Life Science Extravaganza with Governor's Academy of Teaching Excellence (GATE) students!

"The one thing I will remember from this experience is that no matter what age or what subject I will be teaching in the future, teaching is my passion....As long as I am watching the connections that student make as they learn, that is something I will ALWAYS remember."

*I always thought science was all research that teachers have to do and present the information to students. In my schools years in science, I never got to do any projects...Learning science is an amazing subject for the student and for them to discover new things.
*The one thing I will remember from the experience is as soon as I made the topic relevant to the students they were interested.
*This experience reassured how much I personally love science and how much I am going to enjoy teaching it to my future students.
*The one thing I will remember from participating in this event would be not to be afraid of high school students!
*To be quite honest, teaching science is easier said than done no matter what grade you are planning to teach!
* I was able to relate the outside world and bring it in to their world.
*Inquiry is central to science learning.
*I learned a lot about myself and my abilities that I did not think I possessed.
*The impact that this project has on students is priceless and if I can give th same experience to other students I would do it again and again.

Flour Bluff Intermediate School Family Science and Math April 15, 2010

*The key word here is family. When you make something about someone's community, it gets everyone involved. You are able to see parents wanting their children to participate. It holds family accountable for each others success."

*Its an odd feeling to go from not liking a subject such as science to thinking, "hmmm, maybe science is something I want to get certified in!" It just goes to show if you get exposed to something, your horizons can only broaden and that is exactly what we did with the students at the family science nights."

*Overall I give Family Science Nights an A+!

*I think the most important thing I learned was how to alter our lessons for different students; students that differ in age and in culture.

*Over the course of these three family science events, my confidence in teaching science has increased significantly....After each of these events my passion for teaching grows, especially now that I see all the different ways science can be presented and made fun. I'm excited to get out there and teach!

*I do see the value of having multiple events and honestly it is not even the amount of practice that we receive. It is the privilege to go out into the community and meet teachers, principals, students and parents. It is the opportunity to practice being a teacher and working with small groups of children and their caregivers. But most of all, it is the honor of sharing our knowledge with so many children and their parents and hopefully touching their lives in a significant way.

*I haven't had much interaction with kids. It's like a dry spell and you can become unsure of your purpose in education. Thankfully, Family Science night was an outlet for me. I was able to express myself naturally the way I know I am supposed to. I no longer have those questions. It was reinforcement to me that this is where I belong.

*I hope one day I can say to myself, " I feel really good today, because I have seen progress in a child that everyone else said would not succeed". This will be really good enough for me.

*What I learned the most from these events is that culture really does lay a huge role in learning. Where you come from does affect your learning. It is up to us as teachers to try to overcome these barriers for the sake of the students. And I feel that because of family science night, I now know more than ever that I have chosen the right career for me and for the future students I hope to teach.

Garza-Gonzales Charter School Science Night April 12, 2010

"Everytime I go to one of these it puts me in an awesome mood and gets me pumped to be a teacher!"

*I have learned to adjust my presentation to make sure that all students that participated could learn something. I think that is how I have changed the most.

*We were asked about college....My group and I answered honestly and at the same time we tried to encourage them as much as possible. I really liked that this happened because I think college is so important and I love that they were really interested in it.

*As I reflected on our interactions with this student population I realized that...they are all overcoming great hurdles and huge obstacles that we can only guess at. As educators it will be our responsibility to look past the exterior and find the learner underneath.

*What inspired me was that these students may have been from a socioeconomically challenged area but they were not by any means challenged in their learning skills.

*When we began to talk about the social and community aspects of our project they began to see the relevance of the issue and then they kept their focus.

*I like that the teachers from the school were there to support their students but also to participate in our activities. I think it was important for the students to know that their teachers were there to support them and give them some guidance.

*I am grateful for this experience and am glad that a charter school like this one was integrated in our class schedule.
*I think that the teachers need to have endurance, understanding, and confidence that these students can meet high expectations because most of them were minority and low income students which disgracefully puts them in the low achievers category. I have a feeling that these students have experienced many hardships and rejection. I believe that it requires a good and dedicated teacher who has the tools and knowledge to meet their needs.

*I would really love to work in a Title I school and I feel I honestly need to be more educated in Spanish in order for me to educate students as well as their parents....I'm also truly thankful to be able to see what I need to change or can build on before I graduate to make me a better educator.

