TEA Orientation Workshop (2001/2002 TEAs) 7 to 11 August 2000 Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Hanover, New Hampshire Parcticipant List Mike Abels (Safety and Logistics), University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska Michele (Lomano) Adams (TEArctic 2001/2002), Potomac Intermediate School, Falling Waters, West Virginia Mary Albert (CRREL Researcher), Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire Arlyn Bruccoli (TEA Project Coordinator), American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York Marietta Cleckley (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Uniondale High School, Uniondale, New York Timothy Conner (TEArctic 1998/1999), Chenango Forks, New York Susan Cowles (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Linn-Benton Community College, Albany, Oregon Christine Donovan (TEArctic 2001/2002), Desert View High School, Tucson, Arizona Marie Darling, (Public Affairs Officer), Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire Jill Ferris (VECO Representative), Valued Engineering Construction Operations, Littleton, Colorado Ethan Forbes (TEArctic 2001/2002), Butterfield School, Orange, Massachusetts Jan French (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Cincinnati Country Day School, Cincinnati, Ohio Rosemary Garrett-Young (Girl Scouts of America), Wellington, Maine Dena Gershon (TEArctic 2001/2002), Lanai Road School, Encino, California Guy Guthridge (NSF-Program Manager), Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia Joanna Hubbard (TEAntarctic 1999/2000), Hanshew Middle School, Anchorage, Alaska Martin Jeffries (TEA Researcher), Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska Jennifer Kabo (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Cluny School, Newport, Rhode Island Peter Keene (Photographer), Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire Tina King (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), West Elementary School, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Cathi Koehler (TEArctic 2000/2001), Manchester High School, Manchester, Connecticut Nancy Liston, (CRREL Librarian), Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire Maritza Macdonald, (TEA Evaluator), Director of Professional Development, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York Scott McComb (TEArctic 2001/2002), Franklin Alternative Middle School, Columbus, Ohio Debra Meese (TEA Co-Principal Investigator/Arctic Project Manager, Research Scientist), Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire Marian Moyher (Raytheon Representative), Raytheon Polar Services Company, Englewood, Colorado Jason Petula (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Tunkhannock Area High School, Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania Marge Porter (TEAntarctic 1994/1995), Woodstock Academy, Woodstock, Connecticut Dena Rosenberger (TEArctic 2001/2002), El Capitan High School, Lakeside, California Juanita Ryan (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Toyon Elementary School, San Jose, California Stephanie Shipp (TEA Co-Principal Investigator /Antarctic Project Manager, Research Scientist (or whatever it may be there), Rice University, Houston, Texas David Silvernail (TEA Evaluator) University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine Zach Smith, (Paleoclimate Program Coordinator), University of Maine, Orono, Maine Kathryn Stevens (TEArctic 2001/2002), Farragut Primary School, Knoxville, Tennessee Steve Stevenoski (TEA Antarctic 1995/1996), Lincoln High School, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Betty Trummel (TEAntarctic 1998/1999), Husmann Elementary School, Crystal lake, Illinois Hillary Tulley (TEAntarctic 1998/1999), Niles North High School, Skokie, Illinois Tim Vermaat (TEAntarctic 2001/2002), Chenango Forks Central Schools, Binghamton, New York John H. Wrenn (TEA Researcher), Center For Excellence In Palynology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Clarice Yentsch (TEA Co-Principal Investigator), American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York Elizabeth Youngman (TEArctic 2001/2002), Phoenix County Day School, Prairie Valley Arizona Day 1, Monday, 7 August 2000 Invitation and Welcome (Deb Meese and Stephanie Shipp) Logistical Details (Deb Meese) Meeting Bingo! / Introductions (Clarice Yentsch) How the TEA Program Works Overview of TEA and Orientation Objectives (Betty Trummel, TEAntarctic 1998/1999) Immerse teachers in a research experience as a component of their professional development. Inform teaching practice through research experience. Science investigations in classrooms should model the real process of science. Bring polar research into classrooms in engaging and innovative ways to underscore the relevance of science to society. Build on the research experience to establish a growing collaborative Polar Learning Community of teachers, students, administrators, researchers, and the public. Who Does What (Stephanie Shipp) TEA Program Managers — start here with questions! Communicate with NSF’s Divisions of ESIE (Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education) and OPP (Office of Polar Programs) on TEA issues. Recruit, and assist in selection. Arrange logistics. Assist with transfer to classroom and colleagues. NSF — ESIE and OPP ESIE: supports teacher enhancement programs. OPP: supports Arctic and Antarctic research. Fund, Recruit, assist in selection, and make initial notification. TEA Advisory Board Researchers, educators, logistic coordinators, and TEAs. Shares TEA with communities. TEA Evaluators Oversee formative and summative evaluation Inform the TEA program as it moves forward so that it can evolve and improve. TEA Editorial Board Works with authors of TEA activities to improve activity to make it accessible. Research Principal Investigator (PI) Has NSF stipend to fund institution visit and field experience of TEA. Is invited to be a part of the TEA community. Includes TEA as field team member. Raytheon and VECO Contractors to NSF. Provide logistical support for polar experience to entire field team. Help with technical support. Living and Working in Polar Regions Hillary Tulley: TEAntarctic 1998/1999 Strongly recommend The Lonely Planet Guides to Antarctica and New Zealand. Get in SHAPE EARLY! Make sure you take the time to try on your clothing in Christ Church! Women should get field pants, not overalls so that they can get in and out of them easily. Might be a good idea to take more than one camera in case one fails. Digital cameras are recommended; digital images add to the journals. Take everything out of packaging in the States and pack in Ziploc bags —- to conserve space and bring less trash to the continent. Pay close attention at snow school. Don’t just watch. Make sure you can do tasks by yourself. Cathi Koehler TEArctic 2000/2001 Pay close attention at snow school. Don’t just watch. Make sure you can do tasks by yourself. It took about an hour each day to do the journal. Be prepared for long days. VECO support crew was great. Our job was to do science, everything else was supported. At Summit, altitude sickness is common and can be quite serious. Don’t push your body, be careful to do what is appropriate for you. The food was great and you need to eat a lot of calories every day! It is important to try and get in a sleep/work cycle early. Helps you adjust to the constant light. Tim Conner TEArctic 1998/1999 Worked in Deering, AK on Archeology Project. A student from NY State parcticipated through another NSF program. Site was found while attempting to put in sewage system for community. Health issue demanded