Understanding STEAM Education

A Vision of STEAM Education

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

We now present a view of STEAM Education as envisioned at MRCR Education.  First, we take a look at the STEAM Educational Cycle, then we demonstrate how to link the strands of STEAM in a lesson plan.

The STEAM Education Cycle

The STEAM education cycle begins when the student is introduced to the five strands of STEAM.  Students who are educated in STEAM can become STEAM learners.  This approach will challenge students to cross-reference what they are learning.  It should allow students to connect and apply knowledge across the five unique strands in a way that expands their level of thinking.  Understanding a scientific concept like the water cycle is not enough.  The student should be able to relate the water cycle to tools in technology we have engineered like thermometers, barometers, and hydrometers which allow us to collect numeric data using a mathematical approach. This in turn will help us to better understand a scientific idea, while at the same time being able to visualize this cycle in a multitude of terrains as it takes place throughout the world.

Linking STEAM in a Lesson

Let us take a look at how a theme can be used to develop a STEAM lesson that links all five strands.  In the sample lesson, we see that the theme that has been selected is "Hammers".  in the strand of science, the connection to the theme is what happens when hammers strike? The scientific concepts that are associated with hammers include force, pressure, sound, vibration, etc.  Under technology, the development of hammers through time is the connection, as we look at the needs for each era.  The use of hammers in engineering has us turn our attention to railroads, homes, and tents; while in the arts we can search and find paintings like "Thor's Battle with the Ettins", not to mention that hammers have also been used by sculptures to create statues.  The strand of mathematics provides for us a way to compare and evaluate how the material of the hammer, at different weights, produces different results, which in itself completes the circle by linking this to science.

This is but one view of how STEAM can be developed into a lesson for the student to expand one theme across five strands.  It can be done with a variety of themes, and students can be allowed to generate their own themes and lessons by following the sample plan that has been presented here.

Copyright 2012.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

STEAM Education

What is STEAM Education?

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Introduction to STEAM Education

 STEAM education incorporates the following five strands: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics.  It is a collaborative effort, by all who are involved in education, to develop a curriculum that allows students to interconnect the elements of STEAM and apply them, not just to school and academics, but to their lives and future growth.

This week we are going to share with you our thoughts on STEAM education, and how it can be beneficial to students, teachers, and parents, as well as the benefits to schools, homes, and the community.  By connecting the strands of STEAM education, students can be given an opportunity to develop a strong foundation, that will provide them with a set of skills which should help them face the future challenges whether they be educational, employment, equality, or environmental.

We hope that you find this week's theme as an important piece for the future of education across our nation.  Join us as we demonstrate how to develop lessons that cover each of the strands in STEAM, and how these lessons can be initiated with a concept or idea that can then be shared with students as part of their current education.

Copyright 2012.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving Day

Thoughts on Thanksgiving Day

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Thanksgiving Day is a day to give thanks for the harvest we have been blessed with this season.

Thanksgiving Day gives us a chance to be thankful for the fruits of our labor, while reminding us that we must be constantly preparing for the possible perils of the winter that is to come.

Thanksgiving Day allows us to fill ourselves with nourishment, so we may replenish the energy we have spent from winter, into spring, and throughout the summer, as we have survived through rebirth and growth for the year.

Thanksgiving Day is the time of the year in which our agriculture comes to its culmination.

Thanksgiving Day demonstrates the spirit of collaboration among neighboring cultures who, while putting aside individual differences, and focusing on collective similarities, from which the strong bonds of friendship, family, and community emerge.

Thanksgiving Day connects places from different times and times from different places: From agricultural staples to industrial production.  From native inhabitants to foreign immigrants.  From humble origin to proud heritage.  From an ancient past to a modern future.

Thanksgiving Day presents to us the opportunity to be generous with our bounty as we share our surpluses with those whose deficits were caused, not for lack of labor, but by labor lost in sacrifice to the world.

Thanksgiving Day is a day to be spent in service to friends and family, not by culminating with a meal, but by commencing with preparations.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of you.

