Teacher Stories

Brain Drops 

In both the Brain and Behavior and Science and a Sense of Place Institute, I developed a new way of thinking in my quest to engage my students in science. In B&B, I created a WebQuest that will electronically guide teachers to incorporate their own stories of facilitating student science engagement into a frame that is non-threatening (and can be) anonymous. I will use fictional stories at the start and then as teachers submit actual accounts of successful practice; I’ll weave those stories into the WebQuest. Teachers can be learning from and/or adding to the stories.  In Science and a Sense of Place I was interested in the idea of helping my students to think about their place in science. I will use a prompt think sheet to elicit recall of past science experiences. I teach a population that is typically resistant to science and math and often think that they “can’t do science”. In a similar method as used with teachers, I plan to use the WebQuest that I created for students to have them not only chronicle their stories of science experiences but also to reflect and determine what types of science teaching are the best to engage them. I plan to photograph my students engaged in science learning and record their voices to match the text of the story. I want to offer teachers a drop-in session that will not only garner their stories but a chance for me to get invited to their classroom to record their students in action. I will use both Bryn Mawr institute grants to purchase a digital video camera or a good digital camera and microphones to record the stories of both students and teachers. I believe this ‘sandwich’ of two parties who are sometimes locked in a battle of opposite goals, could be very interesting and rewarding. I am planning to eventually seek a doctorate in education and see this project as an initial jump into educational research. Thanks! 

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