Fort Worth educators are back in the classroom, getting the chance to be students again

Fort Worth, TX

12/15/2009

By: Traci Schackelford, Schieffer School of Journalism

Think back to the first time you used a microscope in science class. Remember the feel of cold metal tingling in your hands, the smell of the rubbing alcohol to wipe away germs? Were you excited to view that first slide to look at an organism up close and personal?

Educators from Fort Worth are having these same feelings and getting the chance to be students again, thanks to Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education with funding from the Teacher Quality Grants Program.

According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating board Web site, “The Teacher Quality Grants Program for higher education is a federally funded effort providing grants to higher education institutions to promote improved instruction in mathematics and science for Texas school children by providing professional development for their teachers.”

To obtain the funding for the program Dr. Molly Weinburgh, director of the Andrews Institute, wrote the proposal outlining what they wanted to accomplish. Dr. Weinburgh said the school wanted to focus on environmental systems as the core subject of their program. The goals of the program were to improve content, pedagogical skills and an understanding of the nature of science. The Andrews Institute received $285,000 for the two-year program.

Teachers eligible to apply are those who the state and federal government believe would benefit from extra training. After an application process, the Andrews Institute accepted 20 teachers to participate from May 2009 till May 2011 in the concentrated, two-week summer program and follow-up Saturday workshops.

Mike Razavizadeh, seventh-grade science teacher, said, “I think they wanted eager individuals like myself to participate. People who are not afraid to participate in a program they were unfamiliar with.”

The learning did not just end after the two weeks. TCU professors continue to observe and work with the teachers in their classrooms post-program as well as monthly meetings with the participants for the next two years.

Teachers are also allowed to choose equipment they would like to take back to their classrooms. Razavizadeh received a digital recorder and pH testing strips and pH probes. Other participants, such as Angela Groves, a sixth-grade science teacher at Daggett Middle School, received a water testing kit and a ProScope, which is a digital USB microscope.

Groves said, “The experience has helped me create a more relevant, hands-on field investigation for the students. Students will be able to practice thinking like a scientist.”

Teachers are able to have a unique experience like no other such as, “being waist deep in the stream on the backside of Benbrook Dam and timing a tennis ball flow to find approximate velocity of the stream,” Grove said.

The program gives teachers a community of other professionals, like themselves, to work with.

Razavizadeh said, “It is very rare that I get an opportunity to work with other science teachers and get to hear their ideas and how they teach the same topic I do.”

This summer the program looked at the quality of water and its effect on life forms and the human impact on that water. The teachers analyzed the water in the TCU creek on campus, Benbrook Lake and the dam, the wetlands in Waco and a natural spring and water system in North Texas that is impacted by casinos. They then analyzed and compared all the samples. During the summer of 2010, the program plans to study biomes, which are major biotic communities characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate.

“The TCU program allowed me to realize that you do not always have to be in a classroom to learn,” Razavizadeh said, “I have learned new ideas on how ecosystems will be presented when I do teach it and I cannot wait.”

The teachers in this program are not the only ones who get excited. Students also benefit from this program. Angela Groves said, “We will be doing soil testing and water testing when we go on our field investigations to the Botanic Garden and the Fort Worth ISD Outdoor Learning Center.”

Razavizadeh said, “This is my first time participating in a program of this nature and I look forward to continuing this coming summer.”

Binta Thomas, AP and honors and chemistry teacher from R.L. Paschal High School, said, “Teachers are true learners, and more opportunities ought to be created whereby we can put into practice their interest or subjects taught. Experience for us is truly the greatest teacher.”

The Andrews Institute plans to apply for the grant again in January 2011 for funding for 2011 to 2013. For more information about the TCU Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education visit www.andrewsinstitute.tcu.edu.