“I loved STARS because you made me feel smart.” – T
This one statement sums up STARS for me. I will forever be grateful for my girls, especially because I’m sure that they taught me more than I ever taught them.
Archive for the ‘STARS’ Category
I am going to cry like a baby on Thursday.
I am so proud of the Blue team. Each and every one of them, regardless of attendance, significantly contributed to the investigation as a whole and made the team what it became. They learned science. They did science. They became a team and worked together. They put me in the best mood every Thursday at 2 pm.
Words cannot explain the elation I felt when I heard D what kind of research she would like to continue with next semester based on the results of this investigation. My face hurt from smiling so much after watching A and T show visitors how to swab and asking them what they would be interested in swabbing. These girls have grown so much in 10 weeks. They’ve helped me grow as well.
So this is why my eyes will be filled with tears on Thursday. They will be tears of sadness because I will not be able to work with these wonderful and talented young women next semester and they will be tears of joy for the outstanding work that they have completed during this fall semester. I could not be more proud.
Today was interactive stations for STARS. All 8 of us had our own 9-minute interactive station for the girls to see some cool urban ecology.
Last week, my group of girls were really interested in why there was no garden in the school courtyard. I couldn’t ask for a better lead in to soil composition! So I borrowed some sand, silt, clay and gravel (Thanks Michael!) and potting soil (Thanks Jo Ann!) to set up a station that the girls could observe the soil with hand lenses and touch. I also planned on getting a soil sample from the courtyard for them to compare with the other samples.
Due to a series of unfortunate events, I completely forgot to get a soil sample from outside when I got to school, and didn’t realize it until I sat down at my station with some girls who were obviously very bored. My heart sank. How could I be so careless?! After 5 minutes I couldn’t take it any more and knew that this wasn’t going to go over well for 4 more rotations, so I told the girls that I would be right back and rushed to Joe for help. Thank goodness. He totally saved my station from complete and total disaster. The following stations went off without a hitch and I think a lot of the girls got a kick out of it. I hope it will serve as a good lead in to Zach and Lisa’s experimental design inquiry station over the weekend.
Lesson learned: always always check and double check that you have everything that you need for a lesson. And then always always always be prepared with damage control. Even though I’m embarrassed that I made this mistake at all, I’m really glad I made it now and not sometime next year, or even during student teaching.
Really cool stations
Ecology in cities
Fun stuff planned for STARS!
At the beginning of this week, I came across this blog post, titled “Could you sustain the energy level required to be a teacher?” I giggled. Of course!! I’m typically high energy, loud, and have a sit-com style humor. High energy is the story of my life.
Then, STARS recruitment happened. I am no stranger to recruitment. Sorority recruitment is hours of standing, smiling, cheering, and being all around brilliant when all you want to do is take a nap on the cold linoleum floor that, in that moment, looks like the most comfortable place on the planet. STARS recruitment is a 10 minute interruption of a classroom at the beginning of a period that was non-stop running around + dry ice + a “mad scientist” skit + attempted acting skills plus + Lisa’s ridiculous blonde wig. I am exhausted.
STARS recruitment was so much fun. Lisa and I gave it our all, and we were both really proud of the results. We got stellar feedback on our energy levels and our cool bubbles experiment (see video below). But now I’m starting to question myself. I was on a caffeine diet this week, but I know I couldn’t sustain that for longer than 5 days. I so badly want to be the teacher that is high energy all the time. I’m mentally laid back, but rarely am I outwardly laid back. I think that getting on a better sleep schedule is something I need to work on before we start our 4-week placement.
Our inspiration for our STARS science demo
“Oh silly Dr. Zeller…did you forget to put the lid on the top of this obviously very dangerous reaction?”
“I’ve never seen those boys’ eyes light up like that.” -A paraprofessional, after seeing Lisa and me present our demo/interruption for STARS recruitment