that project be done quickly. Outside Archeologists worked with community. Trained local people as technicians. Trained in techniques to preserve their own history. Site was from Ipatek people. When it comes to culturally sensitivity, a little common sense goes a long way. The indigenous people in Deering had preconceived notions about New Yorkers as well. Couldn’t believe that towns in NY could be about the same size as Deering. Didn’t fit their notion of NY. Joanna Hubbard TEAntarctic 1999/2000 BE FLEXIBLE! Be prepared for possibility of delays before being able to leave Chile or Christchurch. Be aware that delay situations can easily create stress for entire team. It is important to be considerate. You may find yourself in very close quarters. For example if you see someone sitting alone, consider that perhaps they would like to be. Make time for yourself. When there is a communal task — Help out! Volunteer whenever it is possible and appropriate. Be mindful that you are not just representing yourself, but TEA and that you are also a member of a scientific group. Field Safety (Mike Abels, UAF Safety & Logistics) Field Logistics (Marian Moyher, Raytheon Polar Services) Technology Discussion - Journals (Stephanie Shipp, TEA Co- PI) Overview of web site: TEA Only section (Login TEA/ Password TEA) Explore this section. Includes PI Information, Slide and photo archive for individuals to use, annual reports, resource lists, technology tips, activity template, notes on cultural sensitivity, safety and logistics information, mentoring notes, and contact information/map of TEAs and TEA Associates. Meet the Teachers section. Includes journals of TEAs in the field and an archive of journals from previous TEAs. TEA Activities section. Contains classroom activities developed by TEAs and TEA Associates. TEA Associates. News from the Poles. Contains polar current events and links to news stories. Polar Links. Contains links to numerous web sites, covering a range of topics, such as research programs and scientific content. Journals. Homework: Read Binder. Review the Responsibilities and Guidelines section to prepare for a group discussion on Tuesday. Monday Comment Cards Cards handed out at end of the day for parcticipants to provide program staff with feedback. Parcticipants were asked to give a rank of 1- 10, where 10 is the highest, and to note if they were a new TEA on the card. All of the presentations have been excellent. I appreciate the mini-breaks. It helps approach each presentation eagerly. Need more time on the computer. I will focus on getting "physically fit" for this experience. Thank you for stressing it over and over. New TEA Today has been very helpful. I appreciate all the hints and tips. The frequent breaks were great. I'm anxious to get more clarification about journaling. I need to find water for drinking during the day. New TEA Safety - add sea ice and bears to the conversation. Discuss coming back into civilization. What were the old TEAs experiences. I'm being conservative with my 8 because there is nothing to compare to yet. The former TEAs' presentations were INCREDIBLE. I also very much enjoyed Marian's talk on the Antarctic logistics. New TEA This was a good day in a general way. It was helpful to learn about what others had done/their experiences. The lunch should have included some fruits and veggies. The clothing and logistics are still unclear for me. New TEA. All presentations were wonderful. Especially helpful were the ones from past TEAs. Any chance of a warmer room? New TEA. For 1st. day after traveling all day yesterday, this was paced well. Food was good, breaks spaced well and info given was not overwhelming. Thanks! New TEA. Good pacing for breaks, etc. new TEA. All of the information was quite helpful, and very interesting. I do have a comment about the format. Almost all of the day was talking TO us, with little time for questions, and then only on the specific topic. I think it would be helpful to have time for some other process - perhaps 2 small groups (Arctic and Antarctic?) for a short discussion with Debra, Stephanie as facilitators? Or time to ask questions specific to those areas? Or, tomorrow morning, giving each of us a card like this and have us write down our "most burning question" or "this is on my mind.." New TEA Great sessions today! Not so jam-packed as prior orientation sessions -- breaks are valuable to keep people alert. I enjoyed the 4 TEA presentations -- good variety and speakers did a very nice job. Seriously, the old TEA's could use tables too-- my back was sore from the chair. Hard to take notes (which I did). Also, the search and rescue talk was interesting (a bit long). If we had a hand out for his talk, it would be helpful. Like the set-up of the room! Wish we could get out of here for lunch though -- hope the weather turns nice so we can eat outside. Mike's talk too long, break this up. Marion was fantastic. Basic comfort -- room too cold. Computers, we should have checked this....some not with necessary software to post...Also need to give more time for computers. Very informative day. I thought safety issues were very important. It was also fascinating to have 4 experienced TEAs. I did not realize that each experience is totally individual. It was very exciting. Thank you. New TEA. 8+ Good pace. Good variety -- Good speakers. Long day - brief walk time or something to clear head is needed. I enjoyed everything today! It was interesting to hear from past parcticipants. I also found it good to hear more about what is expected of me! New TEA. Good scheduling. Good work! New TEA. Very informative. It was great having people who've been in the field to talk to. Only problem -- room TOO cold! New TEA. I loved the former TEA's stories and experiences. ALL speakers were interesting, informative, and enthusiastic. I'm looking forward to going now more than ever! New TEA. The presentations by the TEAs were excellent - Informative and engaging! No writing surface for some parcticipants is unfortunate. hard to take notes. Great to have addition of Raytheon Support and Safety speakers. VERY important stuff. Safety discussion was good and important. It might have been better to split it into sections presented at different times. A lot of information to absorb - even for someone familiar with most of the material. Non-TEA. Long, fatigue was obvious by 3:00. How break this? Become more active? Thank you for keeping us to schedule. Breaks and lunch was good too. Mike's talk would have been better broken into Part I. This morning and Part II this afternoon. A little overwhelming. Wonderful selection of diverse talks from former TEAs. New TEA. Very exciting 1st. day....lots of information that wet the appetite. The 1st person accounts, narratives, hints are very interesting/informative. Questions linger about the A people's clothing and equipment needs as well as health checks. New TEA. I liked the variety of lectures, and the breaks help keep me focussed. The people giving the information are important resources for me to find out about - Rosemary, Girl Scout parcticipant. Like the new format -- more time to digest for new TEAs. Thank you for making us stick to our time limits. Good to have Raytheon. Day 2, Tuesday, 8 August 2000 TEA Responsibilities (Review and Discuss as a Group) The two main TEA categories of responsibilities include: 1) the research experience and 2) the transfer to colleagues and students in meaningful ways that reflect the depth of the research experience. PRIOR TO FIELD: Publicize! Get the word out to your community. Involve your students and colleagues. This opportunity should include/involve the school