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From Theory to Practice: Ryan Stevens (STEM Education Scholar Series 2)
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In our series, "From Theory to Practice," we're thrilled to reconnect with some of our CMU Alumni, who we got to know through out STEM Education Scholar Program. Today, we shine the spotlight on Ryan Stevens a middle school math and STEM teacher.
Join us as we delve into Ryan's journey from student to teacher, exploring the invaluable lessons learned and the profound impact of his CMU experience on his teaching philosophy and practices.
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Like it's not just in the classroom, it's some of the stuff that I've been doing out of the classroom with the kids too. So it's just more so seeing them succeed. That's really cool.
Ashley O'Neil:Welcome back to teach wonder. We are in our second episode of this series from theory to practice, where we interview CMU alumni who are now teaching in schools across Michigan, we find out how their teaching experience compares to what they expected when they were students here with us. All of our interviews feature students that we got to know through our STEM education Scholar Program. This more than a club but less than a class organization includes a one time financial gift for students access to a national conference and some other unique perks. The students are also required to spend time working with K 12 students in the MakerSpace. If you're new to our corner of the world, our MakerSpace hosts field trips after school programs, family events, and summer camps. So these pre service teachers basically get a minimum of six hours a semester working with kids. These events are led by staff members here and all of us are former teachers. When we launched the scholar program, one thing that differentiated this opportunity from others was the dedicated space for pre service teachers to informally work with students. They don't have the pressure of preparing and executing a lesson plan. So they can really focus on what I think is a really underappreciated skill that is so important for teachers, interacting with kids, talking to students responding to their questions, helping them with the project, and just getting a feel for what it's like to interact with kids. In the role of educator, teacher education programs are great and so valuable, but many have to focus on the lesson planning portion of the job. Content Standards are important too. I know in my own experience, I had a ton of practice writing lessons of really important skill. And without the benefit of K 12 kids coming into my undergrad classrooms, the conversations are limited. So we did a lot of talking about how we would interact with students, but talking about it and practicing it are worlds apart. I relied heavily on the practice that I got engaging with kids through my outside jobs as a nanny as an subber camp instructor as a tutor. That is where I learned how to help kids talk through conflict, how to make decisions and the million questions that kids ask every day to quickly respond to the unexpected nosebleed or fire drill. And to figure out how my management style would work? How would I get kids attention, what worked for me to rally the group to transition to lunch, whatever, that time with kids develop skills in me that I then was able to combine with a really good education that I got as an undergrad to be a teacher. And it's hard to describe the interaction time, it's hard to describe that to incoming pre service teachers. But it is one of the biggest gifts that I think we give scholars in this space. Because if you're not local, and you're not able to have an outside job or volunteer gig that gets you working with kids, it can be hard to access opportunities to hone your skills like that. We give that to them. One of my favorite things is watching our scholars develop this interaction skills with students. Because we see it we see that growth every single year. And in these interviews, we're hearing that growth continue with them now. Now, when I said we had a minimum of six hours a semester with kids, most of our programs, not to brag are pretty fun. So we find that our scholars get more and more invested as the years go on. And they tend to exceed that time quickly. Our next interview is no exception. Ryan was a STEM education scholar. He also worked with us in our summer camps. And he's now a math and STEM teacher. When he was in the program. He was known for his calm and laid back approach to students. He had this way of talking to them with his quiet dignity. And we noticed that those summer camp kids gravitated toward his happy and yet thoughtful and calm approach. When you listen to Ryan, you can hear how he's taken that care and style and he's continuing to refine it in a classroom. And our conversation we talked about the work that it takes to manage a classroom, the ways in which Ryan was ready, and what he's had to learn along the way. There is a great moment when he shares how these sets of siblings notice that growth in him from year to year and his teaching style. We also talk about with Ryan about teacher burnout and the ways in which he's building respectful relationships that are sustainable for him with his students. You're gonna hear some of the cool experiences that he's had as an educator so far, and he's a STEM teacher, so we couldn't help but ask him to share some of his projects and he was gracious and proud and his school's approach to stem isn't what I expected, but it seems to be really working for them. And throughout all of it. I wonder if you'll hear what I hear. I hear a teacher who cares tremendously about his students is APL, and who is having to be really reflective and his own conversations about how to be consistent and sturdy with behaviors while grounding his decisions in that care that he obviously feels for his students. I've been in education for a little bit longer than Ryan. And his comments and guiding practices are ones that I didn't figure out nearly as quickly. Now, Ryan mentioned mentioned a few tools and organizations that their schools have heard of, and uses. I've included those links in the show notes if you're interested. Here's our interview.