Ella Barnes Elementary Science Night - March 9, 2010

I have never been exposed to teaching science in all my life - and I am about to graduate. I wish at a younger level of college I was exposed to experiences like this. The benefits go even go into the confidence of teaching science....I am very grateful for the exposure.

* I did not know that using the methods we used in Family Science would be successful in teaching science....It really makes the kids want to learn science and they get to spend time with their family as well.

* Teaching science is really about the approach - especially if you want to try any sort of inquiry process. The opportunity is definitely priceless.

*I didn't really consider the fact that Mexicans don't really burn like the rest of us...nor African Americans for that matter.

*...you can help students and their parents to learn and realize that science is not only for a few people.

*I confirmed that I like doing things with "ganas" (meaning with desire) and not just for a grade.

*Give opportunities to all and you will see miracles!

*A good project doesn't have to have twenty different steps and take you to the moon, all you need is a little enthusiasm!

*I was stunned to learn that many of the students had not even been to the beach before....One child said he'd never been to the beach. The beach is part of our culture here in Corpus Christi. That is why it is important that if our students can not experience it first hand that we, as teachers, do our best to teach them about it through various experiments, showing them the actual sand, seaweed, and shells.

*Teaching is a wonderful job and I know I was meant to do it.

Carroll Lane Elementary - October 28, 2009

Cotton Candy! Pickles! Popcorn! People were lined up at the door an hour before the event even started!! It was a GREAT evening at Carroll Lane Elementary with families and students ALL enjoying themselves!

"The one thing I will remember at this event is how many children actually showed up....especially because of the economical background I heard about that school. I thought it would have less family involvement because the parents were busy with work. I felt that they were really thankful that we came out to their school. I really enjoyed Family Science Night this time around! It was so much fun!!"

"I felt that the parents were as eager to do the activities as the children. I had many parents comment that our activity was interesting and that they were going to try this activity at home."

"I was shocked that some of the students said they have never seen a full moon....I have to remember to take in consideration that everyone has a different experience or different background that they bring to things."

"I noticed that many parents were timid to become involved and I soon realized that many of the parents spoke Spanish as their fist language.....This was the most interesting part of the night because it was so incredible to see such loving and intellectual conversations between parents and their children."

"Seeing how many parents showed up that night showed me how much they really care about their student's education."

"I have learned that EVERY DAY the students need to be actively involved and interested in the education they are receiving, EVERY DAY they need to feel motivated to attend class, and EVERY DAY they need to learn something new."

"There were so many children and parents; it was truly a family night."


"As I went to sleep I found myself thinking that it would be an amazing experience to teach the students new aspects of science everyday."

"It was awesome to see how much these kids love science and how interested they are in it. Every opportunity like this reminds me why I am going to school to teach and just how rewarding of a profession it really is!"

"The parents of this school seemed to be a community. The principal knew the parents and students by name. The teachers did too. It was obvious that these people have built a community and we were invited to contribute...it was a honor to be here."

"...when I was observing the parents, they didn't give their child enough time to think about how to do the activity. They jumped right in and did it for them....My lesson learned for the future is to be patient and give the students time to think on their own....I never really thought about giving the students time to think as being part of the process of instruction."

"I saw grandparents, cousins and many parents interacting together from station to station....I even saw Dads taking pictures. There were so happy to be there and so excited for their students to be learning something new and especially something that can be connected to the real world."

"As I was teaching [the student], a man walked up and said, "there you are son, I knew I would find you somewhere around fish!". I smiled and asked him if they were fishermen and he answered with an excited "yes". He looked towards his son and I could just see all the love that he had for him. He then walked up to him and gave him a big hug and told him that he loved him. It was so wonderful to see just how caring and loving this man was toward his child. It made me feel absolutely wonderful to know that this family was going to take everything that I taught them and apply it in the real world. Words cannot explain how I felt at this point. I was absolutely ecstatic."

"Clearly, Carroll Lane Elementary supports their students and families, and shoots for the highest when it comes to their success."

The staff, students and their families at Carroll Lane Elementary showed me what a school community looks like."

Family Science at Gregory-Portland Intermediate!