and not just the individual TEA teacher. Make presentations to schools and community organizations! Remember that you are a part of TEA community. Tap it for resources. Get prepared for being an active member of research team. Learn background material! Get in shape! Communicate with Research PI. FIELD: When the TEA is in field, s/he has responsibilities 1) as a member of the research team and 2) to transfer the experience to others (i.e. Journals, Email, RealAudio Broadcasts). TEAs should try to write everyday, even if the material can’t be posted daily. POST-FIELD: Share your experience! Make presentations to schools and community organizations. Transfer experience through mentoring colleagues and classroom activities. Involve your students. Host and attend TEA and TEA Associates meetings. Assume leadership roles in TEA and community to build on TEA experience. Report out (evaluation, online annual report, presentations, etc) Arctic Logistics (Jill Ferris, Valued Engineering Construction and Operations) Living and Working in Polar Regions Betty Trummel Worked on the Cape Roberts Project (CRP). Was an International project. My PI was only on the ice with me for 10 days. My team was the Paleomagnetism team. I primarily drilled samples (about 40 a day). My CRP team accepted me as a professional. I was open about my TEA work — journals etc. Do as much PR as possible before you go. Borrow the ECW gear and do presentations. Plug your journals! Get New Zealand/Chile or Arctic schools involved, they have a vested interest and are eager to know more. Stationed at McMurdo (Mactown)— important to get your bearings early. Mactown is a town — Fire House, Post Office etc. When time permitted, interviewed town people/workers. Wanted to share that many people from various professional backgrounds work in Antarctica. Be prepared to share a room. Be prepared for long days — required to get field team and TEA work done. Have kept in touch with my team. PI has come to visit my school. Remember to always thank/credit NSF at presentations! Polar Research - Presentation and Discussion (John Wrenn, LSU Researcher) Dr. John Wrenn works at the Center for Excellence in Palynology at the Louisiana State University. Palynology is the study of organic-walled microfossils. Last field season TEA Bruce Smith accompanied John to Antarctica, where he continued his Palynology work on the Cape Roberts Project (CRP). CRP was an international project that went for 6 years (including the drilling seasons). Prior to that there were several years of planning. In early 1990’s there was a geophysical crew who had finished early. Had 3 days of ship time left. This team did seismic lines of area and created a picture of what that area is like under the sea. This information suggested to geologists that the deposits formed when the Transantarctic (TA) mountains formed. TA mountains formed between 30 and 110 million years ago. We haven’t found any rocks on Antarctica that can tell us more about this time frame (they are buried). Purpose of CRP: Study the unique submarine rocks (possibly 30 to 110 million years old) What is the nature of these deposits? When did the Ross Sea basin form? When did the TA mountains uplift? How and when did the Antarctic ice cap develop? How and when did the climate change? How did organisms respond to these major changes? Factors to consider in order to plan CRP: Seasonal ice cover Limited ice free window for drill ship. Also very shallow. Weather controls the project. Need solid ice for drill platform. Drilling limitations — weight of pipe. First year the sea ice was moving, unstable. Storms forced team to quit early. Drill site on sleds, so could if necessary break down in one day. 1/2 core is stored in archive 1/2 core is the working 1/2 Also took a visual scan of core. Made right after slicing. Core sent to base camp for initial description and then to McMurdo. Project included the following studies: Sedimentology Geochemistry Paleomagnetics Down hole logging (data evaluation) Biostratigraphy Diatoms Foraminifera Palynology Macrofossils Nannofossils In CRP the primary purpose of palynology was to provide dates for cores. Spore and pollens were found. Dinoflagellates were found, fungal debris was found. Palynology in Antarctica: This is the first time this work has been done on site. Because of environmental concern. With new microwave technology we are able to limit the fumes. Fumes not released. Also makes process faster. Drilling results: 1500 meters drilled. Recovery rate 95%. Marine Palynomorphs -Dinocyst producing dinoflagellate were present in post —Eocene Antarctic waters, -New Oligo-Miocene Taxa. Because so many findings were new species, were of little use for dating the samples. - We can set up an age hypothesis. Fossil bearing deposits went from Pleistocene to lower Oligocene. This was not expected, Our conclusion: Antarctic dinocysts are a textbook example of evolutionary response to tectonic, oceanographic, and environmental changes. Autotrophs to heterotrophs indicate a change in the trophic structure since the Eocene. What makes a successful TEA Experience from a Researcher's Perspective? (Martin Jeffries, UAF Researcher, and John Wrenn, LSU Researcher) Prior to field: Meet each other. During this time teacher ius integral part of the group. Get to know as many people before hand. Know your work. Learn your techniques in advance. Determine what skills you will need. Read background research. Understand the context for your team’s research. Be familiar with your PI’s background and work history. Researchers see TEA as a mechanism to spread a research program, polar research, and work of PI to a broader domain. Important that entire team knows what your purpose is and not just the PI. Take responsibility for communicating your role as a TEA. By working hard you will earn respect. There will always be people who do not believe in the TEA program. Behave as a professional and be integrated into team. Even if situation is stressful, do not let anyone get the better of you. Take yourself seriously — clearly you are all exceptional. You have been accepted into this program and you are able to meet the expectations. A successful TEA is someone who takes charge. Does their TEA part and does their part as a research team member. TEA is primarily about the teachers, but it also works to impact PIs. PIs gain an appreciation for the work of teachers by working with a TEA. You have to be proactive. Talk to your PI — communicate what you need. The people doing the research have gotten there over a rocky road. Much time and work getting funded. Mention the project and staff in your journal. Remember that their families will probably read your journal. Take on a lot of logistical work. Be a part of the team! BE FLEXIBLE! ECW Gear and What to Take! (Hillary Tulley TEAntarctic 1998/ 1999 and Cathi Koehler 1999/2000 TEArctic) Broke into groups and went over gear. Arctic Cultures: Panel Discussion (Deb Meese, Tim Conner, Martin Jeffries, Joanna Hubbard, Mike Abels) Arctic has indigenous cultures. Richness, proprietary, sensitivity. There is often a suspicion that if you are a white male you must be part of the government. Sense of time is different. Life moves slower. Many times there is a dual culture, such as in Barrow. Many times no running water, consider your expectations. Subsistence living, use all parts of animals. In Antarctica there are many cultures (Chile, New Zealand, etc) A big misconception is that indigenous Arctic peoples are victims. In reality they are a self-determined, self-reliant, people. Recognize what is important. Remember the context of the past. Many scientists have