Tag: STEM

Note: I started writing this post in December. I am finally finishing it up today!

I get this question frequently since I made a change for middle school to high school this year. The question is often followed up with “Which do you like better?” and of course, “What do you teach?” My response of chemistry and engineering is usually followed by some sort of exclamation, which I can only assume is awe since I guess these are considered challenging subjects. (Although while visiting the doctor the other week, he said his nurse was intimidated by the fact I teach chemistry and engineering!)

Now that I have an entire semester of teaching high school under my belt, I thought I share some of things I have found different about teaching high school compared to middle school.

1. Students are more mature.

I’m sure you are thinking, “obviously,” but I have this unique perspective on some of my students because I taught them in sixth grade, and now I teach them as freshman or sophomores or juniors. I love watching these once crazy sixth graders grow towards adulthood. I also wish some of their other middle school teachers could see them now!

2. Students are more proactive.

Another effect of students being more mature is that they are now more proactive. No longer afraid to approach me with questions or concerns, I get a lot more students asking for help with understanding, completing assignments, and figuring out how to bring grades up. Instead of emails from parents, I get emails from students taking charge and taking care of things. It is really awesome!

3. Students like to be at school.

It amazes me how many kids are still at school every afternoon. The bell rings at 2:10 to dismiss for the day, but the building is still filled with the sounds of learning whether it be sports, cheer leading, music, drama, robotics or other activities, students like to be at school. It seems like the doors of the school never close! On the other hand, I think some kids stay at school because it’s a nice/safer place for them to be than at home.

4. Students are discovering themselves.

I think this is my favorite part of teaching high school. It is amazing to watch students discover passions and uncover talents. The student I talked about in my previous post who filed for a copyright and is not working on trademarks and design patents is a great example. One of things I like best about the way CDAT works is that students can follow their passions and talents and we help align their learning experiences to them.

5. Students are still kids.

It’s not all serious, and it’s not all perfect. After all, I still teach kids. High school students are still kids learning to make good choices. They are still fun and silly and crazy. And class is rarely boring. Like this time when we were modeling periodic trends with straws and Play-doh, and a student made up this rap on the spot.

Or when we took our students to the regional science fair a few weeks ago. They were outstanding the entire event and represented themselves and our school well. However, they still found their fun side when I asked them to pose for a fun photo.

And then there are the things I love that are not related to the students – like being able to run to the bathroom between classes and having an hour for lunch (at least this year). Overall, I love teaching high school, and I hope I am having a positive impact on students. So if you ask me how I like teaching high school, you will find I love it. I am having a fabulous year and doing amazing things with classes and students. I am looking forward to where this journey continues to take me.

It’s summer, and everyone knows that teachers get summers off. I was thinking about this while I was on my morning run.

My morning run. During the school year, I don’t have the time for a morning run, so this is definitely a major perk of the summer.

And I’m blogging. It’s a lot easier to find time to blog during the summer. I do have more free time, and I’m not coming home exhausted at the end of a long day.

So, do teachers really get summers off? I guess that depends on your definition of “off.” If you mean two months of relaxing, vacationing, and doing not much of anything, then, no, teachers don’t really get summers off. However, if you mean off in the sense that there is a break in the daily routine, time to reflect, recharge, and rejuvenate, then, yes, teachers definitely get summers off.

My typical summer consists of professional development, conferences, a science adventure, reflecting on the previous year, and planning for the upcoming year. I also spend my summers rebooting myself. I usually start the school year out heating pretty well and exercising pretty regularly. As the school year progresses, my schedule gets crazier, and I start to eat lazily and find less and less time for exercise. One of the best parts of summer is having time to get back on track with how I eat and how often I exercise. Having mornings to run, for instance, is priceless. During a Georgia summer, the mornings are the best time to run. Other times of the day are pretty much impossible!

