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Turn to Tech for Professional Learning This Summer

May 4, 2018

Guest blogger: David Mazza, Y4Y Educational Technology Specialist

If someone mentions summer vacation, do you picture yourself on a sandy beach with an adventure story in hand? Nothing wrong with that! But the laid-back days of summer can also be a time for online adventures in professional learning. Here are four ways technology can make professional learning feel like play.  

Easy listening. Podcasts let you explore topics and perspectives without investing a lot of time. TED Talks, for example, last 18 minutes or less. Plus, podcasts are free and available on demand, so you can listen as you pack your bags and head out for that beach vacation. New to podcasts and not sure where to start? Google topics of interest (e.g., afterschool, youth development, education, teaching, career development) plus “podcast.” Hint: Try the short podcasts in each Y4Y Click & Go for professional learning specific to 21st CCLC programs.

Social hour. You can use social media to connect with educators from around the world. If you’re on Twitter, search the hashtag #MTBoS, and you’ll find the MathTwitterBlogosphere. Thousands of math teachers follow the site, contribute ideas, share resources and suggest activities. It’s a terrific place to ask questions, swap stories and get inspired. If math isn’t your thing, use Twitter’s search feature to find sites related to your professional interests, from art to productivity to zoology. 

App time. Downtime? Download an app you’re curious about. Some have interesting features with multiple uses. For example, you could try using SurveyMonkey to poll family members on where to meet for dinner. If you like the way it works, maybe you’ll decide to survey your colleagues on which professional development book or class to try next. Could the app be useful on the job — for example, to poll students about their interests? Experimentation is the gateway to ideas and expertise!

Virtual expeditions. Stuck at home? Broaden your knowledge of science, culture, history and more with a virtual tour of a city, beach, mountaintop, museum or campus. Speaking of campuses, the Y4Y professionalization resources page has a clickable map of higher education opportunities relevant to out-of-school time careers and ongoing professional development. Free Y4Y courses are available anytime you want to explore topics like citizen science, continuous education or project-based learning. Take a virtual expedition on Y4Y and explore the possibilities.

Skywriting. Unless you and your colleagues are all on the same beach, here’s one more way to use technology for summer learning — to stay in touch via your favorite messaging platform. Keep one another revved up about learning by sharing tidbits of interest from books you’re reading, messages of encouragement and links to blog posts like this one (hint, hint). Happy summer!

Posted in Introduction to 21st CCLC, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, Summer Learning, Summer, User Tips

Mix STEM With Student Voice for Engaging Activities

April 20, 2018

One of the many benefits of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) projects is the opportunity for students to decide how and what they’ll learn. Here are some of the choices STEM projects can offer: 
  • Which project to do, either individually or with a group.
  • What role to take in a collaborative group.
  • How to design a product for a specific purpose.
  • How to structure the work in to make sure the project is done on time and within budget.
  • How to share the product or results with others.
 
These options for incorporating student voice and choice are “cooked into the stew” of project ideas offered through the U.S. Department of Education STEM initiatives. Through this work, the U.S. Department of Education partners with other federal agencies to offer STEM projects that engage 21st CCLC students in thinking and acting like real scientists and engineers.
 
In NASA’s engineering design challenges, for example, students might work in groups to design miniature space exploration equipment, such as a parachute for a Mars landing or a crew exploration vehicle. Given the goal of, say, safely transporting two (Lego) astronauts and a tank of fuel in a vehicle of a given size and weight, students choose how to solve the challenge. How will they keep the astronauts in their seats? How will they design the hatch so it opens when needed but not when the vehicle lands? Students also can choose their roles on the project team: design engineer, technical engineer, operations engineer, technical writer or videographer.
 
The Institute of Museum and Library Services offers six progressively more complex Making projects. Each project takes 60 to 90 minutes to complete. Though every child will make the same project — such as a light-up name tag, wearable electronics or a scribble bot — the design possibilities are endless. Students can indulge their creativity to personalize their products.
 
NASA and the National Park Service also offer opportunities for students to engage in authentic citizen science. The data students collect will be compiled with the findings of other citizen scientists to shed light on climate change and other issues that affect us all. 
 
The STEM initiative activities provide instructions for all these project ideas and more. Your 21st CCLC program can download them from the Y4Y website for free and start using them right away. On the website, you’ll also find ideas from the National Park Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for designing your own STEM projects that offer students meaningful choices in their learning. If your budding scientists have experience in project-based learning, they might even be ready design their own experiments and challenges — the ultimate in student voice!
Posted in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, Learn, Teach

Delivering a Well-Rounded Education

March 22, 2018

The  term “well-rounded education” occurs 24 times in federal education law (the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA). What does it mean, and how is it related to 21st CCLC activities? 
 
A Well-Rounded Education Includes Many Subjects and Experiences
First, let’s see how ESSA defines the term: 
 
"WELL-ROUNDED EDUCATION — The term ‘well-rounded education’ means courses, activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and any other subject, as determined by the State or local educational agency, with the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and educational experience.’’ 
 
The ESSA list of subjects includes many that are already part of 21st CCLC programming, and it opens the door to potential areas of collaboration with schools. As you work with the school to identify high-priority student needs, look for ways to enhance what the school is already doing. Could your program use music and arts to explore mathematics, or use Reader’s Theater to expand students’ knowledge of history and other subjects? Could your students increase their own knowledge about exercise and nutrition by organizing a community health fair? Y4Y courses and resources offer many possibilities. Here are links to just a few:
Every Student Deserves a Well-Rounded Education
The title of the federal legislation (ESSA) refers to “every student,” and the definition of “well-rounded education” includes “all students.” That means every ethnicity, every socioeconomic group and every ability. An intentionally designed 21st CCLC program targets specific academic needs within specific grade levels. In many cases, students with disabilities will be among the students with the greatest needs and you can encourage these students to apply. They can benefit from the academic enrichment and social development experiences your program offers. Including students with disabilities can be easier and more rewarding than you might imagine. See these Y4Y resources: 

User-friendly, topic-focused guides and webinars provide strategies and best practices from experts and practitioners.

