Introducing STEMmom

I am a first-time participant of the Ultimate Blog Party and have been looking forward to this event for weeks.  I've put together a post that will give you a good idea of what can be found here at STEMmom.org.

To meet the varying learning styles of my readers, I've got several ways you can learn more about me and this website. I've got a video introduction, a Prezi presentation, which includes 2 short videos, for those of you who are auditory and visual. (The video has bloopers that showcase more of the reality of the life of a blogging Mom!) And then I also wrote a narrative for those of you who prefer to read because of your verbal/linguistic bent! Thanks so much for stopping by, I look forward to meeting you. Please leave a comment and consider signing up to following my Blog, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook!   

Hi, my name is Darci and I’m the author of the virtual space STEMmom.org and the real-life book STEM Student Research Handbook.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
I’ve chosen this niche because I have spent 12 years as a public school science and English teacher and believe in the importance of science education.  I now volunteer as a high school science lab coordinator at a Christian boarding school for troubled boys, and also work the university level, but as the name implies, I’m also a mom. So now, I’d like to introduce my two boys.

Caleb Age 5

Corban Age 1

Here at STEM mom, my focus is always learning. Whether it’s a formal science lesson, craft or outdoor activity, with preschool or high school age kids, I always find ways to make STEM connections. 

My guess is, you’re already doing similar activities, I just provide provoking questions and the STEM slant to support you as you slide in those teaching moments here and there. Its important to me that kids see connections of science and math in the activities they do everyday. These shouldn’t be seen as difficult subjects in school, but rather a way to discover and learn about the world around them. I provide printable labs for download, which I organize on the Lessons page. My labs are all piecemealed together, borrowing from the best I can find (I always cite where I get my material.) I do at least one lab a week (sometimes 2) with high school boys at a boarding school where I volunteer. Sometimes I’ll blog about the details, and other times, I just post the lab with a brief description.

As a professionally trained educator (and one who trains preservice teachers) I am considering homeschooling my own kids, I am hoping that STEMmom.org will be my connecting place to meet parents who nurture their kids emotionally and intellectually.

I feel as if I'm between two worlds; with the potential of being rejected by both. I could really use some support in this area! If you can speak to this...help!

I hope you’ll take a little time and look around the STEMmom website. My posts are varied because I have young kids, teach high school and college, and do professional development for teachers. I often design a science lab for high school, then modify it for my 5 year old. My passion is helping kids learn about the process of science, rather than the facts of science. You’ll see in my posts that I label activities with various science process skills, like observation, data collection, research design, or data analysis. Children are performing these skills from an early age. As parents and teachers we really need to allow time for our kids to just be curious. This means giving them time to explore, and ask questions. Our response to them should not always to give them answers, but to ask more questions! And that’s what I try and do at STEMmom, is to help you model the skill of asking great questions.

I will also periodically make posts that will help teachers and parents who are using the STEM Student Research Handbook. If I do say so myself, this book is a great tool if you are guiding a student through a long-term research project. It walks student researchers through every step of the process, from finding reliable resources and developing a strong research design, to collecting and interpreting the data as well as how to write a scientific paper. I offer online professional development for those teachers who want to take a course and I also travel to districts who plan on using the handbook as the backbone of a research curriculum. I plan on designing an online course for high school-performing homeschoolers, or for students’ whose high school curriculum does not include research projects. The teacher/parent course will be summer of 2012, and the high school course will be offered as this fall.


I posted some slightly different tid-bits on the about me page. 

Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to meeting you!