GLACIER

This semester I am "teaching" a seminar on GK-12 education, part of a National Science Foundation grant called GLACIER (GLobAl Change Initiative: Education and Research) spearheaded by my departmental colleague Suchi Gopal. I put "teaching" in quotes because I am as much a student in this seminar as any of the 10 advanced graduate students. We are together exploring how science research on topics related to global environmental change can be communicated effectively to public audiences, including grades 5-8 school children. One of the initial things we are grappling with is an appropriate way to blog about our experiences: how each of us can write for the public about our experiences in the classroom - balancing the desire for genuine personal expression, while maintaining professionalism and respecting the privacy of students who provide much of the observational material for blog postings. I have some ideas which I will post in future blog postings here, and welcome comments on those ideas.