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I am presently out of the classroom as a Teacher on Special Assignment focused on science with connections to the literacy initiative. I have been promoting systemic change in science education since 1992 when I went to the National Science Research Center as a member of Santa Clara Unifiedıs team. The next three years we implemented a Hewlett-Packard Hands On Science grant. We established a summer science academy for K-12 teachers as well as offering a variety of staff development activities. We instituted a science resource center providing consumable items to teachers to support kit use. We created an infrastructure of five science support teachers available to help at school sites, and science liaisons, two from each school, who meet on a monthly basis. My job was created to coordinate the infrastructure and the science efforts. Assessment is our most recent step. We administered district wide performance based assessment at grades 2, 5 and 8 in the physical science strand in Spring 1997. The assessments were written to our district science standards created by our teachers. Teachers were trained in administering and holistically scoring the assessment. Next year we will be working in the life science strand. As a part of the BASEE Collaborative we look forward to strengthening our staff development for new and experienced teachers.
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I have spent the past two years as a library media teacher and technology coordinator/resource manager at a K-6 school. I have recently accepted a district level position as a science resource teacher, a position made available as a grant to BASEE (Bay Area Schools for Excellence in Education), a consortium of eight local school districts in partnership with Hewlett-Packard. As a SRT, I will be responsible for helping to develop and implement teacher professional development programs designed to teach educators about inquiry-based, process-oriented science.
stokes_cathy@cusd.cupertino.k12.ca.us |
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Presently I am a special education teacher in the city of Buffalo. But I am quite involved in the Team 2000 program. Team 2000 is a program through the Science Museum to promote a hands-on, inquiry approach to teaching science. This summer I will facilitate an electric circuit kit, object lessons (birds) and act as co-chairperson for the development and implementation of an inquiry workshop. The focus of the inquiry workshop is to move beyond the mechanical use of the kits towards the inquiry process. The design of the workshop was inspired by my participation in the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiryıs Professional Development Design Workshop this past spring.
fnaday@aol.com |
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I am currently serving the New York City Board of Education as a Lead Science Cluster Teacher. In this position I am required to assist in the planning and implementation of the hands-on science program in grades K-3. As the science resource person and lead teacher for my building I am also involved in extensive staff development efforts with the district science coordinator and fellow colleagues to establish new and innovative methods to best activate science education.
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My current job is that of Kindergarten Science Specialist. I provide science instruction for fourteen all day kindergarten classes in an all kindergarten annex of a very large urban school. Besides my teaching responsibilities in the school, I am a resource to the teachers in the school regarding science curriculum, materials, trips, visitors, etc. My responsibilities concerning science reform in my district encompass my role as a lead science person in the district. As a lead science person I do district wide staff development both on and off site. I am part of the District Leadership Team, responsible for implementation of hands-on materials-centered science, technological and materials support system throughout and within the schools and on-site peer coaching.
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I am currently a sixth grade teacher of Science at Barrington Middle School in Barrington, Rhode Island. I am responsible for instructing 96 children in this subject area on a daily basis. I was among the first teachers in my district to join the KITES project. This is a five year grant sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation to promote inquiry learning among students in the East Bay area of the state of Rhode Island. Through KITES I am currently a Kit Specialist. In this position I am responsible for doing first time training of teachers in the East Bay to help them effectively bring inquiry learning into their classrooms. As a Kit Specialist I also work directly with scientists in our community to form a practical connection between science in the ³real world² and in the classroom. In addition I am also a member of the Science Curriculum Committee in the town of Barrington.
robinsoc@ride.ri.net |
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I have been teaching in the Portsmouth, Rhode Island school system for the past 31 years (15 years at second grade and 16 years at first grade). My school system is part of the East Bay Educational Collaborative (EBEC) which includes nine school systems in the East Bay area. We are currently working on complete reform of our elementary (K-6) science education through Project KITES (Kits in Teaching Elementary Science). I am a Kit Specialist in Project KITES. My role as a Kit Specialist is to use hands on inquiry based science kits from my first grade class and also train other first grade teachers from the EBEC in the use of the kits.
