BBI 2007 Session 1

Since I work in education I am similar to all of you other fine folks. I am different in that I never planned to teach so I was not watching my teachers with any attention to how they taught or what they did while teaching. Instead I was learning the material that was taught. Only later when I realized that I was teaching classmates in college, and being teaching assistant in grad school with office hours, did I finally start trying to recall what my excellent teachers did. I tried thinking of teachers who were not so excellent, but could not. Either I was really lucky in school or just oblivious. I am science oriented and often bother my family and friends in a science way when I ask for evidence or for "How do you know that to be so?" in most situations. I am skeptical of things instead of accepting without question, especially when I do not see a coherence or causal relationship. What makes me curious? I was lucky enough that the elementary school science curiosity that is so prevalent stuck with me. Those little kids are all scientists. Being a scientist now seems odd to some of my acquaintances and perhaps it is because they stopped their own science thinking some time ago. Regards,

Hello everyone! My name is Ashley Dawkins and I am rising senior here at Bryn Mawr College. I am a physics major, education minor, and study other things such as; math and Spanish. I plan on becoming an urban public high school physics and math teacher. I have to agree with Graham in that I do not believe the current way we are presenting science (physics in particular) is particularly effective. I am with working Paul this summer exploring more effective ways of teaching and learning science and math. Hopfully this research will continue into the school as I formulate thesis ideas.

I do like the idea that science is all about becoming less wrong. This is relevant not only to education but to physics as well. For instance in my future classroom I probably will do various things wrong and throughout my career will strive to become less wrong. Similarly, in physics, we are always looking for a less wrong way of describing the universe.

Science as story telling and story telling in general (as Paul describes it) can at times seem unrealistic. I say this because I'm not sure if we could ever get everyone in the world to listen and acknowledge everyone else's stories. At the same time, I think it's necessary to be hopeful and do our part in order to be a catalyst for change. I also think that I may perceive story telling a little differently...but I guess that's the whole idea...I acknowledged Paul's ideas and in turn it affected my own. I think that's the most important part: it's still my own.

Regards,

Because (in part) Science is a summary of observations, there is a story in place. These observations present in a sequential manner that form a theme based story. Although the sequence and theme may be different, based on the interpretation, experience, and knowledge of the observer ('the crack'), the story/theme will vary as often as the observer is different. Yes, Science lends itself to story telling.

I really think that science as story telling and story revising is an exciting and engaging way to view the process of "doing science." It views science as much more relevant to society, making science an engine for change rather than a body of facts and knowledge one must acquire. I think often students (and teachers) think of science as performing a lab to come to the same conclusion others have already drawn. It is much more engaging and exciting to think of science as a story to which chapters can be added. The more technology advances the more our ability to make observations advances as well. I suppose my only reservation with this model is the ability to harmonize different types of stories. For example, when discussing evolution are religious beliefs the same kind of story as the fossil record. While I appreciate that they are both valid stories, I'm not sure that I accept them both as scientific stories. The two stories may not be completely incompatible, and I suppose I'm wondering if making distinctions between stories is necessary. On some level, science as story telling and story revising challenges us to leave our comfort zones (and challenge students to leave their's as well)and challenge what we accept to be truth and how we justify believing what we do.

I think that most people are born scientist and we tend to stop growing or thinking like one when someone says that we can't around age 5. A few of us are persistent and want to explore the unknown territory of science so we venture off and we become "scientists". Everyone has the ability but not the availablity to become explorers. Yes, I am a scientist and I enjoy the exploration and learning and interacting with my world. Scientist are not the white coat pocket protector people they are people that make science fun. As I teach my students they learn how to love science again.

Hi, I am Cheryl Brown. I am a first grade teacher in a suburban public school. I feel that I am like others in this class because I am an educator as well as a sometimes scientist. I enjoy teaching science and love to see the look of awe on the faces of my students when they make a new discovery, test their findings, and come to their conclusions.

Hi, Bob McCormick from Marple Newtown High School located in Delaware County Pa. I am department leader of special education at the high school.

No matter our position in the field of education, we are all educators dealing with different segments of the school. Teachers educate students, administrators educate teachers, supervisors educate administrators. Therefore, if you are in the field of education we are all educators. 

Am I a scientist? A scientist is an explorer. Do I explore various techniques and methods to effectively instruct ALL students? Yes. Then on this elementary level, I am a scientist.

W. Keith Sgrillo My name is William but I go by Keith. I am a teacher at Turner Middle School in Philadelphia. I taught 7th grade Social Studies and Literacy for 4 years and this past year I taught 8th grade Literacy. I am a father of a 7 year old son (Riliey), a brother, uncle, cousin, son, and a notoriously bad speller. I think that science as story telling and revising, of getting it less wrong is a great way for people to understand and interpret their own view of the world. Some good points of this idea are 1)it gives some understanding as to why things are ever changing 2) how we can understand changes in our selves 3) help children understand how they view their world and to accept changes/differences. One of the bad points is that it makes it difficult to overcome some of the concrete concepts that are still universally accpeted and still remain in a very complex global society.

I'm Graham, and I currently teach 5th/6th grade science at The Baldwin School (right down the street). I've taught science through 8th grade and mathematics through 12th/college previously, with all but one of those years spent in private schools/universities. In many ways, I would have to say that I am a scientist. I got into teaching originally because I was a professional who cared about my field and the way it was being presented. I felt that science, and physics in particular had been (and still is to a degree) presented in a rote way, being simply the collection of rules, theorems, postulates and formulas that one simply applied to preset problems that were designed to yield a pre-determined outcome; in many ways similar to the ballet classes that I have taken. Useful, yes, for helping students to sharpen their logic skills (as ballet classes are useful for strengthening muscles and developing flexibility) but about as exciting as mud. I like the idea of science as story-telling and revising in that it allows students to take ownership of science. As I said previously, I don't think science is largely presented to students in such a way as to enable them to embrace the fields. Presenting science to students in such a way as to get them thinking about why things make sense and offering them the opportunity to help write the story are steps that science, and science teachers, can take in order to embrace more students and involve them in their own learning. That being said, sometimes not keeping things too open-ended can have its merits, especially when dealing with special needs children. I am thinking in particular of a few students for whom creativity might be their watchword, but given no boundaries or leashes would take the observation that the earth travels around the sun and deduce that there are aliens out there who are moving the earth by remote control. While I'm all for story telling, at the same time we have to reign in the students to keep things directed and focused. Just my beginning observations. Graham

I believe that I am simular to others here, for we are all educators. We are all trying to enhance our classrooms and ourselves by furthering our understanding of scientific topics discussed in the summer institutes. I am different from others because we all teach in different areas and different grades, I teach 3rd grade a t S.B. Huey School. Science is a very important subject and is usually the most enjoyable to students. Science is very engaging, my students and I like to do experiments. In that small way I would concider myself a scientist.

I am a special education teacher with the School District of Philadelphia. I have 2 masters one is a MEd in educational administration and a MS in special education. I am very involved in my church where I work with the Sunday School and on the Scholarship Commitee. I am also a proud parent of two wonderful girls ages 2 and 3 1/2. I consider myself to be a scientist because I use data and research in my daily routine as an educator of differentiated learners. I feel that we are all alike because we are educators who want to improve our students in the areas of academics, self esteem, and to ultimately become productive citizens.