Baker Middle School Fall 2011

"The experience gave me a new perspective about working with middle school students....I believe I would enjoy teaching at a slightly higher level than I thought now that I see how I can relate to the students and engage them in learning."

"All in all I absolutely loved these experiences and think it is most definitely worth our time and effort!"

"Their school's band was authentically inspiring, and to see how dedicated and proud they seemed to be with their music was a great sight."

"I am forever thankful in partaking in the Family Science Nights because the experiences have given me confidence to give a speech in front of a large group or to even have a discussion with a complete stranger."

"In a way the Family Science Night experience has altered my perspective on teaching science. I am no longer intimidated by the subject and I am open to teaching it in the future."

"I have never had more fun learning and teaching science than I've had this semester."

"The thing I will remember most about events like this is the reason why I want to be a teacher. I love kids and I love their excitement when it comes down to learning new things about science and about life."

Family Learning Institute Fall 2011

"I would advise future students who participate in teacher in-service not to be nervous. The ladies were very friendly and easy to relate with....we may at times feel science is a "weak subject" area for us and that those in the field may look down at us if we answer a question incorrectly. Don't think so. Teaching is a continual learning process. There are techniques we can teach them that are new because a lot of them have not been in a university setting for several years."

"By the time the teacher were almost leaving, I was not as nervous. It felt like they were colleagues -- that we were all teachers (even though we are preservice). This was a great opportunity to step into that role will soon have. Interacting with them made me feel more like a professional."

"It was a great experience and got my day off to a great start!"

"My nervousness changed to pride as each teacher went by the table and encouraged our work."

"The teachers made me feel excited about teaching and made me feel good when they complimented by enthusiasm and teaching style."

"I also liked that there were Hispanic teachers that liked our board being in Spanish because I as able to communicate with them in responding to their questions."

Webb Elementary Fall 2011 - SUPER SIZED Science!

"Those kids from the family science night were so interested and I have never really seen kids excited about science. They really wanted to learn about science and that's so cool to me!"

"I saw those students and how excited they were and I thought to myself,"this is going to be a piece of cake" and I did well.

"It means so much to me to help others and to be a part of something so special in their lives. I hope to get this experience in the future."

"I would do this all over a million times."

"I was finally able to conquer what's been my enemy since elementary school: science projects...it was important that I cure this doubt, fear and resentment I'd been harboring about science. This new attitude I have toward science - that anyone can do it - will be beneficial to my future students since I want them to have a positive attitude about their abilities, too."

These are the kinds of events we all benefit from so we should all do our part that we can continue to have these sorts of events in our community."

"While researching my experiment I was amazed by the amount of calories I personally eat on a daily basis."

"I believe Family Science Night is an assignment that should be stuck in the future teacher's curriculum until eternity."

"I love to learn new information and science is constantly growing and advancing, it is truly an exciting subject!"

"When I am a teachers, I will be sure to make science fun!"

"Being at Family Science Night made me want to graduate and become a teacher even faster!"

"I love kids and love their excitement when it comes to learning new things about science and about life."

"The main thing I learned from participating in Family Science Night is that these elementary school students are fully capable of doing all kinds of science."

London ISD Summer II 2011

"I remember always being afraid of science. I was intimidated by the big words and new concepts. This fear followed me all the way through high school....Family science night opened by eyes to a whole new world. Science could actually be fun, and students can love it. Students were so excited about the activities and they listened with great curiosity."

"This was one of the most interesting experiences for me since I've been back in college."

"I think this may have been the most positive group project experience during my college career, where all members were eager and willing to participate."

"I became more confident in communicating with parents, and learned how to modify my presentation of material according to the differing audiences I was presented with."

"The one main thing I will remember from this particular event is that there are parents out int eh public school systems who are interested in their student's education."

"Doing this assignment helped me to gain the confidence I needed to teach science better and most importantly to me, more comfortably."

