My hope for this year is that my curriculum and students’ experiences are transformed as a result of my KF internship experience (and those of other fellows). I am excited to bring forth examples of real scientific experiments and experiences so that my students can explore and be a part of more than just passive learning. I want my students to think of themselves as scientists, explorers, and detectives. Yet, I also want them to understand that science is not so cut and dry. There are no simple answers, no guaranteed routes to success. As I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday, I saw that another Kenan Fellow, Beth Helms, was decorating her brand new classroom. She put a quote on the wall that reads, “Experiment. Fail. Learn. Repeat.” I certainly heard versions of this during my internship experience, as I had to re-do experiments over and over to troubleshoot various problems. Though frustrating and tedious, I really did learn a lot by discussing my results with others; it helped me reframe my perspective as a researcher. This is the mantra that I want to have students use when approaching curriculum in my classroom. It’s okay to mess up–that’s the nature of science! It is the way that we then deal with (and learn from) that failure that drives true inquiry and discovery.
