 | ISMAM Newsletter Enhancing Inquiry-Based Science and Math in Appalachian Middle Schools |
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 NSF GK-12 PROJECT TEAMS MEETING: A TEACHER’S EXPERIENCE |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this article, Mrs. Lois Webster of Estill County Middle School shares her experience at the Annual meeting for National Science Foundation GK-12 Project Teams held in Washington, DC, March 2006. The weekend of March 24th-26th was the opening of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. The festival commemorates the friendship between the U. S. and Japan and celebrates the close relationship between the two peoples. That weekend five individuals involved with Project ISMAM traveled to DC, not for celebrating the Cherry Blossom Festival, but to commemorate and celebrate the partnerships between the National Science Foundation and GK-12 projects teams from throughout the United States.
The ISMAM team comprised of Undergraduate Fellow (Ms. Megan Alexander), a science teacher from Estill County Middle School (Mrs. Lois Webster), a faculty participant (Dr. Sherry Harrel), the Internal Evaluator (Dr. Karen Carey) and the Principal Investigator (Dr. Tom Otieno). As did other projects, we presented a poster explaining and demonstrating the benefits of ISMAM. There was a particular emphasis on the Fellows and their future as scientists. It was very enlightening to see how different projects took on their own personalities as they incorporated the vision of NSF for the GK-12 program. Some projects did not assign Fellows to a certain school for the whole year. In fact, some even had Fellows write lesson proposals for topics that teachers felt they needed extra help with or wanted to make their lessons more inquiry based. While some projects, such as ours, focused on the middle grades, others focused on high school or even kindergarten. I learned that the main focus from NSF was for the Fellows to share their research with students in the classroom. Their goal was, or is, for students to experience what science is like “out in the world”. Having Fellows in the classroom allows students to see possibilities for their becoming scientists or mathematicians in the future. The meeting consisted of poster presentations and several small group sessions. I was very fortunate to be able to attend two sessions on lesson/activity sharing. I got a lot of good ideas for inquiry based lessons. Also, I presented a lesson on using a Dichotomous Key to identify Jelly Belly jellybeans. The lesson was well received and I had a lot of fun doing the presentation. It was a little melancholy knowing this was the last year of the ISMAM project. I just hope that I have the opportunity to participate in another such program that has been as beneficial to me as a classroom teacher and to my school. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UPCOMING EVENTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A listing of upcoming events of interest to ISMAM participants and middle school educators. 1. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATH TEACHERS ISMAM will be offering 6 hours of professional development on inquiry based science and math for middle school science and math teachers in EKU’s service region. The focus will be on implementing more inquiry based science and math strategies in the middle school classroom as well as understanding technology that can enhance inquiry. This teacher in-service training will be held on Friday, June 9 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm in the Perkins Building, Eastern Kentucky University. For registration and further information contact Dr. Melinda Wilder at melinda.wilder@eku.edu or (859)622-1476. 2. ISMAM PARTICIPANT REUNION There will be a reunion for all past and present ISMAM participants at 5.30 pm on Friday June 9, 2006 in the Perkins Building, Eastern Kentucky University. For more information contact Dr. Tom Otieno at tom.otieno@eku.edu or (859)622-1393. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CONGRATULATIONS! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This section recognizes recent achievements of ISMAM participants. The individuals participating in the ISMAM program were selected on the basis of their professional achievements and interest in K-12 education. We believe that their continued success as well-rounded human beings positively impacts their ISMAM work. Hence, we proudly share their recent accomplishments in this section of our newsletter. Hearty congratulations to all!
Kristen Barnard (Graduate Fellow). M.S. degree in Mathematics. Kristen will be seeking a position in academia in the short term and ultimately hopes to pursue a Ph.D. degree in the long term. Jennifer Fairchild (Undergraduate Fellow). B.S. degree in Mathematics. Jennifer will be moving to Iowa State University to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Statistics. Amy McIntosh (Graduate Fellow) and Stephen Richter (Faculty Participant). Their paper based on ISMAM activities has been accepted for publication in the journal Science Activities. Stephen Richter (Faculty Participant). Proud father of baby boy born in April 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outlines some of the activities Fellows and EKU faculty conducted in middle school classrooms in the spring 2006 semester. As has been the practice in previous semesters, Fellows spent an average of 10 hours per week in middle school classrooms as resources to middle school teachers. As part of their responsibilities, each Fellow planned a unit that included two or more 5E inquiry-based lesson plans and participated in the teaching of the unit.
