'Final Words' - Reflections on the Polar Science 2009 Project
I meant to write this blog post this morning, but frankly I've had a hard time writing a 'goodbye' to all of you. Susan and I both agree that of all the projects we have done, this has been our favourite! If I tried to list all the things I really liked about this project, you'd have to keep scrolling down for a long time :-). In no particular order, here are some highlights for me:
- Even though we have already done two previous Polar Science projects, I learned a lot more about the research that Dr. Kanatous and his team are undertaking, and the potential benefits for humans.
- I really appreciate the dedication to education that both Shane Kanatous and Tom Hawke exhibited. They gave freely of their time and expertise in order to help us learn.
- After many years in the classroom I already have a profound respect for educators, but teachers, I really appreciate the efforts to which you have gone to make this a rewarding experience for your students - trying new technology, monitoring your students' online activity, re-arranging your schedules to fit in the webcasts, and sharing your own learning. This has been a great opportunity for your students to see you as co-learners.
- Students, you were amazing! You had fun, but you also showed that you took learning seriously. You treated the blogs and webcasts as learning tools - asking insightful questions, engaging in conversations, and sharing what you learned with others.
Now it's your turn!
Individually, in small groups, or as a class, (like Angus Morrison students did), we'd like to hear your 'final words' about the project. Your feedback is important to us! We'll use it to help us design future projects. We'll also pass it on to the project sponsors to show them how important their sponsorship is to your education.
Diane
Polar Science Admin Team
Comments
Susan's reflections
I have to agree with Diane that this has indeed been the best project we have organized to date, and certainly my favourite so far! It was so impressive to see you, the participating students and teachers, steer this project in the direction you wanted it to go. It was because of your interest, your enthusiasm, and your commitment to learning that Polar Science '09 was so successful.
We've worked with many students over the years - personally, through project blogs, and in webcasts - and every year I'm amazed not only by how much we all learn from our guests, but also by what we learn from each other. We had quite a wide range of ages participating in this project, but you all came together to share your new found knowledge with each other, and that's what it's all about!
I would like to thank Dr. Hawke and Dr. Kanatous for their dedication to the project. They are busy, busy researchers and teachers, and the fact that they gave so freely of their time shows us how much education means to them. I would also like to thank Diane for the many hours she put into creating, researching, and organizing Polar Science. Her talent is exceeded only by her patience.
Thanks also to all of the students and teachers that joined us this year. It was an exciting, interesting, and educational journey...and one that I hope we'll take together again soon.
Until then,
Susan
YES I Can! Science
Many Thanks
I just wanted to thank everyone for developing and creating this amazing opportunity for the students. Opening the students to such an enriching and exciting research project generated lots of buzz and conversation about post secondary education. They experienced first hand how education, in particular graduate research can be hands on, fun and life changing. Thank-you for valuing every child's question and query. They were delighted to learn how to use flashmeeting to ask questions and to type questions into the chat section and they were even more excited to see or hear a response. Reading blogs from the scientist and other students came alive when they could see them live during the webcasts. Thank-you for inspiring young minds to dream of becoming scientists and to set goals of post secondary education.
Thank-you, Mrs. Conner