Copyright 2012. MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving 2012

Weekly Schedule

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here, in the United States.  It falls in November, during fall season, when harvest takes place.  MRCR™ Education joins the celebration of this week by presenting its theme of "Thanksgiving Holiday".  We also thank those of you, who have been reading these posts and visiting these pages, as we continue to share our thoughts and ideas, with you, on education.

On the eve of Thanksgiving Day (Wednesday) we are going to post our thoughts on the many meanings that this holiday holds for us.  From its origin, history, and traditions, this holiday can present to us, as educators, with a series of lessons that we can design, teach, and learn as we share them with our students, colleagues, and families.

We will also be taking a break as we spend time with friends and family to reflect, while also developing STEAM Education presentations to be shared with the public at upcoming events.  December we will look back at the first three months of education, current level assessment, and the - year end / look ahead - as 2012 comes to a close and 2013 begins a new year.

© 2012 MRCR™ Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

ELL Student Development: Developing ELL Students

ELL Student Development

Developing ELL Students

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Time, Diversity, Culture, and Possibility are four aspects in the development of English Language Learner students.

From one day to several years, the length of time an ELL student will require, to successfully exit the program, will be varied from student to student.  It takes time for students to develop the skills needed to successfully communicate in a new language.  Some students arrive with advanced English language skills from prior education, while others will be experiencing a new language for the first time.  With a program for ELL students that has been established, and is successful, the transition from "English Learner" to "English Learned" will be proper, prompt, and perfect.

How diverse is the new school and how familiar is the student with diversity?  If the student has been introduced to diversity, then the student's learning, in a new education setting that is diverse, should be consistent.  When going from a non-diverse school to a diverse school, or a diverse school to a non-diverse school, an additional challenge is presented to the students, and they must also adapt to this while learning a new language.

There are many levels of culture that an ELL student will face throughout their education.  These will vary from academic to social, environmental to community, and many others.  ELL students should learn how to include the many levels of culture they will be experiencing in their lives.  By learning from both the positive and the negative, what is agreeable and disagreeable, students can develop a cultural level that is balance and helps grow their own cultural identity.

ELL students are the first true ambassadors that students observe, interact, and meet with.  They have the potential of presenting their patronage in a positive light for others to see, while learning a new language, maintaining pace with their mainstream fluent counterparts, and as they attempt to achieve equal education.

Copyright 2012.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

ELL Student Development: Final Assessment

ELL Student Development

Final Assessment

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

We want for students to succeed in their learning.  Just as schools want students to graduate, and become self-sustained life-long learners, English Language Learners should be encouraged by their ELL program to become self-sustained English language learners.  With consistent measuring of student progress, with accurate analysis of these measurements, and with communication, collaboration, and cooperation, amongst all participants in the students education, the ELL student should become able to demonstrate the necessary skills and meet the established requirements to exit the ELL program, and succeed with mainstream and native students of similar age and grade level.

To ensure that the students, which have exited the ELL program, are succeeding, it is recommended that they be guarded from any possible academic downfall by implementing observatory monitoring of students, who may begin to under-perform academically, following the student's exit from the ELL program.  While we expect for most ELL students to make a smooth transition into mainstream education and succeed, there may be those who may be in need of further support from an ELL program whose aim is also to work with students who have exited the program.

An English Language Learner will be one for life.  They will have less of a life-time experience with the language than a native speaker.  With education the ELL student can develop skills equal to that of a native speaker, and with further education, the student can expand their understanding of the language and even add to the growth of it.  English Language Learners benefit the community by expanding the culture and diversity of schools.

Copyright 2012.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

ELL Student Development: ELL Program

ELL Student Development

ELL Program

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

The English Language Learner Program, should serve as a bridge, that allows students, who are identified as ELL, to merge successfully with their English fluent classmates, as they transition into a new school setting and learn the language.  A good ELL program should have a balance of language and culture understanding, and should serve, not just the student, but the family as well.  It should facilitate the involvement and participation of families in school.  In addition, a good ELL program is fully supported by the school and the district.