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, so my name is Ryan. I am currently teaching at Ravenna Middle School, near Muskegon. I teach fifth through seventh grade, primarily sixth grade, I've got four classes, a sixth grade, one of seventh grade, and then one class of a combination of fifth and sixth grade. So I teach to STEM classes. And the rest is math.
Julie Cunningham:Interesting. And have you been at Ravenna? Since you graduate? Is that correct?
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, this is my fourth year there. Yep. Right, right out of college.
Julie Cunningham:And when you say a STEM class, can you I mean, I think most people know like, what a math class or at least have an image in their head of what a math class probably looks like at the middle school level. But can you give us an idea of what a STEM class looks like?
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, so it's a lot of well designed, okay. So pretty much what we do are a lot of career based explorations. That's, that's our primary focus. Right now we've partnered, we want to grant from the US Department of Education, to try and create a platform like, like an educational platform that for rural schools, that can be mass replicated across the country, so but they won this grant before I got there. And then we were competing for round two. And so this was a big STEM career focused grant, where we are partnering with this company called Maven. And we do these modules, where we, like one of them, for instance, is transportation and auto, where we learn about what it takes to design a car. So we learn about what a car is basically, the different fuel types, sources, things of that nature, then we have to draw a car, we have to learn about scale models and design specifications, we have to draw a model. And then we have to use Tinkercad, to try to create that model of a car. And then we have to print it. And then we put it together. So we print a chassis. And we also print the wheels now, and the car body, then we have these little electric motor kits that we put on the car body as well. And then we put it all together, and they have these little itty bitty electric cars that they get to leave with. So a lot of what we're doing is like that, we do a couple of modules like that. And so that's our main focus, but a lot of the other projects that I do, because we end up with a little bit extra time our design thinking projects, and then also just trying to get students to think outside the box. Like engineers do.
Ashley O'Neil:So Ryan, you you said you've been teaching for about four years, right? So I feel like you're in like this perfect spot to be a bit reflective about where you started student teaching. You've had a little bit of time. So how have your expectations like what you thought teaching would be like how have those been met or not met or maybe challenged a bit?
Ryan Stevens:Yeah. So my expectations um, AV men met in terms of finding value in what I do. I find that my my job is pretty rewarding, especially on difficult days. It's a good reminder that even on on the most challenging of days, where are my head is spinning from behavioral things. I reached somebody and made their day a little bit better. So with that, I know that my job is very rewarding and it feels very fulfilling. So that expectation has definitely been met. I feel a purpose in that I'm in terms of other expectations, I have found that it's very important to make sure that I put myself first when I need to, I became accustomed to saying yes to things in my first four years. And that really burned me. Like I got burned out pretty fast. So one of the expectations, I don't really know if this is like a teaching expectation or not, but I can't I can't do everything. And so I really had to learn how to tell people No. And I think that's the one thing I wish I learned going into this a little bit more was how to establish some of those professional boundaries. Because I think a lot of times, or maybe not a lot of times, but at least in my district, where it's where it's expected for us to do more than our, our job description. And so that that can be great up until it becomes too much. And so I wish I knew how to tell people like what my limits were, I wish I had a plan for what my limits were going into this, knowing how to balance some of that. But other than that, I would say that my expectations have been pretty good. I have a pretty good community, pretty good staff, that I work with good administrators. Yeah, I would say it's pretty good.
Julie Cunningham:I actually, Ryan, I have to say that I'm pretty impressed that you learned to do that in just four years, like that you learned to take care of yourself, because I think many people and many teachers who are used to giving of themselves right, by nature, don't necessarily learn that in that short amount of time. So I have to say that although you're kind of like giving yourself a hard time for not knowing it sooner, I feel like like that four years is a pretty short amount of time to have come to that realization and good for you. Because if you can't take care of yourself, you can't really be there for your students. So yeah, I think that's great. I'm wondering if you this is a little bit off of our question. Topic just a little bit. But I'm wondering if you, that can be a challenging age group, I'm wondering how that age group has been for you that fifth sixth seventh age group.
