Biggest Challeges & Rewards…
Lauren is my student teacher and had been a student of mine 8 years ago, in sophomore biology. She is having a wonderful time.
I asked her to talk about her biggest challenges and best moments.
Here is what she said….
Challenges…” Being a teacher!”
Rewards …”Being a teacher!”.. just kidding
I asked her for some of her best feelings.. There were many!
Here are a few.
“The other day a Mom told me that I was an inspiration for her daughter.”
“I love being a positive role model and being part of people lives.”
Bridges with Elementary Schools
Bridges is a program that I have been running for about four years now. High School students mentor fourth graders from one of our local elementary schools. This is such a powerful program in so many ways. First, the high schoolers in my Permaculture class read over the science standards for fourth grade. High schoolers then develop and implement their lesson plan once they select a standard they are enthusiastic about. Most often we have to re-visit the science content because often my older students have many misperceptions. I have been working with a friend, Margueritte Rancourt, from Four Corners Elementary and hope to broaden the program to include other elementary schools to enhance Stem Education in Greenfield.
December we began with 7 different lessons based on adaptations. A few groups began by sharing their own science projects in the science center. You can see students checking out the high school aquariums, learning how to make poison dart frog food or learning how to care for our bearded dragons.
One cool lesson involved reading The Mitten by Jan Brett and then visiting our hedgehog. Another involved observing adaptations of our seahorses and then designing imaginary organisms with unique adaptations. The third picture was a lesson that involved looking at the river continuum and then trying on equipment my students use in their river field studies.
At the end of session we always circle and share one thing we liked and one thing we learned.
January- This month the students introduce the Scientific Method as a cool problem solving technique. Then,they working on Ethology, Pill bugs take the center stage as we introduce dissecting microscopes measuring tools and observational skills. All of the students work on scientific drawings and qualitative and quantitative data. The next step is to share the data and figure out what we all learned.
During the next few weeks small groups set up a variety apparatus to find out more about Pill Bugs. We incorporate math, graphing, analysis research, technology as we help them write a report on their findings. I will post pictures of our progress next week
