Top 5 STEM Funding Sources – Make It Rain

 

As I’m sure you’re aware if you’ve read any of my other articles, I’m a public school teacher. It is one of the greatest joys in my life, and I hope I get to do it until I retire. That said, the public school environment can be frustrating. For me, and I imagine for many public school teachers this time of year (budget season) is incredibly stressful. This is especially true in 2017 due to the current political climate. Typically, I consider it a fantastic budget season if my program’s budget stays the same. This year I will consider it amazing if I still have a job. In any case I always need additional STEM funding sources to keep my program strong.

With that in mind there are three reasons I think it’s wise to develop fund raising skills. First, if I can fund my program outside of my allocated budget, my ability to teach is not determined by others. Second, if I can self fund I am more valuable than someone who cannot. Third, if I can self fund I have the ability to expand my program unhindered by the political process. In short, my ability to fund my own program means that I have more freedom in my teaching practice.

Mindset

Here is where most teachers I know have trouble. We know we need more equipment. Teachers know we are better teachers when we have better tools. We know that the likelihood of getting the Administration or the Board to give us more money is pretty low. Most people are terrified to even ask for money. If given an opportunity for additional funding we may not have a plan in place to utilize it. I have covered some of this in the past with posts on the Top 5 Learning Tools Wishlist, and Content Drives Technology NOT The Other Way Around.

This post is focused on how to get more money for your program. Specifically, how to do it as efficiently & painlessly as possible. Maybe some of this comes a bit more easily for me because of my sales background, but everything below is pretty painless. Additionally, some of this you are doing already, but aren’t leveraging effectively. I’m ranking the below STEM funding sources from most effective (for me) to least effective. That said, even the least effective options here are pretty great. They are in my top 5 for a reason. Above all be patient, education funding is a marathon not a sprint.

STEM Funding Sources

I have actually used all of  these resources effectively in my own practice. In some cases I have gotten a lot of equipment, in some cases less equipment. To have a well equipped program you need to be able to gather large, medium, and small amounts of equipment effectively. In some cases the below sources have also led to some fairly lucrative consulting work. Where this is the case I have noted it.

1. Local & Not So Local Higher Learning Institutions

In terms of general STEM funding sources, this one is far and away my favorite way to get extra equipment for my classroom, as well as where I get most of my consulting work. At the time of this writing, STEM is incredibly in vogue. Anything having to do with Engineering, Computer Science, or Design is being studied, analyzed critiqued, and funded. Colleges, and Universities are really good at receiving grants of all sorts.

What you may not know is that part of those grants, as well as the University’s ability to receive further funding requires them to do case studies. Their case studies need to be done in classrooms. Additionally, they don’t always end up using all of the money they receive. If they don’t use all of the money they are given, they need to give it back. If you are exceptionally comfortable talking to people you can try to approach Computer Science and Engineering departments directly, but I’ve never done so.

Best Practices for Higher Ed Networking

The best way I have found to develop contacts at these places is through Professional Development. In my experience, the same departments at higher learning institutions that offer free (or even pay you to attend) PD are the departments that have grant funded projects focused schools. If you take PD through them they will approach you, or at least be willing to listen to your ideas. ALWAYS tell them about your program. Try to spend part of your breaks at PD talking about your program, and what your hopes for your program are to the presenter.

Make sure you get their contact info, and send them an email thanking them for the workshop. If they mention a project while you’re talking with them feel free to mention it in your thank you message. Ask them to keep you posted about additional PD they are teaching. Almost invariably this will lead to them eventually approaching YOU with funding opportunities.

2. Local Non Profit Educational Services Providers

As I have only taught at one school, in one specific region I am not certain that companies like this exist everywhere. I know they are pretty common in NH, and I know that the one that serves my area is fantastic. If you are unfamiliar with organizations of this type, their whole purpose is making the lives of educators better. They provide Professional Development, apply for grants. Participate in studies. Provide meeting space. Facilitate educator networking, and a whole host of other things I’m sure I’ve forgotten.