The responsibilities of the ELL program are not limited to the students and their families, but expand from classroom instruction and faculty training, to district policy implementation.  To an ELL student, the ELL program may be only a temporary transition in their educational path, but it has an effect that transcends learning English.  A successful ELL program can provide a school with an influx of students that add to the diversity of the school and can help the school prepare them to become successful in their academic pursuits.

Copyright 2012.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

ELL Student Development: Initial Assessment

ELL Student Development

Initial Assessment

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

The first step in the development of English Language Learner (ELL) students is the initial assessment of their English language level.  The student's English language level assessment should measure the students ability to speak, read, and write the English language.  The results of the student's initial assessment will vary between students, and will change over time.  An ELL student is merging into a main stream student population that has an English language level that, not only has the ability, but has developed the skills, that allow main stream students to speak, read, and write.

Measuring the ELL student's ability to speak, read, and write English in an initial assessment provides for us the foundation for developing that student's merging into main stream education.  Establishing a solid foundation on which the student can develop and grow is an important step to take toward helping the student develop in a positive way.  If we can help the student merge, in a positive way, into main stream education, the ELL student should be able to succeed just as main stream students do.  The ELL student that is properly assessed initially should have a greater chance of successfully become a Fluent English Learner (FEL) than one who is not properly assessed and is wrongfully placed in the merging path toward English language fluency.

Copyright 2012 MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

ELL Student Development

ELL Student Development

Preview

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

This week, MRCR Education, takes a look at English Language Learner student development. The topics for these theme are: 

1. Initial Assessment.  
2. English Language Learner Program.  
3. Final Assessment.  
4. Developing English Language Learner Students.

Each day MRCR Education takes a look at each of these topics to give an analysis on how each topic helps ELL students develop into main stream learners that are capable of being successful amongst their classmates.  Each topic will be addressed as follows:

• Initial Assessment
• English Language Level:
• Speak.
• Read.
• Write

• ELL Program
• Prior Education.
• New Education.
• Transition.

• Final Assessment
• Language Age Level.
• Language Grade Level.
• ELL Exit

• Developing ELL Students
• Time.
• Diversity.
• Culture.
• Potential

MRCR Education looks forward to your participation in our weekly theme, and we encourage you to read our posts throughout this week.

Copyright 2012 MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved

Language and Communication: Reading

"Language and Communication"

"Reading"

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Defining Reading
Reading is the complement to writing.  If we define writing as a tactile visual form of communication, then reading is a visual tactile form of communication.  Writing gives us the skill to express our thoughts and ideas in a concrete way for others.  Reading gives us the skill to receive the thoughts and ideas that others present in a concrete way.  Reading allows us to input information into ourselves so that we may process and analyze it, then determine its value by studying it.

When to be Reading 
Since reading is an input, it can be done from the moment we begin to sense that which is around us.  Infants feel, hear, see, taste, and smell all that is available to them as they begin accumulating information.  We can become so skilled at reading that we could do it at a very fast pace, completing complete writing collections of a rich cultural diversity.  We can get to the point at which we begin to compare what we have read, with what is available for reading, and try to balance or surpass this point.

How much Reading is Good
 If we were to immerse ourselves in reading throughout our lives, we could possibly accumulate all knowledge available to us, but we would have no time to write, and share, and bring our light of clarity and understanding,  to that which we have read, accumulated, and understood.  Since reading and writing are complementary, both skills together should measure our ability to clearly and accurately communicate to others our thoughts and ideas through these two skills.

Why should we be Reading?
Reading provides for us the skills of searching, collecting, gathering, and analyzing information for our need to seek out knowledge and understanding.  We should be reading to better ourselves.  We should be reading to have a diverse amount of knowledge, that we have classified and categorized, on which we can make clear decisions and good choices.  Developing our reading skills gives us a way to connect to information, and the information that we connect to will lead us to a rational decision making path from which our lives will benefit.

Copyright 2012 MRCR Educational Consulting Firm. All Rights Reserved