"There was a such a great turn out which goes to show you that there is a community of learners, including teachers, students, and parents, that care."

"I fell in love with this project. I really like how were asked to find the "science behind it" because I feel it gave purpose and meaning to the project other than just doing another project...and moving on to my next class....I will remember participating in this event and learning that everything has to have a purpose and meaning in teaching it - otherwise it is pointless."

"This is one night that I'm sure not going to forget."

"All of the projects done in our class were genuinely meaty learning chunks in a short snippet of time."

"One thing I will take with me form Family Science Night is knowing that I may have changed someone's life or informed them enough to make healthier decisions in life. I had one woman tell me that she felt her life was over when she was diagnosed with Type II diabetes but she now knows that she can manage her diabetes and she can help with diabetes prevention for her children."

Webb Elementary March 30, 2011

"I came into this night believing that I was going to be the one teaching them but honestly, they were the ones teaching me....I think the most important thing that I learned was how to become a better teacher of science."

"Even though at Webb there were not as many families that showed up, I think that these interactions were just as important. Regardless, if we had one or two families come over to us we need put in just as much work as we did the first family. No one deserves a half price show. We need to give our lesson the credit it deserves, and be proud in what we learned and provide a fun and good lesson for all participants."

"I felt good about being able to participate in such a worthwhile activity."

"Sadly, we did not have any other visitors come by our table the rest of the evening, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere and being able to mingle with my classmates and teachers from the school."

"I think this was the best family night I have attended, just because I actually got to see what the families at family science night get the opportunity to enjoy."

"I learned that no matter what happens at an event you can still have a great time and let the kids that do show have a great time and learn as much as they can. So always keep your head held high and have a good attitude because this will help things turn out for the better."

"This is a very good way of meeting parents, teachers, and administrators and informing the community of certain subjects that could help them tremendously and in our case even change lives for the better."

"I enjoyed this experience and I enjoyed talking to the parents one on one. I felt a special sense of love because there were parents that cared about the well being of their children."

"There were a lot of good projects and it made me feel hopeful as a parent and future teacher that we will have many good teachers out there in the near future!"

Family Science at Gregory Portland Intermediate - March 22, 1011

"I came into this night believing that I was going to be the one teaching them but honestly, they were the ones teaching me....I think the most important thing that I learned was how to become a better teacher of science."

"I think this was by far the most memorable and successful event that I have participated in, and I hope to continue to participate in such events and spread the enthusiasm of science and nutritional awareness throughout my teaching career."

"I have always wondered if I would be interested in teaching science and after doing this event I realized how much I enjoyed teaching science and am going to consider pursuing it as a career."

"I will never forget that father talking to me about how happy he was that we put this event on...."

"Any time the parents are involved in their children's learning, children have better self-esteem, more motivation, and a more positive attitude towards school."

"The one thing I will remember from this activity is that science is a process, and that students must be actively engaged in it."

[This event]"gave me a reality check that I need to start exercising and eating healthy. And if I can make a difference in children's lives about eating healthy maybe it will be passed on through word of mouth and people in general will see that fast food is killing us and our youth."

"To me this project meant that we were not just opening the doors for thep ublic we were exposed to on that night, but we were opening a door that has the potential to reach out to EVERYONE at some point. It is a beautiful think to realize, that this one night, could change the world on a small scale, which could grow to a giant scale."

"We as future educators must be prepared to be able to explain the lesson orally, visually, and with hands-on lessons in order to reach all levels of learning."

"I was really uncertain about teaching science and now I feel more confident and I know because of this Family Science Night I will be a better teacher in the future."

"Science takes all the curriculum skills in reading, writing and math and I acknowledge that fact how."

"My whole life I was taught science out of a book.....However, being able to engage with students and parents in a fun, relaxed environment helped me to see that science can be interesting and fun. Mostly, it showed me that they are actually able to enjoy it."

"This project helped me learn many new things about myself, students and their parents."