rroderick@worldnet.att.net |
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I am a grade two teacher at Howard W. Hathaway School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. I am the KITES Specialist for simple machines for the East Bay Educational Collaborative which involves teaching all grade two teachers involved in the program how to use the Dacta Simple Machines Kit in hands-on science. It is my responsibility to incorporate inquiry into the curriculum and show others how to use it also. I am also a member of the East Bay framework committee and the Portsmouth Science Framework Committee working to incorporate hands-on science and inquiry into the system and making sure they mesh with the National and State Frameworks.
rosac@ride.ri.net |
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I have been teaching first grade for the past 10 years at Melville Elementary in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. In March 1994, I had an opportunity to become involved with the Elementary Science Integration Project in Baltimore, Maryland. It was then that I was first introduced to inquiry based science. When I saw the enthusiasm and excitement about science exhibited by both the children and teachers, I knew this was something I wanted to become involved in. Since then, our district adopted the KITES project (Kits in Teaching Elementary Science) which is a five year systemic reform project. From the beginning I took on a leadership role, which allowed me to develop competency toward becoming a hands-on inquiry based science teacher. In conjunction with this, I have had an opportunity to participate in the planning, designing and development of inquiry based science in our district.
nyrb@aol.com |
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I am an intermediate (4th, 5th and 6th grade) elementary classroom teacher at an inner city school of approximately 1,000 students from lower socio-economic homes a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. Most students are bilingual and some are monolingual. I am one of two district science liaisons and a member of the MSI team at my site, Lincoln Elementary School. We coordinate the ordering, delivery and use of the MPS science kits as well as acting as resources of classroom and school site projects like Earth Day, Science Fairs and thematic units.
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I am presently a member of the MPS Science Synergy Team and Intermediate Grade Level Science Liaison at my school. I design, implement, direct, encourage and present professional growth inservices that promote quality learning with an emphasis on science as a means to develop thematic, brain-based lessons to motivate teachers and encourage students to embrace learning using the Seven Intelligences through inquiry and hands-on discovery. rmbawinr@netcom.com |
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I currently teach second grade at Bethesda Elementary School in Williamson County, Tennessee. As school facilitator, I am involved with the Metropolitan-Nashville Area Systemic Reform in Science Education Initiative. My responsibilities include distribution of materials (STC Kits), scheduling of participants in workshops and providing encouragement and support for teachers new to the program.
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My name is Darcie Case. I am a 3rd grade teacher at Old Mill School in Mill Valley, California. I spent the past six months team teaching with the district science mentor and have come to realize the need for leaders in teaching science. I will be working with other teachers at my school next year to help implement more inquiry-based science units and I hope to collaborate with other lead teachers in the district.
dmcase@marin.k12.ca.us |
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I am a first grade teacher at Park School in Mill Valley. I finished my credential program last December and began working in Mill Valley in January. I have developed two units on seeds and trees from scratch that encourage authentic observation and inquiry. I work with a team of teachers, many of whom have been involved in some training at the Exploratorium. I am very excited about the time I will spend with you.
bsahud@marin.k12.ca.us |
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I am a second grade teacher in Novato Unified School District. At my site, I am one of several teachers who help and advise other teachers in science. At my grade level, I am the lead science teacher. Last year our district adopted science materials to support a district-modified science framework based upon the science framework issued by the state. My role has been to encourage and assist teachers who are uncomfortable teaching science. I have been most active in demonstrating and leading outdoor science study trips to the intertidal zone, the sandy beach, the oak woodlands and a vernal pond.
sbennett@marin.k12.ca.us |
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My name is Laura Kilgariff and I am a teacher in the Novato Unified School District. During the 1996-97 school year I taught 1st grade but this year I am changing to 4th grade. I am really looking forward to working with the other teachers at my site, who have already completed the Inquiry Workshop, to build a stronger science program at my school.
laurak@doxy.nusd |
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My primary role as resource assistant for Pueblo School District No. 60 is to maintain, distribute and refurbish over 500 science modules. My duties encompass providing technical and material support to classroom teachers and providing both science background knowledge and implementation practices of the science modules during training sessions.