Start Planning Now
Add the above Y4Y resources to your current favorites, and use it as you plan student recruitment, projects and activities for your next program session.
Posted in Career Pathways for Students, Citizen Science, Civic Learning and Engagement, Continuous Education, Project-Based Learning, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, Learn

Y4Y Year-End Special: Free Professional Development!!

December 18, 2017

Y4Y’s online courses, archived webinars, and other professional learning resources are always free and available 24/7 to 21st CCLC leaders and practitioners. So please forgive the use of “marketing lingo” in the headline. Here are some highlights of new content added to Y4Y in 2017, just to make sure you don’t miss out:

Citizen Science

By working with professional scientists on real-world problems, students hone their research skills by gathering and analyzing data. Check out the new Y4Y course for ideas that will get you fired up about the potential of citizen science. For a guided tour of course tools, resources and strategies, see this archived webinar. The Y4Y STEM Initiatives page includes links to a range of activities that engage students in the scientific process. You’ll find engineering design activities from NASA, making and tinkering activities from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and watershed-focused citizen science activities from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For a deeper dive, set aside an hour or two to go through the updated STEM course. Meanwhile, you and your students can get a taste of citizen science by taking part in Audubon’s 118th Christmas Bird Count (Dec. 14, 2017, through Jan. 5, 2018).

Summer Learning

Stem the tide of summer learning loss with fun activities that target student needs. Another new Y4Y course, Summer Learning, gives step-by-step guidance on designing a high-impact program that students will enjoy. You can use Y4Y’s ready-made Trainings to Go to get others talking and planning for summer. You can also sign up for “The Right Stuff” Summer Learning Series webinars (the next one will be Feb. 7). Looking for ways to get families involved to prevent summer learning loss? There’s a blog post on that topic.

Virtual Institute for New Grantees

If the fall season was so busy that you missed the four-part virtual institute for new grantees, Y4Y understands! The institute’s webinars, PowerPoints and resources are archived and ready when you are. The virtual institute covers four topics: conducting a needs assessment, intentionally designing activities, implementing with fidelity and engaging partners for sustainability.

There’s more to explore! Bookmark the Y4Y website so you can browse the menus whenever you have some free time. If you haven’t visited in a while, you’ll notice an updated look and other improvements.

P.S. Happy New Year from the Y4Y Team!

Posted in Citizen Science, Family Engagement, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, Summer Learning, Learn, Tools, Trainings

Wrap Up by Telling Your Story

June 8, 2017

How can you make your program appealing to students, families, school and community? As you compile data for your end-of-year report, add a narrative story that “sells” your program, and it will help you take a step toward long-term sustainability.

Look at these examples and decide which approach has more power to demonstrate the value of your 21st CCLC program activities. Then start crafting your own and share it with your stakeholders!

Example 1. Oakville Afterschool Program

During the past school year, the Oakville program served 45 students from the first through fifth grades during the fall term, and 53 students from the same grades in the spring term. Most students attended at least three days every week, with perfect attendance by 10 students in the fall and 11 students in the spring. All students participated in the Homework Help activity, and most took part in the Readers Theater, where they focused on four different stories. Other activities included Chefs Club, soccer, jazzercise and chess. See the tables on the next two pages for data on student attendance and participation by our community partners and staff members. 

Example 2. Oakville Laughing and Learning Together

This school year, our OLL Together students and staff worked on literacy, math, team building and healthy living — and everyone got their homework done, too! Thanks to our new Student Ambassadors program, enrollment grew from 45 students in the fall to 53 in the spring — our kids love to make new friends! 

Readers Theater helped students practice important elements of literacy, such as plot, comprehension and motivation. When students produced Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, we asked science teachers to help with understanding the environmental theme. Everyone enjoyed playing with rhymes and meter when we wrote an original chapter about our Oakville environment (see the script on our Facebook page).

Our Chefs Club learned to prepare holiday dishes from different cultures. Our families provided recipes from American, Hispanic and Vietnamese traditions, and students practiced measurements and fractions as they worked in teams to test the recipes, develop the OLL Holiday Cookbook and prepare a December feast for families (see the photos on Facebook).

The local Youth Stages Art Company supported our production of The Lorax, helping our students get into costumes and characters in an authentic setting. Feel the Beat, a community dance group, provided our Monday and Wednesday jazzercise sessions, and sometimes our young musicians helped us keep the beat with their drums. From our University partner, men’s and women’s soccer players came on Thursdays to coach soccer. Our team especially enjoyed their day at the University playing on the “big” soccer field and touring the campus.

Our students told us, “This year was awesome!” We know they meant it, because they had great attendance (see enrollment, attendance and other data later in this end-of-year report). Thanks to our school partners, we could identify and target specific language, science and mathematics skills that needed to be strengthened — and we built those skills into activities that students wanted. Thanks to our families, we could help students learn more about other cultures and build friendships. Thanks to our community, we could encourage arts learning, good exercise habits and team skills — and give our young people a look at life on a college campus.

We agree: This year was awesome!

Reflection and Resources

So, what worked for you? Although the second example took more time to construct than the first, do you think that extra time would likely produce extra support?

Here are some Y4Y tools to help you strengthen your activities so your end-of-year report says “awesome”!

Posted in Aligning With the School Day, Citizen Science, Project-Based Learning, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, Summer Learning, Summer, Sustainability, User Tips

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