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, it's been. So it's been really good. My first two years were awesome. But then I kind of hit this wall with the last class and this one, behaviorally, it's been very difficult. So they're kind of in a unique spot, particularly my sixth grade, where we kind of get a blend of multiple schools, like private schools that pour into the elementary after fifth grade. So we get a lot of kids in sixth grade that we've never seen before. Like, we don't really know how to work with them. And so that has been kind of challenging. The kids themselves are a lot of fun. Ah, they're, they're kind of at a point where things are, school is still fun. Learning is still fun, but they're trying to figure out how to be cool. So it's, it's a pretty unique blend with that a lot of I think I'm doing a lot more behavioral things than I thought I would be in middle school. Like I'm teaching a lot of things like social skills, even some emotional skills that I don't think I was prepared to teach. And not that I'm necessarily know how to teach, but I'm doing the best I can and juggling a lot of that. But, uh, I would say that's probably probably one of the challenges that I'm facing with this group. But overall, they're pretty fun.
Julie Cunningham:Yeah, great. And that does that would be that's a great transition to our next question, which would be what are some of the challenges? So that's one challenge. Are there any other challenges that really stand out to you in terms of teaching or the classroom management?
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, I. So when I started, I wanted everybody to like me. And that didn't go very well. And it wasn't really respected by the students. I wasn't very consistent and my expectations, which has been a goal of mine over the last three years to be better about that. So one, that was probably one of the biggest challenges was walking the line of being like, but also being able to discipline students properly. Because I'm not really there to be liked. It's good if I'm like, because establishing relationships with students makes a big difference in terms of behavior, and just what they're capable of like what they want to do in the classroom. So that's been kind of hard, maintaining that, but I think the more consent Stan I am. And the more they see it everywhere within what I do, the more they respect it and appreciate it. So that was probably one of the biggest challenges I've heard from. So I have some sixth graders who I had as siblings before. And I've heard that I've become strict, since I have their sibling. And I assume that that's a good thing. But anyway, but so that was a challenge that I faced, My patience has also been tested pretty good. So learning how to just take a breath amidst some chaos, behaviors, probably one of the biggest challenges that I faced, and then also regulating myself, and figuring out how I'm gonna get through it. And those moments as well. But um, so classroom management has been one of my biggest challenges. I'm using champs now. And that's my goal, okay. But I think my biggest struggle, again, is consistent discipline, and then also follow through so champs can only do so much if I'm not holding the back end of if you don't follow my expectations. So
Ashley O'Neil:it is not every teacher that can also reflect on that is just as important for you to keep yourself regulated as it is for the the temperature like that affects the temperature of the classroom. And I think that speaks well about your ability to kind of reflect on the whole picture, a lot of teachers who get burned out, I see them getting burned out because they'll say like this teacher, or these kids are awful, and this kid and this kid and this kid, and it's all like an outward look at the classroom, rather than thinking about their internal and the scariest part is right, the only thing you can control in your classroom ultimately, is you. And so I think that's really, I'm excited for you. And I'm impressed that you're thinking about those self regulation strategies right now, too, for sure. So have there been any highlights for you?
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, um, so I think I think a lot of people probably say this, but I like I like seeing the kids laugh. I think I and smile. So I think that's probably honestly, one of the biggest reasons I go is just to try to make their day a little bit better. I'm learning that in my district, a lot of these kids. And I learned more and more more about them all the time. So we're super rural. But there's a lot of terrible stuff in the home going on. And so, learning a little bit about that has made me appreciate just the very, very simple interactions within our school. That's probably like a generic, but very, very valuable highlight for me. But I also I one of the recent highlights is playing in the staff versus students dodgeball game. Because as you know, I played dodgeball at CMU. So that was a, that was a big deal for me. I got to, I got to play and it took me back down memory lane, I did get to go. With this Maven grant, we had to compete at the White House. And so I got to present at the White House last summer, which was pretty awesome. So in terms of like career highlights, that was, that was really cool. We did not end up winning. But the team that one is based out of California, and they created a drone pilots license course, in their high school, and they use the money, they got to buy drone flight simulators. And so the students that go through that course, are certified, they have a legal drones, pilot license, or drone pilot license. And then they have applications in their like yearbook staff, the kids fly the drones around it, like football games, and like all kinds of other stuff to take photos. But their primary application is learning how to use drones in agriculture, because it's a rural district. So I wanted to tell you that just because I think it's so cool. But so so that that whole thing was really cool. Coaching has been a lot of fun. I coach eSports and quizbowl right now. And I've also done soccer. And so that's been really good for helping to maintain relationships with the kids. I find myself getting just excited on the sideline as I did on the field, which I like I assumed what happened but feeling that happened was pretty cool to like jumping up and down and screaming a kid's name because they scored their first goal or something like that was it's awesome. So those are, you know, a lot of these highlights they go like it's not just in the classroom. It's some of the stuff that I've been doing out of the classroom with the kids too. So it's just more so seeing them succeed. That's really cool.
