Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 14:01
Forums
SIMBA Antarctic Sea Ice
Ms. Anderson,

First, I would like to thank you for all of your efforts, jounal entries and for the webinar last Tues!  I suggested to my students that they could ask a question about the science you were doing or ask about your personal reflection about the life you were living while trying to do the science.  My question is how have folks back home responded to your selection and your 2 month trip?  I have tried to imagine preparing 2 months of sub plans.  How much have you continued to coordinate what was happening back in your physics classes?  How did your administration respond to all of this? 


BTW....I hope you enjoy the compressed foam cup trick!  A friend of mine was on the Palmer a couple of years ago and he brought a cup back for me.  It has been a great lesson discussion point in my Earth Science classes!  Take care and have fun!

Jeff Peneston
Liverpool High School 
Tue, 10/30/2007 - 16:41

Sarah Anderson

Hi Liverpool! Thanks for participating in the Webinar, it was really a thrill for all of us to hear from you and your great students. The scientists on board really have a heart for education.Reception back home...my district actually presented this opportunity to all the science teachers in my district. They had been contacted by the chief scientist on this project directly last fall. My connection with PolarTREC came after I was selected to go. It was a very big commitment for my district - I don't know that too many other districts would let a teacher be gone for so long; I think it says a lot about about their commitment to providing "real" professional development opportunities for their teachers and also about their view of the importance of a well-rounded education. We certainly worry about test scores, but I thinkthe district's position is that good test scores are the result of a rich curriculum - one that benefits from participation in scientific research projects such as this. So, thanks to Dr. Kelly and Mrs. Radtke at central office for giving me this opportunity.
Two months of lesson plans was quite a lot of work, as you can imagine. In addition to physics I also teach another course, aquatic science. I have not coordinated any classroom activities during the cruise. My department head and other teachers have been filling in a great deal, though they haven't filled me in on a lot of the details! I'll never be able to thank them enough for helping fill in the gaps while I'm gone - thanks Chris, Carolyn, and Cathryn!
I don't think that trying to teach during the cruise would have worked very well unless access to technology would have been better - on both ends. Super low bandwidth prohibits video conferencing from the ship, phone service is patchy, and email size must be small (75K limit). My students cannot access email accounts from school, so this would also have been a hindrance. With better access to technology I think teaching from the field would be an interesting idea, but still difficult given technology, scheduling, etc. I think it was better for me to be totally immersed in the research process than to be half in the classroom and half in the research.
The cups came out great! I know they'll be a hit back home...
Thanks for taking the time to write - I'm glad my adventure has reached you and your students!
Sarah