Author Archives: Lynn Petrinjak

From Elementary Ed to Inspiring Speakers

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: April 12, 2013

I started the morning with a visit to the Elementary Extravaganza. So much activity was going on. I overheard one attendee exclaim, “I didn’t know we had so many elementary teachers!” I’m not sure if he meant in Texas or in NSTA! I also attended Mireya Mayor’s feature presentation,”My Wild Life.” She is a field [...]

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Gender poll has me wondering

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: September 20, 2012

NSTA has been running informal polls of our members online and sharing the results — and your unvarnished comments — in NSTA Reports for about two years. One of the more interesting things I do as the paper’s editor is sift through the comments and share the mix of views educators expresson the given topic. Some [...]

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Do you know STEM when you see it?

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: April 13, 2012

Jonathan Gerlach, an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator, discusses the difficulty of defining science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in this month’s NSTA Reports commentary. I’d like to know what educators — whether you’re in one of the STEM fields or not — and others think about this. Is there a clear way to define [...]

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Dedicated teachers willing to go the distance

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 31, 2012

I talk to teachers from all over the country during the national conference and am no longer surprised to find some who have traveled from distance corners of the nation. There also usually an international group. But once in a while, I’ll meet a teacher like Elizabeth who attends the conference despite the fact that she [...]

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Planning for next year now

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 31, 2012

Saturday morning and the conference is going strong. As I was walking down the hall, I overheard a woman telling a friend how she was overwhelmed — there was just too much that she wanted to do while here. She said, “Next year, I’m coming a day earlier!” Guess it’s time to start planning for [...]

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Long day, but they’re still at it

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 30, 2012

It’s been a long day, but there are still sessions going on. The exhibit hall is still a popular spot with many folks checking out the latest texts, software, and other “interactives” like the walking stick pictured here!

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Why they come, part 2

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 30, 2012

Indianapolis chemistry teacher Georgia Watson was enthusiastic about her experience today at the NSTA national conference. Not only did she present on her project-based forensic science program, but she also visited the exhibit hall, where she collected resources—including several free ones! Deanna, in town from Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been attending sessions this morning, focusing [...]

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Educators want to know more about the NGSS Framework

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 30, 2012

This morning’s session on the Framework for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) drew quite a crowd. In addition to the people sitting and standing around the periphery, I saw a number of educators standing in the hallway just outside the door. Some attendees posed questions, ranging from the inclusion of controversial topics in the [...]

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Elementary educators’ early morning

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 30, 2012

The Elementary Extravaganza opened this morning at 8 am. When I stopped by a little later, the room was packed (I heard an estimate of approximately 500 attendees). Teachers were testing out a variety of activities—I saw balloons, balls, and other objects flying around several tables. I also saw Page Keeley, former NSTA president and [...]

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Why they come

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: March 29, 2012

I talked to a couple science educators earlier today about why they came to the NSTA National Conference in Indianapolis. Indiana resident John Sellers was looking for ideas to add to his curriculum. Peter Garik, who presented a session on science and engineering, wanted to share information on his program at Boston University and gather feedback from [...]

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