I have found this STEM funding source incredibly useful in in my Professional Development. Again, I take no cost (to me) PD that makes me a better, more informed, smarter teacher, and I get additional benefits. Developing a relationship with these types of companies has absolutely led to getting additional equipment. Lots of other organizations donate their old tech to these non profits. Oftentimes the tech they take in isn’t good for much other than recycling (or taking apart), but if they know what you’re looking for they will give it to you when they get it.

Organizations like this are also always plugged in to what grants are out there. As such, when they apply for a grant they may name your program as a participant. Additionally, once you are well known they may ask you to present a workshop. This is beneficial on many levels, but these engagements are often paid consulting jobs.

Best practices for Non Profit Networking

You may be surprised to learn that I could literally copy & paste the above best practices section, drop it here, and it would hold true. Take professional development, ideally professional development you get a stipend for taking. Take as much professional development as you can stand. During your workshop talk to the presenter, as well as the individual from the non profit who is observing the workshop. Discuss your program, your goals, and get contact info. Send a thank you email. Let them know you are always on the lookout for more PD. If they ask you what your challenges are, tell them you could use additional equipment. Above all develop a good working relationship.

3. Community Improvement Groups

Every community out there has some group or another that wants to make it better. In some cases there are many groups that want to make your community better. People involved with this STEM funding source, want to help. In my experience they believe (as most teachers do) that the school is at the heart of a community. Strong schools lead to strong communities, and strong communities have a strong school system. Community Improvement groups may not have the resources of the first two STEM funding sources, but they can usually help out somehow. Don’t limit yourself here, look at groups that work to improve arts, adult education, career training, and anything else that improves your community. Oftentimes they have grant funds available that they will not use (and as a result lose). These funds can often be re-purposed for educators with a small amount of finesse.

Best Practices for Community Improvement Networking

In the same manner that you don’t love getting asked for something out of the blue, neither do these organizations. Do some research, and see what sorts of organizations are active in your area. Approach the organizers directly, and see where they could use some help. Let them know what you do, and what your program is like so that they know what you’re doing in the classroom. In my experience they almost always have committees they want people to serve on, input about their own ideas, and participation in the programs they offer. Just like the other organizations mentioned above, once you develop a relationship with them they will likely approach you about helping your program.

4. Youth Groups & Museums

Groups such as 4H, Girl Scouts of America, Boy Scouts of America, and the Civil Air Patrol are all in this bucket as well as many others. In fact, the Civil Air Patrol has specific programs that involve Professional Development for teachers combined with equipment donations. It’s important to remember that these types of organizations are designed to help children in a wide variety of ways. Often they have special programs, and specific ways of helping that involve some paperwork, and training. Working with programs such as these is also an excellent way to get news of your program out into your community. The more excited the community is about what you’re doing, the more potential funding sources you will find.

Museums, especially Science or Children’s Museums often have educational outreach programs designed to benefit schools. They also occasionally receive grants for education, and can be an incredible resource for borrowing scientific equipment as well.

Best Practices for Engaging Youth Groups & Museums

With both of these types of STEM funding sources (as well as with the first 3), often you need to do something to receive something. Get in contact with your local organizations and volunteer to run an activity, or help out. Take any training they offer, and find out what their needs are. Do whatever you can to help. As with any other of the above sources, talk about your program. Discuss what you’re doing, and what you’d like to do. Keep in contact with them, and they will likely reach out to you with ideas about how you can help each other.

Getting funding from most organizations involves relationship building, and sharing your program. People help who they know, and who is on top of their mind. The directors of the groups may come across an opportunity to help out with an incredibly short time window. Make sure you are the person they think of first.

