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Name:SuzanKheireddin

Bio:(inthirdperson)Ms.Kheireddinhasbeenteachingsince2011.Shegraduated
fromUniversityofIllinoiswithaB.S.inElementaryEducationwithaconcentrationin
biology.ShealsohasaMastersdegreeinCurriculumandInstructionwitha
specializationinEnglishasaSecondLanguage.Rockclimbingisasportthatsheholds
closetoherheart.

NarrativeofAmazingTeachingMoment:

Mylessonsweretaughttomy1stgradestudentsinwhichfocusedonthePlantCycle.
Thisunittendstolastabout6weeks,howeverinthiscasewedidexpandourideas
whichpushedthisunittoapproximately7.5weeks.Therewereseveraladaptationsto
thelessonsduetothediscoveryofseveralmisconceptionsmystudentsheld.Going
intothePlantCycleUnit,Idiscoveredthatmanystudentsweremakingstatementsthat
wereabitmindbogglingtome.Afterrealizingthatmystudentshavenothadformal
lessonsonplantsinKindergarten,Idecidedtodigabitdeepertounderstandwhatmy
studentsunderstoodaboutplants.Youngerstudentsaresoldoncertainideasandare
verymuchwillingtosticktotheseideasbecausetheyweretaughtthemataveryyoung
agethroughmovies,games,storybooks,friends,andfamilymembers.

Consequently,Iwentbacktothedrawingboardtodeterminehowtolayoutthelessons
athand.IwantedmystudentstohaveaconceptualunderstandingofhowplantsgrowI
didnotwishtoseestudentsmemorizecertainfactsorconceptsandnotknowthewhy
behindthem.Mystudentswereexposedtopropersciencevocabulary,realworld
objectsrelatedtoplants,studentchoiceinexperiments,andstudentsdugintoreading
andwritingaboutplantsontheirveryown.Theyallweredrivenbehindthewhyin
termsofplants.Studentsbroughtinmanyquestionsthattheyhavebeenpondering
aboutplants,andtheywereleadtoexperimentandresearchtofindtheiranswers.No
longerwasIfeedingfactstomystudents,ratheritwasanenvironmentinwhichthey
werealldrivenbehindtheirveryOWNquestions.TheveryahamomentwaswhenI
observedallofmystudentsworkingalongsidetheirpeersonamissiontofindoutWHY!


Hashtags:
#elementaryscience,#whatsaplant,#collaboration,#plants,#tacklingmisconceptions,
#haveyouseenavenusflytrap,#isanoodleaplant

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Name:KevinLee

Bio:KevinisahighschoolmathteacherinChicago,Illinois.

NarrativeofAmazingTeachingMoment:Thislessonisgiveninthemiddleofastudy
ofquadraticfunctions.Studentsarelearninghowtocompletethesquareinorderto
convertstandardformquadraticequationy=x2+bx+cintovertexformy=(xh)2+k.
Thishelpsingraphingparabolasandwillbeusefulagainwhengraphingcircles.

Studentsaregivenacollectionofmanipulatives:largesquarescorrespondingtox2,
rectanglescorrespondingtox,andsmallsquarescorrespondingto1.Theyarethen
toldtotakeacertainnumberofthelargertiles(forexample,Takeonex2squareand
sixxrectangles.)andattempttoconstructasinglesolidsquareusingasmanyasthe
smaller1squaresastheywant.Oncetheyaccomplishthisgoal,theymaybeaskedto
seeiftheycanfindanotherwaytodoit,thistimeusingfewer1squares.Iftheyhave
alreadyfoundthewayusingthefewest1squares,theygoontothenextexample
(Takeonex2squareandtenxrectangles.).

Overthecourseofseveralexamples,groupsrealizethattheeasiestwaytoaccomplish
thegoalistotakehalftherectanglesandputthemverticallynexttothelargesquare
andtheotherhalfhorizontallybelowit.Thentheycanfillintheemptyspacewiththe1
squares.Thisprocessleadsthemtouncoverthe(b/2)2stepthatliesattheheartof
completingthesquareontheirown.

Thisactivityalsoprovidesatouchstonesothatlaterintheunit,whenthestudentssays
Iforgethowtocompletethesquare,theteachercanreplywithHowdidyoudoitwith
thetiles?

