Shelena Thomas discovered a problem shortly after she stepped
into the old laboratory at Tishomingo High School five years ago. She was just
starting her new job teaching chemistry in a newly constructed classroom, but the
old lab it replaced still contained vials of old, sometimes unstable chemicals that
had been collected over several decades.
Thomas had a master’s degree in biotechnology and
countless hours of lab experience, but knowing how to dispose of a litany of
reactive compounds was nearly overwhelming. She managed to do so, but it got
her thinking about a project she is now working on with the help of a unique
Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) leadership program.
“As a science teacher, I’ve realized that we’re not
trained or educated enough on laboratory safety,” Thomas said. “In order to
coach, you have to go to a required class … but there’s no sort of workshop
that requires us (science teachers) to get trained to work in a lab with
students.”
When Thomas heard some other teachers talking about an
application to join the first class of OSDE’s OKMath/OKSci Leadership initiative,
she saw an opportunity to make labs in Oklahoma schools safer.
OKMath/OKSci enables teachers to gain leadership skills
and expand their reach beyond their own classrooms. Over the course of each
year, a new class meets in person and virtually to discuss projects, develop
professionally and seek ways to improve math and science education in
Oklahoma.
The 31-member inaugural class graduated this past summer.
Each member chose a keystone project aimed at solving a problem facing STEM
education in Oklahoma with the potential of continuing long after his or her
class graduates. Thomas was part of that class, and credits it with helping her
launch a long-term initiative to improve lab safety in the state.
“My immediate goal is to get a lab safety manual put
together as a resource for all science teachers in Oklahoma,” she said.
From there she hopes to keep developing the resource,
eventually designing a statewide training class.
“You start with small steps,” she said. “I expect to
stick with it until I see it through.”
Empowerment is a theme that comes up often when
OKMath/OKSci participants talk about what they gained from the program. It’s what
prompted Sarah Vann, a science teacher at Owasso Eighth-Grade Center, to apply
in the first place.
Good teachers focus on how best to serve students, Vann said, but that focus
can sometimes make teachers forego opportunities to connect with each other and
improve education on a broader scale.
“If teachers were to look around and dream big, the
impact they could have on a state level would become more apparent,” she said.
As Vann began to
network with fellow science teachers in her OKMath/OKSci class, they brainstormed
ways to share resources and connect with other educators around the state. Now
Vann and five other teachers from her graduating OKMath/OKSci class are
developing an online community for Oklahoma science teachers.
The site will include, among other things, blogs where
teachers can share good classroom practices, stories on teachers doing great
things and a resource page fleshing out the new science standards.
“I think the biggest thing is the fact that there were no
boundaries placed on us,” Vann said. “[OKMath/OKSci] empowered us to have a
vision, and it gave us support to have that vision.”
Shawn Sheehan came to OKMath/OKSci with a different focus
than many of his classmates. As a special education teacher at Norman High
School, he wanted to strengthen his content background in math.
“Normally, you go to professional developments and it’s
always special ed stuff. I was never around math people,” Sheehan said.
After being a little intimidated by stepping outside of
the usual boundaries of his position, Sheehan said he adjusted quickly and
began learning from his colleagues right away.
“What’s happened is I’ve come back with my Algebra I team
here at Norman High School, and we’re revamping the curriculum,” he said.
Sheehan’s goals extend beyond his own school. For his
keystone project, Sheehan set out to change the public perception of teaching
and increase the value of the profession. He started making videos of educators
talking about their passion for teaching and posting the clips to a Facebook
page for his “Teach Like Me” project.
One of his videos was screened in July during a general
session of the Vision 2020 education conference in Oklahoma City. Just before the
school year started, Norman Public Schools shared a “Teach Like Me” video at
its districtwide employee meeting.
“It has been so well-received that I have been really
beside myself,” Sheehan said. “It’s surreal that people are eager and hungry
for this positive message.”
The videos are just a start. Sheehan hopes to keep
expanding the reach of “Teach Like Me” for years to come and branch out into
other programs. What started as a keystone project in his OKMath/OKSci class
has turned into something much bigger.
As things begin for the next class of OKMath/OKSci, which
met for the first time during a session of Vision 2020, members of the first
class are trying to stay in touch and beginning to work on
their projects.
“It’s just life-changing,” Shelena Thomas said. “It has transformed
me. I would recommend it to every teacher.”
The next Oklahoma Teacher of the Year will be named Tuesday,
Sept. 16, in a ceremony at the Oklahoma State Fair. You don’t have to wait
until the big announcement to meet the finalists, though.
OSDE has already posted all the videos finalists submitted
to its Vimeo account.
Get ready to know the 2015 Teacher of the Year by stepping
inside these great educators’ classrooms and hearing them talk about the
profession.
View the videos here.
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