We’re very pleased to announce that we're investing in a new opportunity for elementary educators who want to integrate engineering into their classroom instruction: the first-ever EiE Scholarships.

Applications are being accepted now through Dec. 16^th  2015 for the first round of awards; we’ll announce the recipients in late January 2016.

Every Thursday on the EiE Blog, we bring you tips and tricks that help you teach your best.

During every Engineering is Elementary (EiE) professional development workshop, we ask teachers to wear their “Student Hats” while they work through the hands-on engineering activities, just the way their students will. Afterwards, they put on their “Teacher Hats” to reflect on the experience. Recently, during the “Teacher Hat” debrief, one teacher raised her hand, looking concerned. “Do my students HAVE to work in teams?” she asked. “I think there’ll be too many behavior issues. It will detract from the content of the lessons.”

Great question. SHOULD you allow your students to work through EiE activities independently?

Every Engineering is Elementary unit includes four lessons. Lesson #4  is a hands-on design challenge that engages students in designing and building a technology: a windmill, alarm circuit, knee brace, and so on. When I faciliate EiE professional development workshops, participants often ask me: “Do I HAVE to teach all four lessons? Can't I just skip to Lesson 4?"

EiE’s out-of-school time (OST) curriculum Engineering Everywhere (EE) has two new units that are sure to intrigue and engage middle schoolers in your program. Both units feature cutting-edge topics that track the newest developments in engineering fields:

• Growing Up: Engineering Vertical Farms
• Go Fish: Engineering Prosthetic Tails

OST programs can be the key to holding middle schoolers’ interest in STEM. According to the Afterschool Alliance, the middle school years are a “make-or-break” time for many youth, when students either get excited about learning . . . or get totally turned off, especially about STEM subjects.

When the school day's over, when the pressure’s off, when the activities are hands-on and connected to real-life experiences (as they are in these new units), middle schoolers are more likely to get hooked on the excitement and pleasures of science and engineering.

A recent study by the business data company WalletHub ranked Alabama one of the worst states in the nation for quality of K-12 education.

The state has been working hard to change that, though, notably with a plan to improve STEM education through America’s largest and most comprehensive math and science program, the $30-million Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, or AMSTI.  

Recently, we learned that Engineering is Elementary will be part of this initiative, and in a big way. Alabama just adopted new science standards that include engineering practices . . . and EiE was selected as a resource that can help schools meet those standards.