Carl Sagan once said, "We can do science, and with it we can improve our lives."
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) is our direction here at Sebastian Middle School, not only from an application of learning viewpoint, but also from a literacy component.
Can it be done? How? What does it look like? A team of dedicated and forward-thinking educators have launched this process at SMS with support and guidance from the district and community.
STEAM at Sebastian is a transformative approach to learning that guides students through an exciting world of curiosity, problem solving, and creativity. After training and pilot activities in semester two of the 2016-2017 school year, the full Sebastian Middle School STEAM program launched for the 2017-2018 School Year with the core subjects of science and math connected to language arts and social studies through interdisciplinary activities and units infused with the arts and technology. All students at Sebastian Middle School are exposed to STEAM- related activities and curriculum through interconnected units that our PLC Teams develop collaboratively. Students engage in inquiry activities and make real-world connections as they produce both digital and project- based artifacts. Students take on leadership roles in the STEAM environment and develop a deeper understanding of the conceptual connections within their subjects.
When students complete Sebastian’s STEAM program, they will be:
Technologically, scientifically, and mathematically literate
Logical thinkers
Able to investigate global issues
Able to develop solutions for real-world challenges
While the STEAM initiative is a school wide effort, we are also creating an Academy Program for our seventh and eighth graders to begin in year three. The students are selected based on an interest form, teacher and parent recommendation, and an essay about the role of STEAM education. Student interest in STEAM related careers is crucial; students who do not have a true interest and apply to the academy may not succeed because of the strong emphasis on science and math throughout the program's rigorous curriculum.
Why Shift to STEAM and PBL?
When considering current and past instructional practices at SMS, we determined that the most common practice had been relatively autonomous teaching using directive instruction methods designed to impart information and learning within a specific topic area. While departmental and PLC collaboration had been slowly increasing, most instruction was occurring in isolation from other subject areas. As a learning community, we experienced varying levels of student engagement and inconsistent student achievement from our urban and diverse middle school population. Performance and observation data indicated that student centered learning was rare, critical thinking was inconsistently addressed as an integrated element of instruction, and some students were not achieving their potential as measured by state assessments.
Our school improvement efforts have focused on transforming this instructional model by introducing research- based elements and organizing the faculty to collaborate in PLC Teams. Our daily schedule was revised to provide opportunities for extension and remediation during the school day as well as common planning time for PLC teams. Job embedded Professional Learning focused on the elements of Deliberate Practice (Marzano), data informed instructional practices (Formative Assessment), content area literacy support (WICOR), and technology integration (Schoology, iReady, etc.). Our training from the University of Florida, Lastinger Center assisted us with developing a cross-curricular approach integrating Project and Problem Based units that incorporate the engineering design process and multiple technological tools into every subject area.
Implementation and Integration
Students complete the core courses of science, history, reading/language arts, and math for the entire year. Math and reading/language arts are offered in 45-90-minute blocks and science and history are offered in 45-minute single blocks. Students also complete technology education (ICTE and computer science) with a digital citizenship component. The goal with our sixth graders is for all students to have STEAM coursework for a semester and introduce Lego robotics, coding, gaming, and makerspace projects. Our grade level PLC team planning allows for flexible grouping of students between classes and promotes collaboration. Students are able to see the interconnectedness of all areas of study as they relate to a driving question. Students create projects that have ties to the community, which helps solidify the importance of STEAM as a transformative educational experience.
The importance of reading to be informed and to engage with the units of study is considered one of the essential elements of the STEAM program. Students will be exposed to texts and novels that are relevant to their topics of study in science to help "make the connection." Through interdisciplinary novel studies in each grade level, students explore authentic, high quality texts that connect across the middle grades core curriculum. Students read books they love in class while building knowledge of important topics and increasing their literacy skills. Class sets and audio recordings of the novels are supplemented by online materials, articles, and multimedia resources. Each unit includes a capstone project where students apply STEAM strategies to connect and extend their learning through original creations.
Exploration and Personalization
While student coursework is focused on STEAM, students have the opportunity to take a variety of electives throughout their three years in the program, including foreign language, art, band, chorus, and Orchestra. Students also complete physical education and health as a full year program. This balanced approach to the schedule allows students to develop a strong background in engineering and computer programming, but also lets them explore electives without sacrificing the core components of the program.
As part of our dedication to personalized learning, we implement a weekly “Eagle Hour” segment so that students can explore a range of extension and remediation activities. This segment provides time for activities such as guest speakers, assemblies, study hall, detention, positive behavior rewards, and special events. In homeroom, students sign up electronically for a club rotation that lasts seven weeks. Students have the opportunity to stay in the same club or try something new at the end of each rotation. All students attend their chosen club in weeks one and seven. During weeks two through six of the rotation, students may be pulled for academic interventions or given the option of attending special events. Teachers provide extra support for the core subjects and writing on a rotational basis, and students are identified for assistance in pull out groups based on formative assessment data. A wide range of Eagle Hour choices have been implemented over the past year: Algebra EOC Prep, Basketball, Battle of Books, Bingo, Board Games, Brain Games, Builders Club, Card Tricks/Magic, Contraption Engineering Club, Creative Eagles (Writing), Credit Recovery, Dance, Drum Line/Drum Set, Eagles Nest, ELA Grade Recovery, Exploration Station (Science/Math Projects), Film Study, Fishing 101, Flag Football, GameStar Mechanic and App Creation, Geometry EOC Prep, Internet Café, Jewelry Making, Kickball, Knitting/Sewing, MakerSpace, No Bake Club, Painting, Photography, Robotics, Running Club, Salsa Dancing, Science Chef, Screen Printing, Sign Language, Soccer, Stock Market 101, String Orchestra, Study Hall – Math Support, Theatre, Weightlifting, Whiffleball, and Yoga. By providing SMS students with a flexible segment during the school week when they can explore clubs and receive support, we believe we have deepened student engagement and increased student achievement.
