Innovative & Evidence Based STEM Strategies 6th - 8th Grades: pLTW - Winburn Middle School

I am a passionate STEM exploratory teacher at a beautifully diverse Title 1 school. I feel blessed to work at a school where over 19 first languages are spoken. I also am challenged to better differentiate my classroom to meet the needs of each learner and am proud to say that I will be taking the ESL Praxis test in just a few weeks as I am wrapping up my final course in the certification sequence through Eastern Kentucky University graciously funded through the FCPS Grow Your Own Initiative.

Our school population has experienced a higher incidence of trauma than any other school I have previously worked in, and higher than the national average. In light of all of the uncertainty and injustice that my students face, I have determined that I (alongside of many mighty colleagues and admins) will be a steadfast force in my students life - offering grace upon grace within each day while at the same time yielding high academic standards with clear, evidence based structures to allow success to flourish in my classroom and across the school.

More than anything, I want my students to have the ability to dream of the future they want to pursue, and I want to help build the skills to help them succeed at the passion they pursue. I believe we must provide rigorous project based learning with real world applications to career pathways. To that end, in 2020 we began offering STEM exploratory classes in the areas of aerospace (Kentucky's #1 export industry), computer science, biomedical, and traditional engineering. I want my students to see themselves as scientists because they are actually DOING science in our classrooms. Our students may be underrepresented and underprivileged but we will not allow them to be underestimated!

Action Research Aim: By May of 2024, my Project Lead the Way (PLTW) (Medical Detectives targeted) classroom will reflect innovative evidence-based STEM strategies to inclusively target all learners to explore career pathways

Drivers: 1. Broaden student engagement in the classroom. 2. Meaningful, collaborative, and resourceful professional learning communities (PLC) for FCPS Medical Detectives teachers. 3. Increase outreach opportunities and provide real-life experiences for students.

Intentional focus on science and engineering practices in addition to disciplinary core ideas. Students were highly engaged when practicing their micropipetting skills by creating artwork to prepare them for their gel electrophoresis lab regarding the Shigella toxin foodborne outbreak.
The National STEM Scholars program graciously purchased our gel electrophoresis equipment so that these labs will be sustainable moving forward. Pictured above is the poster presentation detailing the implementation of our project implementation at Winburn for the Denver National Science Teachers Association, March 20-23, 2024.
Rather than simply reading medical files, menus, and epidemiology interview files, students mastered the skill of micropipetting and analyzed the results from their gel electrophoresis to conclude which food item caused the pathogenic outbreak.
Other Workshop Presentations: Space Exploration Educators Conference, February 8-10, 2024, and at the Denver National Science Teachers Association, March 20-23, 2024.
This school year was challenging but rewarding to balance attending three conferences and preparing three presentations on topics ranging from measuring light intensity as a function of distance in the context of interstellar travel (utilizing Pocketlab sensors), to teaching the electromagnetic spectrum with hands on labs/activities with assessment probes that utilize drawings to evidence understanding, and the gel electrophoresis capstone project.
Field Trips: Through STEM Club and ESS, this year we were able to take students to Girls Can Too Engineering at Danville BCTC, the Challenger Center in Hazard, the Toyota tour in Georgetown, Ravens Run park, Cumberland Falls, and UK Geology night. Our STEM exploratory classes focus on aerospace, computer science, biomedical and traditional engineering pathways. We try to include field trip experiences in each pathway as well as explore the great outdoors in our wonderful state. We also took field trips to several of the choice high school programs: Locust Trace, Eastside, and Southside Technical schools.
PLC Collaboration: this school year, a challenge to regularly meeting with my CTE colleagues across the district was the fact that CTE and Deeper Learning met on the exact same day of the month for all but a few meetings. One of the highlights of PLC collaboration was when Latonya Meekins arranged for a release day to attend a CHI St. Joseph Health hospital and learn about their tuition reimbursement program. Additionally, a biomedical camp partnership between FCPS and CHI St. Joseph Health will be taking place this summer.

What's Next: I feel like the quest to bring Deeper Learning into the classroom is one that never ends. I really liked the direction of my research project this year and would like to continue with the same aims but deepen student agency and community partnerships as I continually seek out innovative and evidence based STEM strategies. This summer (2024) I will be heading to Liftoff in Houston, TX for a week of professional development paid for by the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and centered on space exploration lessons, activities, field trips, internships, resources, and partnerships I can implement in my classroom. Then again, in July, I will be back to Houston for a second week of professional development through the Limitless Space Institute where I will be tasked with collaboratively presenting lesson plans around interstellar space travel, the research currently happening, and the need for a robust STEM workforce.

I also have the great privilege of traveling to Brazil in August 2024 to lead professional development for the Limitless Space Institute to Brazilian Educators who are working with far fewer resources than I am, even though I work in Title 1 school environment. I will also be teaching professional development for Project Lead the Way for teachers seeking their "Flight and Space" credentials. I can see that my work as a teacher is growing into a leadership role and I am excited to share what I have learned with others.