EDU 782 Final Reflection Blog

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Final Reflection Blog



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I really enjoyed the opportunity to take this course over the past eight weeks. Going into it, I was aware of STEM and STEAM, but I was not confident on how they could mesh together to create a well rounded activity for my students. I now am able to see the benefits of creating STEAM activities for my students that are driven by an engaging problem solving scenario and thoughtful transdisciplinary activities. I look forward to working with my 8th grade team to try and implement a STEAM unit for the future.


In your opinion, what is the most difficult aspect of incorporating technology into a STEAM classroom?  Why is that particular aspect so difficult to overcome?

I believe that the most difficult aspect of incorporating technology into a STEAM classroom is accessibility. This is because not all schools have the luxury of having a technology specialist who is able to support STEAM teachers. Another reason would be that some schools may not have the funds to be able to purchase technology programs that would drive STEAM in the classroom. I am lucky enough to work in a school where I do have access to a technology specialist, who can work closely with the teachers. She is able to help support us in the classroom and advocate for tools that we may need for our units and instruction. 


Having seen a couple more resources since your previous blog, is there another resource that you learned about that you might be willing to try in your own classroom?  If so, which one and why?

I really loved having the class Padlet. It allowed me to learn various resources from my classmates. One of the resources that was shared on there was an online program called Freckle. This program focus in both the areas of Math and ELA, but I would use it in my classroom for the math aspect. What I really liked about what was shared was that this program differentiates skills based on a student's current math ability. Along with the grade level math classes I teach, I also have a math intervention that focuses on building skills and filling in learning gaps. I think that this program could help me identify skills to focus on with my students and give them an opportunity to work on these skills independently as well.


Which letter of the STEAM acronym do you think you will have the most trouble integrating into your next STEAM activity?  Why?

I personally feel like I will have the hardest time integrating the Arts into my next STEAM activity. For me, it is easy to see the correlation and connection to my Math and the other steam areas, but it is harder for me to conceptualize adding an arts component into an activity. Generally, when I think about the Arts, I think of activities that have students drawing or coloring. I need to work on getting past that and thinking of ways that I can maybe incorporate the use of technology to work in an Arts component. This area will definitely be a work in progress for me since it is a little bit out of my comfort zone. 

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