5. Donorschoose.org

This crowd funding organization is specifically designed around the idea of helping teachers get the additional equipment they desperately need. I love donorschoose, they are amazing, easy to use, and relevant to your needs. They understand teachers, and are very good at helping you reach your funding goals. “If it’s so good, then why mention it last?” you may ask. Well, first let me mention that last in the top five is STILL in the top 5. Next, there are some features that make this less awesome than other STEM funding sources. First, you are largely restricted to their specific vendors. This isn’t THAT big a deal since they work with both Amazon & Best Buy, but it can be annoying. Second, you need to go to your own social network for funding. Again, not a HUGE deal but certainly worth considering.

How it works is that you come up with some items you need. You find those items from one of their vendors. Next, follow their instructions about points and shopping. Finally, follow their instructions about how you present the project on social media. When I did mine, I would post a reminder to my Facebook feed once per week. I was fully funded within a month or two. Often this is the most attainable, and approachable method for teachers to start their outside funding journey. For me that was certainly the case.

Conclusion

You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned hitting up local businesses, doing fund raisers, or applying for grants here. These are perfectly legit sources, and I encourage you to try anything you can to get outside funding. I have been at social gathering before, and struck up a conversation with someone about work. A few weeks later an Arduino showed up at my house. People want to help, you just need to talk about what you’re doing.

A Quick note about Professional Development. Without exception 100% of the avenues I have pursued for outside funding are tied in some way to the PD I attend. At every opportunity I go to literally every single free PD I can. I’m always on the look out for PD that has a stipend attached. I apply for everything, and I always say yes. When I’m at a PD (or anywhere else) I always network with other educators. I ask questions. By doing the things I mentioned here I have been able to get additional funding, and do consulting work that paid me about 10% of my salary last year. Because of my connections, my school and I have been named by a major university as part of a grant they are pursuing. If I can do it, so can you.

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Creating Coding Lessons – Grade 6-8: Part 2

Any time I try something new I get some unexpected results. Often I learn something new. Usually I tweak something. Sometimes I find a connection to something else. My students find the lesson easier or harder than I expected. I’ve even discovered that some of my basic assumptions were faulty before. This time is no different. This coding lessons reflection will be of dubious use to you without having read this post. Don’t let me dissuade you though, read away. What follows is an outline, and reflection on what I have done for the coding lesson I am working on so far.

I tend towards jumping right in, and being flexible as I go with new lesson ideas. I know that others prefer to have every moment planned out in advance (and there’s nothing wrong with that), but I am more comfortable winging it a bit. That isn’t to say I don’t have a plan, it’s more to say that my plans are fluid. I trust my research and experience to guide me as I go. This post is a bit different than usual as well. There are a lot of moving pieces to this lesson, and I’m writing to focus my own thinking in addition to documenting what I’m doing for others.

Refined Overview

I am working towards several goals in this lesson. First, I want to provide a solid foundation in computer science to my grade 8 students. Second, I want to introduce my students to some basic web design. Third, I want to give them an outlet for their desire to create. Fourth, I want my students to be less dependent on me for the knowledge they require, and finally I am exploring how to differentiate a performance based lesson across students of varying needs.

Students learn different subjects in different ways. Some students require more scaffolding than others in order to benefit from a lesson, other students learn best with more independence, and still others require something in between. I have always been of the opinion that it is not a given student’s responsibility to learn how I teach. Rather, it is my responsibility to teach how they learn. In the immortal words of Mr. Miyagi: “Teacher say, student do”. My hope here is that I can create a lesson for all students.

Assignments Thus Far

As mentioned here, I started of with a simple tutorial for the Talk to Me App in App Inventor 2. Additionally, I assigned the students to create a google site, populate it with an About Me page, a Links page, a Classwork page, and a Portfolio page. We did the tutorial, and the web site assignments together during class. They were also given a question to answer about computers in general.