done research and not reported back to the community. Perception built from this is that scientists have taken and not given back. Open the communication, talk to the Elders. Be respectful! A good source is the Alaska Native Knowledge Network (www.ankn.edu) What Should a Journal Include? How Is the Science Captured? Practice Session (Joanna Hubbard TEAnatrctic 1999/2000) More people than you think will read it. Use your spell check and grammar check. Get your PI or someone on your team to review the science. Be accurate and respectful. Remember that science is proprietary. Do not publicize something that your PI would not want public! Plan ahead. Read old TEA journals. Ask your students to critique some journals and learn from them what works. Be consistent with voice. Think about: length, tone, and features (links, pictures). This is you — publicly — Your name! Has your PI’s name on it! Put your best foot forward. Decide who your audience is. Consider the possibility of doing different sections — ie student section and adult section. Be careful with your language. General adult audience reads at upper elementary level. Be respectful when reporting leisure activities — do not embarrass anyone. Remember families of teammates read your journal. Do not report about accidents. Keep the fun in it. Do not assume that reader has read every entry. Reintroduce people and concepts. Homework: Reflect on Journaling Tuesday Comment Cards Cards handed out at end of the day for parcticipants to provide program staff with feedback. Parcticipants were asked to give a rank of 1- 10, where 10 is the highest, and to note if they were a new TEA on the card. I really enjoyed the presentations and the opportunity to ask some specific questions of former TEAs. Also useful was hearing about the researchers' perspective for hosted TEAs. The logistics conversation for A folks and cultural was perhaps too long, given the variability of where TEAs will be headed. Great info on journals...looking forward to more tomorrow! (Mentoring plan too!). Morning was quite interactive. Afternoon seemed to drag. Too much The pace seemed slower today it was good at points, but there was overkill on "being professional". I really enjoyed John's talk. It was well presented and wonderful to feel his excitement about his work. The presentation by Betty was excellent as a lead in too! (high point). The low point of the day came when our table discussion of concerns turned into a "let me tell you how it is" session by a former TEA. I'd like to have more "sharing" by all parties. The afternoon seemed repetitive from other sessions. Much of it seems like common sense knowledge to me. I felt "preached at" a few times. Many new TEAs have concerns re: school/sub logistics 9+ I enjoyed today even though the schedule was more disoriented than yesterday. Panel discussions seem to work well. Thanks! Today was helpful, enjoyable speakers once again. Temperature was much better! Too much information on journal do's and don'ts for me. Overwhelming 9.999... Enjoyed session on cold weather gear. Valuable opportunities to pass along things on equipment and which is appropriate in various settings. Panel discussion might have been better with a bit of direction e.g. leading questions -- by a moderator. This could have focussed discussion. But a great day overall. Great day. Thank you. It is nice to have varying formats. Loved seeing the ECW gear. Interesting A and AA panel discussions. I like the way the day runs. The timing, the breaks, the moving along. I appreciate it. I thought it was very important to hear about and discuss TEA responsibilities. Very important. Thanks for the day. I loved it all. I enjoyed learning about John's project. Seeing The the gear made this experience so real. It helped answer many questions. I still need more time on the computer. Everyone is so helpful and patient. Excellent presentations today. Good day. The smaller groups worked well. Room temperature was much better. This has again been extremely helpful. I have enjoyed all of the questions, answers, and comments. I have really enjoyed being in small groups by A and AA. This has really helped us to personalize the experiences. It was great sending seeing the clothing today. I'm excited that the journal finally worked today. This continues to be excellent. I have heard the same comments from other parcticipants. The scheduling is good (very good!) and EVERYTHING (almost) IS RELEVANT. Good job. Another great day. I'm looking forward tomorrow time on the computer! Deb is an awesome goddess for keeping us on schedule. Any of the presentations could easily have gone on forever. Enjoyed splitting into polarly segregated tables for discussion etc. very applicable -- also good to have all hear about experiences and research at both poles. Future program: culture of research station and native cultures and international cultures at stations and sites We need to figure out the indigenous cultures talk! I enjoyed the separated Arctic and Antarctic discussions amongst the groups. It was also advantageous to learn and see the ECW gear. The only area I found a bit slow was concerning the cultural sensitivity. I felt most of it applied to the A people. However I understand the relationship to the AA bases. Day 3, Wednesday, 9 August 2000 Polar Research - Presentation and Discussion (Mary Albert, CRREL Researcher) Dr. Mary Albert works at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. Her research into the physical processes that influence the exchange of gas between the atmosphere and the upper layers of snow takes her to the Arctic and Antarctic. Several years ago, TEA Sandy Shutey accompanied Mary’s expedition. This past season, Mary worked with Cathi Koehler at the Greenland Summit. Through my research, we have been able to document that air flow can affect chemistry, sublimation and grain growth. Measure flow rate through snow sample. Look at permeability to get permeability profile. Crystal structure in snow changes because of temperature variant. Snow microstructure dictates the permeability and other properties of the snow. Conclusions: Permeability is a function of layer type and depth. Air flow at rates higher than diffusion can occur. Selection of Siple Dome for ice core. Glacial mass on land mass. Ice will relax and smooth out. The reason to choose domes is the speed of ice. Drill on top of dome to limit speed factor in ice study. My recommendations to TEAs: Be very loose Have a positive attitude Get as much from it as you can, Bring ideas for transfer, bring ideas for simple experiments Roll with the punches Note that the Arctic is more logistically challenging than the Antarctic Do the best you can, Some sites are physically demanding — get in shape! Be prepared for long hours, extreme cold. NSF's / OPP's Role in, and View of, TEA (Guy Guthridge, Office of Polar Programs, NSF) Guy Guthridge is a Program Manager in the Office of Polar Programs. Guy works with Wayne Sukow, a Program Manager in the Division of Elementary Secondary and Informal Education in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, and Fae Korsmo, a Program Manager in the Office of Polar Programs, on the TEA Program. One of Guy’s roles in TEA is to match TEA teachers going to Antarctica with PIs. Fae Korsmo matches Arctic bound TEAs with PIs. NSF Budget 4 billion dollars for science 4 % of that is for administrative oversight. 2/3 of the research proposals submitted to NSF are not accepted. Peer review plays heavy role in process. 