Empowering Learners with STEM

As an educator, you play a magnificent role in the lives of children. You guide learners to find their voice and confidence. You spark curiosity and motivation. You mold positive mindsets. Each day your learners look to you, and through the experiences you provide, you have the ability to empower them.

Whether you’re in a traditional classroom setting or an out-of-school program, providing access to STEM is essential for empowering the learners in your room. PCS Edventures’ cross-curricular programs spark leadership and a love for learning, all while highlighting every child’s values. Through lessons that support all learners, you create an environment of empowered thinkers.

Strengthen Leadership with Student-Directed Learning:

Who doesn’t love a student-directed activity? Educators and learners alike are always highly engaged when kids take the lead! Leadership skills flourish during self-directed STEM lessons. Learners believe in their own capabilities, which motivates them to take initiative.

When given the freedom to direct their own learning, empowered leaders:

• take pride in their learning
• are independent and self-manage
• display a motivated disposition
• are confident and optimistic

Our interactive programs include all the resources needed for educators to place learning into the hands of their future leaders. Learners are motivated by our cooperative building challenges, hands-on manipulatives and inquiry-based learning objectives. They’re eager to explore content with peers and share their findings in collaborative discussions. It’s truly amazing how leadership skills authentically develop when implementing STEM.

Leadership and executive functioning skills go hand-in-hand. Executive functioning skills include a learner’s time management skills, flexible thinking, impulse control and more. Discover the invaluable benefits when you Enhance Executive Functioning with STEAM.

Highlight Every Child’s Values with Cross-Curricular Content:

Each child is a unique individual. It’s important to know what makes them, well, them!

Educators empower children by making them feel valued for being themselves (Broom, 2015). STEM activities are a phenomenal way to understand learners’ thoughts, feelings, strengths and interests. PCS Edventures’ programs provide engaging, cross-curricular content to highlight every learner’s unique abilities.

Nurturing individual values inspires empowered learners to:

• display their strengths
• have a positive self-identity
• strive to positively influence their environment
• understand the values of their abilities

PCS Edventures crafts step-by-step lessons with the notion that educators best serve students as facilitators. Jumping in with learners allows educators ample opportunities to provide individuals with positive feedback and support. Strong relationships are built and, in turn, lay the foundation for mutual respect and understanding. Children feel empowered by the connections they form with their educators.

“By providing an environment in which students are cared just for being who they are, and by knowing their students and appreciating their strengths and abilities, teachers can create positive and empowering learning spaces. They can build their students’ self-esteem and help to reframe positive self-identities…” (Broom, 2015).

Knowing your learners’ strengths means you also know your learners’ interests. Maybe they prefer a specific subject or a particular method to display their learning. To engage all learners, our STEM programs include a variety of extensions, challenges and activities.

Engineering Challenges:

• Free builds spark creativity and encourage out of the box thinking.
• Learners are prompted to discover what their design is capable of by pushing it to its limits.
• Individuals think critically, yet positively, and add more detail to their work.
• Student-led exploration requires builders to apply learned concepts while trying something new.

Cross-Curricular Extensions:

• Math extensions include exciting word problems, hands-on manipulatives, and exploring math tools.
• English Language Arts activities ask learners to write poems, short stories, journal entries, and more.
• Art, STEM, and Social Studies extensions are sure to highlight the strengths of ALL children.

Collaborative Activities:

• Each program includes an abundance of opportunities for team work.
• Partner, group and class discussions allow learners to share about their experiences, strengths and challenges.
• Exciting games provide opportunities for social-emotional learning, movement and kinesthetic learning.

By utilizing PCS Edventures programs, educators create an environment that nurtures all learners' unique capabilities. When a learner feels seen for who they are, they feel empowered.

Every child thinks and learns differently. In order for each individual to thrive, lessons must be conducive to multiple intelligences. In our blog post, we dive deeper into 7 Ways STEM Supports Neurodiversity.

Inspire Life-Long Learners with Engaging Experiences:

An empowered learner is a life-long learner. A life-long learner constantly pursues knowledge. They’re eager to dive deeply into new content. They enjoy obstacles and problem-solving.

But how do educators inspire an authentic love for learning? The key is implementing the right high-quality curriculum. PCS Edventures’ STEM programs have it all: captivating content, interactive design challenges, collaborative activities and inquiry-based learning.

When engaged in academic experiences, empowered life-long learners:

• display a curious mind
• have the desire to learn
• think creatively
• embrace failure

Our programs embed ample opportunities for creative thinking, student choice and problem-solving. For example, everyone loves our design challenges. Learners use manipulatives to build various items. We prompt educators to encourage learners to step outside their comfort zone by enhancing their builds or altering designs to accomplish new tasks. In some cases, this causes the builds to fall apart or essentially fail.

“Teachers can help their students see that failures don’t end learning; rather, they provide feedback for students to learn from and continue their growth. Regular and positive formative feedback is invaluable to students” (Broom, 2015).

At PCS Edventures, we don’t view failure as a bad thing. In fact, we welcome failure! This shift in mindset is what truly inspires life-long learners. When children are no longer afraid of failing, they fully engage with content. This is why it’s crucial for each lesson to incorporate chances for learners to embrace failure, and in turn, chances to fall in love with learning.

Click here to read how Failure is Advantageous!

Eager to Empower Your Learners? Let’s Get Started!

Empowering learners is crucial for future success, both in and out of the classroom. PCS Edventures is excited to provide you with all the resources you’ll need to get started. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your learners find their voice, display curiosity and think positively.

Not to mention, empowered learners lead to empowered educators. Our programs help educators expand their expertise, motivation to implement new concepts and confidence that every child is receiving the education they deserve.

Wondering where to begin? Every PCS Edventures’ program empowers educators and their learners. You are sure to find the perfect topic and theme for your environment. Download an online catalog to check out our thrilling STEM products.

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Author: Marissa Rosol

As a 4th-grade elementary teacher and instructional coach, Marissa believes hands-on learning is the key to student engagement. Her love for literacy, STEAM and student collaboration guides her instruction and professional development sessions.

References:

Andriotis, Nikos. (2018, June). The Top Qualities of Empowered Learners and How to Identify Them. EFront Blog, Retrieved from https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/2017/11/how-identify-qualities-empowered-learners.html

Broom, Catherine. (2015). Empowering Students: Pedagogy That Benefits Educators and Learners. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, vol. 14, no. 2, 2015, pp. 79–86., Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/2047173415597142