Curriculum, Community, and Careers
Many teachers have traditionally felt pressured to “cover” the curriculum and not “waste” too much time on any one topic or project. This content philosophy of “mile wide and an inch-deep” contrasts sharply with our approach, which emphasizes depth, synthesis, and creation. Our STEAM immersion requires students to “defend” their designs (such as robotic rovers) in front of the local professional and scientific community after weeks of research and engineering. This is immersion within the curriculum through interdisciplinary unit design, high levels of rigor, problem/solution applications, and continual development of the 21st century skills they will need for employment. Technology is infused throughout the process, including the use of 1-to-1 laptops in core classes, Schoology LMS, Office 365 Suite, iReady, Discovery Ed, LiveSchool, Brainology, Learning Blade, myON, IXL, Reading Plus, Makerspace Bots, Coding, and Gamestar Mechanic.
Our program fits neatly with the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards, which emphasize science and engineering practices as well as reading and writing comprehension and skills through engagement with content. The curriculum is based on the current Florida Sunshine State Standards; the difference is the thematic problem-based approach to covering the content. Unit design within the program is driven by the grade-level science curriculum. The team plans the units around an overarching question or problem that meets the following criteria:
1. The problem is valid.
2. Students can relate to the problem.
3. There can be multiple paths to a solution.
4. The problem can be applied to the various classes to truly integrate the unit across the grade-level curriculum.
Through our community partnerships we have discovered an urgent need for students talented in STEAM to fill jobs vital to our nation’s future. Employers tell us that nearly 80% of future careers will require some STEAM related skills, and it’s projected that by 2018, we will need 8.65 million workers in STEAM-related jobs. In a recent national survey, only 16% of high school students indicated a strong interest in a STEAM career and also demonstrated the required skills. Since middle school is when students begin to refine their career paths and interests, we believe our STEAM program will help increase awareness, interest, and knowledge related to this growing need. As SMS students engage in inquiry to answer complex questions and collaborate on creative solutions to real-world problems, they will experience a rigorous, meaningful, and fun STEAM education at Sebastian Middle School.
As we move forward with our program, we will explore many possibilities, including:
Flipping the classroom. The concept of flipping the classroom—using classroom time for hands-on activities rather than traditional teaching—is gaining popularity. We are using flipped classroom activities in science and want to expand the use of this instructional method to all classes.
Developing long-term problem-based units. The flexibility of having all three grade levels with one team of teachers provides opportunities to expand the idea of creating problem-based units that could span the course of the three-year program. This type of immersion allows students to be fully vested in their educational outcomes. Expanding our outdoor classroom. We want to include more student-conceived research projects and increase students' experience with horticulture.
Conclusion and Future Success
Sebastian Middle School’s PLC goal is to deepen student learning through the collaborative development of an interdisciplinary curriculum in a technology infused environment that is enriched and supported through community partnerships. We are striving to fully implement a program where the core subjects of science and math are connected to language arts and social studies through interdisciplinary activities and units integrated with the arts and technology. We have empowered our learning community to develop a 1-to-1 laptop program, makerspace lab, and engineering labs so that students can engage in inquiry activities and make real-world connections to solve problems as they produce both digital and project-based artifacts. Teachers experience ongoing professional learning to support their implementation of the STEAM initiative. Across subjects, capstone projects (STEAM, ICT, History Fair, Science Fair, Socratic Seminars, Research Projects, Robotics Competitions, etc.) incorporate the engineering design process and multiple technological tools such as 3D printers as students take on leadership roles and deepen their understanding of the conceptual connections within subjects. Students have opportunities to collaborate on projects and share their creations with authentic audiences through our partnerships with Northrop Grumman, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and others. These community stakeholders are actively engaged to support learner success through feedback, mentoring, project collaboration, and financial backing. Parents experience the results of this deep engagement at our “Night of Arts and Sciences” events and offer their perceptions, opinions, and questions in feedback surveys and at Mr. King’s monthly “Communication Cornerstone” meetings. The process of developing and implementing the SMS STEAM program has been a transformative school improvement process over the past 18 months.
The success of the Inquiry program at Sebastian Middle School depends on the support and dedication of our school's administration, content supervisors, teachers, and staff, who have put in many hours to create, develop, enhance, enrich, and improve the educational experiences for our students. The program is primarily funded through grants, and we have been able to obtain key resources that will help the team develop high-interest, high- rigor problem-based units. We wish to extend a special thanks to both the SJCSD leadership team for support in building this program, as well as to Dr. Butler and the team from UF Lastinger Center for professional development support and feedback. We are also very thankful for our inaugural sponsors, including Northrop Grumman, Leonard’s, Rotary Club of St. Augustine, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the University of St. Augustine. The support of our district leaders and community partners is key to sustained development. It is by no means a simple task. However, all of us who have been implementing this program agree that it has helped us improve teaching and learning at Sebastian Middle and its continued development and support will give our students the best opportunity to become highly productive, scientifically literate citizens. As SMS students pursue modes of inquiry to answer complex questions and collaborate on creative solutions to real- world problems, our efforts will ensure students engage rigorous, meaningful, and future focused learning experiences at Sebastian Middle School.