Professional Development

Not checked in for a long time because I am trying to balance home, work and college together. Yes college again! Recently started the multiple subject credential program in SJSU. I have been teaching students from kinder through high school as a substitute, so decided to officially enroll in the teacher-training program and get credentialed. Fall 2016 is my first semester in the program and so far I am enjoying every bit of it. Mostly all my classmates are working in schools in some teaching capacity, so it is nice to be surrounded with like-minded people, learning together to be tomorrow’s teachers.

As a part of our Science – methods class, we got an amazing opportunity to attend professional development for teachers in Monterey Bay Aquarium. This training was focused on teaching science as per NGSS – Next Generation Science Standards. We were taught to teach science with more emphasis on inquiry-based hands on training, so that students engage, explore, experiment, evaluate and investigate like scientists. The idea is to encourage our students to dwell deep in science rather than superficially touching the topic.

I have been to the Monterey Aquarium four times before with my family and as a chaperone on field trips, but this visit was like never before. We got to explore the aquarium privately before the tourists came in. We worked with live starfish, anomalies, sea urchins, hermit crabs and abalones. We touched them, fed them and studied their characteristics, structures, and adaptations. We classified fish as per their habitat and also played with the new education app to make our presentations with pictures, videos, drawings, text and audio commentary. My favorite part was the session we did on sharks. It started with observing live shark, followed by science talk and each group working independently on different parts of a shark. The whole training program at Monterey Bay Aquarium completely changed my outlook about teaching and learning science in schools.