170,000 proposals need to be reviewed. Past and current PIs review proposals on behalf of NSF. NSF puts out a call for volunteers to take TEAs. Helps PI meet education goals required by NSF. Suggest that all Antarctic TEAs review the Science Planning Summary — this is the bible of the Antarctic season. Do not have schedules for 01/02 yet. Will not have this information for almost a year. In matching teacher with PI, would like to integrate disciplines. Probably will not be a perfect match. Historically there have not been enough biologists to go around. NSF reserves the right to tell you this is who you get. Have asked PIs what kind of TEA they want. Following are responses to that query: Someone who will be part of team. Must be able to balance TEA responsibilities and research responsibilities. Happy camper. Takes initiative. PI does not want to have to entertain someone. Consider the complexity of planning on the part of PI. How you get the money: supplements awarded to PI by NSF. Takes a lot of effort on part of PI. Revisit Journals (Joanna Hubbard, TEAntarctic 1999/2000) Suggest setting up a TEA journal folder, where you keep copies of all your postings. Save several copies! Find out what technology is going to be available at site. Check your posting and if necessary go back and edit! Tip from Betty Trummel — when using journal in class. I print out journal entries and highlight sections that are appropriate for my Fourth fourth Grade grade students. Other sources to read to get ideas about how to do your journal: Betsy Youngman’s Olympic web site. Scientific arcticles Arcticles that are part of a series Web Page tips: Look at web sites. Remember it is different from a printed page! Consider that there is a limited time that people will look at a web page. Try some basic html. Much of it is quite simple. Remember that formatting makes a difference in ability to keep a reader interested. What Should an Image Include? How Is the Science Captured? Practice Session (Peter Keene, CRREL photographer, Betty Trummel TEAntarctic 1998/1999 and Joanna Hubbard, TEAntarctic 1999/2000) In terms of digital cameras, recommend the Sony Mavica. Easy to use, takes floppies. When posting images on web, they should be 72 dpi resolution. Instructions are under tab 9 in binder. Recommend that you take some disposable panoramic cameras. Take lots of pictures and take in different formats — slide, print, digital. Peter Keene, CRREL Photographer, Photo Talk Scale — this is parcticularly important when photographing polar landscape. Need something in image that gives viewer a sense of size (e.g. tent, person, pencil, tool). Consider a different viewpoint — look for less cluttered background. Different angle might be much more powerful —above or below. Take a battery charger and plenty of batteries. Keep camera warm. Bag it if cold. Keep inside your coat or pocket. What to do When Things Go Poorly… (Hillary Tulley TEAntarctic 1998/1999) You need to be psychologically fit. Your attitude is tremendously important. What are you going to do with your experience? Roll with the punches. Be focused on the privilege and honor that is yours. Look for the advantages. The toilet may be a box with rocks that you have to move quickly so it doesn’t fly down the valley, but look at the view from the toilet. Your situation might be uncomfortable at times, but remember that is all that it is. Prepare yourself and think about how you handle disappointment. Remember what Marian Moyher said —- be where you are at. Let NSF know asap if there is a problem. A culture of silence does not benefit anyone. Overview and Discussion of Transfer Responsibilities (Betty Trummel TEAntarctic 1998/1999) Keep track of your work! Perhaps use a spreadsheet which includes date, place & contact person, number of teachers, number of students, number of others, level/class. Before you go: Get on the gear schedule. Use it in presentations. Can focus on comparison between Arctic and Antarctic. Tell people how they can follow you. Talk to your Board of Ed! This really helps with district support! Go out in community — rotary club, library, etc. Keep a scrapbook. Do this right away! News coverage, pictures etc. Organize your material so that it is easy to adjust for different types of presentations. Be prepared that some people will be jealous. It is a challenge to get back to your life after the field experience. Be in touch with TEAs. When planning with your sub, make a back-up plan and leave it with your principal! Apply to the activities workshop! Post Daily Journal Entry and Images Practice session. Homework: Revise Classroom and Colleague Transfer Plans. Wednesday Comment Cards Cards handed out at end of the day for parcticipants to provide program staff with feedback. Parcticipants were asked to give a rank of 1- 10, where 10 is the highest, and to note if they were a new TEA on the card. I really appreciated being able to parcticipate today. I thought the talks by Guy and Mary were wonderful and given at the right level. Perhaps guy Guy should be one of the 1st speakers of the week. He had a great overview of the ins and outs of NSF and TEA. I would enjoy the TEAs to consider what they are saying to us: are they giving us advise or simply reliving their own experience? Their initial slide presentations were excellent, but I'm tiring of their personal stories that aren't pertinent to our preparation. One example is happening while I write: we are discussing the old TEAs substitute experiences and how their districts supported or didn't support them. Their district will not have anything to do with me. All organizers have been so patient and helpful (Deb, Arlyn, Stephanie) Handouts of activities (Hillary) are extremely useful. It is frustrating to think of all of the details of getting funds for cameras, computers, film, discs, developing, etc. It would be so helpful (I know it is impossible) to provide teachers with a stipend -- especially considering their in kind time contributed i.es. for travel days (. Past NSF sponsored teacher enhancement programs I have been in have given @1200 for 2 weeks and $850 for 1 week etc. on top of paying for hotel and food. I would love to have heard more from Guy re: what PIs have said. I would also liked more of an opportunity to speak with colleagues. Photo practice a big plus. 9+ Today was the best so far for actual nuts & bolts stuff. Workshop format for journal and imaging was great and you gave us plenty of time today so we didn't feel rushed. Joanna, Hillary, Betty: Great tips on just about everything! It was great to have an NSF person here to thank and hear thoughts. "Classroom" transfer plan should just be "transfer plan" or "outreach plan" or else add another attachment requirement to application. Classroom transfer plan much more vague than it should be. Perhaps it should be renamed "missionary" plan. Classroom to district to state. I'm still a little unclear about the scope of what's being asked of us in this regard. Also, picture time was a little too unstructured to be really effective. Still, note the overall rating! smiley face. The hands-on computer and images work (and help) is extremely helpful...even more please! I'm feeling a sense of being under-prepared for the Arctic Experience. Most experts, representatives, presenters etc. have spoken mostly of AA and were unclear about the specifics about the A. That's a concern (from gear to contacts). Feeling a bit left out of the loop. It's great to have these meetings here. Logistically a little more difficult BUT it is beautiful here and less city distractions. KEEP IT AT CRREL! Some overlap and redundancy. 