MITS
Museum Institute for Teaching Science
Past Participants’ Responses
'Your MITS SI programs are fabulous, not only in content, but also in variety of places visited, resources made available and most importantly, leadership. The leader of the two MITS SI programs I took...was so knowledgeable, creative and accessible."
"All I do is talk about how wonderful the program was and how much I got out of it. The knowledge, the hands-on experiences, the working with other teachers, the lessons and activities. Truly helpful and useful."
"we moved around every two days, the topics varied at each location but there was one CENTRAL learning theme...everything was very well planned and put together."
"The locations chosen by MITS and the staff used to educate us were awesome...I cannot say enough about the incividuals educating us. It is obvious to see how much they love what they do. And we, as students cannot help but get caught up in their excitement. What a great lesson for any teacher! If we show excitement for the subject matter we are teaching, our excitement will be passed along to the children...I look forward to participating in MITS programs in the future. There is no better way to learn about our world than to be out in it, asking questions! Thank you!"
"...this Institute has really made me look at measurement in a new way. Now, I view it not just as a skill that needs to be learned, but as a very valuable tool that students can use to make sense of the world around them. Making measurements that are meaningful to the students as children will help them to make measurements to the students as scientists and explorers of nature."
"These past nine days have certainly peeked an interest and desire to tweak the many lessons I have done with my students and will have a powerful impact on my selection and creation of future lessons."
"The inquiry, hands- on approach is the key, especially with my special students!"
"The sites we have visited are able to make math and science connections to the real world so much better than pure classroom learning does. They are able to explore questions much more deeply and allow people to take their inquiry in different directions. In school - at least in the tradtional classroom setting - we are limited in materials, resources, time, space and "test results". I want to start changing the way I teach math and science and make it more real and meaningful for kids. I need to inspire and encourage them to ask their own questions and look for their own answers."
"Doing this activity helped me to see its broader application than the one way I had used it in the past...I have had opportunity to see the many directions open-ended questioning lead teachers and students into more meaningful discussions with "how and why."
"The lessons today make me realize first hand how important differentiated instruction is and how important presenting the instruction is crucial for students to learn. I enjoyed experiencing the same type of lesson presented in different ways. I realized that it doesn't take that much more work to prepare...My goal for next year is to make lessons more thinking and try lessons with different instruction. "
"These two weeks have been very informative and vry interesting and I learned a great deal - not only about how to approach these topics in a classroom, but also information for myself. My eyes have been opened ot so many new topics - it has been great!"
"When we compared the elements and characteristics of the two contarasting lessons [an activity presented in both directed and guided fashion] it became very clear that the guided format encourages us to think and explore on our own, using our own problem solving skills...I clearly saw that it makes a world of difference how a lesson is presented to the class. Guided and open inquiries promote a more active and meaningful learning process on the part of the student."
"I'm sold on inquiry based activities. They are much more fun and more effective because people like to do things with their hands and learn better from real life experiences than looking at or talking about them."