For me, New Orleans will be “unforgettable, in every way,” to quote the old Nat King Cole ballad. I feel as though I left a part of my heart there. It was a privilege to be able to visit the Crescent City, and I thank NSTA for it.
I also will never forget all of the wonderful science educators I met and chatted with each day. Here are six of them who graciously shared their impressions of the conference and allowed me to photograph them.
—Debra Shapiro
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Being a [science] coach, I work with a lot of teachers. So from NSTA, I would say that at this conference, I’ve gotten a lot of information for myself as far as professional development with coaching and the different models that different states actually use. So I will take that back and share [it] with the other coaches. Then for teachers, [I’ve received] a lot of hands-on activities that they can use, a lot of information about how to scaffold lessons for English-language-learner students, because we have a big population of those students that we are now learning that we need to service much better. Charity Lawson, Landover, Maryland |
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I have been very impressed with the sessions this time. I’ve had a lot of trouble singling out one session for each time slot: I have to narrow it down from about 20. Mary Lara, Flagstaff, Arizona |
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This is my first NSTA conference. I’ve heard about them quite a bit; wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It’s been a great experience so far. I attended a lot of workshops based on technology and sort of in that realm, and I learned quite a bit from those…a lot of different project ideas to take back to my classroom…Getting a chance to really learn how to set up a web page and how to have students interact within a web page was wonderful. Jonathan Ryberg, Astoria, New York |
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As a person new in a district-wide position, coordinating science education [while] out of the classroom, I approached this conference a little differently than previous ones I’ve come to. I’ve tried to focus on sessions that were more general rather than subject-specific, and so I have been looking for pedagogy and practices and things that make sense in the classroom—best practices in the classroom—and I found a lot of that. Gary Fortenberry, Lubbock, Texas |
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As a [graduate] student, the opportunity to be able to go at a greatly reduced rate was really what spurred me on to be able to go, because otherwise I probably couldn’t have afforded it. Robin Reiner, Billerica, Massachusetts |
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I bought some really cool stuff. Lots to see. I drooled over a couple things I’m going to order when I get home, I think. And I got a bunch of things for writing grants and things like that…I teach biotechnology, and there’s tons related to what I teach—that’s even better than what I expected. Claire Salier-Hellendag, Spring, Texas |
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Are you planning to come to the NSTA Area Conference on Science Education in New Orleans next month? Visit http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2011new for more information.