8.5 The table arrangement puts the TEAs in the viewing areas that are more difficult to see the screen and speaker, AA bias, more tips seem to go that direction; more return TEAs etc. (not really a big deal). Overall, today was great. Very on target. Guy was great. Thanks for bringing him. And for allowing the discussion to run over a bit. 8 I liked having time to work on the computer. Photographer helped with hints. More information on TEA "stuff" was very good especially listening to things that went wrong. Old TEA brain fried and drained, tired, but great to see new TEA enthusiasm re-energizing to me! Perhaps need panel discussion format for Hillary's talk so doesn't get too alarmist with our very open and informal "everyone comments" w/=weight "format" Would have liked more time hearing from Guy in the morning. I am very glad to have heard Hillary's story. I think that hearing about the realities and disappointments is VERY important for us. I really appreciated Martin's comments about PIs taking on some responsibility. Martin is an excellent resource for this program. (The whole discussion was enlightening). Loved taking the pictures and learning how to save etc. Classroom transfer discussion was helpful. Super day. Thanks! It has been helpful to hear from the experienced TEAs, however at this point in the week it is important (in my opinion) for them to back off and listen. For example, during the time in the 2001-2002 AA TEAs talk about their current classroom transfer plan, only 4 new TEAs got to talk because the 2 experienced were still talking about their experiences. The new TEAs appear to me to also be excellent teachers with a lot of fine professional experiences. I would like to hear their voices now. Suggestion. I think it would be beneficial for a partnership between AA and A parcticipant. This would allow students in each classroom to be exposed to both poles. During the calendar year. Of course, this would mean the AA people would be paired with their counterparts from next TEA class. Today's suggestions. The discussion with guy Guy about chain-of-command and procedures to follow if problems arise. Problems. Too much time discussing journals. I am journaled out. Are visuals available to help with presentations? maps will be great addition. Thanks. How about poster or banner? Overheads/slides of TEA overview. Computer time - many had trouble with getting journal posted BUT especially posting the pictures. Could we go over the process being directed by someone as a group while we are on the computer? We spend a lot of frustrating time today. Hurray for the web site! What a fun day today. I am thrilled that all went into place. Thanks for more time to work on the computers. I'm warm! Day 4, Thursday, 10 August 2000 Context of Transfer and Mentoring (Clarice Yentsch) Transfer/mentor. In sense is a tracking of what you are already doing. Initiatives like TEA are about looking at the internalization of knowledge. Looking at the intimate interaction. Where are we going? Data à Information à Knowledge à Understanding à Wisdom Content, Process, Technology for Classrooms, Colleagues, Community. Computer time - many had trouble with getting journal posted BUT especially posting the pictures. Could we go over the process being directed by someone as a group while we are on the computer? We spend a lot of frustrating time today. Transfer: classroom, district, and community. Mentor: Intimate relationship with 3 people. Purpose is to provide a mentor situation with a depth of learning. Cold Regions Bibliography (Nancy Liston, CRREL Librarian) Bibliography on cold regions science and technology. 225,000 items currently. CRREL can do inter-library loan. Can not loan to individual, but can loan to school and public libraries. About 50% of the items are in Russian The Antarctic material is also available at 3 stations, 2 vessels, and 1 set is also at NSF. Is available on the web through a subscription. For more information see the Library page on the CRREL web site. http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/library/crrel_library.html Revisit Transfer Plans (Betty Trummel, TEAntarctic 1998/1999) Split into groups and worked on transfer plans. Polar Research - Presentation and Discussion (Martin Jeffries, UAF Researcher,/Marge Porter TEAnatrctic 1994/1995) What makes the TEA/Researcher Interaction "Go?" Martin Jeffries is a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In 1996 Martin was accompanied by TEA Marge Porter on the icebreaker the Nathanial Palmer. From the Ross Sea to Poker Flat. Initially Martin interviewed Marge.. Spent 40 days on the icebreaker the Nathaniel B. Palmer. Trying to better understand the relationship between sea ice, the ocean, and atmosphere.. Marge accepted as member of team. Given responsibilities. Spent time with team before experience/socially as well as in lab. Martin and Marge worked together on classroom transfer ideas. Marge’s students have continued to communicate with Martin when he has been on subsequent field experiences. Sea ice is important factor in global climate. Heat — water vapor, heat transfer. Reflection — energy bounced back at sun. Rejection of salt back into parent water mass, sea ice plays important role in global climate. From Sea Ice to Frozen Arctic ponds — what is the connection? Seasonal expansion and contraction of sea ice/ice cover. Marge took a sabbatical during the 99/00 school year. Made 3 trips to Fairbanks. Looked at heat flux in Arctic lake and ponds. The conductive heat flux through snow cover is used as a proxy for the heat flow from the lakes to the atmosphere. Site of research was Poker Flat Research range, about 100 miles below Arctic circleCircle. Goal: collect data for an entire winter season. To allow is to validate a model designed to predict heat flux from lakes. Snow ice tells a story of frequent flooding. Overview and Discussion of Mentoring (Marge Porter TEAntarctic 1994/1995 and Hillary Tulley TEAntarctic 1998/1999) Willingness to share experiences, resources, and ideas. Expand beyond boundaries and grade level. Developing work/concepts together. Mutual growth. It is a with ?? thing. Phase I: What qualities do great mentors possess? Phase II: Revisit mentoring plan with those qualities in mind. How will you mentor your colleagues? Beak into small groups and brainstorm! Post Daily Journal Entry and Images Practice session Homework: Revise Mentoring Plans. Open 1/2 Day Thursday Comment Cards Cards handed out at end of the day for parcticipants to provide program staff with feedback. Parcticipants were asked to give a rank of 1- 10, where 10 is the highest, and to note if they were a new TEA on the card. It is wonderful to have Marge here as a TEA "experienced" person. I have loved all the science presentations, and would suggest for the future orientations that you have more of them. Finally, the Venn diagram Clarice gave us was terrific. It seemed (hearing some conversations) that a dichotomy was developing - research scientist vs. educators, so this was important to reduce that perception. Marge was a wonderful breath of fresh air! I also appreciated the brainstorming we were able to do in small groups. I can use a lot of their ideas, but also, ideas that I can use sparked new ideas for me. I also really appreciate the badly needed afternoon off. It was a good idea to have lots of small group work today. Martin was excellent. Good to talk to Guy. 9 Martin's research talk was fascinating. Sharing each others transfer plans was beneficial...I'm glad we get a chance to revise them. I'm thrilled that Guy is interested in what our interests are. Good sessions today. Martin: Awesome! (It's very beneficial to receive content/background on polar regions). Thanks for a free afternoon to digest. Good sharing/suggestions from TEAs. 8 I thoroughly enjoyed Marge and Martin's presentation. I really learned a lot! 9+ Thanks to Librarian for bookmarks and information. Format of Marge/Martin's talk worked well with TEA stuff mixed with science stuff. I would like to see some grade level grouping for some of the activities (like mentoring), at least for phase I, then between grade levels for phase II. It would also be helpful to specifically find a different grade level Partner" to specifically share ideas with. Lunches really are $8.00? 