Thousands of science teachers found their way to St. Louis for the 2007 National Science Teachers Association convention, and we wanted to make sure they had something to take back to their students. So, we loaded our trucks with experiments and products from the website along with 5,000 rolls of MENTOS stuffed into plastic test tubes and headed for the Gateway City. We were fortunate to have 14 teacher ambassadors from the Hands-on Science Institute join us in the booth to each share their favorite science activities. Aside from 500 bottles of Diet Coke and a mountain of MENTOS, all eyes were on the 18 foot tall soda eruption chamber. We were demonstrating the new Geyser Tube by triggering a MENTOS geyser as fast as we could set-up a launch (about every 2-3 minutes for 3 full days). At the end of the convention, the soda was gone, the rolls of MENTOS were in the hands of 5,000 teachers, the truck was cleaned out… and we all had a blast. It’s back to the classroom for the 14 ambassadors to start working on cool stuff for next year’s NSTA in Boston.

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In a 2003 survey, elementary teachers said the hardest thing about teaching science was “I don’t have enough time in the day”?. In that survey supervisors were asked the same question. Their responses related to not enough materials or staff development opportunities. The secret is if we are going to make science a priority in our classrooms, we have to integrate science into the curriculum.

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A teacher can be an amazing teacher. In science workshops and seminars, I teach teachers how to do magic.

I grew up in a family of professional magicians, but my 13 years in the classroom didn’t involve a lot of magic other than science magic, like water floating upside down in a glass, or a ping pong ball floating on a stream of air.

Teachers are aware of how important it is to teach content. Sometimes they need to stop for a moment and learn how to be a presenter of science.

I teach you how to put the coin in your hand and make it disappear. It’s a technique used by magicians to grab our attention. It excites us. Makes us want to know how it works. And it can be worked into the Five E’s: it excites the kids, makes them want to explore, engages them in learning and experiment in the process and, finally, evaluates their learning.

And it can be as simple as a little experiment with the vanishing coin.

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How to be amazing teacher? Try this! Get organized. The hardest thing is to take all the ideas we learn at conferences, workshops and seminars and put them to use.

Don’t put science demonstrations in a closed box - because they will stay there. Throw the lid away, so you constantly have to look at those materials. If they are staring you in the face, you are more likely to build them into your curriculum.

Once you get organized, you start using your resources better. And you will be a more effective science teacher with those tools right at your fingertips.

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I think the #1 thing an elementary teacher can do today to be a better teacher is to go to as many professional staff development opportunities as possible. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference is one of the best to prepare you to teach science.

Imagine thousands of teachers in one place, all focused on one area -to help children think like a scientist. It all boils down to this. How do we prepare kids for the real world and help them to think critically, and to help make decisions that make the world a better place.

Beg, plead, borrow… whatever you need to do to go to one of those conferences. You’ll be hooked. You will realize how important it is to be at the cutting edge of science education.

If you don’t know anything about the NSTA, go to www.nsta.org for more information.

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Corporate trainers should take a lesson from teachers (and perhaps little ol’ me) on how to inspire the people they’re teaching. Today, the buzz word in corporate training is “interactive”, but few trainers truly understand the meaning. To many traininers, the concept of “interactive” learning means, “Break into groups of 5 or so and share your thoughts and dreams with regard to baked Ziti.” That’s not interactive… that’s an easy way to spot a trainer who doesn’t have enough content to fill the day! I might be completely dead in the water, but I don’t think that most workshop participants find value in “discussion groups.” Try doing this with a group of 8th graders and they’ll eat you alive.

I hear some fantastic stories from science teachers around the country who have captured the hearts and minds of their students, not by parlour tricks, but with some amazing methods that involve and engage them. Just imagine starting the day off by inviting the class to decide if the regulation bowling ball will float or sink when Maria drops it in the huge aquarium filled with water. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that abowling ball is heavy and it’s sure to sink. Now imagine the looks on the students’ faces when Maria drops the bowling ball in the water and it floats! As they wipe the water from their faces (hey, it was a huge splash!), the questions start flying from all parts of the room. How can a bowling ball float? Is the ball real? Is this a trick? How does the floating bowling ball work? This simple but highly effective approach to learning not only grabs the learner’s attention, but stimulates the participants to want to learn more. Who would have thought that learning about the concept of DENSITY would be so much fun?

Now, when was the last time you heard of a corporate trainer who did that? “Lifelong learning” at the workplace would be a lot more popular if it were a lot more fun!

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