Following precedent set last semester, several EKU professors participating in the project once again taught lessons to middle school students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DISSEMINATION | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outlines dissemination of project activities for the spring 2006 semester. The second journal article arising out of project ISMAM activities has been accepted for publication: Amy V. McIntosh and Stephen C. Richter. DIGITAL DAISY: An Inquiry-based Approach to Investigating Floral Morphology and Dissection. Science Activities. Accepted. There were one oral and 6 poster presentations in the spring 2006 semester. Four Fellows, four middle school teachers, seven EKU faculty, and the Internal Evaluator participated as co-presenters. Since ISMAM’s inception in 2003, there have been a total of 37 presentations (19 oral and 18 posters) at the local, state, regional and national levels. Abstracts of the presentations can be found on the ISMAM web site (www.ismam.eku.edu). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FELLOW PROFILE: Kristen Barnard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This article profiles one of the ISMAM GK-12 Graduate Fellows. Kristen Barnard is a native of London, Kentucky. She began her undergraduate education at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in the fall of 2000. She graduated in May of 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and an Associates of Science in Engineering Science. Currently Kristen is working on her Masters of Science in Mathematics at EKU and will graduate in May. Kristen has been part of Project ISMAM for three years. She was first hired as an undergraduate Fellow in the 2003-04 academic year during her senior year of undergraduate study and worked with Mr. Gregory Wiseman at Foley Middle School, with Dr. Jerry Cook of EKU’s Department of Physics & Astronomy as her faculty mentor. In the 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years, she served as a graduate Fellow at Rockcastle County Middle School (RCMS) working with two teachers: Mrs. Becky Smith (science) and Mr. Michael McNabb (mathematics). Her faculty advisors for RCMS have been Dr. Lisa Kay and Dr. Kirk Jones, both of the Department of Mathematics & Statistics.
Speaking on her ISMAM experience Kristen remarks, “The ISMAM program has truly been a blessing to me. Not only have I had the privilege of meeting some fantastic people through this program, I feel like I have also had a positive impact on the education of some exceptional students. It feels great when the students are excited to see me come in to work with them, and to know that the work I have done has paid off through their learning. I am proud to have been chosen as a Fellow, and I hope that I have been able to be a role model to the students I have worked with, especially the female students. I hope they have come away from their eighth grade year knowing that math and science aren’t just for the boys!” Mrs. Becky Smith of RCMS concurs: “Kristen has been such a benefit to our school. She has impacted students in a positive way so much so that they selected her to give out their 8th grade awards. She is always thinking of how to modify or develop new things so students can become better learners and understand information at higher levels. Even though her career choice is in mathematics, I believe that she really is a teacher at heart.” Dr. Jones agrees: "Kristen has a real flair for dealing with middle school students. I have been amazed at the amount of detail Kristen knew about the students she worked with at RCMS; She clearly took the time to get to know the students and it showed in her interactions with them. It was a true pleasure to watch her interact with students at RCMS." Kristen’s work at Foley Middle School with Dr. Cook provided the basis for her undergraduate thesis for the EKU Honors Program and illustrates how Fellow education can be integrated into GK-12 project activities. The pair chose to research whether or not hands-on and inquiry methods were beneficial to middle school students when teaching concepts of force and motion. Their results were presented at the regional meeting of the National Science Teachers Association last December in Nashville, TN. Kristen and Dr. Cook also plan to edit the paper for publication soon. Kristen has also presented ISMAM related material at EKU’s Undergraduate Presentation Showcase and the annual meeting of the Kentucky Science Teachers Association. Kristen is currently unsure of her post-graduation plans. She hopes to find a position teaching at a local college or university until she decides whether or not to pursue a PhD in Mathematics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER PROFILE: Margaret M. Soto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This article profiles one of the middle school teachers participating in ISMAM. Mrs. Margaret M. Soto graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a minor in geology, a masters degree in teaching with an emphasis in science, and rank one certification. She has taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade science in public schools for eighteen years and is currently teaching seventh and eighth grade science at Madison Middle School. Mrs. Soto shows her dedication to the students by allowing them to stay after school to work on make up work or just to use some of the many science materials that she has that have peaked their interest. Asked what motivates her she replied, “I love to see the kids progress academically and also watch them grow and mature into young adults. I just love being around kids and this makes me love my job too.”
