How long have you been in education?

For about the last year and a half, officially eight months.

How long have you been working for IS 229 Roland Patterson middle school?

Since September of this year.

What made you want to teach science?

Science was my favorite subject as a kid. So, I was really happy to get back into it as an adult.

How has teaching change in your career as a teacher?

You are definitely learning how to be more patient with other people, especially with children because they are learning and growing. On top of that, you are learning the material with them, because so much has changed in the past 10 years ago.

What is theme to you when May your interest in teaching steam?

STEM is really important, because our students are being exposed to the different types of my god, hold on. STEM is important because students are being exposed to the same type of material that we were when we were kids. A lot of schools are being a lot of schools have begun removing stem to focus on things like ELA and math. Math is a part of STEM, but you know, it's not the only part of STEM. So, it's hard to get their hands dirty with hands on projects to get them interested. So, me being able to teach STEM and to try to ignite that spark into the students by doing something other than what they do on a daily basis is really important to me.

How has the stem developed in your classroom throughout the years?

So, over the course of the year, we first started with watching demonstrations of things that we would do in class if we could. And now we've moved on to hands on activities. So, the kids went from watching these projects to actually deliver these projects, and they are a lot more excited when they get a chance to touch the materials in your classroom has steam based curriculum made an impact to you as a teacher, how about your students, it definitely made an impact with me because I'm not used to handling all these different kinds of materials. And I'm looking back at the things I haven't touched in a very long time. So, it sparked a drive in me. And it's sparking the drive for my students, because whenever they find out that we are about to do what hands on activity, they get super excited. And if for any reason I have to stop the activity, mainly for safety reasons. They all get very distraught. So at least I know that they're excited for the STEM related activities. 

 Are there any challenges you face when implementing steam-based curriculum in your classroom?

Primarily, the students ignoring my safety concerns, were handling things like sodium chloride, calcium, chloride, different types of iron, and they're very careless, they mix up these chemicals when I'm not looking and it causes an issue. And sometimes they take off the goggles and they get from their eyes. So, it's mainly just student discipline. Otherwise, I don't really have any issues.

Do you think steam will assist the future of science education? Why or why not?

It definitely well, the students could expose to this now, it could spark a lifelong learning of STEM related topics and make them want to go into these fields. You know, creativity is very important, but so is science. Science is just factual magic. If you want to be honest, it's you know, we can do things with science that look like it's magic. So, it allows the students to get immersive in that realm while also handling the actual hands on roll up materials.

Are there any changes would you like to see in the future science education?

Just making sure the science teachers have enough supplies.

How long have you been in education?

I've been a teacher for 25 years.

How long have you been working for IS 229 Roland Patterson middle school?

I've been working here for 12 years.

What made you want to teach science?

Because I, I also teach math. And I found that there was a great connection between math and science, because they were formulas. I'm also passionate about climate change. And I think it's important that students know the benefits of science and how they can use it in their everyday life.

How was teaching, changing your career as a teacher? What's the question? How was teaching a change in your career as a teacher?

Well, over the last one to five years, we've moved from hands on, we've seen a lot of technology. I've worked elementary before. So, we've done more, you know, done more museums and class trips. Now the children are exposed to microscopes exposed to a curriculum that is strictly online. This is something that we did chalk and talk. And so that has changed over the years. It's more hands on now.

What is steam to you, and what made you interested in teaching steam?

My background is mechanical engineer. So, I understand the importance of making connections, I understand precision, I understand the fact that if you teach in isolation, it, it doesn't happen, same impact, like if you have it more hands on. So, because of that, because of that background, I'm able to be able to unpack information in a in a more hands-on manner, as opposed to before where you just open the textbook and just give the information.

How has steam develop in your classroom throughout the years?

Well, the steam has now come with a lot of, again, hands on activities, we have a curriculum that has videos. And there's a lot of life examples that they now give with science, as before you had to make up your own projects, but no, the projects are there. And they are coupled directly with the theory.

In your classroom has steam based curriculum mega impact to you as a teacher, how about your students?

Yes, I think it's made an impact to them. Because the kids are doing things like DNA. And they actually are making it so they understand that DNA is not something you just hear about on the television; they understand it has a role to play. They understand that when they look at the cell, they can see cell multiplying on the microscope, they could understand climate change was the big thing now, how climate changes? How could we help with climate change by recycling reducing? Where does it come from, you know, carbon, where carbon comes from something that children didn't know anything about in the past, but now I can see them making those connections.

Are there any challenges you face when implementing steam-based curriculum in your classroom?

Yes, I think the biggest challenge replays is to get children to respect the equipment. That's the first thing and to make those abstract into concrete connections because my I work with a specialist population. And so sometimes it's very difficult for them to transfer it. And so yes, those are the major challenges and sometimes the curriculum changes halfway. Sometimes you get you know, you familiarize yourself with a curriculum, and then they come the next year, and they change the curriculum. And so, you as an older person have to learn that curriculum all over again.

Do you think steam will assist the future science education? Why or why not?

Yes, it will. We are way behind compared to the rest of the world in terms of science. And I think it's important that we, we our students learn to understand science, this is the way forward this is the future science is the future. And I think as an older generation, I think we are behind I think it's going to turn around we are going to learn more from the students and the students is going to learn from us. So yes, this is the way forward.

Last question, are there any changes would you like to see in the future of science education?

I would like to see more cross curriculum, where science is directly connected to everything else. And it's not taught in isolation. Because it's difficult for you to make those connections when you're just teaching one subject, I would like to see more modern equipment. I would like to see technology and science be directly related to what's going on in the world currently, so that the children could make a bigger impact. We want to know things like bombs and, and how-to kids are now exposed to that I want them to be able to know that there is a downside and upside to everything and to use science wisely to benefit the world.