Science Connections

Latest Episodes:

S2-03. Building meaningful student connections: Sharita Ware Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with Sharita Ware, Indiana State Teacher of the Year to talk about how to build meaningful student connections. Sharita shares her journey from a corporate career to becoming Indiana's 2022 Teacher of the Year, and her passion for creating project-based lessons for her students. Together, Eric and Sharita discuss how educators can teach students to love science content by building strong relationships, how to add in other content areas and ways to support students' imagination.
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S2-02. Developing your own teaching style: Tips from a veteran teacher Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with veteran educator and former Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Middle School Science Teacher of the Year, Marilyn Dieppa. Marilyn shares tips for new teachers, ways to inspire students, and how she utilizes her journalism background to develop literacy skills within her science classroom. She also shares her experiences developing a robotics academy, and the VEX IQ World’s Competition.
Check out VEX Robotics here!
Join Science Connections: The Community here!

S2-01. How teachers are really feeling this school year Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

In this special solo episode, Eric Cross starts the season by sharing his personal journey as an educator, and how the difficulties of the last few years have shaped his mindset going into the upcoming school year. Eric also addresses teacher burnout and what inspires him to continue working as a classroom educator.

S1-10. Empowering the science educator: Jessica Kesler Jun 08, 2022

Show notes

In the final episode of the season, Eric sits down with his friend and professional development facilitator, Jessica Kelser. During the episode, Jessica describes her passion for sharing high-quality, empathy-centered professional development for K–12 educators. The conversation also dives into Jessica's experiences teaching in Philadelphia, and how teachers' roles often involve more than just delivering content.
Find free professional development with the TGR Foundation!
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S1-09. Supporting K–8 science students in the digital world: Ricky Mason May 25, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Eric sits down with Ricky Mason, CEO of BrainSTEM. Ricky shares his passion for inspiring students into science careers, and his path from an engineering career with organizations like the Department of Defense, NASA, and the CIA to starting BrainSTEM, an education program that develops creative digital tools to enable all teachers and students to dive deeper into STEM content. Ricky and Eric talk about representation in science classrooms and the importance of embedding fun within K–8 science content!
Check out BrainSTEM here!
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S1-08. The importance of risk-taking in the science classroom, a conversation with Valeria Rodriguez May 11, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with Miami-based educator, Valeria Rodriguez. Valeria shares her journey of serving in the Peace Corps, working a corporate job, and eventually finding her passion as a middle-school science teacher. Listen in as Valeria explains how sketchnoting, a form of note-taking that utilizes illustrations, encourages student choice and creativity in her classroom. Eric and Valeria discuss the importance of risk-taking within the science classroom, and how their own mistakes can be crucial in modeling resilience for students. Valeria also shares several teachers that have inspired her throughout her career.
Check out Valeria here!
Download a free poster created by Valeria here!
Join Science Connections: The Community on Facebook!

S1-07. Overcoming adversity in the science classroom. A conversation with Joe McCormick Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Eric sits down with Joe McCormick, director of engineering at SplitSpot. Joe shares his experience of losing his central vision in high school and the transition into college at Harvard. Eric and Joe chat about self-advocacy within the classroom, and scaffolds that worked for Joe as he learned how to navigate the world with his disability. Eric also learns about beep baseball, the adapted national pastime for the blind and visually impaired, and the importance of its community for Joe’s journey to becoming an engineer. Lastly, Joe shares about accessibility tools, college acceptance, and how to motivate students to love computer science.
Read more about Joe's story here.
Join Science Connections: The Community on Facebook!

S1-06. Supporting students with a creative twist: A conversation with Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Eric sits down with the Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield. Shad shares his experience teaching during the first year of the pandemic, where Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. Shad also explains ways he connects with his students to celebrate student success, as well as large-scale efforts he leads within his school to cultivate the love of learning science content.
Check out Shad on social media!
Youtube Channel: Shad Lacefield
Facebook: @TheCharacterEducator
Instagram: @slacefield_charactereducator

S1-05. How does coding fit in the science classroom? A conversation with Ayanna Trejo Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Eric sits down with Aryanna Trejo, a professional learning specialist of Code.org. Aryanna shares her journey from working as an elementary teacher in New York City and Los Angeles to teaching other educators at Code.org. Eric and Aryanna chat about computer literacy within the science classroom, problem-solving skills, and ways to model productive struggle for students. Aryanna also shares ways to teach coding and computer literacy in schools, no matter the classroom’s technology level.
Check out Science Connections: The Community on Facebook here.
Visit Code.org!

S1-04. Connecting with students and caregivers in the science classroom: Ryan Renee Rudkin Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

In this special episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with veteran middle school teacher Ryan Rudkin. Ryan shares her expertise after almost two decades in the classroom, discussing ways to incorporate aspects of problem-based learning into the K–8 science classroom. Eric and Ryan talk about how to increase parent engagement, involve community members, and add excitement to lessons.
Connect with Ryan in our brand-new Facebook community here!
Check out March Mammal Madness here!

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