Students are required to create a project page for each app, and to fill it with documentation and reflections on each project. After the first assignment they have been given several more in rapid succession. They were assigned the second part of the Talk to me App, the Ball Bounce App, and were tasked with making unique improvements for each app as well. All of the apps up to this point are part of App Inventor’s Hour of Code. As part of these apps we have discussed the concept of abstraction in computer science. Additional App assignments will be designed to cover other topics mentioned in my last post. As an assessment for this first, basic section I asked students to work through the set of tutorials under the Paint Pot App. This assignment is different as I am not giving students class time to complete it.

Coding Lessons Reflection

All assignments are given in the google classroom, and students are encouraged to ask any questions in the google classroom as well. They are also encouraged to answer each others questions.  The first App assignment, and the first web assignments are the only ones we do together in class. The rest will simply be assignments. Students are given class time to work on their assignments. I also expect them to answer many of their own questions through internet research.

There was some push back on these ideas at first, but students are really beginning to embrace this style. This manner of having video tutorials, and performance tasks is allowing me the time to help those students that need it while allowing other students to work at a more accelerated pace. I don’t know yet how the assessment will pan out. My goal is to have students doing work outside of class which will foster greater levels of collaboration on their sites, and in the classroom. My main concern with this is that some students may be unable to work from home because they lack a computer with internet. We’ll see.

I’ve mapped out the app assignments for the rest of the quarter already. I am however, still trying to fit in the concepts & practices I discussed in the first article. That portion is a moving target that I will revisit periodically. Certainly, the app assignments will have most of these ideas built in. My challenge will be to pull out these specific concepts & practices to shine a light on them. A lot of this will come into greater focus as student move away from tutorials, and into building their own unique ideas, but I need to keep them at the top of my mind.

Differentiation in Coding Lessons Reflection

One of the pleasant surprises I’ve come up with is that assigning work in this manner is exceptionally easy to differentiate. In my current class I have several students who are incredibly comfortable with the subject matter, several who are moderately comfortable, and several who need significant scaffolding in order to be successful. By taking myself out of the initial distribution of knowledge to my students, I allow myself to be available to scaffold where needed.

Additionally, by forcing my students to add unique features to their apps I have allowed my students the opportunity to dictate their own level of challenge. Improvements to an app can run the gamut from changing the color of the screen, to translating typed text into another language before “speaking” it. What I’m left with is a room full of engaged students who are given the exact amount of support they require. This has allowed me to view all of my lessons differently, and will change how I teach moving forward.

Next Steps

This Coding Lessons Reflection would be of reduced value without a discussion of where I plan to go next. The rest of the course will continue to be focused on App Tutorials, and web design. In order, the apps I will assign are:

• Magic 8 Ball
• Persisting Photos
• Android Mash
• Logo (App Template Here)
• Student Designed App Number 1
• Presidents Quiz
• No Text While Busy
• Socially Aware App
• Student Designed App Number 2 (Final)

 

As time goes on the tutorials begin to focus on specific features without repeating information. Many deal with some pretty advanced programming concepts so, I’ll have to pay close attention to how my students are doing. There’s a good deal of work left to do on this unit, and I expect to make revisions as I go. I will continue posting about what is going on with the apps individually, as well as what’s happening in my classroom. The really interesting items will be what the kids come up with for individual apps.

Conclusion

Though I am essentially 20% through this first iteration of my coding lessons curriculum there are still a huge number of questions that need answering. I feel like it is going well, and I am excited to see how everything pans out in the end.

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Advanced Ev3 Robotics Lesson For Superstars – Problem Solving

 

My first year teaching STEM was relatively simple from a curriculum design perspective. I knew that grades 5 & 6 would be robotics, and 7 & 8 would be 3D printing (Grade 4 Was a mystery, but I knew I’d figure it out eventually). As none of my students had previous exposure to Robots or 3D printing I could just give my grades 5 & 6 the same lesson, and give my grades 7 & 8 the same lesson. After they had the basics, I would go advanced the next year. The problem was that though I found some basic Ev3 lessons, there didn’t seem to be an Advanced Ev3 Robotics Lesson to look at anywhere.

