Alexandria Kvenvold

12/14/12

STEM Philosophy Statement

Introduction
I have decided to go into elementary education after I have changed my major
multiple times. All of my majors before elementary education were in the medical field
because that is what many of my family members work in and I knew that it was a good
paying field with many jobs. But, over the past three years I have worked with children
of many ages and that has impacted my career decision. I have been coaching junior
high dance for the past two years and supervising park and recreation dance camp for
elementary children. I then realized that I loved to work with children and I should find
something that I would love to do. Once I mentioned this to my mother she really felt like
this was the right choice for me and could see myself in this setting. In the past 9
months I have been volunteering my time as Miss Minnesota at the Rochester Boys and
Girls Club. I have been able to spend time with children from all ages and I enjoyed it so
much. I was also able to put on the first Miss Boys and Girls Club of Rochester pageant,
which I took much pleasure in. Since I have been in the elementary education program
just these few short months, I have had many moments where I have had my own aha
moments. These moments have really made me feel like I have made the right choice
in elementary education. Also, I have learned a lot about STEM and how it is seen in
the classroom. I believe STEM is very important to teaching and learning now because
of how much our children are going to need to know in their future. Children are asked
to be completely proficient in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)

subjects by the time they graduate. It is in the elementary ages that children should
learn and have a good conceptual knowledge of all of these subjects. I feel very strongly
about this because I feel now, that I missed out on having a good base understanding of
these subjects.
STEM Experiences
My experiences as a learner of STEM have really taught me how much I feel like
I missed out on really good learning experiences. I feel like if I would have had STEM
more in classrooms throughout my childhood I would have been so much more
prepared for my own future. STEM has really made me open my eyes on how much I
would have learned better and if we had more STEM in the school systems when I was
in school. I really like the fact that you can actually integrate all of the different subjects
into some lessons and focus on some benchmarks without the kids realizing that they
are doing math or English. I also saw firsthand how it is so important it is to spark
childrens curiosity in these subjects. It makes all of the difference in how the students
actually participate in science, math, and engineering.
Content Knowledge
The content knowledge that I bring to STEM education is I feel that I know the
basic skills of all of the subjects in STEM. With these skills I am able to make lesson
plans that will be able to fulfill these subjects. I have learned that an important part of
STEM is knowing that I am able to make things interesting and ask the right questions
to keep children engaged and learning. I also know that I have the knowledge of how to
grow my knowledge in these areas so that I make sure I am able to be an effective

STEM educator. I have taken many science classes such as Biology, Anatomy,
Physiology, Chemistry, Zoology, and many more where I learn a lot of content
knowledge in different areas of science. I have also been able to experience the science
aspect of Zebrafish. I was able to have an externship at Mayo Clinic to work with
scientists and members of the InSciEd Out team so that I was able to have a hands on
experience with zebra fish, making a hypothesis, testing it, among all of the different
areas that are included in this. InSciEd Out actually showed me an insight of how math
can also be incorporated into these science modules. I was able to practice making
graphs and even learning about what graph represents data best. I like the fact of
having STEM integrated within each other and even other subjects such as English and
Art. I feel that this is not only an effective method that I learn from, but that also our
students can learn from it if they are together. In the world outside of the classroom,
things do not happen by subject. I think children should gain the knowledge of being
able to use multiple different subjects in many different areas. I have been able to grow
up with a lot of technology around me, so I am able to bring the knowledge I already
have from using phones, computers, and nooks to the classroom. I have also been able
to have computer classes that have focused on excel, word, and power point. I have
been able to grow my knowledge in the technology field as I have been introduced to
SMARTboards and Ipads, where I have been able to work with these products and use
them in classrooms with the students. I think one of the biggest thing that I bring to
STEM Education is the fact that my knowledge in STEM is ever growing and I am
learning new things every day. Also, the fact that I have the desire to want to learn more
to help my students in STEM.

Pedagogical Knowledge
I have learned a lot about knowing how much is the right amount of time to get
things done depending on the students within the classroom. I also learned that it will
take time to teach things and they will not fully understand it right away. For example, I
learned that a child needs to simply hear a word seven times before starting to full
understand its meaning and how it is used in a sentence. Then it takes that child over
twenty times to say it to be able to remember it and use it correctly. I also know that by
asking the right questions I can help children be able to open their mind to learning on
their own. Questioning for thinking is a great concept to be able to know how to do well
so that it can benefit the child, without giving them the answer. I was able to learn how
to effectively write lesson plans ad teach fro lesson plans that use the I do, We do, You
do method with targeted instruction to 2 nd grade students who were working on coin
counting. I was also able to learn about and write my own STEM lesson plans using the
5E Lesson plans or the Madelin Hunter Lesson Plan.
Role of Teacher
My roles as a teacher, while supporting optimal learning, will be to take each
child that is in my classroom into account for each lesson. I will make sure that I will be
the teacher that children can look up to as a role model and learn from. I want to make a
difference in their lives and help them grow as learns as much as possible. I feel that as
the classroom teacher I will have to effectively write and teacher lesson plans that meet
the Minnesota state education benchmarks while also engaging with my students. To
support the optimal learning I will need to have a classroom that has set rules and good

classroom management that makes for a safe environment that helps the children feel
safe and learn better. As the teacher, I also feel that I need to make sure that I am
flexible in my plans so that the students can have their own wonderful ideas and ah-ha
moments in their discoveries. I want to also be willing to learn from my children as well
as to teach them the best of my ability to watch them grow over the year.
Developmental Theories
The developmental theories that support my philosophy are behaviorism,
constructivism, and social constructivism. I really want my teaching and classroom to
have all three developmental theories combined in it. I want to be able to use all three to
make the best for my students so that they learn the best way possible and be able to
use how each of these theories work. Behaviorism supports my philosophy because I
believe that humans do tend to learn some things based on their behavior along with
any sort of reinforcement that is helped to teach these things. Also in Behaviorism it was
stated by some theorists that by having those rule set and a classroom management in
place that a child will be able to achieve Maslows second need of being safe and
having security. Constructivism supports my philosophy because it is child-centered and
proposes to focus on constructing knowledge from experiences and to learn from that.
Social Constructivism is based on how the students learn from cultures or social
environments. I will make sure that in my lessons I will include small and large group
interactions, discussions, experiments, and hands-on experiences. These will be lead
by myself or other adults while the students will also be able to explore and debate
ideas with other students in the classroom. They will be able to develop skills of working
with others and bringing knowledge to other students.

Additional Preparation
To better prepare myself for this work, the following skills will be essential for me
to master:

Time Management
Organization
The want to become more knowledgeable
Creativeness
Presentation skills
Feel comfortable teaching math skills
Conclusion Paragraph

I think it is good to be able to write down on paper what it is you know, what you
have learned along the way, and what are some things you can work on. This gives you
a good base on trying to make yourself better over the future. Then you can really be
able to look back to see if you were able better yourself over a certain amount of time.