Afrodita Fuentes – S08/SED697
5/7/08
EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS – SLO4
Professional Conferences – SED525 & SED600
Assignment Description
Since I started teaching, I have met wonderful teachers who have become my mentors
and have encouraged me to attend workshops and conferences. So when Dr. Rivas (SED600)
and Dr. Herr (SED525) required me to attend a couple of conferences for professional growth, I
was glad this was not my first time to go to a conference. I was definitely excited for the
opportunity to go to a conference once again, listen to a bunch of presenters’ ideas and research,
and hopefully use two or three ideas with my students. For SED600 I went to a Humanitas
Program training in the fall 2006 and for SED525 I attended the California Science Education
Conference in the fall 2007.
Connection to SLO
I attended a number of workshops at the California Science Education Conference and I
gathered many ideas and strategies that help provide a rich experience to my biology students.
One of them was called “foldables” and the presenters showed how to make different and simple
folds with pieces of paper that could serve different purposes, such as developing vocabulary and
creating 3D models to study concepts. I have new ideas for students to study the phases of cell
division, the four molecules of life, and the organ systems in the human body.
Another workshop I attended was called “A Vivid Simulation for Human Population
Growth” in which the reproduction strategies of 5 different families where predicted in 100
years. I attended this conference with a colleague who teaches math and it was wonderful to
attend this workshop with her. We realized that we can plan a couple of lessons together because
she teaches exponential equations in algebra 2 and I discuss exponential growth in biology. This
Afrodita Fuentes – S08/SED697
5/7/08
was a great discovery and I think teachers in our small learning community should attend
conferences together because we get to know each other and our curriculum, as well as share and
develop new ideas. Attending conferences together appear to foster the planning of
interdisciplinary lessons, which is what my small learning community would like to do.
At the humanitas training, many groups of teachers from different high schools in the Los
Angeles Unified School District presented their interdisciplinary units. This was definitely
inspiring because the teachers were eager to share their work and student work; they were
working together and they had a wealth of knowledge. I really wished to be a member of their
group. Humanitas in the Age of Enlightment meant “good human.” The vision of the Humanitas
Program is bringing many academic subjects together to study aspects of the human condition
and avoiding a single pattern of thought to define any discipline. The academic subjects include
the classics, languages, literature, music, philosophy, performing arts, religion, and the visual
arts. It also involves the social sciences such as archaeology, area studies, communications,
cultural studies, and history. And more recently there have been efforts include the sciences
such as inter-coordinated science, biology, chemistry, and physics.
Reflection and Influence on my Teaching
The Humanitas program is a model that provides teachers with a framework for creating
interdisciplinary, thematic, team-taught, writing-based humanities instruction. Teams of teachers
(in different disciplines) work to define themes of study, plan interdisciplinary units, and
implement those units using strategies that actively involve students in the learning process.
Teachers select appropriate student materials that highlight the themes of study and that are
interesting to students. Themes of study engage, interest, and involve students in discussion.
Afrodita Fuentes – S08/SED697
5/7/08
Some components of the Humanitas curriculum include building vocabulary, writing-based
instruction, teaching methodologies and engaging students, interdisciplinary curriculum trips,
and interdisciplinary exams (essays). I am happy to say that the Humanitas training and listening
to the opinions of students participants of the program, partly influenced, my decision to
implement student-led presentations for my action research in the science masters program.
It is clear to me that it is very important to stay updated, grow, and rejuvenate as a
teacher. Ah! And after I am done with my masters, I will definitely have time to enjoy and put
into practice the wonderful opportunities I get by participating in teacher conferences,
workshops, programs, and networks.