Not to be slowed down by the fact that no one seemed to have done this before, I decided to go with a series of broad based challenges. Luckily I found the fantastic Dr. E’s Mindstorm Challenges web site to steer me in the right direction. After about 12 iterations, the Advanced Ev3 Robotics Lesson you are about to discover was born. If you came here looking for more basic Ev3 lessons, check here & here.

Materials I use

• A Core Lego Ev3 for Education kit for every 2-4 students.
• An Expansion Lego Ev3 for Education kit for every 2-4 students.
• Some type of cellular phone, or tablet for every 2-4 students.
• 1 Laptop running Lego Mindstorms Ev3 software for each team.
• Chromebooks for every 1-2 students.
• Sumo ring.
• Access to google classroom for all students (hereafter referred to as the classroom).
• At least 1 extra Ev3 brick for every other team. For instance if you have four teams, you will want to have a minimum of 2 spare bricks. Ideally though, you will have a spare brick for each team.

 

Advanced Ev3 Robotics Lesson Overview

What follows is a lesson designed to be given over the course of 10 weeks to students in grade 6. These students have already had 10 weeks of basic Ev3 robotics in grade 5, but may not have had that lesson in a year or more. My first challenge here is to refresh my students on the basics. I do this by assigning the same challenge they had as a final for their previous course (Robot Sumo). I add the twist that they must design their own robot. In the previous challenge all of the robots were the same.

The greater lesson here is colored by the fact that my grade 6 students do an Egg Drop Challenge. The design challenge for my class focuses on the Engineering Concept of a fair test. Typically with egg drop challenges some neutral adult actually drops each design off of some high structure (like a roof). Part of the lesson is a discussion about what makes a fair test, and how to develop one.

Invariably we come to the idea that only if all of the egg containers are dropped in exactly the same manner is the test fair. If you refer to my previous post you will note that one of our Big Ideas in computing is that computers are good a repetition & precision. It is a really good day when one of my Sixth Graders points this out unprompted. The design challenge that will take up the majority of the quarter will be to develop a robotic device that will drop the egg container in the exact same manner every time. The device will start out simple, but will become more complex with each iteration.

Note:

This lesson assumes both you, and your students have a high level of comfort with Lego Mindstorms Ev3. Basic concepts are covered in posts here & here. In addition, you & your students should also be comfortable with control structures such as loops, waits, and switches. A high level understanding of Ev3 Sensor blocks, bluetooth operations, and math operations is also necessary for you as the instructor.

Skills Refresher Robot Sumo

For the skills refresher I give the students the following specifications regarding their Sumo Fighting robot.

• 2 Large Motors are required for movement.
• 1 Color Sensor is required to stay inside of the ring.
• At least 1 arm is required that will try to flip your opponent.
• Any arm is controlled by the Ultrasonic Sensor.

 

Students are asked to research at least 2 web sites that have information on how to build Ev3 robots. Once they have done the research most teams seem to have an idea about how to start. If a given team seems stumped I have them refer to their classmates posts in the classroom. If they are still stumped I demonstrate a couple of ways to attach large motors to Ev3 bricks as this seems to be the barrier for most students that keeps them from beginning to build.

Once they have constructed their robots we walk through a basic program with two parallel loops. One loop has the robot drive up to a black line, back up, turn, and move forward. The second loop triggers the robotic arm when an enemy robot comes within range. However, I don’t necessarily give students these programs. Instead we talk through psudocode for each loop, and I show them how to run parallel loops.

Advanced Ev3 Robotics Lesson Expansion

Once the building starts I bring up two additional Engineering & Computer Science concepts that I teach in my program. The first is documentation, and the second is collaboration. For documentation I am specifically referring to work in progress photos. I managed to get my hands on 5 Android Tablets from a project I worked on with Tufts University (similar to these), which I have my students use as digital engineering notebooks. They are asked to take pictures of their builds in progress, and post them to the classroom along with a description of their picture. I sometimes even ask them to take pictures of each step of a build, and post them. I also ask them to take photographs of their screens when they are writing their programs, and make sure each block of code is commented using the comment feature in the Ev3 software.