A few years ago, I began summer adventures. My very first summer adventure was at Honeywell Space Academy for Educators in 2011 followed by going to Florida for the final launch of the space shuttle program, STS-135. That was a pretty amazing summer, and I wondered how I could possibly follow it up. But since then summers have included Advanced Space Academy for Educators and flying weightless with NASA. This year, I have two exciting adventures starting soon!

So what is the Summer of 2014 like for me? Here’s a quick overview:

• Academy PBL Training
• Engineering Software Training
• Completed writing an online course for my district
• Engineering and STEM professional development
• Gwinnett Digital Learning Conference (both an attendee and a presenter)
• ISTE 2014 – I am very excited about this as it’s my first ISTE experience, and we are presenting about our PBL program
• Running the Peachtree Road Race
• Creeks to Coast with Georgia Aquarium
• Flight Experiments Workshop with Teachers in Space focused on launching a high altitude balloon

I LOVE having a full summer. Professional development experiences, conferences, and summer adventures help to refresh and recharge my teaching batteries. It is a blessing to have an open summer in order to fill it up with these amazing experiences.

Yes, I do have summers off. I have summers off from my classroom and interacting with students every day. I have summers off from scores of important emails that need immediate responses. I have summers off from wondering when I can sneak to the bathroom next. I have summers off from 12 hour days spent at school.

But I also have summers off from laughing with students every day. I have summers off from inspiring students to find their passions and discover the wonders of science. I have summers off from interacting and learning with my colleagues each day.

Having the summer off is a gift. It’s a gift of reenergizing, relaxing, and getting inspired. It’s a gift of time. It’s a gift of preparation, and I believe my summers help me be a better teacher. I am so thankful for summers off! (But I am looking forward to the start of school again in the “fall.”)

In the ever advancement of society and technology, we often forget to stop and think about what we have lost. As I was watching the most recent of episode of Cosmos (“Sisters of the Sun”), Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioned that we lost the stars with the advent of electric lights.

The other day as we were learning about where we are in the Milky Way Galaxy, I provided my students with a set of clues. Some of them mentioned the visible Milky Way. It lead to questions, and when at one point I explained that the Milky Way got its name because it looked like milk spilled across the sky by ancient peoples, they were surprised.

And why shouldn’t they be? Most students have never seen the wisps of the Milky Way across the sky. Even in the suburbs, there is enough light pollution to block out only the brightest stars. Our children have lost the stars, and they do not even know the stars are missing.

In education, we have also lost the stars.

Although we realize there is a problem with how we are educating our students, the solutions often seem to be just a re-branding of what we are already doing. We realize the vast majority of students are treated like a factory product. Even teachers are evaluated on the quality of the product (in student test scores). How did we lose the stars? We took all of the natural curiosity and thirst for learning from students and required everyone to learn a standard curriculum. Take a standard test. And somehow, learning fairly turned into everyone learning the same.

Maybe one day, there will be a widespread power outage at night. We’ll stop what we are doing, and gaze up at the sky. Then, for the first time in a long time, we will really see the stars. We’ll realize what we are missing, and as a society, we’ll choose to make a change.

Perhaps there will be a metaphorical power outage in education as well. We’ll realize what we were missing. We’ll remember the power of learning when students feed their own natural curiosities and interests. We’ll remember that learning is about passion, experiences, adventure, and fun. We’ll watch students remember how to learn authentically. We’ll choose to make a change.

And we’ll see the stars.

I received a letter in my post box yesterday from a student in my neighborhood.

It made me sad.

It reminded me of how difficult it is to fully fund inspiring activities for students in our school systems. The letter explained that two teams from our local middle school (not where I teach) won the state Odyssey of the Mind Tournament and are now headed to the world finals at the end of May.

Exciting, right?

Except it goes on to explain that despite their numerous fundraising activities, they just do not have the funds yet for the 14 students to cover travel costs, lodging, meals, and transportation of materials. (It will cost about $1,000 per student.)

