Mar25

Educators Share Why They Attended the Conference

I'd like to share a few more comments from people who took the time to talk to me either after a session, in the exhibit hall, or on the bus. Thank you all for sharing your views on the benefits of attending the conference.
-- Lynn Petrinjak
 
Brandy Welch
This is my first time coming to one of the NSTA conferences. I just wanted to get updated information. I was very interested in climate change. [It’s] one of the topics they (students) like to talk about…something to help motivate me to talk to my kids about when I get back to school.
Brandy Welch, Lafayette, LA
 
 

I think as far as what I’d like people to take out of it is an opportunity to think about their own instructional practice and make small steps, set some target goals, and try to improve their instruction on piece, one increment at a time.

As a presenter I hope to grow as much as everyone. I’m always looking to network more; I always enjoy the conversations with teachers around the nation. It’s fun to see the experiences and backgrounds as people come in. It helps me in professional development.

Jeff Marshall, presenter,
Clemson University
Jeff Marshall
Ware and Coleman
I am excited about the NSTA. I’m glad it was here in New Orleans. It’s such a warm place. The reason why I come is really for professional development training. I want to get all I can to be able to take back and put it to work in my classroom.
Brenda Ware, Bossier City, LA (left)
 
The conference has been great, the exhibitor workshops. I came expecting to come out with a little bit more knowledge about what it is that we do as teachers. Also, I’ve learned more, easier ways to go into the classroom so the kids can actually get what it is that we’re teaching; more effective ways and other tools that we’ve learned from each exhibitor here has been wonderful. It’s been great. And I like the free stuff.
Qualesia Coleman, Shreveport, LA (right)
NSTA’s are absolutely the best conferences to come to for getting the latest information, the latest ideas, the latest technology. A lot of time is spent right here in this room [the exhibit hall] rather than at the sessions, but I also had a special project this year because I’ve been asked to build a curriculum for the country of Cambodia. I’m here collecting ideas, getting commitments from a number of the companies and specialists to help me in that project.
Wayne Johnson, CA
Wayne Johnson
Bernard and LeBlanc
I’m here because I went to Atlanta about eight years ago and it was the most fabulous thing I’ve ever been to and I’ve been dying to go again. When it came so close, I couldn’t wait to get over here.
Jean Marie Bernard, Lafayette, LA (right)
 
I’m here to see just what’s out there and see what options we have for our program.
Amy Le Blanc, Lafayette, LA (left)
Published: Mar-25-09 | 2 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Unforgettable, In Every Way

For me, New Orleans will be "unforgettable, in every way," to quote the old Nat King Cole ballad. I feel as though I left a part of my heart there. It was a privilege to be able to visit the Crescent City, and I thank NSTA for it.
 
I also will never forget all of the wonderful science educators I met and chatted with each day. Here are six of them who graciously shared their impressions of the conference and allowed me to photograph them.
--Debra Shapiro
 
 
 
Charity Lawson

Being a [science] coach, I work with a lot of teachers. So from NSTA, I would say that at this conference, I’ve gotten a lot of information for myself as far as professional development with coaching and the different models that different states actually use. So I will take that back and share [it] with the other coaches. Then for teachers, [I’ve received] a lot of hands-on activities that they can use, a lot of information about how to scaffold lessons for English-language-learner students, because we have a big population of those students that we are now learning that we need to service much better.

Charity Lawson, Landover, Maryland

I have been very impressed with the sessions this time. I’ve had a lot of trouble singling out one session for each time slot: I have to narrow it down from about 20.

Mary Lara, Flagstaff, Arizona

Mary Lara

Jonathan Ryberg

This is my first NSTA conference. I’ve heard about them quite a bit; wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It’s been a great experience so far. I attended a lot of workshops based on technology and sort of in that realm, and I learned quite a bit from those…a lot of different project ideas to take back to my classroom…Getting a chance to really learn how to set up a web page and how to have students interact within a web page was wonderful.

Jonathan Ryberg, Astoria, New York

As a person new in a district-wide position, coordinating science education [while] out of the classroom, I approached this conference a little differently than previous ones I’ve come to. I’ve tried to focus on sessions that were more general rather than subject-specific, and so I have been looking for pedagogy and practices and things that make sense in the classroom—best practices in the classroom—and I found a lot of that.

Gary Fortenberry, Lubbock, Texas
Gary Fortenberry
Robin Reiner

As a [graduate] student, the opportunity to be able to go at a greatly reduced rate was really what spurred me on to be able to go, because otherwise I probably couldn’t have afforded it.

Robin Reiner, Billerica, Massachusetts

I bought some really cool stuff. Lots to see. I drooled over a couple things I’m going to order when I get home, I think. And I got a bunch of things for writing grants and things like that...I teach biotechnology, and there’s tons related to what I teach—that’s even better than what I expected.

Claire Salier-Hellendag, Spring, Texas
Claire Salier-Hellendag
Published: Mar-22-09 | 1 Comment | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Next Year in Philadelphia!

Mark your calendars for March 18–21, 2010. We'll have to transition from po' boys to cheesesteaks, from beignets to soft pretzels, from Bourbon Street to South Street, and from Jackson Square to Independence Hall.

