REFLECTIONS
This experience with the Franklin
Institute has been a positive one for me.
With or without the Harcourt funding, the museum has been and always
will be a valuable source of information and support for teachers. It’s just a phone call or a visit away
Gathering ideas and moral support from
like-minded colleagues strengthened this project. Preplanning and providing a structured
framework for the students to work within proved invaluable. The use of inquiry based techniques allowed
the children to progress through the unit motivated by joy and a desire to find
out more. It taught this “old dog” a new
trick.
About twelve years ago, while riding
through an attraction at Epcot, I viewed the classroom of the future, circa
mid-21st century. I filled up
at the realization that I would not be a part of that. The Franklin Institute has allowed me to
touch a bit of that future. Thank you
for opening my eyes to a new way.
Valorie Daskilewicz
Throughout this year, I had the pleasure of working with the
Franklin Institute to incorporate a unit on energy inquiry. This experience was a wonderful addition to
my existing curriculum. I found the
children very excited to learn about this topic. They absolutely enjoyed the planned
field trip and the hands-on, interest-based activities that we were able
to complete in class. Some of these
activities would not have been possible without the grant money from the
Institute.
Our parent volunteers were also raving about the trip. Often times we come back to school with
exhausted parents, however this time there were quite a few compliments. One parent commented, “Thanks for a well planned and educational trip, my group taught
me a few things! The kids were all well behaved, and, I felt, very impressive.”
This
comment was so true. Personally, it sums
up my entire experience with this workshop- impressive. We were given the chance to learn how to correctly
plan an educational field trip and a chance to have access to money to
spend for our supplies. If you are
looking for a way to invigorate your science curriculum, take the time to check
this wonderful opportunity out!
Julie Mikolajewski