First Semester: Reflections from my all girls STEM class

This semester has been one of my favorites so far. I have wonderful students and I love the fact that I have taught many of them two or three years in a row. They "get me."


I do have a new group of students, an all-girls STEM class. At the beginning of this year, I convinced my principal that an all-girls STEM class would improve retention rates among girls in our program. While this fact is still yet to be determined, I feel like I have made some great strides with my girls. While I know that some will not be able to take the next class in the 2015-2016 school year, I also hope that some of them will consider a STEM career in their future.


Teaching an all-girls class has a lot of advantages. My girls come in and work on their assignments without any prompting. They are all seated when the bell rings. If I don't force them to talk, I think we could have a whole class period that is completely silent. (Which is scary.)  They don't always turn in their work on time, but when I ask them to do something--they don't argue with me. We talk more about feelings than I do with my boys, but that is ok.


I think the girls have learned a lot about STEM and are starting to see some of the opportunities that are available to them in STEM fields. Last week, we talked about the lack of girls in computer science classes as we completed the "Hour of Code." They were shocked when we started to look at how the gaming industry seems to view women.


Yesterday, I gave them a final exam where I asked them to tell me two things that they have learned from taking Gateway to Technology this semester. I did not think that they would mention anything about girls in STEM, because the question was not geared toward anything in particular. Some of the responses I found were surprising, and made my heart extra happy.


"I learned that more men than women are in engineering and more women should do it, too."


"Girls can do Gateway to Technology just as well as boys."


"Coding is not just for boys, girls can do it, too."


"Not a lot of girls engineer because girls are afraid to try."


"Girls can do well in Gateway to Technology, too. Girls can help design projects to make a difference in people's lives."


I think these responses prove we are starting to plant some seeds. I am excited to see what the second semester holds. In the meantime, we are about two hours from Christmas break.


I. Can't. Wait!