Hashtags:#algebra#parabolas#completingthesquare#findtherule#inquiry
#highschoolmath#discovery

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Name:NelidaRoa

Bio:NelidaRoaisamiddleschoolbilingualmathandlanguageartsteacheratLuther
BurbankElementary,shehasbeenteachingsince2009.ReceivedherMastersin
TeachingfromNationalLouisUniversity,sheisendorsedinMathandScience.Sheis
passionateaboutteachingandstrivestoprovidestudentswithengagingandenriching
learningopportunities.

NarrativeofAmazingTeachingMoment:
Myamazingteachingmomentisoccurswhenmystudentsareabletotakethe
knowledgeandapplytheinformationinavarietyofnewsituations.Iintroducedthe
lessonbyshowingapictureframeandaskedthestudentswhatistheareaoftheframe.
Iaskedsomeguidingquestion,howcanweapplywhatweknowoffindingarea?How
canwedecomposewhatisgiven?Whatstrategiescanweusetosolvetheproblemof
theareaoftheobject?Howcanwedecomposetheshape?

Priortothislessonstudentwerefindingtheareacountingsquareinacoordinategrid,
somewereusingtheformulatheareaofarectangleA=bxh.Ithenshowedatriangle
andaskhowdowefindandareaofatriangle.Idecomposedtherectangleand
studentscouldidentifythattwotriangleswouldequalarectanglewereviewtheformula
foratrianglea=1/2(bxh).

Todayschallengewasforstudentstoworkwithapartnerfor7minutesandcreatean
irregularshapewith10StickyNotesthatareinvarioussizes.Theyarealsoabletofold
thestickynotestocreatetheirownuniqueshape,andplaceitonchartpaper.

Theirnextchallengeistodiscusswiththeirpartnerhowtheywillfindtheareaoftheir
irregularpolygon.Thegroupwillrecordtheircalculationsonchartpaperwith
stepbystepinstructionofhowtheyderivedtheirresponse.Thosethatarecompleted
areasktotakeitonestepfurtherandfindandfindanotherwaytocalculatetheareaof
theirirregularpolygon.Oncecompletedstudentswillparticipateonagallerywalkand
writesomecommentsaboutwhattheyseeandplaceitontheposter.


Usingtheideascoveredsofarinthislesson,somepairwillnaturallydecomposetheir
figureintosmallerpolygonsandcalculateindividualarea.Otherpairswilluseother
methodstoestimatethearea.Afterallpairsarriveatananswer,concludethelessonby
lettingstudentsshareouttheirmethodsandwhytheyselectedtheirparticularmethod.
Studentswhoestimatedwillbenefitfromhearingaboutthedecompositionmethods.

Lastlystudentsarelookingbackattheirpictureframeandcalculatetheareaofthe
frame.Manystudentswillfindtheareaandsubtractthedifferenceotherwill
decomposetheareaoftheframeintosmallersectionandthenaddonlythosesections.
Thisactivitygivesstudentsreallifeapplicationoncalculatingareaofanirregularshape.

Hashtags:#6thgrademath#geometry#area#middleschoolmath#differentiatedactivity
#handsonlearning#irregularpolygons

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Name:BinhNguyen

Bio:(inthirdperson):
BinhNguyencurrently(2016)teachesChemistryandBiologyatNorthsideCollege
PreparatoryHighSchoolinChicago,IL.Helovestoplayandtinkerwithbicycles,
motorcycles,computers,andcameras.Additionally,heinstructsarcheryduringthe
weekends.

NarrativeofAmazingTeachingMoment:
MyamazingteachingmomentrevolvesaroundmydisappointmentinhowIvebeen
teachingmyjuniorbiologycourse.Afteradiscussionwithmycolleagueaboutmy
mundanelessons,shementionedherdesiretoconductadebatewithstudents
regardingwhichorganelleisthebestorganelle.Organellesareorganizedstructures
withinacell,similartoorganswithinahumanbeing.Aftermorethought,Idecidedto
takeariskwiththedebateactivity.

Beforethedebate,students,workingingroups,pickedanorganelleoftheirchoicefrom
alist.Afterwhich,Iprovidedstudentswithtimeandresourcestoresearchnotonlytheir
organelle,butalsotheircompetitions.Thedebatewasbrokendownintothreeparts:an
introductionround,abashinground,andaclosingstatement.Onthedayofthedebate,
studentsrequestedandgotarebuttalroundadded.Theywantedthechancetodefend
anybashing.Inordertoselectawinner,andtoalleviatestressfromme,Iinviteda
panelofjudgesconsistedofteachersandadministrators.

