Science Education Leadership - a superb example

During the week of July 22-25, I had the pleasure to attend an AP Summer Institute program sponsored by A+ College Ready in Birmingham. For full disclosure I also work for A+ College Ready as an AP Biology Saturday Study Session teacher where I review key AP biology concepts to a rotating group of students on Saturdays from January to May in preparation for the AP biology exam. A recent job change however, put me in the position of teaching AP biology at one of the schools that I worked with on Saturdays. This in turn allowed me to attend the A+ workshops at University of Alabama-Tucscaloosa.

Wow! What a week! Great colleagues all there to help their students succeed next year and two wonderful instructors that were taking teacher leadership to the next level by their enthusiasm, content and pedagogical knowledge. I have been an AP biology teacher for 13 years and was basically dumped into that position with no preparation, no materials and no support. That first year was hell! The second was not much better as I was at a small private school that did not really partner with other schools nor did it have the money at the time to pay for professional development. By the third year I was getting my content down (by the way - I had both BS and MS in biology and conservation science and a Med in secondary science education) and working on the Pedagogical skills. I think one of my students got a 5 on the AP that year (Thanks Dr. Nicholson!) and the others were mostly 3's and 4's. By the 5th year my scores were averaging about a 4.2 and by the time I left they were in the 4.6 to 4.7 range. Needless to say I feel that I have done a pretty good job with my AP biology course and knew how to teach it.

Then I go to the APSI program led by Robert Summers of A+ College Ready (http://www.apluscollegeready.org/).... Inspiring to say the least! I love the way the Robert dispenses with the 'facts' of science and focuses on the process of science. How he minimizes jargon so that students can 'see' the science through manipulatives and role play. I have taught in a similar method but not to the extent that Robert modeled. His demonstrations were both informative and inspiring at the same time. I know the content but the pedagogy can always be tweaked and I got tweaked in all of the the right places so I am now entering the 2013-14 school year enthused and ready to get my kids fired up to ALL get passing scores on the 2014 AP biology exam.

Again, Roberts ability to transmit knowledge and enthusiasm to a diverse group of learners was a true example of science teacher leadership. Thank you Robert and A+ for doing what y'all do!