9 Great science presentation. I hadn't realized that mentoring had hierarchical, negative connotations. Partnerships Today's program was great thanks for moving the tables and the balance of activity types. Once again a highlight was the science talk and it was made even better by weaving the TEA input in. The former TEAs are inspiring! M&M was great. I enjoyed our brainstorming sessions about mentoring and transfer plan. They gave me fresh ideas and ideas never thought of. I'm thankful for the afternoon free to work on areas ...feel I need fine tuning! 10 I appreciate having the time to meet with the other TEAs. It was wonderful to hear what they had to say. It gave me great ideas. I enjoyed Marge and Martin's presentation. Thanks for all of your hard work. I loved hearing from Nancy (CRREL) about the library. Excellent balance between presentations, post TEA experiences and new TEAs ideas, opinions...Martin and Marge were an especially dynamic duo. Enjoyed being reintegrated into whole/small groups. Small groups - very good idea. Leaving the afternoon free for each person to "fill in their own gaps" also a very good idea. Informative day helping to alleviate anxiety on mentoring. Brainstorming helps greatly. We are also now developing ideas and collaboration with each other. Also important is grade level as well as different grades. Sessions were very good. Lots of nice clarification. What is electronic figure caption listed on slides/photos on expectations? Follow up meeting dates? Small group discussion then sharing on mentorship, transfer etc. was very successful for quelling anxiety and working out what each individual felt was effective for them. Like the CRREL location. Fewer distractions, good leisure, beautiful area, good facility with computer access. Enormously useful discussions today. I especially liked Clarice's short overview in the morning; she helped put the transfer/mentor plans in a very useful light. Good sessions today. Clarification of expectations, stipends, etc. was appreciated. Like the sharing and printing out of mentoring and transfer ideas. Day 5, Friday, 11 August 2000 Revisit Mentoring Plans (Marge Porter TEAntarctic 1994/1995 and Hillary Tulley TEAntarctic 1998/1999) This session was the second part of the mentoring plan component of Orientation. During these sessions and for homework the previous night, the new TEAs reviewed and revised their mentoring plans (from their applications). After Orientation, new TEA parcticipants continued to revise their plans. The following ideas were discussed in this wrap-up session. Sustaining and creating a Professional Development project. Collegial — collaborative team. Use TEA as a platform for social studies project. Publish results of collaboration. If school uses team approach, work with team teaching members. Use in-service time Look for a team outside of school. Focus on building this team when you have a few more specifics, e.g. where you are going. Try to involve technology teacher in mentoring team. Keep track! It is as easy as a template. Possibility of student teacher as a mentor team member. Network with other TEA mentees/associates in state. Start with more than 3 in case you lose one. Make students junior explorers. The Scientist / TEA Mentor Relationship (General Discussion led by Marge Porter TEAntarctic 1994/1995) Important to think beyond TEA. Mentorship with scientists. Reaching beyond classroom to strengthen the educational infrastructure. Having a research experience allows you to grow personally and professionally. Having a scientist as a mentor provides access to resources and opportunities. Research experience enables you to be more creative in your classroom. Benefit students by challenging the traditional roles of teacher and scientist. Gives students chance to access real data. Meeting of two professional cultures — find the common ground. Remember that your PI has other responsibilities and that he/she has probably never worked this closely with a teacher before. Building a successful TEA/PI relationship takes respect, willingness to work, willingness to learn from each other, ability to recognize each other as professionals. Funding Opportunities for TEAs - How to Expand Beyond NSF Dollars (General Discussion led by Marge Porter TEAntarctic 1994/1995) Take advantage of grant opportunities. Eisenhower grants for example are there for you. For science teacher professional development. Other grants: look to companies (Ben & Jerry’s, Motorala, etc). Look to organizations (AIAA, 40.000 members, accepting teachers as members, after 6 months are eligible for funding opportunities, lisab@aiaa.org). Find ways to sustain your research beyond TEA. Tapestry grants — these do take a lot of time to propose. Kathy Schrock — terrific site, lists many grant opportunities. Real Audio (Steve Stevenoski TEAntarctic 1995/1996 ) - Connecting to classrooms through streaming audio TEA web site in 1996 — not much was automated. No digital images. Come a long way. Not every school has access to great technology. Every TEA needs to be able to communicate. The web site is geared toward accessibility. Clean site — every school should be able to do this. Very little Java and Shockwave. Streaming audio — a way to send both voice and video, currently we are using only voice. A method for sending audio with a small time delay to a large audience. Remember there is a 4 second delay. Can connect with as many as 100 computers at once. Allows teachers to continue to teach their students from the poles. The school needs: A Mac or PC with a modem or network connection to the internet. The real player G2 (provided on internet at www.real.com and on a CD to all new TEAs. In the field need: Telephone connection, standard or satellite. Digital camera for sending a slide show (optional) Your own notes to share with students. Having a successful session takes planning, partnering, and preparation. Planning — send a lesson plan to help teachers prepare their students. Send 5-10 digital images for slide show. Be prepared to talk for one hour. Select a few questions from emails to answer during the lesson. Select a grade level that you are going to direct the lesson towards, knowing this will help teachers decide if they want to parcticipate or not. Partnering — make sure PI knows that you have this activity planned. Try to find someone in the field who would be willing to parcticipate with you. Make early connection with Raytheon/VECO. Preparation — know where the phone is. Know the logistics of transmission from your site. Get to the phone on time! Potential problems: Satellite links do not work. Problems in transport to the phone location. Illness. Loss of phone connection. Internet problems. Solutions: Have a partner in the field. Have a partner at home. Sometime there will be emergencies, try to let a partner back in the states know. Let the support staff come up with the solution. Defer to your PI — keep them in the loop. This technology will start in October. Remaining Questions (Lunch) from New TEAs Tour of CRREL (Marie Darling, CRREL Public Affairs Officer) Evaluation (Maritza Macdonald, TEA Evaluator, and David Silvernail, TEA