Teresa Lee
[email protected]
8th Grade Regents Earth Science
Southside Middle School
Rockville Centre, NY 11570

Where I've Been

There are two things I have known since my early school days, the first being that I have always loved living on Long Island. The second is  that I always wanted to be a teacher.

I feel blessed to have been born and raised in Valley Stream and that I had the opportunity to have been educated in the Valley Stream schools. I have enjoyed the accessibility of a variety of entertainment as wide ranging as the exciting night life of New York City to the peace and quiet of Jones Beach on a sunny fall afternoon, all just a short trip away from home. I feel that the availability of libraries, museums, planetariums, and a rainbow of cultural events, are partly responsible for my personal quest for knowledge. Having had some excellent teachers further developed and focused my natural curiosity and fueled my determination toward my goal to become a teacher myself.

Once I graduated from high school I decided that I would not leave the area to continue my education and went to Hofstra University to pursue a degree in education, majoring in science and elementary education. after receiving my Bachelor’s Degree, I continue in Post Graduate courses, finally receiving my Master’s Degree in Education. I then applied for, and was granted, my teaching certification for all grades from elementary to high school. I was very fortunate to have been able to find a position in a local school district that is progressive and willing to adapt new technology and techniques for teaching our students.

My Life as an Educator

I have had five years of teaching experience, from elementary through high school. As I stated earlier my goal has always been to teach. Combine this with a love of science and discovery, and I can honestly say that I love teaching science. While I have been teaching a variety of science courses over the years, Earth Science is my favorite and I can’t wait to be able to focus on teaching only earth science next year. While I am content right now with my life teaching middle school, if one day should that change, I will be ready as I am certified in many areas allowing me the flexibility to move around.

As a teacher I’ve been described as dedicated, enthusiastic, and hard working. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of times where I may have come across as mean, strict, or exhausted. I pride myself on going to work everyday and educating the students, which could be compared to putting on a show. I feel if the students see that the subject matter really interests the teacher it becomes contagious and they find themselves free to actually enjoy learning and tap into their own curiosity,  participating and contributing without that negative ‘nerdy’ connotation.

My Favorite Lessons

My favorite lessons are those where the kids are working together with a hands on project. This of course is easier in science than in other subjects because of the nature of the subject and the fact that I usually have my students for double periods every other day. These hands on projects make the student as much of an instructor as the teacher, allowing the student to invest their own energies into the lesson thereby getting more out of it.

Some of my favorite hands on projects that I recall are ;

• Creating moon craters by throwing different sized beads at a wet plaster moon surface.
• Learning about the law of superpositioning by cutting a snickers in half and trying to figure out exactly how they make them from start to finish.
• Understanding the phases of the moon by scrapping the cream out of Oreos cookies to show the 8 phases of the moon as seen from earth.

When I'm Not Working...

Even though I spend a great deal of time planning, preparing, grading, and teaching, I try to find time to relax and decompress. I enjoy spending time with my dog, Moose, a 160 pound Great Dane who, while menacing looking to strangers, is actually an overgrown puppy. I spoil my dog and treat him as if he was my child and he repays me with his non judgmental love. On my worst days he’ll come up to me and just want to cuddle, giving me time to distress and put things back into perspective. I love taking him to the dog park, hiking, and walking on the beach. I also relax and enjoy reading the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. It’s the first time I had a book to read simply for leisure.

My preferences in television and movies lean toward truly entertaining offerings, such as the Harry Potter movies, some of the quality animated movies such as Shrek, Toy Story, and others in that genre. A good story, whether it be about people, animals, family dynamics, or personal triumph, will interest me as well as science fiction to the degree that the plot is somewhat feasible. The bottom line is that the quality of the story and characters are more important to me than flash and fluff.

I also enjoy working on the school’s website. While I may not have achieved “Master” webmaster skills yet, I have developed not only the school website, but also my personal site for communication with my students and their parents. Every time I go online I try to learn one new technique in webpage design.

Web Sites I Like

Here are a few of my favorite websites:

• Brainpop – you need a username and password to sign on but the short videos are very good for an introduction or a review of a lesson
• Unitedstreaming – is another go multimedia website that you need a password to assess. I recommend signing up for a free trial.
• Science News for Kids - This is one of my favorite sites to send kids to. The website provides well written, easily understood, up to date and factual information. Students can easily find articles that they are interested in and you can find articles that connect textbook topics with today’s world. The pictures are extraordinary (especially the ones from the earth and space section). This site is an excellent resource to get students reading up on science topics that interest and affect them.
• Aquifer Virtual Field Trip - This website actually inspired me to create my own virtual field trip. The concept of having students guided through hand picked resources works successfully with my very energetic middle school students. The only drawback to this site is that the topics to choose from are limited, but if they fit into your curriculum they really are a superb one stop shop to allow student exploration of a topic in a confined space.
• Ology - Ology was introduced to me at my local SciMex fair. While talking with a representative from the museum, he suggested I explore their student resources. I have used their museum resources myself for my professional research. Although the website looks juvenile, the information provided is accurate. Some higher level students might need more but it is a good beginning spot for a research project.
• Zoom Planets - This website is oriented toward elementary education, but helps students interpret many graphs and visuals about the planets. This content is brief and to the point and is appropriate for all students.
• Energy Calculator - This website is great when discussing global warming. Students can actually calculate the amount of energy their house uses. After all students get their EQ we can discuss the difference between households and the level of energy use. We can also come up with ways that middle school students can impact the environment by lowering their own energy use and decrease global warming.