Iallowedstudentstobecreativewiththisdebate.Theywerenotlimitedtospeeches.
Studentsdecidedtousesongs,skits,poems,andvideostoconvincethejudges.
Needlesstosay,thejudgeshadadifficulttimepickingthewinnerafterthefourrounds.

Afterthedebate,studentswereaskedtodemonstratetheirknowledgeand
understandingthroughadditionalenrichmentandasurvey.Iprovidedstudentswitha
choiceofthreedifferentdifficultylevelsofenrichment,rangingfromanalysistocreating.

Withthesuccessofthedebate,Ihopetoelevatethisactivitytobecomesimilartoa
presidentialcampaign.

Hashtags:
#biology,#organellewars,#highschool,#sciencedebate,#cells,#sciencecompetition,
#studentchoice

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Name:JenniferM.Roden

Bio:(inthirdperson)JenniferhasworkedatVonSteubenMetroScienceCenterfor
thepastsevenyears,fourofthoseyearsteachingProjectLeadtheWay.Sheis
passionateaboutSTEMoutreachandprojectbasedlearning.Shewantstomake
STEMaccessiblebylinkingstudentlives,classroomcontent,andthecommunity
together.

NarrativeofAmazingTeachingMoment:Threeyearsago,Iwasjuststartingmy
journeyasaprojectbasedteacher.Ineededanculminatingprojectformysecondyear
ProjectLeadtheWaystudents.Thesearestudentsinthesecondyearofmyschools
preengineeringprogram.Theyaremostlysophomoresandjuniorswhoafterlearning
theDesignProcessthepreviousyear,havespentabulkofthecurrentyearlearning
aboutmechanics,robotics,andcoding.IwantedtoreemphasistheDesignProcess
whilecombiningintheroboticstheyhadjustlearned.

Thesolution:VonSteubenhostaRoboticsDayforPetersonElementary.Mystudents
wouldusetheDesignProcesscreatingaonedayroboticseventforgrades68.The
entireroboticsdaywasplannedandpreparedbymystudents.Theycreatedtherobotic
competition,wrotetherules,settheagenda,createdthejudgingsheets,builtthefield,
andassistedtheyoungerstudentssuccess.Withaprojectthislargeandlimitedtime:
collaborationbecamenecessary.

Mymoment:Collaborationcanbeadifficultprocessespeciallywhenstudentsare
communicatingbetweendifferentsectionsofthesameclass.Todothiswhileincluding
everyonesvoice,Ihadeverystudentwriteacompetitionproposal.Aftergrouping
similarproposalstogether,theywerepostedforagallerywalk.Duringthegallerywalk,
studentsplacedpostitnotesforeachgroupexpressingprosandcons.Thiswasdone
ineachclassperiod.Thenextday,studentspresentedanddiscussedtheprosand
cons.Afterthediscussion,avotewasheldtodeterminethecompetition.

Thisstructuredcollaborationkeptownershipwithallthestudentsandallowed
collaborationbetweengroupsofstudentsthatneversaweachotherinclass.

Thediscovery:Collaborationisnevereasy,requiresaddressingourinsecuritiesopenly
andisnecessaryforsuccess.

Hashtags:#highschool,#engineering,#STEM,#robots,#gamify,#outreach,
#collaboration,#projectbased,#community

Big5ThemesofanamazingSTEMlesson:

1. CollaborationAmongStudents
a. Sharingideasandwonderings,verbalizingtheirunderstandinginasmall,
safesetting.Theyarebuildingtheirunderstandingandconfidencethrough
groupworkandindividualwork.

2. Inquirybasedlearning
a. Byposingquestionsratherthansimplypresentingfacts,studentsare
driventosolvesomethingratherthanjustmemorize.

3. Deeperthinking/reasoning
a. Conceptualunderstandingmustbeevidentwithinlessons.Studentsmust
reasonwiththeirinquiriesinordertochallengemisconceptionsand
confirmnewerclaims.

4. StudentChoice
a. Helpsstudentsmeettheirinnateneedtofeelcompetent,tobelong,to
havesomeautonomy,andallowsthemtoworkfromdifferentstrengths,
andinterest.

5. Multimodal(Active,auditory,visual,etc.)
a. Learningistheactiveprocessofstudentsconstructingknowledge.
Knowledgeconstructionhappensdifferentlyforeachstudent,thus
studentsengaginginvariouswaysincreaseslearning.