Math & Science Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education

Fellow: Ryan Dayton, M.S. graduate fellow in Geological Sciences
Teacher: Derek Parendo, Proctor High School, grades 9-12 Physics, Life Science, Astronomy & Geology

Participation in the GK-12 program has been rewarding for me, as well as eye opening.  I hadn’t realized how much I had changed since high school.  Being around high school students has allowed me to be more reflective on what I’ve learned and how that fits in with the level of education that the average person leaves high school with.  I have become better at not assuming my audience is going to understand what I’m talking about and consequently I am better prepared to handle questions by anticipating them.

The highlight of my experience so far followed a lesson that I planned and executed with a physics class.  After we were finished the students were interested enough in the why of what happened during the exercise that a discussion broke out about what would happen if we changed some parts of the experiment.  They were able to look at what we had done and realize that there were physical principles at work that they had never realized played a role in their daily life and it genuinely interested them.

Teams in Action

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Curriculum