sad for me to find that the students live in Hawaii but have no idea of the culture and the language, or even have the thought of "Hawaiian" in their head. The reason for this could be that a lot of the students are immigrant, so they probably know their birth culture really well and haven't had anybody introduce them to the Hawaiian culture yet, gladly, that is what I am here to do. Overcoming my sadness and realizing the reality, I explained the assignment. Whenever kilo is on the agenda, we are all going to go outside for 15 minutes to observe my object/purpose/task for the day. For my Integrated Science class, we are going through our Photosynthesis unit. We went outside and they chose one plant to take observations on. It was a great experience for me. I saw the students touch the plants, getting really close to them, looking for every single detail. I told them to use their senses, except for taste of course, and they did. When finished with kilo, some of them found it difficult because they realized how many details there are in just one little object. As for my Physics class, we went to one of the highest points on campus to observe all the different types of energy that they saw. Since there was so much, I tried to have them focus on one type of energy or else we could have been out there the entire class period.

I explained the importance of kilo from a science and engineering perspective. However, I haven't explain to the students the power of kilo in the Hawaiian perspective, yet. I plan to very soon but not exactly sure how to approach it yet or intertwine it within my curriculum. The students seemed excited when I told them that we'll involve more culture within their learning and they also helped me think of some field trips that we could do for physics. I can't wait to continue with the school year and plan my units based off of STEMS2.