Isn’t it sad that students may miss out on an amazing STEM opportunity like this due to lack of funding?

It would be awesome if this were an isolated story, but sadly it’s not. I am sure almost every school extracurricular activity (especially STEM ones) has a similar story to tell. My Team Kennedy teammate, Kaci Heins, is currently raising funds to take a small group of students to see the launch of a rocket in June. It will be carrying an experiment they designed to the International Space Station! She has also been conducting a series of fundraisers for this project from the initial funding needed to get a spot on the rock to get the experiment on the International Space Station to travel expenses for the students to attend the launch.

It’s amazing that students have these incredible, authentic experiences in problem solving, engineering, and science. These are the type of adventures that hook students into the STEM careers that we keep hearing so much about.

But it’s sad that it takes so much to fund inspiration. I wonder what the solution is?

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Feeling inspired yourself to help out one of these many worthy causes?

Donations for the Odyssey of the Mind Teams can be made out to DMS-OM and mailed to

C.W. Davis Middle School, c/o Kim Carroll, 4450 Hog Mountain Road, Flowery Branch, GA 30542

You can contact Kaci Heins via Twitter for information on how to donate funds to her students for the launch

@spacespartan

And if neither of these interests you, find something amazing happening at your local school, and go support it!

 

Are you bringing authentic science experiences to your students? I’ve always been a big believer in doing authentic science with students. However, I’ve come to realize that students don’t just want to do “real” science. They also want to be part of something that matters and is important.

Last year, my students helped to design and conduct an experiment that was then carried out on our microgravity flight as part of NASA’s MicroGravity eXperience. They loved the experience and were excited to hear about the results. In fact, I had students contacting me over the summer to find out the results. I also had a great turn out in a before school event to share with them since they are now seventh graders.

This year, I shared about my summer experiences with my new sixth grade class. They wanted to know if they would get to be a part of an experience like last year’s group. At the time, I had a couple of plans up my sleeve for this year, but I didn’t know if they would come to fruition.

On Monday, I told my students I had been named as a NOAA Teacher at Sea. The first reaction from many of them? Now we can do an experiment like your students last year!

The moral of the story? Find real, meaningful opportunities to get your students involved in science. They want these experiences! There are so many out there. From citizen science projects to ones like I have had the opportunity to be involved in. Find something that aligns with what you teach, and let your students experience real science. Our kids want to change the world; let’s help them find the way to do it!

I’m sharing a few opportunities for you and your students. This is just a short list. There are so many more things out there! Search what you’re interested in, and find something amazing to share with your students!

Citizen Science Opportunities:

• Zooniverse: a variety of topics ranging from space, to climate and biology.
• NASA’s Citizen Science page: a variety of space related opportunities including closer to home opportunities like cloud watching.
• SciStarter: a database of science projects that can be done at home, school, online, and a variety of other places in all science disciplines

Teacher Opportunities:

• NASA’s Teach From Space MicroGravity eXperience: Keep an eye out for future announcements to be part of this amazing program to develop an experiment with your students that you will fly for them in microgravity as part of a parabolic flight!
• NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program: Applications for this program usually open in September and announcements are made in February/March. Chosen teachers spend anywhere from a week to a month researching on a working NOAA vessel.
• Siemens Summer of Learning: Two opportunities to be part of STEM either in Washington D.C. or as part of a research lab in the summer. Applications for this year’s season have closed, but they will open again at the end of this year for next year.
• Honeywell Green Boot Camp: Bring environmental education to your classroom with this experience. Applications are currently being accepted!
• Honeywell Educators at Space Academy: This one will change your life. Applications are usually open from September-December for the following summer.

One final note: Don’t give up! For Honeywell Educators at Space Academy, NASA’s Teach From Space MicroGravity eXperience, and NOAA’s Teacher at Sea programs, I was accepted the second time I applied, not the first time. All of these programs are very competitive, but don’t let an initial “rejection” keep you from trying again!