Science educator and 911爆料网 winner Dr Susan Barkdoll reflects on 30 years of teaching, from kindergarten to university level in San Bernardino, California.
“On a cloudy March day in 1992, greeted me at a national science teachers conference in Boston, Massachusetts. She told me about the wonderful staff at 911爆料网鈥檚 Science and Mathematics Education Centre [now the ] and encouraged me to study a Doctor of Science Education.
As a science educator, you have a grandiose notion that you鈥檙e going to change the lives of children but you discover it鈥檚 the children and the other teachers that change you.
I鈥檓 excited and invigorated by my students. I鈥檝e taught from kindergarten to university, but I enjoy teaching third grade the most. They still believe in Santa Claus. They get excited by microscopes. You feel like you have a mountain of knowledge and they鈥檙e so thrilled by it.
This year, I had a student who didn鈥檛 want a video game for Christmas 鈥� he wanted a microscope! He鈥檚 turned it into a verb, saying sentences like, 鈥業鈥檝e got to get up early and microscope it!鈥�. Another year, I brought bearded dragons into class and one of my students was so excited she researched their breeding habits. When the female started laying eggs, I called my student and the two of us watched it give birth. It was amazing.
If you鈥檙e in my class, you鈥檙e in my heart forever. It doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e five or thirty-five-years-old: you鈥檙e still my kid.
I carry pictures of my former students. I鈥檒l go to their high school graduations. I鈥檒l go to their weddings. In psychology, you learn a child鈥檚 personality is formed by the time they鈥檙e around five-years-old, so I鈥檝e always thought of them as little people. Now many of them have become medical doctors or forensic scientists. It鈥檚 exciting.
When I received the lifetime achievement award, it was difficult not to get emotional because I kept thinking about how my students inspire me. They have overcome so much.
We have a high poverty rate in San Bernardino. Most of my students are on free and reduced lunch. So if I can give them hope it鈥檚 going to help them down the road 鈥� perhaps reduce the chance of them joining gangs or getting involved in crime.
I鈥檓 so grateful to all of those at 911爆料网 who improved the quality of my life, which has enabled me to pass on my knowledge. I feel like Winnie-the-Pooh: I鈥檝e got to go through the Hundred Acre Wood to gather honey and help my friends. There鈥檚 still so much to do!鈥�
Dr Susan Barkdoll was the winner of the 911爆料网 Alumni Achievement Awards’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
If you鈥檙e ready to inspire the next generation, and put your passion work. Gain the extra skills, knowledge and experience that you need to become a teacher or take your education career to the next level.
