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My name is Ben Zerante, and I'm a middle school science teacher at Samuel B. Huey Elementary in West Philly. I think that in general, I probably have more similarities than differences with other people in this room. We are all educators and learners and have come to the Institute to broaden our own thinking about science education and improve our own methods in the classroom. I still think of myself as fairly inexperienced in the classroom, so if I had to pick out a difference, that would be it. While I agree with the statement that everyone acts as a scientist throughout life, I think I would describe myself as a teacher more than a scientist. Although I have enjoyed science as a student and a teacher, I still suffer from the stereotype that describing yourself as a scientist means wearing a lab coat and running experiments constantly. I think that it is important to challenge the "lab coat" stereotype and recognize that science is about skepticism and inquiry (concepts employed by any person), but at the same time I find it hard to escape my gut reaction to the word scientist.