The New Class, STEM

Most people have wondered about woodshop. Why is Mr. Poulin teaching woodshop? What’s this new thing called STEM? How come Mr. Poulin is done teaching science? Well I have the answers.

STEM is a curriculum geared around science, technology, engineering, and math. I am actually taking his 7th grade STEM class now and I am having a blast. So far we have used pieces to create a throwing arm. We have also tried to create the tallest freestanding tower out of a file folder, tape, and using scissors. Yes, it was hard but my group and I loved it.

Below is my group’s first attempt at building a throwing arm. It was very difficult.

So now for the big question. Mr. Poulin is still technically teaching science because STEM is science, technology, engineering, and math, but he is done teaching just a science class. His new classroom is one of the woodshop classrooms. If you have Mr. Porter or Mr. Poulin halfway through the trimester you will get to switch teachers. Mr. Porter is teaching a woodshop class still. Now Mr. Poulin decided to teach STEM because it was a way for him to be able to teach science as well as math, technology, and engineering in a “hands-on inquiry based” way. STEM also gives Mr. Poulin a little more freedom in the topics he gets to teach.

Mr. Poulin wanted to start teaching STEM for student engagement. For example most of the time kids are just sitting in math class and science class being bored. In STEM Mr. Poulin wants us to be engaged. It is a time for us to do hands-on learning activities. Another thing that is really cool is that in his class you will be learning but still will be using 21st century skills.

Mr. Poulin was someone who helped STEM come to our school. Lots of other schools have had or are doing STEM. Now it’s our time to try it. Some time last year Mr. Poulin had brought up the idea about STEM coming to our school. Mr. Harris had agreed on the idea. The only problem was, who was going to teach it? That’s when some arrangements were made and Mr. Poulin stepped up and started teaching the new class.

This was another hard question for Mr. Poulin to answer. The question was: do you like teaching STEM better than science? He answered with a truthful (but still hesitant) yes. He answered yes because he has a wider variety of topics he can teach and because he gets to incorporate multiple disciplines in his projects. An example is if he is teaching something about math he can also incorporate a little bit of engineering which makes all of the topics and lessons fun and interesting.

In my opinion STEM is fun. You get to do interesting hands-on lessons. It is even better with Mr. Poulin teaching it. If you have STEM this year get ready for a fun class!!!