oraliag@csn.net |
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I currently teach all subjects in a second grade classroom. I have been the science and health representative for my building for the last five years. This year during the second semester I began an after-school program integrating science and reading for grades 1-3. This program was funded under Title I. In my third year of serving on our school Site-Based Committee, I was co-chairperson. Currently I serve on the Accountability Committee for Elementary Science (ACES). We have worked to increase knowledge and use of the science modules purchased from FOAA and STC. |
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I am a fifth grade teacher at Wade Thomas School in San Anselmo, California. I am part of a team and consequently teach only math and science. I am currently the only fifth grade science and math teacher at Wade Thomas. The science reform efforts in our district are mostly coordinated through the Marin County Education Task Force (ETF). As a member of the school Leadership Team, I attended the ETF retreat this year which focused on its goals for the future. One of those goals is developing performance-based assessment in science. Our district is on the forefront of that effort. I administered and scored two science performance tasks last year. After attending this workshop, I will be given the opportunity to share what I learn through school site staff meetings and/or grade level meetings in the district.
cabrandt@marin.k12.ca.us |
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I am a Spanish Bilingual Elementary Teacher. I am also a Mentor Teacher with an emphasis in science. In the last five years I have been involved in my districtıs science leadership sponsored by grants from the NSF. The science leadership has provided professional development and service to all teachers and students in our district. It has also aggressively tackled the accessibility of science for all. Moreover, it has significantly changed my life, not just as a teacher of science, but a deeply personal change based on science pedagogy, application and outstanding leadership within the leadership ranks that encouraged personal probing and inquiry.
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I am a second grade ELD/Chinese bilingual teacher for the San Francisco Unified School District. I have participated in City Science and Science Systemic Leadership. During this time I have given district wide workshops on the state adopted science units for first and second grade teachers during staff development days. I have given these workshops through the ³Kit Club² for experienced teachers and for beginning teachers using hands on activities and extension activities.
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I am currently a fifth grade classroom teacher at George Peabody Elementary School in the San Francisco Unified School District. Our school is very small, so I am the only teacher with a completely fifth grade class (we have one fourth/fifth grade split class also). I am the science coordinator for our school. This past year some of my assumed responsibilities were managing materials and equipment for our site science kits, coordination of our Ocean Week, Environmental Education and recycling programs and administering the fifth grade science assessment. I am also part of our districtıs Science Systemic Leadership program. Through this program, I have helped to develop and facilitate a professional development workshop for district teachers to help improve their knowledge of and comfort with the teaching of science concepts. I will be working with a team to make connections between the science standards and the activities and concepts covered by our district science curriculum. We will try to improve science education at each school site by providing educators with samples of exemplary practices.
awong@sfusd.k12.ca.us |
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I am part of a K-5 science resource team in the Seattle School District. My position is funded through a NSF Local Systemic grant that focuses upon teacher enhancement. Members of the science resource team support classroom teachers in their efforts to implement an inquiry-based science program. A major component in this initiative is the development and implementation of a comprehensive staff development course. Components of this course include:latyler@is.ssd.k12.wa.us |
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I am a 4th grade ESL teacher in a small elementary school. While I am not a district curriculum writer, I team with one of those writers and am often in the forefront of science reform due to our close teaming relationship. We often ³experiment² and then provide feedback.
lammc@spring-branch.isd.tenet.edu |
I facilitate science education on my campus by reporting on the seminars I have attended and sharing new information with my bilingual team members. I work with the NSTA point of contact at my school. Someday I would like to write curriculum. I am a multi-age bilingual teacher. Science is a subject I teach both in English and Spanish. The visual and hands-on aspects of science are particularly good for second language learning.
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I am a fourth grade teacher at Memorial Drive Elementary in the Spring Branch Independent School District of Houston, Texas. I have 18 years of teaching with the district 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. I have been a science curriculum writer (for 4th grade curriculum) for seven years. We have written and implemented a wonderful hands-on, long term, set of units that ³hook² the students (and teachers) with interesting topics, allow for discovery and independent research and culminate with a student-led project for assessment. We offer after-school workshops and summer sessions to the teachers to familiarize them with the program and help them implement it.
pendleh@spring-branch.isd.tenet.edu |
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I currently teach a multi-age 1/2 class. I am a NSTA ³Point of Contact² for science on my campus. I help teachers on my campus towards understanding and utilizing the National Standards for Science. I have written and am revising science curriculum for Spring Branch. I facilitate professional growth throughout the school year in afternoon, release time and summer workshops. lammc@spring-branch.isd.tenet.edu |
©1997 Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94123
