What is it that teachers do at conferences and how do they take the knowledge they gain and implement it into their classrooms? This was one of the many questions I had as a pre-service teacher. Being able to attend the NASA Cosmic Science pre-conference before the 2009 NACCTEP national conference gave me great insight into what happens at a teacher conference.
The overall objective of the pre-conference I attended was to assist education and science instructors in helping pre-service educators effectively teach Earth/space science using inquiry. Teachers were very busy and intellectually stimulated during the entire pre-conference. At the end of the pre-conference, teachers left with an actual inquiry-based science lesson that can be utilized in their classroom. During this experience, I discovered many new and practical teaching tips, methodologies, and resources as a future science educator. I also witnessed firsthand how teachers collaborate and share best practice teaching strategies, and how new lessons are developed and implemented in the classroom.
Valuable lessons I took from the NASA pre-conference:
• I have an understanding of what goes on at a professional teacher conference.
• I was able to gain insight on how networking works. I learned that the education community is tight knit, and that members are willing and eager to help each other out.
• I will be able to effectively implement inquiry into my future classroom, thereby teaching Earth/space science more effectively.
• I have a much better understanding of NASA resources for teachers.
• As a teacher, I will be able to help other teachers by giving them support and advice on what works well in my class, so they can adapt it to fit their classroom.
I would recommend that more pre-service teachers be invited to the NACCTEP conference so they can have a similar, beneficial experience. Pre-service teachers would have the opportunity to see what goes on at a conference and how other teacher’s network, collaborate, and implement new teaching ideas and lessons for their classrooms. I personally witnessed hard working teachers sharing teaching strategies, developing new lessons, and acquiring new concepts for all their students. I am most grateful to NASA and NACCTEP for allowing me to explore science education at the national level. |
