Volunteer Bob Blumberg's Field Trip

Bob works with third and fourth graders at Orr Elementary in Anacostia. His report on his recent field trip to the Navy Yard in Southeast DC: 

The field trip to the Navy Museum was wonderful. The program was  called 

the Straw Rocket Program. There was a young woman who took charge of the 
class lecturing, demonstrating and even demanding good behavior. We had 
21 students. There were all kinds of prepared parts and materials so the 
students could put a rocket together with a straw, paper fins, clay nose 
cone, and clear tape to hold it all together. And then she had them do a 
test firing in the main Hall of the Museum, go back to the work shop, 
change the rocket. and go bock to a final firing of each rocket. A boy 
and a girl were given a prize for the longest flight of their rockets. 
Both Ms Trowell and I were really impressed and pleased that it came out 
so well. I am sure that the students had a good time and probably will 
remember it for a long while . They might even have gotten a life lesson 
out of it. 

Participant Feedback ReSET’s 1/15/11 Volunteer Meeting

Things that worked well:

-  Overall, I think that was a very good meeting. Having elementary school teachers at the meeting and on the ReSET Board is an excellent idea. Their remarks at the meeting were quite insightful. Keeping the meeting to a 2 hour limit is also a good idea, but you may have to cut off some discussion if you are going to cover all Agenda items.

- The panel with the teachers and volunteers was helpful

- Particularly helpful were the ideas for

            o          How to keep the attention of the students

            o          How to manage the progress of the activity

            o          How to better work with the teacher and help meet his/her needs

- The presentation about the demographics of the student body most of us see was

very helpful.  Maybe next time we could get some additional pointers on how to

deal with such a student population.

-  I thought the meeting went quite well.  It was good having the teachers there for their input

- Great meeting. It is important to meet with others to get a better idea how to proceed in our role in the school.  I took away many good ideas.  

- I felt great to see my colleagues at this meeting. It was the first time for me to see most of them.  I enjoyed the discussion panel and break time which gave us the chance to talk freely and listen to teaching experiences and encounters from one another as ReSET volunteers.  Podium speakers further gave me some inspirational ideas by telling their volunteering experiences and thoughts.  The meeting location is convenient and the room is very comfortable.  Refreshment was great.

-   I really enjoyed the meeting and learned from the panel.

-  Having DCPS teachers there to tell us what they need. Additionally they had a

chance to hear our side too, and become aware of things they might not have

recognized about volunteering.  Since we and the teachers work together, it makes total sense to have open discussions outside the pressure of the classroom. The arrangement is very positive for everyone, and it's another step forward for ReSET. Another thing is that there seemed to be at least as many volunteers present as I've ever seen at a meeting. It's possible that the teachers were a draw that brought in more volunteers.

- The panel and the extended discussion in place of the small groups.

- This is the best ReSET meeting I've attended. The discussions were spirited and informative after each speaker. I suspect there could have been more time allotted for the fruitful discussion. I am strongly supportive of involving teachers at every meeting. We can learn a lot from them to guide our presentations. So, the meeting format and topics

worked very well.

- I believe the agenda was helpful in attracting a larger number of ReSET

volunteers, which made for richer discussions.

- Since most of don’t get to see other volunteers, hearing what worked for others was effective. On the whole, I think it was a productive meeting.  I liked some of the sharing because it presented a variety of ideas for follow on.

- Your move to cancel the next agenda item was excellent.

Things that didn’t work so well:

- The brief presentations went well but but some of us had trouble sticking to the subject matter and the questions being discussed.

- More time could have been more time allotted for the discussion as

they were still fruitful.

- I don't know of anything.

- Location might have been more accessible.

- This meeting didn’t summarize what we were looking for as common goals for science volunteering at ReSET. 

- It might be better to separate the volunteers and teachers into two different

panels.  I think the questions for each might be different

- Introductions are good, but take a lot of time in such a big group.  Maybe

there’s a way to streamline this part.

-  At this meeting, we couldn't get to your final Agenda item; while I don't know exactly what you had planned there, it sounded like an exercise to plan some sample classroom sessions. If so, that could have been very useful for the newcomers who were probably trying to figure out how you keep a group of kids engaged for an hour.

Recommendations for future meetings:

-  It would be great to show a video of one of us in the classroom.  

- More open discussions are productive.

- How about including tent name cards so we can get to know peoples' names?

