Immersion Training, Stipend Checks & Bikes

Contrary to the title, finishing immersion training and my bicycle purchase are entirely unrelated.

In training yesterday, we gave small group presentations on our evaluation of a sort of packaged lesson plan kit for various subjects. My groups subject and kit was a SEPUP (Science Education for Public Understanding Program) kit intended to be used to teach major concepts about evolution. The kit is supposed to come with everything a teacher needs to teach a lesson on different subjects including workbooks, teacher's manual and supplies. Overall, I found the kits to be rather contrived and poor quality to actually teach such subjects in an engaging way. Unfortunately, these kits are already being implemented in NYC's public schools. Maybe these work overall to improve student achievement when implemented, but real life science is not a kit, so why on earth would we teach it like that? - Just my opinion.

On Thursday, all of the science and math immersion fellows were delighted to receive the first portion of the summer stipend of $1,000. Needless to say, I was happy to have an income again. Also, a small extra perk is that the checks were from Chase, which happens to be my bank, so I did not have to wait for the check to clear.

Lastly, I've been considering purchasing a bike to either commute (probably not) or just go around town on. While it's a nice idea to be active in my self-transportation, the potential disastrous accidents while biking absolutely terrifies me. However, this fear was not enough to stop me from purchasing a bike. I went to a bike shop on 14th st near 1st ave and test rode a three of the same brand - Dahon. Dahon typically does not sell standard bikes; most of them are foldable. As dorky as it may seem to have a bike with 20" wheels being folded up at the train station, I really don't mind losing a small amount of dignity for a large amount of convenience. The bike is actually quite comfortable and convenient. There's even a tired pump IN the seat! It's about 23 pounds also, so I can carry it without breaking my back, although not much further than a few blocks. Ideally I would ride this to work, but somehow I think I would be far too sweaty by the end of my ride, which itself would be far too long for a daily commute. Maybe I'll start riding in my down time and then see if I want to step it up a bit later. If all goes well, my new bike will come with a more active and healthy lifestyle (hopefully!).

Turning up the heat...

Okay, this isn't so much teaching related, but it is definitely part of the experience. The weather for the past four days in NYC has been consistently above 95 degrees. Walking to the train in the morning and evening, the heat is stifling. Waiting for the train in suffocating. I am so glad I purchased an AC two weeks ago before the heat became unbearable. Besides that, I've pretty much kept inside to prevent heat stroke.

Otherwise, I had a midterm yesterday. It took the methods and concepts we learned in the past week and asked us to apply them to novel situations. Also, a sign of effective instruction and a good assessment: an open note exam that is still challenging. I hope that I will be able to challenge my students in the same way.

It is funny that I have a midterm and a final in the same week. I guess that's why it's called *intensive* training. I genuinely believe it is rigorous training for teachers, not just going through the motions to get a certification. This stuff is challenging, stimulating and inspiring!

This coming Friday concludes our Science Immersion training. Next Monday is the Welcoming Event for all ~1500 fellows at Lincoln Center. The two-hour welcoming ceremony will be a nice break from this 6 hours of daily coursework. Plus we get a free monthly metrocard, an $81 value! Woohoo!

End of the First Week of Immersion Training

I have to say, training has not been as taxing as I expected it to be.  While they activities require constant and undivided attention, the days are relatively short compared to a typical 8 hour work day.

Fortunately, I am somewhat familiar with some of the pedagogical methods being presented such as Bloom's taxonomy, inquiry based learning and the 5E/6E model.  While I have learned about those methods themselves before, for the majority of my undergraduate education, my professors have utilized those methods more often than not.  I can personally vouch for their efficacy in my own experiences.  The real trick will be implementing them with my own students.

On the more social side of things, there are a few fellows in Science Immersion who are trying to get a group together to head to a local bar or pub after the week concludes this evening.  During the day, we are in the same small group, which limits our ability to socialize with many of our peers.  I think a nice post-first-week-of-training-pub-expedition may remedy that.

The week has gone very fast.  I imagine that means I am either working very hard or having fun, or I might hope, both.  I look forward to the Welcoming Event on the 16th where ALL fellows (not just math and science immersion) gather at Lincoln Center for a formal welcoming to the program, all 1,600 of us.  Until then I will continue soaking up all the useful information I can about teaching science.

Being Taught How to Teach

As I become more adjusted to my new schedule and commute, I am beginning to realize the value of what I am learning in the immersion training.  However, it is not what I expected, even by a long shot.

The way I understood Immersion Training to be was to essentially be content review.  I expected to be going through basic and in depth biological concepts.  In reality, Immersion Training is more oriented towards teaching larger concepts in science such as critical thinking, observation, analysis, etc.  While in some regard, this material is content, it is certainly not specifically biology content.  In fact, for one portion of the training, earth science is being used as content to teach us pedagogical methods.  I've never had a deep interest in earth science, but the instructor is extremely well-versed in what he does and knows his stuff upside down and inside out.

I also expected an 8 hour schedule, just as any typical work day would be.  Instead, I report at 12:15 and am dismissed at about 5:45, with maybe a 20 minute break half way through.  I am glad it is not 8 hours, because learning the pedagogy can be taxing mentally and emotionally.  I can only imagine how the instructor feels.

I am glad to see that what we're learning is useful.  In slight retrospect, I think reviewing biology content would have been much less useful than what we are actually doing.  While I highly value the content of the course and even enjoy it, I will still say that I look forward to the weekend.