Now that spring has sprung, it’s the perfect time to get outside and try some fun educational activities. Science, technology, engineering, art, and math—collectively known as STEAM—are at the forefront in education today, and can sometimes be overwhelming when trying to figure out ways to implement these concepts.

But it doesn’t have to be! Here are six fun ideas for STEAM activities this spring: 

Bringing interactivity, collaboration, and assessment to your schools is easier than you think! We've compiled a list of easy-to-use, engaging, and effective solutions as a great starting point. We've also included our top guides, so you can dig deeper into the best way to select, evaluate, and implement these interactive solutions.

When it comes to finding good teaching candidates, there isn’t an exact science. Applications can all look the same, and sometimes interviewing and hiring is all about timing. It can be a clunky process—and one that doesn’t always work out perfectly.

One of the structures that I have put in place to avoid this is to have a team with me while I interview teaching candidates. I will admit that there can be a downside to having an interview team—if the team doesn’t agree or prefers a different candidate to my top pick, it can be awkward. It can make the team feel as though their input wasn’t taken seriously or heard. These situations are the exception, but they do happen.

In late 2015, the Woodhaven-Brownstown School District in Michigan passed a bond of almost $55 million for building renovations. While the bond was primarily for its secondary school, the district decided to include Yake Elementary, which for years had been without the funds to update classroom technology.

Yake’s media specialist, Joe Heacox, was part of the team that evaluated potential purchases. The technology they decided on was Boxlight’s ProColor 75” interactive flat panel displays. The team determined, and school leaders agreed, that the displays’ cost and longevity made them the best choice.

As professionally trained educators, we know there are best practices that we need to apply to teaching regardless of the age of the learner. Some of these universal practices were highlighted in our recent article in this series. In other ways, teaching adults is very different than working with students. If you are a person who works with adults in any kind of professional learning, you probably already know that there are some big differences between the two.

One of the questions I am often asked when it comes to students who really struggle with behavior is “What can we do to try to help?” At times, a student’s behavior can be extremely challenging—it can feel defeating and leave you unsure of a starting point.

It’s important to note that there are sometimes circumstances that fall outside of what the education system can assist with. Some students need support in a more intensive program and may require therapy or counseling. There may be medication issues or undiagnosed conditions that are at the root of the situation, or the student could be in an abusive environment and is acting out to let someone know that something is wrong. For most of these situations, there is little a school can do to control the outside factors.

Spring is right around the corner, which means we can finally bid farewell to winter and welcome the warmer weather this month! While you’re doing your springtime cleaning, why not spruce up your lessons? Here is our collection of engaging themed content for March:

“I know—let’s make green eggs and ham and let the kids sample it!” exclaimed my principal as I shared the first draft of my plans for our 2018 Read Across America (RAA) celebration. Her voice was filled with the same excitement that fills the whole school when March 2 rolls around. At Edgerton Elementary, we love Read Across America Day so much that we turn it into a week of events. Sure, it takes time to plan, gather, organize, and execute, but the time spent creating a grand celebration for Dr. Seuss’s birthday is well worth the effort. Let me tell you how—and why—we plan the week-long festivities.