Name

Tell us something that you think we need to know about you.

Diana Theriault

When I see pedagogy that sounds promising, I will try my best to embed it into my curriculum and teaching habits. For example, two years ago, I learned of a high school that had "flipped" their science classroom. I was so impressed by their presentation I decided to try do that as well within my AP Bio course and instituted the flipped classroom last school year. Students spend time at home listening to my lecture notes online while we spend our time together in class conducting labs and exercises and what it all means. Though I have to say, the closing and putting it altogether still needs a lot of work.

John Magee

I am training for IronMan Tahoe in September. Not relevant to teaching but pretty relevant to me right now :)

Dara Levy

I came to teaching after spending two years at Stanford as a biological sciences PhD student. After college, I knew I wanted to teach, but I envisioned myself teaching at a university. When I realized that I wasn't passionate about research, I decided to give high school teaching a shot. Twelve years later, I have never looked back, and I think that high school is a better fit than college ever would have been. Teaching high school allows me to reach students who may not have otherwise been interested in biology. Students must take freshman biology, and it's rewarding to help students realize that they can appreciate science even if they may not end up studying it in the future. Instilling an interest in or a love of science in high school students is one of the great joys of teaching.

Yasmin Tang

I teach at a very small, alternative school for students who have special educational needs--everything from students with dyslexia, severe ADHD, and autism spectrum disorders, to serious athletes who have special attendance needs, to ESL students with very limited English proficiency, to advanced students who desire to accelerate through their coursework to graduate early.

Dacotah Swett

I am also the chair of the science department at my school. Our AP Biology program has grown from 120 students this year to 250 students next year, and I need to coordinate labs and curricula for this course for the rest of the AP Bio team. I would love to be able to bring something new back to our school and be in a better position to help our new (not-even -hired-yet) AP Bio teacher!

Katherine E. Ward

I am obsessed with plants (perhaps because I can't grow them:-). I am in awe of their physiology (amazing what being non-motile and having to "brave" the elements can do to your gene pool!?!?!?). My favorite topics to teach (aside from plants) are cell signaling, cellular respiration and photosynthesis - isn't biochemistry beautiful and powerful? I read mostly non-fiction (and love evo-devo) - I met Sean Carroll (WOW - a little star struck).

Mayra Diaz

I believe have exemplary content knowledge is incredibly important as a teacher as it helps us facilitate quality learning for our students, allows us to share incredible case studies and examples of relevant scientific concepts, and inspire and motivate our students to pursue science.

Pamela Chow

I try to bring in current science news into my classroom so that students can see the connections the their own lives and hopefully get excited about the content (hopefully I am successful in this :)) I think this workshop will help me learn more that I can take back to the classroom.

Janet Lee

This will be my first year teaching AP Biology, but I have helped in student-teaching it and worked as a study group leader for the college equivalent of the course. I like to run and workout in my spare time. My strength is making connections across content and using media and technology.

Todd Gordon

I have been teaching for 24 years and have taught AP Biology for about half that time. I am always looking for ways to improve and keep my approach fresh and up-to-date.

Bernice Filerman

I have been teaching long enough to know that it is important not to work in a vacuum. Education is a process, knowledge is ongoing - I need to be more effective in the classroom. I need more knowledge and to be around folks with knowledge and fresh perspectives.