Leon County’s Presidential Awardee Steve Fannin on teaching science in Florida’s Brave New World
A few excerpts from the Tallahassee Democrat’s feature on Steve Fannin, published June 19:
A big issue in education right now is the fact that students are getting to college with high-level courses under their belt but no real understanding of the subject, [Fannin] said.
“We are seeing acceleration by omission. We just cut out all the basic classes that the students need to understand the material.
“In high school we place them in AP classes – in middle school we place them in high school classes – when there are basic concepts they haven’t mastered yet. And we are seeing that a lot right now.”
Fannin also has a focus on professional development. Eight years ago, Fannin started a lesson study group that allowed teachers to “talk shop” and develop a lesson plan together.
“I felt like teachers were stuck in their classroom, talked to adolescents all day and never got to talk to other teachers,” he said. ”We are never given time nor a structure that allows us to talk about our craft.”
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September 14, 2012 at 7:35 pm
[...] Today was the last day of work at Lincoln High School for Steve Fannin, Florida’s Presidential Awardee in science this year. [...]