By Carmela Jones, MNS
“We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.”
-Calvin Coolidge
(NOTE: This entire narrative was previously posted on The STEM Secret FaceBook page and ASU lists. It's here for posterity. In other words, I put it here to so I can find it again if I need it later.)
The STEM Secret’s audience includes teachers and the general public. I was part of a group of teachers who started the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA).
David Hestenes in an interview observed: “...when funding for Modeling Instruction dried up, the teachers created their own organization, ‘the American Modeling Teachers Association’ to continue the work. Thus, the Modeling Program has spawned a cohesive ‘community of practice,’ a nationwide community of dedicated teachers with a shared vision of models and modeling in science teaching. I believe that cultivating and supporting such a community of science teachers is the most promising possibility for broad, rapid, and sustained high-quality science education reform --perhaps the only possibility. Time will tell! (Taşar, Canbazoğlu Bilici, & Fettahlıoğlu, 2012: ).”
For years, the AMTA leadership has attempted through various venues to institutionalize MI. In many instances locally, that attempt has been successful. However, for that institutionalization to occur on a national scale, public awareness and support must be added. Another issue that the MI movement currently faces is the generation gap between those that began the movement and those that must continue it and take it to the next level.
The STEM Secret is an attempt to humanize the MI movement and to connect with the millennial teachers. It is a story-telling vehicle to illustrate the impact of MI. Eventually, when the blog displays huge numbers, the powers-that-be can no longer ignore MI. That is a tall order. I cannot to do it alone. The complete MI story is not only how it came into existence, but also includes other teachers' MI stories. How can YOU help even if you're not a teacher?
1. Support the blog by including your name as a subscriber to grow the numbers (easy).
2. Share the links to The STEM Secret blog and FaceBook page, via your personal FaceBook and Twitter accounts or any other digital circles you might have like LinkedIn, etc. (some effort).
3. If you know a Modeling teacher, encourage them to email their MI story to cjones.stemprofessionals@gmail.com (more thought and more effort).
Thank you, in advance, for your contribution in helping MI move into the national spotlight. We all cannot do EVERYTHING, but we each can do SOMETHING (my spin on Calvin Coolidge’s famous quote above).
Reference:
Taşar, F. , Canbazoğlu Bilici, S. & Fettahlıoğlu, P. (2012). “An Interview with David Hestenes: His life and achievements.” Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 8(2), 139-153.
Add your name to those who support Modeling Instruction (MI) by liking & subscribing to The STEM Secret blog here (there's a subscribe button at the top and the bottom of the page: https://www.thestemsecret.com) and by liking & subscribing to The STEM Secret FaceBook page (https://www.facebook.com/theSTEMSecret/?modal=admin_todo_tour).
If you are a Modeling teacher, share your story by sending it to the email listed. If you know a great Modeling teacher, encourage them to send their story to the email listed. cjones.stemprofessionals@gmail.com.
If you are Modeling teacher and want to interact with other Modeling teachers with a question, an issue, a classroom experience, an announcement, or anything other MI teachers might be interested in, post it on the M2M (Modeler to Modeler) blog on the AMTA site. https://modelinginstruction.org/submit-a-blog-entry-to-m2m/
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