Julie Cunningham:But I have to follow up question shins Did you win on the staff versus student dodgeball game? Did staff win?
Ryan Stevens:Yeah, we did. But I got I got hit in the head. I, I was joking with these couple of kids that I was gonna destroy them. And then they're like, No, we're gonna destroy you. And they hit me in the head twice. So they did strike me. And then eSports Do you play other schools? Like, is it? Yeah, yeah. So we we're in a league right now. That's the whole state of Michigan. And we we've competed against a school in Munising. before. So as far north as that, but I think there's 40 Something teams in our league. And I know there's a few different leagues. We're looking to kind of switch but but yeah, we we play Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. So Rocket League was one of the games that we did at that STEM camp a few years ago. So there's, there's a curriculum that goes along with this to where kids learn about applications of eSports skills, and then careers that are related to it. So we, right now, what we're trying to go in with just started as our first year. So we're trying to do a lot, but we're trying to get live streams, and then having kids shoutcast it. So we want to have our own, like student announcers. And so we're hoping this week, we'll be able to livestream our first couple of games, we don't have any shoutcasters yet, but so it's all growing and developing. But we're trying to bring a lot of that career based stuff into this. And then we're trying to introduce some games, other gaming careers, like eSports careers, like some coding and things like that into this to in game design. But that's all kind of the big picture. thing. So I'm
Julie Cunningham:really impressed with your, your emphasis or your curriculums, emphasis on that careers in STEM. I think that a lot of schools or teachers aspire to that. And that's not such an easy, right. It's one thing like to do the activity in your classroom, but a whole nother thing to tie in. what careers are using those skills? I think that's really a big deal, especially probably at your grade levels. That's
Ryan Stevens:a big, that's a big leadership thing for me. That was all there before I got there. So I kind of fell into that. But it has been really cool.
Unknown:Yeah, and super cool that you got to go to the White House and present. Yeah, that was awesome. career highlight. Yeah. Super cool. Oh, well, Ryan, I don't want to take too much of your snow day time. So is there anything else that you want to add that we didn't ask you about? Oh, you don't have to. But if there's anything that you want to add?
Ryan Stevens:No, I just I mean, the the STEM center was a pretty good preparation for some of my STEM teaching. There are some things I wish that I did better at incorporating like a lot of the design thinking I need to be better at really presenting all the components of that to them. But like I've I've used a lot of the projects that we've done in there, I've actually kind of stolen and done in my classroom. So it's been it's been really, really helpful, like I have had it since now. And we do almost three weeks for that. The we made some circuit cars, or like some battery powered cars, I like cardboard, and you know, bottle caps and things like that. And we did a camp on it. And that's a little bit different from our Maven like 3d printed cars, but so a lot of that stuff I've carried right into what I'm doing here. So that's been a huge, huge help.
Unknown:That's really good to hear and don't you're not stealing it. And by the way, we still work on design thinking all the time we have those same conversations about how we can improve so.
Ashley O'Neil:So what did you think? You can let us know by emailing us at CES E. F. C mesh.edu? Are the questions that you wish we would ask future teachers and current teachers, we'd love to hear from you. This has been another episode of teach wonder, and we're really glad you're here. If you liked this episode, and are new to us, you can find more episodes and never miss another one by following our show. Teach wonder wherever you get your podcasts. We have more interviews like this coming your way from a few math teachers, a student teacher, a STEM teacher, and a teacher who changed her plans and found a new way to work with students. You won't want to miss them. One more plug. We mentioned some of our programs here. We work with students. It's what we do. But we also work with teachers and our summer PD list is up on our website and social media pages. You can find out how to get involved with us by going to CMI ch.edu/timid and looking for teachers or by following us on Facebook and Instagram. If that sounded like a lot, we also have put the links in our show notes too. Until next time, this is teach wonder