I wanted to be a teacher because I had such a great middle school math and science teacher. Mr. Aguilar challenged me unlike any teacher I have ever had. He created lessons that were unique and engaging to meet my needs. When I started teaching 8th grade science fifteen years ago, I didn’t have a textbook online or physically in front of me. While I often felt overwhelmed with a lack of resources, I thrived off of learning how to develop my own teaching style with lots of freedom. I loved spending time being creative and finding ways to teach content. It was exhausting but fulfilling. 

A few years later, new science standards were adopted in Kentucky- the Next Generation Science Standards. These new standards provided leadership opportunities for me outside of the classroom. Along with colleagues across the district, I developed rubrics to assess the 8 SEP, designed standard-aligned assessments, and created curriculum maps that deconstructing the new standards for teachers to use in our state. I loved that there was a greater emphasis on the skills our students need, not just the content. The 8 skills are known as the Science and Engineering Practices. This was the first time in my career that I heard of there being an emphasis on skills and not just knowledge on a test.

Soon after,  the district adopted a new science curriculum. This curriculum came with a daily/weekly/monthly calendar and script. I had never taught with anything besides a pacing guide as a resource before. I was excited about the new curriculum as it was heavy in skills being used and developing scientific claims with supporting evidence and reasoning. However, after a few months of using the curriculum,  the excitement wore off and it felt like I lost all of my personal teaching freedoms.  I lost the creative spark to teach the way I thought was best for my students and me. Every school in the district was supposedly teaching the same content, the same way, with the same formative and summative assessments.  Even though I had a supportive principal and was told that I didn’t have to follow the curriculum exactly, that I didn’t have to use the script, and that I could adapt our lessons to meet our needs and the students’, I still felt trapped. It felt like I couldn’t reach my potential. 

Feeling trapped, I noticed that in my school, we had a few teachers propose to teach one section of an elective. I proposed that I could start teaching one section of a STEM elective where I could collaborate with other teachers and reinforce math and science standards through STEM activities to a group of sixth graders. Teaching this class brought back my spark, my creativity, and my joy. My assistant principal at the time noticed my efforts and enthusiasm and suggested that when the position opened, I could move full time to teaching STEM and Design.  I took the opportunity the following school year and am currently in my second year in this role.

This transition has been overwhelming in the best possible way and has reminded me of why I became a teacher. I really enjoy getting the chance to design lessons that engage my students in areas of STEM while reinforcing content knowledge they learn in other classrooms. 

The freedom I am given allows for me to teach in a way that suits me and my students. It makes me think about the boxes that students are placed in early on in our education system. I want to create a space where students have input into the decision making process, and can reflect on their skills as scientists and engineers.  

This year, for my deeper learning project, I wanted to focus on student choice within the engineering design process.  At first, I let my 7th graders pick anything they wanted as long as they used the design process to create their product.  The plethora of materials, and support became too much to manage in a classroom that juggled twenty five projects at one time. I found that the students didn't know what I expected and it was too open ended.  

Over this year, I’ve learned to take input from the students in the class and allow the students to come up with five projects they can choose from to design. Throughout the building and creating process, the students reflected on their use of the science and engineering practices to hopefully improve their self efficacy in STEM. Students learned about the 8 skills and identified ways they used them in this class and other classes. Students answered prompts about which skill made them feel most like an engineer. 

Today I’m still trying to find a workable balance between student choice, expectations, and how to manage our time in the classroom.  The second semester went much better than the first because I had high expectations, more structure, and a daily journal for the students to complete.  As a class, we have been reflecting on the science and engineering practices we have used throughout project completion and skills we want to use in the future. Through this project I have noticed very high engagement from my students. I have students begging me to let them get out of another class to come work on their projects and stopping me in the hallway to ask if their paint is dry or if they can use a tool that day. The students' engagement and desire to be in my classroom has felt really fulfilling and rewarding and reinforces the value of letting teachers be unboxed.