Mrs. Soto's love for her job is further demostrated by her deeper level of inovlement with students beyond classroom teaching. She is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes co-advisor, the Science Club advisor, and runs the production media at Madison Middle School where she gets to interact additionally with eighth grade students making videos of pictures and memories submitted by the students. She also takes students on overseas educational tours and in the last two years they have visited several cities in Europe including Paris, London, Munich and Innsbruck. Mrs. Soto is also a leader among her colleagues and enthusiastically shares her experiences with other science educators. She is the chair of her department at Madison Middle School. She has participated in ISMAM since the beginning along with bringing new colleagues into the program. Mrs. Soto has been a consultant for Full Option Science System (FOSS) / DELTA Education program for over ten years. In this capacity, she conducts in-service courses for teachers across the United States. She has also presented her activities at numerous professional conferences. One of Mrs. Soto’s greatest accomplishments is the Advance Science Summer Camp that she established in Madison County six years ago. The program targets students with high academic goals. Participants are taught at a high level of science comparable to introductory college classes. The camp is run by volunteers who are professionals in STEM fields. Most of the professionals come from Eastern Kentucky University and offer their assistance free of charge. The great success of the program is attested to by the fact that there is a waiting list of interested students. Regarding her participation in ISMAM project Mrs. Soto had this to say: “The project has been wonderful. For three years I have had the rewarding benefit of having experts in different fields come to my classroom and contribute to the education of middle school students. This has increased our students’ interest in science. I hope that we will find ways of maintaining the partnerships developed through this program.” Margaret has been married for twenty years to Fred Soto. They have two beautiful children Kyra and Max. Kyra is eighteen and will graduate from Model Laboratory School this May. Max is eleven and is getting ready to enter the sixth grade at Madison Middle School. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SCHOOL PROFILE: Jackson County Middle School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This article profiles one of the middle schools participating in ISMAM. Jackson County Middle School (JCMS) opened in January of 1990. Currently, there are approximately 550 students enrolled in grades six through eight. The school is located just off Highway 421 on State Route 587 three miles south of McKee and adjacent to Jackson County High School. The principal, Mr. Keith Bingham, has been an educator for 25 years; he is finishing up his second year as principal of JCMS.
The School’s mission statement is “We, the staff at JCMS, seek to enable and assist all students in the acquisition of knowledge and competencies necessary to succeed as lifelong learners and to succeed as productive members in a rapidly changing society.” Its vision statement is “We, the staff at JCMS, envision all our students to become productive members of society through a sound educational background and strong preparation for social existence that will be passed from one student generation to the next.” One of the challenges the school faces is that approximately 90% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. However, even though the school has many challenges, its CATS scores are showing a positive trend, as can be seen from the following data.
One program that has made many positive contributions to the educational experiences of JCMS students is ISMAM. This is a partnership between Eastern Kentucky University and six local middle schools and is funded by the National Science Foundation. JCMS has been part of ISMAM since the project’s inception in 2003 with the following teachers participating: Mr. Robby Thomas, Mr. Louis Lakes, and Mrs. Tina Singletary. EKU Fellows that have worked in the school are Jessica Barnett, Richard Bunce, Debra Willard and Amy McIntosh. Drs. Chongkye Rhee, Susan Godbey, William Staddon and Stephen Richter are the EKU professors that have been involved with ISMAM at JCMS. Asked to comment on the benefits of having Fellows in her school Mrs. Singletary said, "Amy McIntosh, one of the ISMAM Fellows, created a butterfly garden and worked extensively on our outdoor classroom, creating a small pond. She has developed an inquiry-based unit of study over the Rockcastle River & coordinated a field trip for some of our 6th grade students. Amy has been wonderful, she assists us in the classroom, teaches, whatever we need her to do, she is willing to do." She continued, “ISMAM has given us many opportunities. We have been able to incorporate into several units of study various technologies such as Lego robots, digital microscopes and graph master, that we may never have been able to use had it not been for ISMAM. We were given the resources to create inquiry-based units. We have had the opportunity to work & correspond with other middle schools in surrounding counties.” Mrs. Singletary concluded, “We greatly appreciate all the educational & technology opportunities that ISMAM has offered our school. It has been a wonderful experience. We hope that EKU will continue to include us in any other grants or educational programs that they may initiate”. JCMS is also a Gear UP school. Gear Up has funded many cultural activities & trips. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deborah Anderson (Undergraduate Fellow). B.S. degree in Chemistry. Deborah will be moving to North Carolina to join her husband.
