You’re ecstatic when your conference session proposal is accepted. And then you learn that you have a Sunday morning time slot, in competition with early departures, church services, hotel brunches, and last-minute sightseeing or souvenir-gathering. You predict 2-3 participants at best or an empty room at worst. Is it worth the planning and preparation?
But never fear–Science teachers work on the weekends! The die-hards at the convention center this morning were treated to some excellent presentations.
The 40+ sttendees at the Sci-agrams session, presented by a team from New York City, left with an I-can-do-this attitude. The team of presenters from several schools, guided us through a process of drawing accurate diagrams in science. “I can’t draw” is not an excuse! You can see more of their work in the November 2012 issue of Science & Children Drawing Out the Artist in Science Students.

One of the best discussions I ever had at a conference session was during the session Mentor-Mentee Dialogues: Fostering the Development of Beginning Science Teachers–the last session of the conference. The presenter described her research on new teachers/student teachers’ perceptions of their work and progress toward becoming more reflective and student-centered. She gave use some case studies and asked us (in small groups) to analyze the situations and offer suggestions and advise to the novice teacher. The 20+ in attendance included veteran teachers, administrators, student teaching supervisors, and some teachers with less than 5 years themselves. The variety of responses from these perspectives was fascinating and informative.
Thanks to all of the presenters (especially those with early morning, late afternoon, Sunday, and at-the-same-time-as-Bill-Nye time slots). Your willingness to share your experiences and expertise is much appreciated.