Hello! This past week I had the incredible honor of presenting to a group of K-12 educators through Aerospace STEM. The educators had a mini deep-dive experience to thinking about where they are in their own teaching journeys to understand that strategies don't change practice. There is a reason for why some of the best PD never makes it into the classroom and it has so much to do with what we value and believe about teaching and learning. If you're ready to have a conversation with me (and really yourself) about your own teaching practices in preparation of taking on the NGSS and climate change/science, crack open my book today to get started =). Check out my new friends at Aerospace here: https://aerospace.org/STEM-Events They also offer many free opportunities for teachers and students to get involved in STEM and aerospace throughout the year (i.e. Attending networking events, have an aerospace professional zoom in with your students, have students join one of the outreach programs, etc.). They are fantastic! Stay tuned for my upcoming posts! I'm traveling with my book to showcase ways to bring culturally relevant phenomena into the science curriculum in meaningful ways to engage students in science more authentically =).
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Hey there and welcome to my website! If you're reading this posting it's likely that you picked up a copy of my book, are currently registered for one of my upcoming workshops, or are in my personal circle here to support. Whatever brought you here, thank you so much.
Thank you for trusting me and for using your time to read this and/or my new book. So I decided to start posting again because my new book is out (not just out but was recently the #1 New Book Release on Amazon which is just crazy). I am beyond flattered and at the same time wanting to keep it real. Brené Brown tells her readers that if we dare to lead, we have to understand that we will get our butts handed to us at some point. That if we dare to live in the arena (rather than from the sidelines where it's easier to scrutinize the work of others rather than to courageously put yourself out there), this is bound to happen. She's absolutely right because it takes a great amount of courage to put your ideas out there and to be this vulnerable with others who don't know you. So I hope that my blog serves as a way to continue conversations started in my book so that I have opportunities to connect, support, and learn alongside my readers. This book was based on 1) my personal teaching experiences ranging from Title 1 low income schools in L.A. to high socioeconomic status schools in O.C., 2) my instructional coaching experiences for L.A. school districts and the state of California when I had to fly up and down the coast supporting classroom teaching, and 3) many years of dissertation work at UCLA with amazing local and national partners to support teachers from over 50 school districts around climate change and science. Now that you have an image of the labor of love you have in your hands, I tried my very best to write the book I wish I had when I was trying to figure out ways to activate student agency as a teacher myself. Through this book, I hope that you find nuggets that pushed you in some way to think or take action that you're willing to share with this community if you're feeling courageous as well. My hope with this first book (dare I say "first") is that I help one teacher out there who needs either inspiration, ideas, or courage to take on climate change in their science class. Even better - if they can do so in transformative ways by deeply analyzing their teaching practices so that this work moves beyond just the content, then I know the practices are bound to stick. I hope this book helps educators to do the work needed to move help evolve science education so when I finally ask at the next PD, "Are we teaching students the skills and knowledge to address 21st century needs and issues?" I hear a resounding, "Yes!" We can't wait any longer to teach about the climate crisis in ways that will help students, colleagues, schools, and communities take action as change agents. Teachers are the critical mass needed to move on this crisis. We can do this if we do this together. I look forward to connecting for anyone reading and wanting a sounding board to amplify these efforts. Cheers! Kelley |
Dr. Kelley LeDr. Le is an educator, instructional coach, educational leader, and professional development program designer and facilitator for California schools. Archives
July 2021
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