Topic - Teacher Spotlight

Teacher Spotlight on Karen Puracan – A Science Teacher Who Gets It Home to the Dinner Table

Karen Puracan is a science teacher at Hale Academy in Ocala, Florida. The school is a small private school with grades PreK-12th. Mrs. Puracan teaches 8th grade integrated science, 6th and 7th grade life science, 8th through 10th grade physical science and high school biology and ecology. To say she teaches a little of everything is an understatement.

Class sizes are small. Her largest class has only 11 and the smallest classes have only three students. This gives Mrs. Puracan the opportunity to really get to know each student and engage them one-on-one – something most teachers today are unable to do. This also allows time to play or “investigate” as Mrs. Puracan calls it with science.

“Since we are a private school, we have the freedom to take our time exploring things in more depth, without worrying about the test,” Mrs. Puracan explains.

Last year, Mrs. Puracan was a physical science “greenhorn” and stuck to the book. She quickly found the book was boring for both herself and her students.

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Robotic Teaching Assistants Make Learning Fun in Washington Classroom

Very few teachers have teaching assistants who don’t ask for lunch breaks. Most won’t work for free either. Ted Gamble, a 3rd grade teacher at Meredith Hill Elementary School in Auburn, Washington, may have the most unique aides in his class.

They don’t ask for lunch breaks because they don’t eat or breathe.

No need to interview and hire these teaching assistants. Mr. Gamble has built his own. Meet the THX family, Silver Rocket and Ion Dauphin. They assist in the classroom by taking attendance, reading stories, giving spelling and math tests, making announcements and reminding students of important events. They also make cool sound effects and play music when prompted.

The robots can get a little bossy at times, but the students don’t mind.

Mr. Gamble designed and built the robots with help from laptops donated by Pixar, The Seattle Times, Washington State and Warehouser.

All of the robots have names and special talents, although Mr. Gamble says they aren’t robots in the true sense. They are constructed from materials and made to look like robots. The faux robots have speakers built into them that are connected to laptops running sound effects,

Amazing Teacher Sends Snow to Zambia Students

Donna Kaufman is a first grade teacher at Louisa May Alcott School. She goes above and beyond to not only bring science into her Chicago classroom, but into a classroom in Zambia, South Africa.

Zambia is located in central South Africa and is home to the spectacular Victoria Falls, game reserves and diverse wildlife.

Donna sponsors a child in Zambia through an organization called Spark Ventures. Spark Ventures partners with organizations around the world to help vulnerable children achieve their potential.

Through sponsorships the students are able to receive free education (since education is not free), free school supplies, medical check-ups, and hot meals every weekday all year. This is typically the only meal they have each day.

Donna’s sponsored child attends Hope Community, a school that serves grades 1-7 and has 9 teachers.

In February, the executive director and program director for Spark traveled to Zambia and brought classroom exchange materials. Donna’s students made a big book about Chicago landmarks and a book that described snow. A teacher translated the books from English to Bemba, which is the language the students speak.

Chicagoans are very familiar with snow, but the

Teachers Make Math & Science Night Memorable

Delia Zepeda, a teacher at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School in Coconut Grove, Florida made science fun at the school’s Family Math, Science and Technology Night in January.

The school celebrated its third year of getting kindergarten to third graders excited about science, math and technology.

They used slime, Baby Soda Bottle Test Tubes, Geyser Tubes, Windbags and magnets from SteveSpanglerScience.com. A favorite was the One Breath Windbags.

Mrs. Zepeda shared their experience with all of us at Steve Spangler Science, “the wind bags were a big hit. We had so much fun watching the parents trying to blow them up the wrong way, we finally felt sorry for them and our student volunteers showed them the correct method.”

Congratulations to Our Teacher Appreciation Winners

At the beginning of May, we asked you to nominate your favorite science teacher for our Teacher Appreciation Award.  The entries came pouring in, and we are excited to spotlight our winners.  Huge thanks to everyone who participated!  We found some truly remarkable teachers out there and we are excited to feature them here… and each of our winners gets a $35 gift certificate to use at SteveSpanglerScience.com!