-  Always have at least 3 DCPS teachers present. I suggest that this type of

meeting replace the ones we had in the past, where volunteers demonstrated their

experiments. I think it's much more important for us and the teachers to talk to

each other.

- Another panel with a principal, two teachers and a scientist discussing their views of what is age appropriate science at the  3rd and 5th grade level. Of course some follow-up discussion after each presenter is nice. Include two short presentations of ReSET volunteer lessons. Discussion could then focus on if it’s age appropriate and if and

how it could be adapted to other grades where the subject is in the science curriculum.

- Debriefings of recent experiences for different grade levels.

- First, I hope more teachers from schools ReSET is serving would come to the meeting to share their thoughts.  Second, it would be great  that in the future meeting the list of experimental tools and resources ReSET currently owns can be officially announced. In this way, we can keep good awareness of their availability and make use of them in our classes.  Last, but not the least,  I want to see if it is possible to include some statistics of students’ academic performance and hands-on related community services in the future meeting. In this way, we can better visualize our volunteering efforts.

-  1) What to do if the teacher is not in the room to maintain discipline.  I had a substitute teacher leave the room and two kids were unruly so I had the stand at the back of the room.  I also ask the kids if they want to hear what I have to say - or should I go home. But our policy is the teacher should (must) be present in the classroom at all times.

2) Do you do your presentation if the teacher has a substitute? I've had good experiences and bad experiences with substitutes (mainly with class discipline).

3) The responsibility of the teacher to notify you if the class will not be held or the class will return to the room late. More than once I have come to the classroom and found it vacant.  Either the kids are on a field trip, or there is a program in the auditorium the teacher failed to tell me about. And many times I have had to wait 10 to 20 minutes for the class to appear from another activity.  The teacher needs to know that our time is valuable. Also I have a 40 minute drive so it is an additional expense to me if the teacher is not there. 

I know these are gripes but, they are common problems we face and can lead

to the loss of volunteers.

- A separate focus would be on the various activities. 

            - Who has had success with which experiments? 

            - Which experiments are good (easy) for “not my field but I’m willing to try”

            - Maybe start collecting helpful hints/clarifications for the ones we already

            have.

- The Q&A session was helpful, with volunteers using their experience to answer

questions of others.  I’d recommend this as part of a future session.

- As for recommendations for future meetings, it might be useful (especially for newcomers or potential newcomers) to devote 15-20 minutes to an example of a class session that a volunteer thinks went over well. I wouldn't suggest multiple examples because then there wouldn't be enough time to get into detail----just one example with a fair amount of detail.

 

How often should we schedule sessions like these?

- Suggest we meet on a quarterly basis to keep up the excellent momentum.  

- 2x per year

- Three of these extended meetings a year would seem about right.

- At least every 6 months. Personally, I would like them every 4 months

- Perhaps at the beginning and end of terms, to help prepare and to do "lessons learned".

- I would like to have this type of meeting held twice every school semester. The first one

should happen before the semester starts, and the second one after the semester ends.

-  Once a semester, at or before the beginning of the semester.  The session helped

get me focused as I think about heading back into the classroom.

- As for the frequency of these meetings, I suggest not more than 2.

Recruiting Idea

From Rich Repplier:

John, 
 
Today I posted ReSET ads at these places in Centreville: 
 
2 Giants (3 X 5s) 
1 Shoppers (8-1/2 X 11) 
1 Starbucks (8-1/2 X 11) 
The Goddard School (8-1/2 X 11) 
 
You can cover lots of places in a short time - you just pick a  
shopping center and once you're there, you have many possibilities  
close together. I have a lot more prospects waiting for me to get to  
them. 
 
Please send me 5 more 3X5 ads. They are very useful for boards that  
are jammed with ads. 

Daughter and Father Thoughts on ReSET

This week Sarah Kehoe wrote to ReSET:  "My father ... recently retired from a phenomenal government  career as an aerospace engineer. I am nominating him for this volunteer opportunity as I know he will love it and be excellent at it. He mentored me in math/science and I now have my PhD in Molecular Cell Biology because of his enthusiasm and inspiration. He would make an excellent addition to your team."

Bob Williams agreed with his daughter's recommendation and will begin the ReSET volunteer orientation program in January. He writes: "Practicing/retired engineers and scientists have a unique ability to 'give back' to a new generation.  As a nation we are now at the point where 90% of the advanced degrees in the hard sciences and engineering are going to Pacific Rim countries. I am seeing more and more first-class technical papers coming from that region.  Most highly successful people have 3 key people in their lives -  the parent or friend who helped make the subject 'fun,' the teacher who translated the fun into real technical understanding and sparking self-motivated idea creation, and the college-level mentor who carried that foundation into high level achievement."

