Tag Archives: Interdisciplinary

Work/Life Balance While Quarantined

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Brandon Washington (WWTF ’14)

BIOGRAPHY
Brandon Washington is a Technology Education Teacher at Hamilton High School West. He became a teacher after working for over 10 years in the Technology industry. Washington became a Woodrow Wilson New Jersey Teaching Fellow in 2014 and received his Master of Arts in Teaching from The College of New Jersey. He has taught Technology Education at the secondary education level for the past five years and recently began teaching as an adjunct professor at LaSalle University in the Integrated Science Business and Technology Department.
SCHOOL PROFILE

  • Large school
  • Urban
  • Traditional Public School
  • Enrolled students: 1,243
  • Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible: 43%
  • Demographics: 3% Asian, 20% Black, 37% Hispanic, 38% White, 2% other

SESSION ABSTRACT
Join Brandon Washington as he shares his journey through quarantine. The session, Work/Life Balance while Quarantined, is a success story pertaining to ways in which one can manage remote teaching during a pandemic. Brandon will share a problem-solving approach to meeting professional expectations and a strategy for persevering during these difficult times. The session will provide various resources, a strategy for accomplishing day-to-day tasks, and an approach to finding peace at home.

Weaving Chemistry into the Fabric of Life

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Laura Cummings (WWTF ’09)

BIOGRAPHY
Laura Cummings teaches first-year chemistry and AP Chemistry at Herron and Riverside High Schools in Indianapolis, Indiana and serves as the Science Department Chair. Laura was in the inaugural cohort of Woodrow Wilson Indiana Fellowship program and has just completed her 10th year teaching high school chemistry. Laura serves as an instructional coach, mentoring early career teachers to help them develop strong teaching practices. She emphasizes weaving classroom experiences into real-life applications of chemistry.
SCHOOL PROFILE

  • Small to medium sized schools
  • Urban
  • Charter School
  • Enrolled students: Herron 934 students, Riverside 320 students
  • Free/Reduced lunch eligible: Herron 36%; Riverside: 64%
  • Demographics: Herron: 54% White, 25% Black, 11% Hispanic, 8% Multiracial, 1% Asian; Riverside: 58% Black, 20% White, 13% Hispanic, 6% Multiracial, 1% Asian

SESSION ABSTRACT
Parker Palmer wrote, “Good teachers join self, subject, and students in the fabric of life.” The “fabric of life” necessitates more than just a screen. How can we design E-Learning lessons that have students doing safe three-dimensional, non-screen-based activities that connect what they are learning in chemistry with their worlds at home? Laura will share approaches that were developed this spring in E-Learning that had students off their screens and engaged in the “fabric” of their lives. This includes an acid scavenger hunt, cleaning with acids and bases, baking with acids and bases, and a pressure scavenger hunt.