Planning a School STEAM Event?

Is your building planning to host a STEAM night this year? Family Math Night? Career Night? Another event related to science, technology, engineering, art, or math? Here are some ideas and resources to help you through the process!

Helpful Step-by-Step Planning Guides:

STEM Family Night Planning Guide

Nuts and Bolts of a Family STEM Event

What would you like your students and families to learn from your event? How can you best connect event activities to classroom curriculum and learning goals? How can you support your school's mission, vision, and school improvement plan?

Family STEAM Nights are most successful when everyone gets to experience hands-on activities and learning. How could students showcase their learning from class? What activities could your staff members create that connect to their standards? What could families take away from the night that would help them at home with their student's learning? What community partners would be willing to volunteer or contribute to the event?

Microsoft has some amazing STEAM activities and resources available for Omaha Public Schools to use! Whether it's coding with Minecraft, measuring velocity with hot wheels cars, building machines, or experiencing virtual realities, there is an interactive activity that your community will love. The best part- a Microsoft employee or district technology trainer could facilitate with you!

The District Technology Training Team also has STEAM activities that your building could use to engage your community. Check out ideas below!

Check out examples of activities and find free STEAM lessons here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/education-workshop/default.aspx

A NEW partnership between Microsoft Education and BBC Learning has created great lessons on oceans focusing on future ready skills for students!

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/oceans

Dot, Dash, and Cue encourage creativity with students of all ages while they learn coding and robotics skills.

Immerse your families in augmented and virtual reality! Whether it's exploring body systems or walking through the land of dinosaurs, the Hololens is always a crowd favorite.

Hold holograms in your hand with this fun augmented reality app for iOS devices.

Did you know that our district professional library has GREAT makerspace and STEM kits to check out? Head to https://libguides.ops.org/dpl and click on the "makerspaces/kits" tab at the top of the page.

To check out materials for your building, contact Courtney Pentland in Library Services at courtney.pentland@ops.org

Omaha Public Schools Mobile Learning Unit was created to address issues of digital equity in the North Omaha area. Anchored on a powerful district vision and community partnerships, this innovative initiative targets high poverty neighborhoods and schools. The goal: to use a whole-community approach to bring high-technology learning and digital citizenship skills to students and their families. While the MLU is focused primarily on specific community locations and partners, it could make an appearance at your school as well!

A mobile digital lab could be a great way to facilitate principal feedback surveys, share Common Sense Media information with families, or provide a way for families to register for various services.

Have an idea? Let us know how we can help!

Email rebecca.chambers@ops.org if you are interested in reserving a date with a trainer or Microsoft employee! Limited dates are available- so first come, first served!

Email: rebecca.chambers@ops.org
Website: transformation.ops.org
Location: 3215 Cuming St, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 531-299-9121
Twitter: @rachambers04