Sunday, August 9, 2009

Week 6 Reflection

If you were going to tell a colleague about the RET program - what would you say? Would you recommend the program?

I would definitely recommend this program to any qualified colleague. The blend of authentic experience with professional development is certainly rare in my experience (I have had ONE previous experience of the type: a weekend-long ornithology study on Appledore Island, Isles of Shoals through another NSF funded program called the ARMADA project. The rest have consisted of me listening to other people and doing my best to think positive and find the takeaway for my classroom.).

Six weeks in a university laboratory makes this professional development completely different and completely relevant. I come away from this experience having truly learned about plastics, plastics engineering, nanotechnology, and the operation of a variety of tools (thermoformer, optical scopes, drop shape analyzer, dynamic stress analyzer, etc.).

In addition to this wealth of experience, (including insight into the emerging field of nanotechnology and the realities of the laboratory setting), I also developed a working lesson plan and have access to those my colleagues developed (besides implementing my own lesson plan, I plan to run Raphael Matty’s from last year, and he and I plan to collaborate on his lesson plan from this year).

I look forward to bringing this experience to my students this school year (and to future classes) and to participating in the RET program next summer . . . thank you to all who made it possible!

PJS

2 comments:

kcarrette said...

Week 6th - Another end to a great summer RET experience.
Coming back this summer, after last, I wasn't sure if I would get anything more out of this program. I was worried that it would be a repeat of my last experience, bringing nothing new to the table.

Boy was I wrong. This summer was challenging, enlightening, and enriching. I learned more in the lab and got so much more out of each professional development session. From this experience, I will not only teach my newly developed lesson, but I will change yet again, my style of teaching.

Thank you to everyone that participated in the program this summer. You each helped to make the summer another memorable one.


On a side note....I still am not a member of this blog and still can't seem to become one. Anyone know how to become a "participant" on the page?

Dr. Manju Prakash said...

These six weeks were very challenging, enriching, and productive. My research paper with Professor Sun is in progress and he will mail me the draft soon. He has invited me to participate again during next year. When I started the 2009 RET program at NEU, I had no idea that I will be able to achieve what I did. I felt ups and downs of research experiences which made my stay at NEU very worthwhile. Professional development sessions
reminded me the focus of the program, how will you make impact in the classroom?

The last week (#6) when I felt a sense of achievement both as a teacher and physicist.

I will tell my friends, NEU/RET is one of the most rewarding ways to grow and have fun during summer.