October 9, 2010
No one has to twist my arm to visit highly motivated teachers in Florida. Our Hands-on Science Boot Camp kicked off its fall tour with stops in Tampa and Orlando. We consider a boot camp to be one-day, highly intensive, roll-up-your-sleeves and get messy training with a single, strategic focus: To find new ways to get students fully engaged and excited about learning science. I’m always honored to have repeat participants from past years, and I always seek these people out and ask them this question… Why did you come back? Without fail, these returning participants are focused on some aspect of their science teaching and they’re looking for some creative ways to solve their problems.
We had a great group of returning teachers from the Brevard Public School who shared their latest plan for engaging students in their hands-on/minds-on approach to learning… and it’s called Brevard Public Schools HSSS Team (Harris Super Science Saturday Program). Science trainers at the district level target schools that could benefit from modeling and training of their students and staff. For six weeks, the students and teachers at the school show up for a few hours in the afternoon to explore
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October 21, 2008
The audience of teachers (PreK-Middle School) was especially lively during our Hands-on Science Boot Camp in Tampa. The turn-out was great with over 180 teachers packed into the ballroom at the Westin Hotel and each teacher had his or her own reasons for attending. One third grade teacher told me that her school had cut her science time down to less than an hour per week. She was told to “integrate science into her curriculum” if she wanted more time for the “secondary” subject. Other educators (and a handful of home schooler and science museum program coordinators) attended in hopes of taking away some new hands-on science activities in an effort to spice up their existing curriculum.
It was also great to see Rhonda Newton and her cadre of teachers at the Tampa Boot Camp. Rhonda connected all of the science activities from the workshop to the Florida State Science Standards and shared it with the group. Huge thanks from everyone!
Download the Spangler Science Connection to the Florida Science Standards
As we wrap up the workshop at the end of the day, I often wish that I could pull the same group of teachers back together three to six months later to see if the learning objectives and teaching strategies really had an impact. We’ve all attended workshops or presentations where we laughed a lot and had a great time, but what was the take action message behind all of the fun… and did it change the way I teach? In other words, can a science education speaker do more than provide a motivational message during a day-long workshop?
Desh Bagley answered my questions when she was interviewed by CnewsPubs.com a few weeks after attending the Tampa Hands-on Science Boot Camp. Bagley is an informal science educator is owns and operates TechPlayZone, a science and technology center for young people. Desh understands the need for finding creative ways to get kids excited about learning science. Here’s what she had to say…
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