Blog Posts

Sculpting with shadows: two Groundhog Day STEAM activities

Posted by Admin on February 02, 2022

I’m writing this while sitting in a coffee shop at a table near the door. Every time a new customer enters, I’m hit with a swirl of arctic air that chills me to the core. For me, that prognosticating groundhog can’t come out of his den soon enough.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Middle School, Elementary School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Homeschool, Science, STEM, Activities, Hands-on Learning, STEAM

Kid Inventors’ Day: Celebrating creativity in all young inventors

Posted by Admin on January 17, 2022

Kid Inventors’ Day, a day to celebrate young inventors of the past as well as encourage today’s inventors, falls on January 17, every year, a fitting nod to inventor Benjamin Franklin because January 17 is also his birthday.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Middle School, Elementary School, High School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, ROBOTICS, Resources, Authentic Learning, Activities, Hands-on Learning, innovate

Making spirits bright with the science of Christmas lights

Posted by Admin on December 20, 2021

My favorite part in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is when Clark Griswold’s 250 strands of lights on his house finally turn on. If you haven’t seen Christmas Vacation, Clark decorates his entire house – and I mean the ENTIRE house – with Christmas lights. He brings out his whole family to see the lights all turn on at once. But, as he brings the two power cords together to turn it on, nothing happens. Later, after his wife flips the correct switch, all the lights flicker on, lighting up basically the whole city. A Christmas miracle!

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Topics: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Science, Technology, STEM, Engineering, Activities, Hands-on Learning, Art

Let’s travel to the future – yours

Posted by Admin on December 08, 2021

December 8 is Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day, the day we use our imaginations to travel to the past or future. You’ll find yourself in the future eventually, but it’s natural to want a sneak peek. Will we have flying cars at last? Will the world still revolve around silly dances on TikTok?

Not even our imaginations can answer for sure.

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Topics: IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Science, Technology, STEM, Engineering, Careers, Coding, Future Ready, Hands-on Learning, Math, Workforce Development, Women in STEM

Using Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to grow as a teacher

Posted by Admin on December 06, 2021

(Authored by Jim Brown and James Jones, members of The Ambassador Group for Pitsco.)

Teachers of all grade levels face challenges on a daily basis, from elementary teachers tasked with teaching young students to read and recognize shapes and sounds to middle school teachers working with students who are beginning to gain more independence and figuring out their place in the world to high school teachers trying to prepare burgeoning adults for the real world.

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Topics: Middle School, Elementary School, High School, BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Teacher Resources, Collaborations, Resources, Careers, Teacher Development, Professional Development, Conferences