Chandra is in his second year teaching science — chemistry and anatomy, to be exact — at Ballou Senior High School in Ward 8. He is one of just two D.C. teachers selected to be a fellow with the National Science Teachers Association’s New Science Teacher Academy. They’ll pay his way to Indianapolis to attend the 2012 National Conference on Science Education, beginning Thursday.
So what are the perks of being a fellow?
The biggest part is the mentor teachers, who have been teaching in our content areas for many years, so it’s really nice. At Ballou, there is only one teacher in my area that has more than five or six years of experience. The department chair is in her third or fourth year, and sometimes I just want advice from someone who’s taught it before. On top of that, in the fellowship, we take inquiry-based learning classes. This semester is focused on using data; last semester was focused on inquiry-based labs.
Why is it important that these lessons be “inquiry-based”?
Well, science involves critical thinking — it’s more than just content. Most people, I’m sure, when they get out of high school, if they haven’t taken science, aren’t prepared to do some of that. The analytical skills students gain are really applicable to the rest of life.
What could D.C. Public Schools be doing so that all science teachers are getting the benefits of your fellowship?
The D.C. standards cover chemistry and biology, and cover everything you really need to know. But if there was some sort of resource database exchange, or something like that, to share ideas, would be helpful. The turnover rate in DCPS is so quick — if someone could organize, like, “this is how we’ve taught this standard before, here’s a way to get started,” that I feel would have helped me last year.
— Lisa Gartner
