Blog Posts

Get sailing with social-emotional learning

Posted by Admin on February 14, 2019

SEL. What? It’s not just another trending acronym. Social-emotional learning (SEL) basically demonstrates how students relate with each other – and their teachers, their parents, and other adults – in any type of interactions.

It places a priority on creating a caring environment for learning and focuses on forming relationships among families, teachers, and community members. Applying SEL concepts in the classroom fosters richer student engagement, collaboration, and trust. So . . . how can educators introduce SEL competencies in the classroom? Project-based learning (PBL)!

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, STEM, Missions, STEM Expeditions, Social and emotional learning, Hands-on Learning, STEAM

Texas educator on a mission to discover every kid’s genius

Posted by Admin on January 26, 2019

Last fall, we released our first ever teaching type personality quiz. We featured five general teaching types that we believe encompass educators you’d find in today’s classrooms: the Merry Maker, the Inspiring Innovator, the Prudent Planner, the Technology Trailblazer, and the Coordinator of Chaos.

Matthew Way, educator at Sweeny Elementary School, in Sweeny, TX, is the walking definition of a Coordinator of Chaos teaching type. In summer 2017, Way volunteered to run the new Pitsco Education STREAM lab. He sees more than 1,000 K-5 students in his STREAM lab each year. K-2 students experience whole-class STEM Units for 30 minutes each week during the school year, and students in Grades 3-5 explore the rotational STREAM Missions for one hour every third day for a semester.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Missions, Social and emotional learning, Future Ready, Hands-on Learning, STEAM

Pitsco elementary solutions make learning fun again

Posted by Admin on February 15, 2018

I remember my childhood fondly, especially the early years. For the most part, my days were filled with games, including those I invented with my siblings and neighborhood friends (indoor hockey using ski poles and plastic doll plates, anyone?); explorations of the surrounding neighborhood; and tons of problem-solving. Whether it was figuring out how to create a go-kart out of bicycle parts or hammering out the rules for whatever we were playing, we were, in general, left alone to figure these things out on our own. My parents had never heard of social and emotional learning (SEL), but they nurtured it in us simply by letting us be kids.

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Topics: Elementary School, STEM, Missions, STEM Units, Social and emotional learning

Space stations, pizza, and STEM

Posted by Admin on February 08, 2018

Ever since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the world’s first satellite, on October 4, 1957, humankind has been on an upward trajectory, reaching farther and farther into space.

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Topics: Middle School, Elementary School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Science, STEM, Missions

Pitsco, your classroom certificate of authenticity

Posted by David Meador on February 05, 2018

We’ve all seen the signs on various retail outlets: “Authentic Mexican Food” or “Authentic (Insert Team Name) Sports Merchandise.” Perhaps youve purchased something online that came with a certificate of authenticity. No matter how you encounter the word authentic, you have an understanding that the item in question is the real thing.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Middle School, Elementary School, Collaborations, Missions, STEM Expeditions, Authentic Learning