Annual Report for Betty Trummel
January 15, 2003 - January 15, 2004

Teacher Info Page | Annual Login Page

Field Experience

Continued Collaboration with Research Team Members

Type of Interaction / Outcomes / Dates / Locations / Parcticipants: I continue to keep in contact with members of the Cape Roberts Project team. I met with Fabio Florindo and Giuliana Villa in Italy in June, 2003. We discussed their current research. planing for the ANDRILL Project, and I gathered information for my classroom.

I met with Gary Wilson, Cliff Atkins, Peter Barrett, Tim Naish, Alex Pyne and others while in Wellington, New Zealand in August, 2003. I attended Polar Science lectures at Victoria University in Wellington, met with the scientists about my classroom connections, and learned about their current research and plans for the ANDRILL Project currently being planned for Antarctic research in the near future.

Ross Powell (Northern Illinois University) and Richard Levy (Nebraska)have been in touch with me about the ANDRILL Project and educational outreach connected with that new program. Both of these scientists attended (and presented at) my TEA Regional Workshop in November.

I continue my assocation with the Cape Roberts Project scientists and learn a great deal from them through my communication and visits with the group. They are quite enthusiastic about staying involved in classroom connections and concerning educational outreach, and spreading the word about their science research.

Has a member of your research team visited your classroom in the last year? N/A

Transfer

How are you sharing your research experience with your colleagues, district, community, etc? Throughout 2003 I did a number of Antarctic Science Research/TEA presentations in my immediate building, other schools in my district, and surrounding areas.

The biggest accomplishment this year was the TEA Regional Workshop that I put together for November 1st, 2003. Not only did we have many attendees, but many of those attendees were from District #47 and I've been able to continue our connection post-workshop.

I have also had a major connection with Lulea University in Lulea, Sweden, and set up a teacher exchange program between our institutions. Six Swedish teachers spent three months in Crystal Lake during fall 2003. They became part of the teaching team in six classrooms, and we had a wonderful exchange of information, methods, and curriculum. These six teachers also attended the TEA Regional Workshop held in Crystal Lake. We began our connection as part of science education, and it expanded to take in every area of the curriclum. TEA was a major focus of our inital connection. They learned a lot to take back to the Swedish children and their colleagues above the Arctic Circle, where they live.

TEA Collaborative Learning Group

Associates Network

Number of Associates in local network: 2 officially

Type of Interaction / Outcomes / Dates / Locations / Parcticipants: TEA Regional Workshop in November. Outcomes noted in TEA workshop report (to be attached in this report if that's possible...I'll try to copy and paste here).

Summary:

A TEA regional workshop was held at the Country Inn and Suites, Crystal Lake, Illinois on Saturday, November 1st, 2003. The goals of this workshop were as follows:

** Establish for all parcticipants the opportunity to make a real time connection with area scientists that generates excitement to carry research into classrooms in meaningful ways.

** Give scientists the opportunity to share their research, and make a connection with classroom teachers and curriculum representatives. Discuss ways to use educational outreach to make their research connect with classrooms not only in this area, but beyond Illinois.

** Provide parcticipants with inquiry based lessons and activities they can take directly back to their classrooms. Also, through discussion of inquiry based learning, teachers will come away with a renewed understanding of inquiry and why it is important.

** Provide parcticipants with a wide variety of resources so that they can teach about polar environments and the research that is done in these locations.

** Further the mentoring aspect of the TEA Program with quality time spent with TEA and Polar Learning Community colleagues who have the commitment and proven ability to make an impact on their fellow educators.

We had a busy day with four TEA’s, four scientists, and twenty-five parcticipants. Details of these parcticipants will be shared later in this report. There were four presentations from TEA’s detailing their research experiences. This showed the breadth of the TEA program as we shared both Arctic and Antarctic experiences, each with a different focus. Three of our researchers, Ross Powell, Francis Halzen, and Jen Baeseman gave excellent presentations on their work in Antarctica and beyond. Ross spoke about the Cape Roberts Project and other projects he is working on including: Subglacial Lake Vostok, FASTDRILL, and the SCAR ‘ACE’ program. Francis presented his research entitled: “Fishing for Neutrinos.” Jen presented “Stream and Algae Research in the Dry Valleys.”

In addition, our fourth scientist, Richard Levy led a panel discussion on educational outreach in regard to the ANDRILL project. During the panel discussion we also discussed educational outreach for scientists and teachers in other research areas….what opportunities exist and how can we all be more involved. We looked at the question: what do scientists and teachers need to do to continue working together to bring real time science research into classrooms in engaging and innovative ways? Louise Huffman gave an outstanding presentation on inquiry science, to promote understanding of inquiry based learning and why it is important. She shared her TEA activity entitled: “Sediment Tubes” as part of this hands-on session.