Evaluator) Formative evaluation. Will be contacting you over the next few years. Are looking at what these experiences mean. How the reach beyond the individual. Connections to schools. Wrap Up HTML Practice Session. Continue Practicing Sending Journals and Images. Beyond the Field: NSTA, Activities and Activities Workshops, Associates. Documenting TEA Experiences. Surveys of Past TEAs and Researchers General BRAVO! Start Doing Have themes each day (journals one day, talks from past TEAs, researchers, etc.). Each day a different theme. Grade level groupings (for mentoring, transfer discussions, etc.). Add Palmer Station clothing. Stress the collaboration aspect of mentoring (partnership). Clarify finances for mentoring and mentorees. Recording and archiving for teachers all the research presentations. Lesson on planning for subs. Mention/bring in someone to talk about personal relationships at a distance, maintaining sanity in remote areas. Different old TEAs invited to continue their connection to the community. A little physical activity. I know there are limited funds available but bring in as many seasoned TEAs as possible (as long as possible) to interact with new TEAs. It is very valuable. As we break into small group sessions, we need to spread out the seasoned TEAs among the small groups. Continue Doing Lots of breaks. Frequent breaks. Varied talks. Scientists. All topics are important. An afternoon off is fabulous. Regional groupings. Giving a year to get ready. Thank God they have time to do the best job they can. Daily comment cards. ECW gear. Less expert "talking at" to let them discuss and develop. Mix of groups and individual activities and dinners. Need to spend some time on our own not talking about Antarctica or the Arctic. Researcher and support and NSF presence at Orientation. As many contacts as possible - old TEAs, staff. Makes network stronger. SAR talk. Very well facilitated. Deb does very well moving things along. Good balance of subjects and presentations - good variety. Good job varying lunch. Bringing in researchers. They are awesome. Science talks each day! Seasoned TEA presentations about their experiences. Using TEAs (seasoned) in leadership roles and having Steph, Deb, Clarice, Arlyn be overall guides. More breaks (short) broke up the day. Keep small group opportunities. Love the way we evaluated each day and then those suggestions were shared and implemented if possible. Very + to see this immediate action. Stop Doing Do you really need five days (parcticipant attended 3 days). Using the word mentoring - nasty connotations. Using the word "mentoring" - ick, bad connotations. Lecture format on first aid, dressing for the field - too far away and too long (SAR part was good). ? I really can't think of a thing. Bringing in the lunches was great but when weather is bad mostly, we spend long hours in one room. A change of scenery is needed at times. I feel that we should meet at the hotel at 8 am each day and start promptly at 8:30. I felt that meeting at 7:15/7:30 is too early when the days are so long. Please comment on the Orientation facilities compared to previous years May be too long (before field experience). Lots of folks will forget all the information by the time they get on the ice. Maybe stagger the Arctic/Antarctic parcticipants (e.g., Arctic 2001 / Antarctic 2000). Have the orientation earlier in the summer (end of June). +++ number of computers./ +++ great versatile room. Very groovy coffee machine. Great tours of library and facilities. I thought having this here was a great idea. Fewer distractions in the building. Less NSF people coming in. Less outside distractions. Yet it was a beautiful setting for canoeing, swimming, etc. Only minor negative: logistics more challenging. Hotel is fine. Enjoyed the conference. Run with flexible grouping tables and lots of computers. Easy to modify audio visual for presentations. Good to have few interruptions. No one just "dropping in" to be introduced unexpectedly. Area has enough pastoral leisure opportunities for stress relied but not so many that parcticipants are distracted during orientation. It is logistically more difficult to get people here, but it is worth it by what is possible once we are here. Better location for concentrated work. Should go out to lunch occasionally in Hanover : ) . I like the room. I like Hanover. It's more cost effective, less distracting. Future Orientations should be here. I think having the meeting at CRREL is good for several reasons: 1) bigger meeting space - more comfortable - able to move tables into small groups. Varied formats and better presentations! 2) less distractions - we really are off on our own and I like that. 3) the large number of computers - right in the room was fabulous. TEAs could immediately try journaling, sending messages, using the TEA Web site. Everyone had a computer to use. 4) Good resources on site (people, library, scientists) Several advantages to having the orientation at CRREL versus other locations: A room dedicated to our use - large enough, moveable tables, natural light, no restrictions on when we could use it. A computer for each individual to use with the appropriate computer programs (and not off in a separate computer room). Few distractions - lack of NSF staff coming and going (note, presence of a few NSF staff for in-depth discussion is good - and good for them to hear what the TEAs and researchers are thinking -- fewer distractions for these few individuals). Access to amazing resources - cold regions library, cold regions research facility (tour) and to CRREL RESEARCHERS! Access to outdoors for walking - not in the middle of a city. Lots of things to do. Please comment on the Orientation format compared to previous years I like CRREL. The ambiance was much nicer. How can you beat New Hampshire in the summer? Certainly not Washington, D.C.! Also, great computer facilities. This was an awesome meeting. Great to have science talks, the Raytheon/VECO people, photographer, all the hints. I think this really helped the new TEAs. They had time to practice, digest, I think. Frequent small breaks good. Awesome time keeping. Perhaps formalize a few things like mentoring (change the word). Great to hear from NSF person at length (and in depth). Build in about 20 minutes of slop time per day for heated, burning questions. Loved the momentum from the TEAs, both old and new. Daily comment cards and active restructuring based on these comments. Our facilitators practice what they preach - flexibility! Yay Steph, Deb, Clarice, and Arlyn! It was good having an expanded menu of topics that TEAs presented on, discussed and paneled. I liked the mix of session styles and mix of people involved; researchers, TEAs, administrative/facilitators, NSF, Raytheon/VECO, photographer, etc. The format has been going well. My only idea is that we do sit for long periods of time - maybe more things to break up inactivity. It still was so interesting that no one seem distracted; it's just hard physically. Having this last 5 days instead of 3 days has many positive results. 1) Less feelings of having info "rammed down your throat" because there is too much to digest in 3 days. 2) more time to meet in small groups and not feel like you are being talked at. 3) more opportunities to develop friendships, network, contacts, and feeling of being colleagues - important to support system. 4) more time for scientist presentations, researchers to talk and seasoned TEAs to present - all very important to new TEAs (they were to me!). 5) more time for informal gatherings - where tons of TEA ideas get discussed! Thanks again, everyone! Back to:TEA Information Front Page