Mentors

Santa Fe Science Intiiative employes retired teachers and scientists as mentors. These mentors have extensive experience in teaching science, the process of inquiry learning, classroom management and integrated curriculum development.

Our mentors provide teachers with ongoing professional development. Meeting first in a whole day workshop that focuses on the basics of inquiry science and science journaling, and then continuing their relationship as the mentors visit classrooms weekly and offer ongoing subsequent workshops. Additional workshops are designed to deconstruct science kits and acquaint teachers with the teacher’s guides. SFSI’s strategy is to model with teachers appropriate strategies that can be repeated in the classroom with students. Our mentors demonstrate the use of cooperative learning strategies and classroom management techniques to enhance science inquiry learning.
                                                         
Mentoring in SFSI classrooms is personalized. Each teacher works exclusively with one individual in our mentor staff creating a ‘partnership’ or ‘team’ approach to science instruction. SFSI assessment surveys demonstrate that before participating in the SFSI program 

• Many teachers felt intimidated by teaching science beyond what is dictated by a textbook.
• Teachers expressed concern that experiments would be too time consuming
• Children might ask questions they are not prepared to answer.

After the first year of (35 weeks) of intensive help and collaboration our post-assessment and SFSI’s personnel observe 

• Teachers becoming risk takers
• Incorporating science more confidently into their program
• Who are eager for additional mentor support
• Who are excited about the mentor program

Resources for teachers –

Santa Fe Alliance for Science –  www.sfafs.org
Center for Hands- On Learning – www.centerforhandsonlearning.org
First Hand Learning Inc. – www.firsthandlearning.org/

GET INVOLVED

Classroom teachers:
If you are a teacher in a school that has purchased kits from the Center for Hands On Learning, SFSI can help you learn how to use them! Our mentors can provide school-wide training to help you understand how to use the kits and how to integrate them into your curriculum so that science lessons can also be literacy and math lessons.
We will offer workshops about how to keep science materials organized and replenished..

If you would like to make a donation to help SFSI improve science education in New Mexico, please contact Susan McIntosh, Executive Director susan@sfscience.org