Getting the Word Out:

Various methods and lines of communication were used to get the word out about our polar science seminar. An electronic brochure was sent to teachers in District #47 (Betty) and through Hillary, Louise, and Amie’s districts as well. “Building a Presence” leaders in Illinois received the information, but failed to get in onto the network in time. I contacted the Regional Office of Education in her area, but again, the information did not get transferred. This was an area that I considered to be a difficult one. We have networks available, but often the people who run those networks are over committed and not able to follow through.

Hillary announced the workshop while making two TEA presentations at the Illinois Science Teachers Association convention. Flyers were made available for attendees of that presentation. Flyers were posted in various schools as well. One thing I learned was that I should have started earlier. This was a tough decision, since it was hard to pin down four scientists to present at our workshop. Looking back, I know that this was an area to improve on. When I spoke with our District #47 Science Coordinator, she was very enthusiastic about the workshop but could not attend because of graduate school. She is new to our district and I do believe that if she had more contacts and connections within our district, it would have been promoted more successfully.

I also have the added difficulty of an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction who is not in favor of more time teaching science. She does everything in her power to reduce the amount of time teachers are teaching science. She was not in favor of this workshop being held in one of our district buildings, and that is why it was moved to another local venue, outside of our school district.

All of the TEA’s (Betty, Louise, Hillary, and Amie) have met for dinners to discuss educational outreach with the TEA Program and to keep up our personal connection. I personally keep in very good contact with all three of the other TEA’s, and I write proposals for us to work together at the ISTA and NSTA conventions. Unfortunately my school district would not grant me release time this fall to attend the ISTA convention and present with Hillary and Louise, and then Louise was sick quite a bit and opted not to miss any more class time for the convention. Hillary carried on without us and it went very well. There were many educational e-mails back and forth regarding those presentations and resources (for example I sent some CD’s with Powerpoint presentations and equipment for Hillary to use at the convention) and also what I consider to be non-educational e-mails as well. I didn’t keep track of the exact number, but I will say that our group of four TEA’s in the Chicago area do keep in touch quite often. We enjoy working together and look forward to doing more in the future.

For the teacher parcticipants, each one was sent a flyer and information regarding the workshop, and conversations happened back and forth as far as registration for the workshop and details to be conveyed prior to the workshop date. At least four e-mails went back and forth for each parcticipant, which is probably a low estimate. I also sent out agendas and reminders for each parcticipant, which would total about thirty additional e-mails. As a follow-up I wrote to each parcticipant to thank them for attending, and to remind them to get those stipend forms in to Arlyn. I sent them copies of the stipend form with this message. I followed up the workshop with thank you notes to the scientists and presenters. (see responses on next page)

Our Swedish guests and I had a follow up meeting to debrief about the workshop and talk about how they could utilize this information in their teaching back in Sweden upon their return in December. The parcticipants from my home school, Husmann Elementary, and I have meet several times to follow up and continue our network of inquiry science instruction and TEA connections to our curriculum. I have given presentations to four of those classrooms on my TEA research experience. I will be inviting Ross Powell to speak with my students in January or February, and I continue to communicate back and forth with Richard Levy.

In summary, we had a diverse group of scientists and educators at our workshop. They represented different geographic locations in the Chicagoland area, and some out of state attendees as well. Parcticipants represented various grade levels and disciplines.

The vision for this workshop was to bring teachers, scientists, TEA’s, and TEA Associates together for a one day workshop. The motivation behind this workshop was to meet with scientists to learn about recent research, and take time to discuss with these researchers how educators can keep transferring their research into classrooms in meaningful ways. Connections between what researchers do, and what children do in the classroom was also part of the program. The workshop provided time for the mentoring component of TEA, by including local mentees from current TEA’s Louise Huffman and Amie Foster. It was one of my goals for parcticipants to come away with a model for mentoring others through classroom teaching or their own workshops and science seminars

It was important that parcticipants obtain knowledge about inquiry based learning and why it is important. Teachers could take back inquiry based science activities and lessons that are meaningful to their own classrooms or school districts, and that will transfer to classrooms easily and excite students to learn more about polar environments and the research that takes place in these locations. This included the chance to try these activities out at the workshop.

Our goal was to expand the Polar Learning Community. Parcticipants learned more about the TEA Program, heard presentations about TEA research experiences, learned about valuable TEA activities, and how the TEA program uses educational outreach and mentoring to reach teachers and students. This is a valuable connection with a network of colleagues who share a love of science. Parcticipants came away with a renewed sense of excitement and enthusiasm toward teaching science through inquiry activities, and a myriad of resources with which to teach about polar science and polar areas. I believe that these materials provide information, activities, and resources that are useful in classroom teaching, for background information, and for their own knowledge as well as their students.

