Post MEI Institute
We ended the NASA adventure last Friday and headed home to Corpus Christi. Everybody was eager to get home, but none more than me! I was nervous about getting the vehicle back to the rental car company and I was ready to get home.
I got home and went through the materials and resources we got from the week. It is amazing how much NASA is embedded in our daily lives. Since our return, I have begun to notice the amount of PR that goes on through the media about NASA events. The news is continually including launches and publicizing virtual conferences with scientists and astronauts from space. So much money and attention, it is astounding to me.
I volunteered to take the group, because I did not want these new teachers to miss out on this experience. Also, I know that my colleague Dr. Tonya Jeffery was dedicated to such programs and she had been essential to having TAMUCC/COEHD be part of this PD. I felt I owed it to her and to the college. And I am confident I did the right thing in volunteering to take the group. It was an intensive week and it was a lesson in how to approach problem solving from the prospective of an engineer. It is a clearly specific way to approach investigations.
I hope that I can be helpful to ensuring a new group of teaching students and new teachers attend next year. It is not the only program or institute for new teachers and teachers who have been teaching for a while, but it is a good experience for any new teacher to go through. I also hope to be a part of including other types of institutes next summer for TAMUCC/COEHD to participate with. Texas Parks and Wildlife as well as the Texas Forestry Service provide strong learning experiences for teachers.
I want to thank the ladies who went with me for being patient and a great group. I truly had a fun time with them. As a group, we were not sure what was going to happen during the group and we did not know what to expect. I had not gone before and I did not have the experience to inform them of what to expect, other than the pre-institute preparation. But we muscled through and had a good time. I think we got a kick out of some of the people me met, such as Frances from Alpine and relied on the personable nature of Brandon the lead instructor. And we loved Jerry! Brandon was so excited about Jerry talking to us during our working lunch and I think Jerry was a rock star!
I appreciated the time that the presenters took to come and talk to the group. I was impressed with Stu, the mechanical engineer involved in the planning of the Orion. I liked that there was a blend of face to face and virtual conferencing with presenters. It was a resourceful use of technology to enhance the PD.
There were some areas I would recommend reflective consideration in regards to how the activities were facilitated. This group included a majority of new teachers, some seasonal teachers pursing a master's degree, and professors who were the faculty sponsors. I am a science teacher and an informal educator and I have worked with youth and adults to teach and facilitate science content and pedagogical skills and knowledge. I have taken it on the chin many times when providing PD to adult learners who engage in learning experience much differently from young students. I know the institute has been going on for some years now and I am confident that the program developers know what they are doing and how they want their program to progress. However, I also know that the use of inquiry and STEM strategies are not familiar to many teaching students I work with and I will assume the same for other programs in the state of Texas and maybe even nationally. I am committed to broadening my understanding of student inquiry and to sharing this knowledge with my own students every chance I have to do so.
I got home and went through the materials and resources we got from the week. It is amazing how much NASA is embedded in our daily lives. Since our return, I have begun to notice the amount of PR that goes on through the media about NASA events. The news is continually including launches and publicizing virtual conferences with scientists and astronauts from space. So much money and attention, it is astounding to me.
I volunteered to take the group, because I did not want these new teachers to miss out on this experience. Also, I know that my colleague Dr. Tonya Jeffery was dedicated to such programs and she had been essential to having TAMUCC/COEHD be part of this PD. I felt I owed it to her and to the college. And I am confident I did the right thing in volunteering to take the group. It was an intensive week and it was a lesson in how to approach problem solving from the prospective of an engineer. It is a clearly specific way to approach investigations.
I hope that I can be helpful to ensuring a new group of teaching students and new teachers attend next year. It is not the only program or institute for new teachers and teachers who have been teaching for a while, but it is a good experience for any new teacher to go through. I also hope to be a part of including other types of institutes next summer for TAMUCC/COEHD to participate with. Texas Parks and Wildlife as well as the Texas Forestry Service provide strong learning experiences for teachers.
I want to thank the ladies who went with me for being patient and a great group. I truly had a fun time with them. As a group, we were not sure what was going to happen during the group and we did not know what to expect. I had not gone before and I did not have the experience to inform them of what to expect, other than the pre-institute preparation. But we muscled through and had a good time. I think we got a kick out of some of the people me met, such as Frances from Alpine and relied on the personable nature of Brandon the lead instructor. And we loved Jerry! Brandon was so excited about Jerry talking to us during our working lunch and I think Jerry was a rock star!
I appreciated the time that the presenters took to come and talk to the group. I was impressed with Stu, the mechanical engineer involved in the planning of the Orion. I liked that there was a blend of face to face and virtual conferencing with presenters. It was a resourceful use of technology to enhance the PD.
There were some areas I would recommend reflective consideration in regards to how the activities were facilitated. This group included a majority of new teachers, some seasonal teachers pursing a master's degree, and professors who were the faculty sponsors. I am a science teacher and an informal educator and I have worked with youth and adults to teach and facilitate science content and pedagogical skills and knowledge. I have taken it on the chin many times when providing PD to adult learners who engage in learning experience much differently from young students. I know the institute has been going on for some years now and I am confident that the program developers know what they are doing and how they want their program to progress. However, I also know that the use of inquiry and STEM strategies are not familiar to many teaching students I work with and I will assume the same for other programs in the state of Texas and maybe even nationally. I am committed to broadening my understanding of student inquiry and to sharing this knowledge with my own students every chance I have to do so.
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