STREAM of Conciousness

“To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” — Leonardo Da Vinci I recently had a conversation with a parent who was confused about what their child does in my classroom.   "I thought you teach Technology," they said.  "I do," I replied, then added, "But that's only one part of what I do."  I then explained how though I do include tech as part of my curriculum, "T" is among five other, equally important letters. Here's my opinion: Technology is absolutely important for todays young learners.   Here's my  other  opinion: Technology should absolutely not be the primary focus of STREAM education.   In 2021, Sadlier published a blog post in which the author noted: " A successful STREAM approach seamlessly integrates ideas from the six disciplines into learning experiences. It is a vision that requires planning, development, su...

THWARTED BY 7-YEAR OLDS Readied with plans to talk about things like Light, Prisms, Rainbows and Noah's Ark with my second-grade STREAM class at St. Peter's school in Lewiston this past week, before I knew it, the proverbial monkeys had taken over the zoo. Indeed, I was bombarded with questions about the upcoming solar eclipse , a topic which was NOT in my lesson plans but was one in which I was delighted to explore along with them.  (This may be my favorite part about teaching STREAM: when unrelenting curiosity arises, more often than not I am able to indulge my students' eagerness to learn!) You've probably heard, there's going to be a solar eclipse on April 8 this year, and Western New York is right along the path of totality.  According to a report on WKBW-TV , this is serious business, with Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz even considering a county-wide shut-down, just as though we might expect for a snowstorm. “The traffic is going to be horrible," Po...