Overall, I was very pleased with the workshop. We did run out of time at the end, but I do not think I would have had the same level of parcticipation if I had proposed a two day workshop. I know my teachers, and the many stresses and requirements they are faced with, beyond time with families and other commitments. A one-day format was really the best choice for this audience. I learned a lot as the lead facilitator for the TEA Regional Workshop, and as always, I learn so much from others involved in such seminars, especially enjoying the time spent with our four guest scientists. Thank you for the opportunity and funding for such a worthwhile workshop. I look forward to continuing our work together and to representing the TEA Program in any way possible.

Presentations and Real Audio Sessions

Presentation Date, Title, Number of Attendees, Etc. My class took part in 2 Real Audio sessions this year and we also had a Real Audio session as part of our TEA Regional Workshop.

Presentations:

All presentations were approximately 1 hour+ in length and the focus was my research experience in Antarctica and the TEA Program.

1/8 Husmann Elementary 4th grade 28 students/2 teachers 1/9 Husmann Elementary 4th grade 54 students/3 teachers 1/29 Husmann Elementary 3rd grade 27 students/1 teacher 1/30 Algonquin Elementary 1st grade 87 students/6 teachers 2/5 Adler School,Libertyville 4/5th grades 220 students/10 teach. 2/5 Copland School, Libertyville 4/5th grades 187 students/8 teachers 2/10 Delta Kappa Gamma; Waukegan, IL 35 women educators 2/20 Northern Illinois University “Science Methods” course 28 students

Have you presented to your local board of education this year? Yes

Activities Development

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

ECW gear monitoring for my region.

Hosted a TEA Regional Workshop in Crystal Lake.

Proposal development: ISTA convention (3 proposals accepted) NSTA (2 proposals accepted)

Teacher exchange program with Swedish colleagues

Continued connection in Antarctic research with Gordon Bain formerly with AAD in Tasmania, Australia. Continued educational connection with Gordon and classrooms in Tasmania. Gordon's experience on AAD expeditions and my TEA research experience are constantly being revisited and reflected on as a curriculum connection for classrooms both in Tasmania and my own classroom in Crystal Lake.

"Ice Box" (both Gordon's Ice Box in Tasmania and mine here in Illinois) loan to classroom teachers.....educational trunks filled with resources for educators to use in teaching about polar science and polar regions. TEA is a big focus in the teaching trunks, as well as activities developed in association with research experiences.

Connection with Brendon Grunewald from 70 Degrees South and exchange of information for use at TEA Regional Workshop. Brendon would like me to write an arcticle for his web site about TEA and our educational/classroom connections.

Contact and connection with Coral Tulloch, author from Tasmania, whose book we distributed to attendees at our TEA Regional Workshop, and whose artwork and writing has been used in my classroom. Coral also is working with me to develop additional projects having to do with my TEA research experience.

Have you submitted all press-related materials concerning your TEA experience to the TEA Archives? N/A

Have you submitted 20 digital images to the TEA Archive with electronic captions? N/A

Have you submitted 6-8 photos to the TEA Archive? N/A

Release Days

Number of Release Days Covered by School/District for TEA Program/Activities: none--I used sick days to complete any TEA presentations that I did on school time. I would not be released from school at this point, because my three year TEA commitment was fulfilled.

TEA Meetings Covered by School/District/Corporation

Names of Meetings: Any meetings I attended for TEA involvement were either on school vacation days, or on my own time, or I used sick days as noted above.

Permanent Materials and Equipment Provided by Institution/Corporation/District for the TEA Program

Other Grants

Other Shared Costs

Shared costs in regard to my TEA activities for the year include the cost of all mileage to my TEA presentations. I do not get reimbursed by any organization/school I present to/for, and with my many presentations the cost of mileage adds up to be a significant amount of money spent on travel. This includes travel to any and all meetings, conferences, etc. I do not have a final figure for this mileage, as I do not keep track of all mileage to/from presentations. It is a significant amount though, totalling in the HUNDREDS of dollars spent on gas and travel expenses. Often I also pay for meals while on the road. I spend my own money gladly to spread the word about science research and TEA. Unfortunately, my school district does not support my travel or presentations any longer, because my three year commitment was fulfilled, and we have had a lot of changes in administration since 1998 and my TEA field experience. However, I do have the support of teaching colleagues and my personal network of support extends world-wide in regard to TEA.

TEA Presentations to school and local groups; 2 NSTA 2004 proposals approved

TEA Regional Workshop follow-up work, continued connection with parcticipants

Educational trip to Arctic/Sweden to further teacher exchange--TEA presentations included in that travel