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Barbara Morgan Goes Out in Space to Discuss What Drives Learning
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Wednesday, September 20, 2017
 

BY KAREN BOSSICK

Barbara Morgan had an out-of-this-world experience when she spent two weeks aboard the International Space Station as a mission specialist.

But she gets just as excited talking about new innovations in bringing science to youngsters in the classroom as she did talking about her zero-gravity exercises leading up to her time in space.

“I loved teaching at McCall and I loved teaching on the Flathead Indian Reservation and in Quito, Ecuador. I loved serving as an astronaut and I love serving at Boise State University. There are a lot of commonalities between astronaut work and education work. It’s all about the exploration and discovery—it really is,” said Morgan, who was chosen as the backup to Christa McAuliffe in the NASA Teacher in Space Project.

“As an astronaut, you spend very little of your career actually in space—for me it was two weeks out of nine years with the rest of my time spent working on technical assignments for the astronaut corps. But it was fascinating and interesting and it helped contribute to our country and our species. And the same kind of learning about ourselves and our place in the universe happens in the classroom.”

Morgan will be talking about ways to engage today’s young people at the Alturas Institute’s Conversations with Exceptional Women Thursday and Friday, Sept. 21-22, at Ketchum’s Community Library.

Fifteen women from all walks of life will discuss a wide range of topics ranging from the 2016 presidential campaign to the advice they would give their younger selves in the forum, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day. Students who pre-register at www.alturasinstitute.com may attend for free.

Morgan said her hat’s off to teacher’s like Community School’s Trent Herbst, who involved his students in his Iditarod sled dog races and also engages them in hands-on projects involving everything from building tents that George Washington might have used to building boats they can float on.

“I’m sure kids can’t help but get curious about those endeavors. Curiosity is such a driver of learning and education,” said Morgan. “And things like our Common Core standards in education are really good because they are so thoughtful of the kinds of skills that students need to have just to succeed.”

Schools districts in Idaho and the rest of the nation are having trouble getting qualified teachers as longtime teachers retire. There are a lot of reasons for that, but one of the reasons is that kids are being discouraged from being teachers, said Morgan.

“I hear over and over, even from some whose parents are teachers, that they’re being told they can do much better, that they can make more money doing something else. But there is something really, really gratifying about working hard to help create an environment and opportunities for others to reach their full potential,” she said.

“And it’s fun. A lot of people say, ‘Oh I don’t think I could ever be a teacher. I don’t have the patience.’ But I think that they are thinking that teaching is all about having patience with little kids, that it’s all about classroom management stuff. But that’s the easier stuff.”

Morgan is particularly excited about an innovative program at Boise State University that addresses the need for teachers in the STEM fields. The IDoTeach program, inspired by the UTeach program started in Austin, Texas, blends cutting edge disciplinary coursework with early teaching experiences led by master teachers.

“We reach out to kids majoring in science, technology, engineering and math and say, ‘Have you ever thought about teaching? And, even if you haven’t, would you like to just try it to see what you think of it?’ ”

Students take a one-credit semester class in which they team up with a partner, learn to put together a quality lesson in their field and teach it in an elementary classroom. They review what they’ve done and then try out new ideas in a second classroom.

“Elementary kids love everyone who comes into the classroom. And the student-teachers work with their university professor and classroom teacher and one another. So there’s a lot of support in a really neat way,” said Morgan. “And it gives these young college students a chance to experience what teaching can be like and how much fun it is.”

Many of the students go on to a second class, which delves even deeper into teaching and they repeat the process in middle school. By then, a lot of the kids are hooked, and they go on to complete a degree in their original field of study, while graduating with a teaching credential.

Studies of Texas students have shown that up to 90 percent of those who have gone through the program are still teaching in the classroom after seven years.

“That’s a huge percentage,” said Morgan. “Across the country, it’s more like 50 percent or less still teaching after five years. The ongoing support helps these students become successful teachers.”

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