My Nonprofit Reviews

AMTA is an amazing grass-roots network of teachers that has allowed me to connect with educators who are passionate about teaching science. These educators are from my own locale, from across the nation and around the world. They help me to refine constantly how I am present in a classroom whether this be with high school students, college students wanting to become middle school teachers, or other STEM teachers. Together we are sharing ideas for how to get learners to think deeply and refectively about scientific phenomena and specifically about how the universe operates. I had been teaching 20 years when I accidentally stumbled across Modeling Instruction at ASU and the result is that both I and my students are challenged mentally in a much more real and useful way. That makes teaching interesting and challenging and continues to make it worthwhile. It also means that my students are truly excited about what they are able to do and accomplish and enjoy science in a way that is more real than before. They are no longer learning about something called physics. They are becoming physicists each day, discovering that they can be such a person. As an educator, my friends and colleagues in AMTA help me consider my role in the classroom. They help me to reflect and act on all the aspects of today's teaching including best practice for assessment, best practice to encourage dialogue learner to learner, best practice for use of technology, and best practice to ensure equity in my classroom and to ensure that the culture in the room is such that every learner knows their contribution is equally important to the understanding.
When I teach a workshop or participate in one, I always hear an echo of my own experience: "I wish I had known about you years ago!" Your donation can help us reach teachers sooner. It can allow us to be more widely known so that teachers don't have to 'accidentally discover' what we offer. Your donation can allow us to serve locations in the USA where teachers want to learn how to implement Modeling Instruction, but their district simply does not have funds to support them. Your donation will have a lasting impact. Consider that every teacher we serve impacts dozens of students every single year! There is evidence that more students who experience Modeling Instruction will go on to serve others in STEM fields such as engineering, medicine, chemistry, and of course as STEM teachers.