2019 Education magazine

2019 “Education making a difference” LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 Page 11 I n a world where technology plays an ever- increasing role, schools are creatively expanding how students are taught and integrating skills sets. Students at Lincoln Junior High School began their school year with a new STEM lab. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and the STEM lab will allow students to do more hands-on learning. Barb Coffey, Technology Integrationist at LJHS said, “The curriculum will focus on hands-on activities that reinforce grade level standards in all content areas but most importantly, students will practice the ‘Soft Skills’ or 4C’s that workplaces really want in an employee ~ the ability to communicate, collaborate create and think critically.” Coffey said, “Students will be taught to power through a challenge, don’t give up and learn from their mistakes to improve their final product. Emphasis is also being placed on reflective practices [such as] what did you do, change, do differently, what skills do you have that helped with the challenge, and what did you learn.” There are several new activities students do in the STEM lab. According to Coffey there are several learning activities that are new to the district, which teach students various skills. These activities include: Breakout Boxes, in which students work in teams of three to five using clues that allow them to “Break Out” of two to three boxes with about five clues used to unlock three to five locks. The goal is to work through all clues when a given amount of time. Students Hands-on learning in LJHS STEM lab LJHS students doing an activity in the new STEM lab. CONTINUED