For collaboration I have students comment on at least two of their classmates posts in the classroom per week. This seems like a small thing, but what actually happens is that student become used to this, and begin working together. They will even use their classmates work as a resource when a particular aspect of a challenge has them stumped.

Note:

You will need to teach your students what you would like in terms of both Work In Progress (WIP) photos, and comments. These are both new skills to most students, and need to be taught continuously.

Design Challenge Sequence

The main idea with this series of challenges is to create a solution, and improve it in a specific way with each iteration. When students run into programming concepts they are unfamiliar with, encourage them to try and figure it out independently. The idea is that they find their own solution either by asking a classmate or finding an answer through internet research. As a last resort you can use guided self discovery, but don’t give them answers.

Iterations 1 & 2

The first project in this series is to have students design and program a device that will drop a box (I use a tissue box) when the program is run. I don’t give my students any hardware requirements for this solution, just the main Ev3 brick. This initial solution will work, is uncomplicated, and typically just involves running a motor (or motors) just long enough to “drop” the box. The device is then reset manually for the next drop. In most cases no new programming concepts are required, but more complex solutions may require the use of the unregulated motor block. The second iteration should have the device reset itself when run.

Iteration 3

In this iteration, students will likely run into some new concepts in programming. They should improve their device so that it uses the touch sensor or multiple touch sensors. They can use either one or two touch sensors. The program runs continuously, and is controlled by the touch sensor(s). By some combination of press and release the device will activate & reset.

Iteration 4

In this iteration students use the brick buttons to control the devices activate & reset functions. It is certainly okay to swap iteration 3 & 4, but I do it in this order to build towards the next iteration. It so happens that there is a fantastic video on youtube that will assist your students in the next iteration, but uses brick buttons.

Iteration 5

Here is where the difficulty of this set of challenges ramps up significantly. As they are asked to do something they have never done before in the Ev3 environment. Up until now all of the iterations are just variations on concepts they would have mastered the previous year. Now however, students are asked to connect two Ev3 bricks via bluetooth. One brick will act as the controller for the second brick. Students will set up a bluetooth connection between 2 bricks, they will use the messaging feature to make their device activate & reset using the brick buttons. Here & Here are some excellent tutorials that will help your students solve this problem. I make them search for the solution, but you may want to give it to them.

Iterations 6, 7, & 8

For the remaining iterations of the Egg Drop project students will change the manner of control among their connected bricks. First they will use a single touch sensor on their control brick, then they will use two touch sensors, and finally they will use a large motor. All of the information they need to accomplish these tasks can be found on the internet, or inferred from previous work on this problem set. As mentioned above, most of these concepts are pretty high level.

Final Assessment (WIP)

Ideally my whole class would get through the first 8 iterations of this problem set, and would have the opportunity to perform the assessment I am about to describe.  Unfortunately, it is a lot to expect in a 10 week program. In my classroom, none of my students has gotten further than Iteration  8 above. I hope to one day get here, I hope you can as well. In any case, always plan for more than you think you can accomplish.

The assessment here is to have your students design both a robotic car, and a remote controller for that car. They are then asked to perform a series of runs through a maze, and are competing for the best time. You could add complication by having items for them to pick up, and drop off if you so choose. If you wanted to get really challenging you could set up a system whereby students use some manner of video feed to see their robot while controlling it.

What I am aiming for with this assessment if for student to realize that controller design is as important, or even more important than the design of the car. I will happily do another, more robust post on just this assessment if I can manage to get my students far enough to do it several times. If you manage to get your students to this point please let me know how it works out.

I hope this post (long as it is) has been helpful to your teaching practice. If it has, please feel free to share it with whomever you’d like. If you’d like to be updated when new posts come out by email, please sign up for our mailing list. Thanks for your time.