Spangler Science Ambassador Makes a Huge Mess in Minnesota!

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Once a year, Education students at Northwestern University, in Minnesota, get the opportunity to make a huge mess and learn a lot about making teaching exciting along the way.  Spangler Science Ambassador, Lisa Schoneman normally teaches Kindergarten at Halverson Elementary in Albert Lea, Minnesota… but once a year she packs up her science tricks and heads to Northwestern to give pre-service teachers a chance to learn how to be amazing.

“The teachers get really excited about learning and usually bring what they learn from the workshop into the classroom and share the ideas with their cooperative teachers, where they are completing their field hours,”  says Schoneman about her workshops.

This year, the university students learned about everything from color mixing to that infamous Mentos and Diet Coke Geyser.  And, yes, they made a huge mess… but had a lot of fun… in the process.

History of the National Hands-on Science Institute

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A number of people have asked about origin of the National Hands-on Science Institute (NHOSI). The old website (www.nhosi.com) detailed much of the history of the Institute up to 2003, but the website was never updated after 2003 when NHOSI became Science in the Rockies. Dr. Jim Giulianelli was a great friend who taught me the value of creating teacher training programs that really worked. Much has happened to hands-on science training programs for teachers over the years, and I'm honored to have learned from an incredible science mentor.

About the Institute… In 1990, Dr. Jim Giulianelli, Professor of Chemistry at Regis University, and Dr. Geri Anderson, Professor of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, shared a common goal for science education in Colorado: To provide elementary and middle school teachers with hands-on science training and to give elementary students the opportunity to explore the excitement of conducting experiments in a laboratory setting. It was early in 1990 when Jim contacted ICE to talk about using the Fun with Chemistry curriculum at Regis University (incidentally, Jim did his post-doctoral work at UWM and this helped open the door of communication with 

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Space Camp for Teachers:

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What do you call 102 teachers gathered together who are crazy about space science? Teacher Space Camp. I often write about my search for “amazing teachers” - teachers who truly inspire students to want to learn. Last week I paid a return visit to the U.S. Rocket & Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama where I met another group of amazing teachers who really make learning fun. My training was sponsored in part by the Boeing Corporation who also sponsored the entire group of teachers. Katrine Balch is the Director of Education Programs and her staff does an amazing job of hosting some of the best teachers on the planet. The goal of the week-long program is to provide teachers with hands-on training in the space sciences… plus so much more. When I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, a group of teachers was busy building model rockets while another group conducted experiments with plants in space. My workshop on Thursday focused on best practices and strategies for integrating more science with reading, writing and math… and ways to make science even more fun in the classroom.

Sure, I always enjoy conducting teacher trainings, but this workshop was especially fun for me because …

Colorado Science Teacher of the Year

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Just stick your head above the crowd and someone will shoot at it. One Colorado elementary teacher is getting hit in the head with flying film canisters powered by water and Alka-Seltzer… and the kids are being praised. Colorado Association of Science Teachers selected Shannon Koppenfafer as the Science Teacher of the Year for the state’s elementary school teachers. She was nominated by John McConnell, the Grand Valley’s version of Mr. Science who runs the Western Colorado Math and Science Center.

Here’s a secret that I learned years ago… constantly seek out amazing teachers. Read about them… watch them in action… study their writings… find out what makes them tick. As teachers, we all benefit when one of our own receives this type of well-deserved recognition.