See you there!
--Mary Bigelow
Published: Mar-22-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Inquiry

There were many sessions that focused on promoting inquiry in science teaching. I wish I could have attended all of them, but the ones I could get to had some great ideas. Nancy Chesley and Lynn Farrin from the Main Mathematics and Science Alliance demonstrated the use of probes to determine students conception and misconceptions about a topic prior to the unit.

Debra Mullinnix from the University of Houston-Downtown shared a template for lesson planning that promotes inquiry.

And in a different context, Jennifer Berry and Jennifer Perry from Tennessee shared their experiences as teacher-researchers. They participated in summer programs at Vanderbilt University that had classroom teachers serve as research assistants to university professors. They then translated their research into lesson plans for their classrooms.
--Mary Bigelow
Published: Mar-22-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Sunday AM

Sunday is a tough day for a presenter. A lot of conference-goers have early departures to get home for class on Monday, many are attending church services, and perhaps a few are recovering from Saturday evening events. But a team from the St. Louis (MO) Public Schools (Nancy M. Williams, Wanicha Disharoon, and Frank Neal) showed us how to take a typical cookbook demonstration and change it into a series of inquiry lessons on Newton's Laws. They included audience participation and even gave some set-ups away as a door prize!
--Mary Bigelow
Published: Mar-22-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Switched-On Physics

My favorite exhibit was Pasadena (TX) Memorial High School's "Alternative Energy Digital Pipe Organ." This was a full-size instrument (three keyboards and two octaves of pedals) with the sound of a pipe organ that was built by students at the school. I had a chance to talk with Matt Koby (the chief engineer) who is a senior this year and Mr. Alexander Graham (the physics teacher). We were treated to a concert by organist John Potter, another student who was involved in the project who is now a music major in college. The organ is kept in the physics lab at the school - I want to teach there! For more information, click here for the project website. The project was funded by a Toyota Tapestry Grant.
-- Mary Bigelow
Published: Mar-22-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Secretary of Education Addresses NSTA National Conference

One of the conference highlights was a speech by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. He gave an inspiring talk on the importance of science and science education. For more information and a video of his speech, go to the NSTA website.

Later in the Exhibit Hall, I stopped by the US Department of Education booth. The representative there mentioned that Secretary Duncan stopped by the booth to say hello and to thank them for their participation. She noted that in her experience no other Secretary had done so!
Published: Mar-22-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Mar22

Scenes from the Exhibit Hall

Trying out new equipment, browsing through print materials, chatting with vendors, or gathering freebies for the classroom - something for everyone in the Exhibit Hall!

Published: Mar-22-09 | 0 Comments | 71 Links to this post

Mar21

Meet the Expert in Teaching Physics and Chemistry Cost Effectively

Ted Koehn with homemade inclined plane
Ted Koehn of Lincoln East High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, holds a homemade inclined plane he uses in a variety of physics lessons. With humor and insight into teachers' struggles during this troubled economic time, Koehn told a packed room of budget-conscious teachers how to do more than 60 chemistry and physics labs with low- or no-cost supplies and equipment.
 
While he's a pro at saving money, he generously provided each attendee with a thick folder filled with instructions for labs and constructing one's own equipment from such common items as juice cans, old curtain rods, used golf balls, and discarded pieces of wood.
 
For example, he showed how to make a catapult from wood sticks and a plastic spoon. His students use it to launch marshmallows and measure the trajectories. The audience cracked up when he said his students then "eat the marshmallows at their own risk."
 
Koehn concluded the session by calling the numbers he had written on the teachers' folders. When a number was called, the lucky teacher could choose which of Koehn's equipment and supplies he or she could take home. I told Koehn I was impressed by his cleverness in avoiding the need to schlep home all of the materials and by his generosity to his fellow teachers!
Francis Ayissi
Francis Ayissi of Washington, D.C., was one of the teachers who was grateful for Koehn's suggestions. "The value of a workshop like this one will improve the way I'm teaching, and it will also enhance the quality of my labs," he explained. "In this current economic climate, I believe it's very, very, very important to see how you can save money by using common materials like those items we find in our homes, kitchens, in the neighborhoods where we live."
 
--Debra Shapiro
Published: Mar-21-09 | 2 Comments | 35 Links to this post

Mar21

Take Children Outdoors for Successful Science Learning

Cheryl Charles
Earlier today, I heard Cheryl Charles present the Brandwein Lecture, The Ecology of Hope: Building a Movement to Reconnect Children and Nature. Charles, who is president and CEO of Children and Nature Network, says kids are spending more than 20 hours a week on "electronic umbilica," some becoming obese as a result. Other unpleasant side effects include diminished creativity and a lack of confidence in problem solving, and today's students are "the most medicated generation in human history."
 
Charles urged teachers to "let kids touch the living world." Doing so produces "happier, healthier, smarter" students who are less stressed and more self-disciplined; even those diagnosed with ADD/ADHD calm down when exposed to nature and the outdoors--even if "nature" is simply having a plant in the classroom. Students who regularly do hands-on science outdoors or with materials from nature show a 27% increase in science assessment scores, she points out.
 
Visit http://www.childrenandnature.org for resources and suggestions for getting kids outdoors. Undergraduates and graduates in science education also need to connect with nature, notes Charles, because it will help them become better teachers.
 
--Debra Shapiro
 
 
Published: Mar-21-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

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