Volunteer Wayne Sukow's Minerals Experiment

Hi ReSET'ers:  If you're interested in working with students on the experiment Wayne describes (below)let me know (johnmeagher@cox.net).  I have some mineral sets in the ReSET supply stock. John

Hi John, 
 
This is just a brief note to bring you up to date on my 2010 ReSET 
classroom activities. This afternoon I finished the fourth session on 
Geology---Properties and Identification of Minerals. I was pleased how 
well the 5th grade students in all four classes and especial the last 
class mastered the techniques for 1.) making streaks from the minerals 
on a black or white Streak Plate, 2.) determining if the mineral 
scratched their thumbnail, a copper penny, a piece of glass, or a 
ceramic streak plate, and 3.) inventing descriptive words that 
characterized the appearance of the minerals as they saw them e.g. the 
Luster: shiny, metallic, dull, waxy, sparkly, etc. 
 
The four  one-hour sessions included all 110 or so fifth graders at Key 
ES and two teachers. The streak plates, glass, and pennies show their 
use after this years intense use.  They will need some replacements for 
the next go around. I also invested in  some good rock samples such as 
gabbro, oolitic limestone, anorthocite, granite with biotite, etc. at a 
cost of $45. Students felt that they were easier to use than the small 
thumbnail size. When students left the classroom for their next class 
each one received one of my  Lake Superior Agate with a Hardness 7, 
which means it will stay polished if they carry it in their pocket or 
purse with of change, pens, etc. 
 
Next up are experiments on Electricity and Magnetim and/or Light. 
 
I also tried Key ES lunches.....interesting. 
 
Cheers, 
 
Wayne 

Marty Stein 's Waterborne Disease Session

Washington Latin is doing what they call water world.  I plan to discuss the dangers of unclean water, a major problem, and some of the diseases that are transmitted in contaminated water.  I ordered a complete distillation kit for Carolina Biological.  They have  assembled everything I will need and it is very sexy and will turn on the kids. There are too many things I would have to get and probably miss some if I went for individual pieces so I went with the kit.  My plan is for the kids to get some lousy water three days before.  I have a reagent which they will incubate with the water for 48 hour and then have a color indicator for
the presence of bacteria.  I will distill the dirty water in the classroom  and split up the effluent and have the kids incubate it for another  48 hours to see if the process cleaned the water.  I will bring pictures of the
kids in Haiti and some pictures of the cholera bacteria.  I might even drink some in the class...
http://www.carolina.com/product/equipment+and+supplies/glass+and+plasticware/
condensers/distillation-distilling+apparatus.do?sortby=ourPicks

Local DC STEM Advocate Elected to National Board

ReSET's November 2010 newsletter included a quote from Mary Lord, DC Ward 2 State Board of Education member, a long-time STEM education advocate.  This week Ms. Lord was  elected to the Board of the National Association of State Boards of Education (see press release below).  A step forward for science and math education. Press release below...

D.C. BOARD MEMBER MARY LORD CHOSEN AS A DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Arlington, Va. - Mary Lord, a member of the District of Columbia State Board of Education, was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). Lord will begin her two-year term as a director from NASBE's Northeast region in January 2010.

"Mary Lord is a tireless advocate for students and education, and I know she will bring that same focus and energy to the board of directors," said NASBE Executive Director Brenda Welburn. "She and the rest of our directors give their time and leadership to their fellow policymakers to help them find the solutions needed to provide students the education they need to succeed in the 21st century."

Lord was first elected to the state board of education in 2007 and elected to her first full term in 2008. She is an award-winning freelance journalist who has been writing about education and visiting schools across the country for more than a decade. Her articles have appeared in a variety of local and national publications, including U.S. News & World Report, for which she covered K-12 and higher education. Along with representing Wards 1 and 2 on the DC State Board of Education, she has served on several education-reform task forces, notably NASBE's study group on Career and Technical Education, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education's working groups on educator quality, career and technical education, and accountability.  

NASBE's directors help set organizational direction and policy positions while also representing their region's concerns to state boards nationwide.

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The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America's state and territorial boards of education. NASBE exists to strengthen State Boards as the preeminent educational policymaking bodies for citizens and students. For more, visit www.nasbe.org.