Introduce yourself (name, years taught, school, background, subject, grade, past experience with CS, etc.) Then come back later and read other entries and introduce yourself on another teachers thread (find and comment on something you have in common).
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://studio.code.org/s/sciencePD-iZone/stage/2/puzzle/4
Hi, My name is Latoya, I’ve been teaching for 9 years here in NYC. I started off teaching all middle school subjects, then math only, now science. I am excited to be a participant in CS and do look forward to having my students from Brooklyn unlock a whole new world.
Hi everyone!
I’m Kelly Vaughan. I’ve taught for 15 years, at schools in the Bronx, Harlem, Istanbul (Turkey), and now at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School. I started out teaching MS Science (mostly 6th but all the grades at least once). The last few years I’ve taught a HS class called Design & Technology that included some computer programming in Scratch. I was also the Science Dept. Head. Next year, I’m stepping down from my leadership program to teach 8th grade science full time.
I don’t have a lot of CS experience, but I took an amazing class on game programming through Coursera, called Introduction to Interactive Computer Programming in Python… we made all different games, culminating in Asteroids! Fun, challenging, and free… I recommend it. I am also married to a software engineer, and we have a new baby daughter named Ada (can you guess the inspiration for her name?).
I think that about covers it… looking forward to this!
Kelly
Hi Latoya,
Which middle school grade do you teach?
Kelly
Hi Everyone,
My name is Sean McCann, and I teach 7th-8th grade science in a middle school in the Bronx. It is my 11th year in New York City Schools, and I have taught both middle school and high school. My experience in computer science is very basic. But our science department wanted to create an elective that students could take involving computers/technology. I thought this professional development would be a great step forward in that goal.
I am married and have two young children. And even though I am taking a computer science class, my wife is much better than me using technology!
Hello, my name is Debi Goldfisher. I teach 7th grade science in Queens. It is my 8th year as a science teacher, and 8th year in the NYC school system. I have always loved computers, and implemented the Hour of Code in all my classes last fall. I thought this PD would combine what I enjoy most, which is teaching science and learning more about computers.
Hello everyone. I’m Dawnette. I currently teach 6th and 7th grade science at Cornerstone Academy in the Bronx. I have been teaching for 12 years. My computer science experience is limited. That’s why I’m very happy to be apart of this program. I look forward to corresponding and learning from you all. Best wishes to everyone.
Hi All, My Name is Geoneet Garcia , I am a 6th & 7th Grade science teacher in the South Bronxr, I have been with the DOE for 25 Years , I have been teaching for 15, I really have not taught cs , but I would love to do so through science .
Hi, my name is Jean Blyden Chester, I have been teaching 7th and 8th grade science for the past 15 years to New York City scholars. My experience in computer science is very basic, but my willingness to learn is very high.
I am excited to a participant in this program.
Hi everyone!
My name is Elma and I am excited to be here and to be part of this program. I am currently teaching 6th grade science at MS217 Robert Van Wyck School in Queens and this year will be my 5th year teaching in the school.
It will however be my 10th year teaching in the NYC public school system. I had taught 7th and 8th year levels in the past, so I have exposure to the science curriculum of all grade levels. However, I had never taught computer science but I would love to see and learn its applications in Science.
Like a some of us in this community, I am also a parent to two kids: a 5-year old boy and a 2-year old girl. I adore both of them, but they could surely make things challenging for me. But I welcome challenges, like being part of this program which I have very little background of. But I know that learning new things is one of the ways that I could continue to grow as a person and as a professional.
If you are reading this, I thank you for taking the time to read. I am happy to be here and I look forward to reading your posts!
Hi Jean. Thank you for introducing yourself. One thing that I see that we both have in common is that we both are excited to be part of this program. I look forward to learning with you. Thanks!
Hi Debi.
I guess that science and technology make a good combination. Science has the most interesting concepts that may be hard to understand unless they are modeled or recreated in a simulation. These are what computers do best. I feel that without technology, my capability to teach science concepts become limited.
Hi Everyone,
My name is Susan. I have been teaching 6th and 7th Science for 12 years at IS 145 in Jackson Heights, Queens. I am excited to be part of this wonderful program and look forward to bringing Computer Science back to the classroom.
Hello everyone,
My name is Alisa Patti (formerly Politano). I have been teaching with the DOE for the past 6 years. I work at KECSS in Brooklyn. It is an early college middle/high school where our students can graduate with an associates degree while graduating high school. I currently teach 6th grade science, but I have also taught 7th and 8th grade science as well as a 12th grade science elective. Before becoming a teacher for the DOE, I was an educational instructor for the Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium (So technically I have been teaching kids for the past 10 years.)
I have used iLearn for the past 2 years and I feel it has been extremely helpful to my struggling student readers and they enjoy using the computers to help them improve. I am looking forward to improving my CS background through this professional development series.
Hi Everyone
I am Barbara Kariya, technology teacher at IS 289 is lower Manhattan. I have been teaching for 15 years. I will be co-teaching the CS components in the 7th and maybe 8th grade science classes next year. I am a strong proponent of using programming in the science classroom. I hope to see a functional shift in the use of computers in the classroom where students investigate real world issues - hypothesizing, experimenting, data collecting etc and become invested in the process. I hope that by using this tool we will see more students developing a deeper interest in the sciences.
Hello,
I’m Joanne Caruso (soon to be Joanne Gelardo, as I am getting married this summer). I have been teaching for ten years, all of which have included teaching math and science, or just science, to middle school students. I currently teach science to 7th and 8th graders. I teach in District 11 in the Bronx. I have never implemented Computer Science into the curriculum and I am excited to learn how to do it!
Hello Everyone!
My name is Karen Silfa. I am a middle school science teacher for the past 13 years. I teach in IS 143, Washington Heights. I am currently teaching 7th grade science. Next year I will be teaching grades 6-8. I am excited to be participating in this program.
Hello All!
My name is Lynn Shon and I am a 7th grade science teacher and science coach at MS 88 in Brooklyn. I am just about done with my 5th year teaching and 1st year coaching + teaching. I have no experience with CS other than participating in hour of code this past school year! Looking forward to learning more with you all!
Hello Joanne,
My name is Alise Braick. Congratulation! I am glad that that you teach math as well. I have been teaching math at IS 392 in Brooklyn for the past 12 years. For the past two years, I have been supporting science through experiments, hands-on , and programming using Scratch. I did my first program when I was in college ( 25 years ago) using FORTRAN language. I believe that programming should be taugh in school as a second language. I am excited to be in this program
Hello,
My name is Alise Braick. I have been teaching math for the past 12 years at IS 392 Brooklyn. I believe that coding should be taught at school as a second language in the 21st century digital age. I am also the STEM Coordinator at my school. I love developing innovative STEM curriculum that expose students to real-world applications.