[…]on a personality/aptitude test that I took senior year. However I saw myself more as a scientist.” Glen completed a double major in chemistry and chemical engineering at Penn State University and joined an international engineering firm. He spent three years in Nigeria and six months in Turkmenistan, a former Soviet Republic bordering the Caspian Sea. “I had spent five years traveling the world without a real home so, while in Turkmenistan, I decided that I wanted to settle down in the U.S. permanently.” Once in the U.S., Glen moved to San Francisco and contemplated the idea of teaching. He […]
[…]as a teacher. While writing and reflecting upon Jaz, I wrestled with contrasting feelings of comfort and desperation. I remembered that a relationship is a two-way street; it cannot be built unless both parties are willing to invest. I was comforted by this at first because it reminded me that I was not solely responsible for building our relationship; Jaz had not been invested in our relationship, just in soccer. But it did not resolve the sinking feeling of why I could not connect with him and get him to care a little more. I had a wise teacher once […]
[…]began her undergraduate career at the University of Michigan set on majoring in physics. “I had my future in research planned out by my sophomore year.” Instead she discovered how much she enjoyed tutoring in the Physics Help Room and realized that her interest lay not in research but in education. To explore teaching at the high school level, Erin took part in the Teaching Opportunities in Physical Sciences (TOPS) program in Boston where she taught energy and heat concepts to high school and middle school students. As a member of the Society of Physics Students at Michigan, she was […]
[…]“Convince me that…” and “I disagree because…”. Discussions can be contentious—an uncomfortable but necessary feeling when our goal is to reach a true consensus about the best way for students to learn the content. In the end, the agreed upon storyline will drive construction of the rest of the unit. It serves as the basis of daily lesson plans and motivates the assignment of relevant and useful action items. NORMS 3 & 4 IN ACTION: REFLECTION PROTOCOL Although we have had successes, we have also had problems. Some of our first issues were our inefficient use of meeting time, the […]
[…]to find new ways of helping students learn and grow.” Emilie enjoys spending her free time hiking, biking or skiing with her husband and two […]
[…]all of our kids not only to go but to graduate secondary school. You must keep going to school!” “Alright class, let’s discuss that group problem of circuits with parallel resistors. What solutions did you come up with?” Teacher Mathias is my favorite teacher, and I really enjoy his physics class. He does a great job of explaining concepts both in Swahili and in English and he is always checking in to make sure we really understand. For those who don’t understand, he will bring them in small groups to work with him in his office. Other teachers just come […]
[…]this not only helped us get our feet wet in working with protocols, but also in becoming more comfortable with one another before we started talking about deeper issues. Another takeaway for our group on this day was understanding the importance of listening and of silent reflection. Since my trainees were all leaders in their own departments, they were very used to being the ones doing the talking in their meetings. Hence, when a protocol required that they be silent for a period of time, I could feel the anxiety level rise in some people. I remember hearing one teacher […]
[…]to form personal relationships with my students.” In 2008, Charley earned the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification, the nation’s top teaching […]
[…]school when he participated in his first math competition. He continued to be involved in math competitions throughout high school, learning the required skills and knowledge to compete well and spending hours teaching himself various topics. As he assisted his team members with their mathematical problems, he realized that he “had a knack for explaining ideas and giving them meaning.” Brian graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a BA in applied mathematics and earned an MEd in mathematics education from the University of Georgia. At Model High School, Brian works with classes that have a wide range of […]
[…]serve on the Indiana Department of Education STEM Advisory Council. Knowles cast the vision needed for Ben to become a […]
