Introducing podcasts worth hearing: K12Science

A subject that’s cropped up in a number of our podcast recommendations including Every Classroom Matters from last week is STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And this is a topic covered in K12Science hosted by science consultant David Bydlowski.

Each episode begins with an article featured in Science Scope, the National Science Teachers Association’s journal for middle school and junior high school science teachers. Bydlowski then takes the message of that article and expands on it, providing resources and tips for listeners interested in the topic.

In a recent episode, Bydlowski discusses an article on the importance of helping students understand science through effective reading engagement. When choosing reading materials in a STEM class, the goals are typically to relay the lesson being taught, to pique the interest of the student, and to make sure the material is at the appropriate reading level. Tips are given on how to assess reading levels accurately and Bydlowski suggests the website Newsela as a resource. Newsela allows educators to find relevant news stories on a variety of topics that are written at different reading levels. It even allows educators to create text sets for their classrooms.

Other episode topics include improving students’ STEM writing abilities, outstanding earth science books, and how misconceptions about STEM facts can be used as gateways to informative conversations with students.

Each episode is around 5 minutes long or less, so give it a listen!