Keeping up with Global Competition (For Science 6664)

This week in class, we were asked to read and article called, What's our Sputnik? by Thomas Friedman. Basically, the article made a lot of sense. It spoke mainly about how our country is focusing on the wrong things, rather than the right things. Things like concentrating on how to become independent of imported oil and pulling out of the war on terror would be things that could help us save money as a nation and become independent. These things would help, but also focusing on education and integrating STEM lesson plans into our classroom will help our nation.
     To paraphrase Timothy Emhoff in this week’s resources, elementary students have a natural curiosity, which is the perfect opportunity to introduce STEM lessons. Through regular lessons, students eventually become bored, but with STEM lessons, the curiosity continues throughout their education, as does their love for Science. Also, I know through experience that it is important that all elementary teachers get on board with incorporating at least some STEM lessons into the classroom because with collaborative efforts with colleagues, eventually comes support from families, administration and the community. The students also see the importance of STEM education and begin to see connections everywhere in the outside world. Although it is difficult to transition some colleagues, through asking for a few minutes at staff meetings and sharing lesson plans, it has been easier to get colleagues to begin incorporating these lessons. Also, I have invited colleagues to attend a science education course in the summer that focuses on building and incorporating STEM lesson plans in the classroom. With collaboration with teachers, the community, students and teaching the importance of STEM education, I believe that we will have growth in the engineering, science and math fields. This is crucial because according to Educational Leadership, “Our students live in a world increasingly dominated by science and technology. To be responsible citizens, they will need to have informed opinions on all sorts of issues, from global warming, to stem cells, to the storage of nuclear waste. We can only speculate on what issues will arise in the future, but they're sure to have a scientific or technological component” (Trefil & O’Brien,  p 28, 2009). There is a saying that children are the future, and in this case and the case of getting the United States back on board with being competitive and self-sufficient, this has never been more true.

Laureate, Education, Inc. (2010). Promoting STEM Education in the Classroom. [Videowebcast]. Retrieved from http://www.courseurl.com

Trefil, J., & O'Brien-Trefil, W. (2009). The science students need to know. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 28–33.
Retrieved from the Walden University Library using the Academic Search Complete database.