By Carmela Jones, MNS
“One child, one teacher, one pen, one blog (Italics mine), and one book can change the world.” -Malala Yousafzai
MI, knowingly or unknowingly, is now in the midst, of yet another transition. Most of the leadership are those who began the movement. Many of them taught for at least ten years and were looking for something to re-energize their classrooms especially with the availability of technology. They took the chance and basically started their education all over again to become better teachers for their students.
They enrolled in courses locally and at ASU around Modeling Instruction. These were seasoned teachers who already had scores of professional development experiences under their belts. Time and time again, the feedback was that they had never been put, kept, and forced to stay in “student mode” the way MI did it.
Often, they uncomfortably faced their own persistent misconceptions and changed their paradigm thinking around certain physical phenomena. Many went back to their classrooms and schools to infuse both students and teachers alike with a renewed love of hands on learning that promotes logical model-based thinking. All those stories are great, but…
If, perchance, all of it ends with them, then MI will not go on to impact the next generation of teachers or students and will go on to live in peace at the great "STEM Idea Cemetery," where the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) and the Chemistry for the Community (ChemCom) programs now rest in peace.
Through the efforts of people like Larry Dukerich, Brenda Royce, Jim Stankevitz, and many others, MI is handing off the proverbial baton to hopeful millennials, helping them thrive and ultimately impact the future. If this secret is as powerful as suspected, when this next generation realizes the responsibility that falls to them, their examples will spark the many powers that be to institutionalize MI teacher training.
Finally, finally, finally…MI will transform into a quiet, STEM education revolution. That is the ultimate hope of this writer through this blog. Help me out by subscribing and liking the posts so together we can capture the attention of the world. Let's do this TOGETHER!
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 & following 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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