"Making our science activities culturally relevant was one of the requirements to be included (in this project), and I have to admit I had a hard time understanding this at first. I couldn't see how one's culture could help a student understand a science topic. Integrating students' personal experiences with Padre Island beach made the activity more meaningful for them and easier to understand. I realize now that this is what made our activity culturally relevant....by incorporating students' interests and allowing them to share their personal experiences makes the topic all the more meaningful and interesting to learn for everyone."

GP intermediate was PACKED - we have never had such a huge turn-out of families from a middle school! It was a FABULOUS night!!! Read some reflections from my students:

"I would like to focus on how science is directly relevant to the students' lives along with out it is relevant to culture. I say this because if we cannot integrate or associate science to any aspects of our lives then there will not be any connections....We need to create a purpose behind why we are teaching science and explain that to our students so they can make connections. This builds understanding of the knowledge that is presented to them."

"I learned and was able to teach others and that is a priceless gift."

"I have a better appreciation of science which has always scared me in the past. I have a much better understanding of why we teach science and how it is involved in everything in this world."

"It was remarkable to see how many young students became actively engaged and interested in learning. It reassured me that students do love to learn. It is through the learning experiences and activities that we can either turn them onto learning or turn them away. Witnessing this reassured me to have a hands-on, student centered classroom."

"Stressing cultural relevance is the advice I would give to future science teachers and organizers. This aspect is often overlooked and I learned from this event that not only is it important to teach, it's a real attention getter for your audience."

"The students seemed really eager to do the activity and were very attentive as they listened to facts about sand dunes....They had prior experience with the beach and with sand dunes. They could build on this previous information and put the concepts together."

"This experience made me realize that you can teach science in a culturally relevant way. The idea never occurred to be before. I always thought science was science. After seeing all of the Texas A&M student's projects, I realized it is possible to make almost anything culturally relevant."

"The one thing I will remember from participating in this event is that children love conducting experiments especially when you make the activities personally relevant to them."

"I honestly did not put much thought into the idea or importance of science in the lower grade levels. So much of the focus seemed to be on math and reading. Science is a subject that I am getting excited about teaching. Science is such a 'hands-on' subject and I truly feel that students will really be excited about learning science!"

"This event was eye opening and a reality check. The realization of all the time and effort that teachers put forth every day to be sure their students learn....Teachers are not given the credit they deserve. People do not see all the outside time and money they put into their lessons. Other professions do not involve such work."

"When I was in school we never learned the science behind the activities we were doing at the time. Now I realize how important it is for students to realize the science behind the activity they are learning about. We have the chance to change the way students perceive science by making a difference in how we teach/explain our activity to the students."

"One thing I will remember was when a mother and her daughter came to our station....Once they were done the daughter hugged her mom and thanked her for bringing her and told her she was having the most fun ever and that she loves her. Her mom's face lit up and you could tell that was a moment the mother will never forget. Neither will I."

Fishy Tales Involving High School Students and their families

We had a very cool opportunity this semester as high school students from Alice, Texas came to Texas A&M Corpus Christi as part of program involving Dads and Students. I volunteered my morning preservice teachers to work with this group and do a perch dissection with them. We provided the materials, the Dads (and Moms!) came in and went to work -- it was unbelievably awesome -- like Family Science coming to the classroom!

I am working to make this happen several times during the semester from now on. Authentic learning at it's best! My PST's learned along with the families. Amazing!

My student's reflections:

*"I wish I wold have had opportunities like this when I was in high school. I also would have loved for my Dad to be involved in activities like this with me."

*"Parent's showing interest gives the students inspiration to want to learn because it helps them to be proud of themselves knowing their parents are proud of them."

*"Another realization that occurred to me was how important it is to allow time to let students warm up to an activity, get motivated to participate, and have time for reflection afterwards. Overall, this experience taught me a lot about planning executing lessons for students."

*I enjoyed the second group that came because I got to work with a father, his daughter and her friend by myself. They were all very fascinated by the fish. The dad and I discussed some fishing trips that he had with his son. They were so kind, you could really tell they appreciated us taking the time to show them university life....It would be nice to get them thinking about college even more."

"Eleven years ago when I graduated from high school, there was not anything like this available. It was really nice to see these proud parents accompanying their children to such a great function."