Meet Shameem Sherwin, 2022 PAEMST State Finalist
Shameem Sherwin teaches 5th Grade STEM and Social Studies at Evergreen Elementary in the Sedro Woolley School District.
What is the most important thing you learned about teaching because of the pandemic?
During the pandemic we learned, unfortunately, that we’ve been taking for granted that our students are more engaged than they actually are. When remote attendance and assignment completion plummeted, we were forced to reconcile with how much we need to work on intrinsic motivation and ownership of learning. Now, I’m much more intentional about checking for opportunities for my students to have the power in their learning, to be engaged and interested rather than just figuring out what I need to have turned in to avoid them losing a recess to finish an assignment. This year it’s been front of mind in every unit, How am I making this about understanding rather than compliance? Overall, a silver lining!
Is there a distance learning lesson that you are continuing to use?
When teaching remotely I created digital interactive notebooks for each of our units. These are amazing tools and I keep updating and revising them to meet student needs. They allow for multiple points of access, act as a comprehensive resource, and create multiple formats for students to demonstrate understanding. So much more effective and sustainable than paper composition books. I’ll never go back!
How has the pandemic impacted your students’ relationship to math and science?
My students are so happy to have science being taught regularly! During remote teaching, and when focusing on the dreaded skill gap, science and social studies took a back seat to fundamental reading and math skills. Students are delighted to be investigating their world, designing solutions to authentic problems, and feeling like a real part of a scientific community. The boost in background experiences benefits them across all content areas and parts of their days.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers who want to incorporate more science and mathematical thinking into their elementary students’ lives?
I would advise listening above all. Students are naturally curious, and impressively proficient at building explanations for what they see happening in the world around them. Following up a question with a question rather than answering with a fact helps a student build thinking skills and develop deep understanding. Hearing what your student is saying and responding with respect for their thinking encourages students to keep trying out new ideas, to keep offering insights, and to keep trying to understand more. When we slow down and hear what our students are saying, it can be stunning how much they are asking about the world and how it all works, or what it all means!
What can math and science teachers do to make those disciplines more culturally sustaining for students with diverse identities and experiences?
This goes for every part of school, but we need to get better at teaching from an anti-deficiency perspective. In most units, we do some kind of formative assessment at the beginning and then, if we use it at all, we think about it in terms of what the students don’t know or have wrong, and how we can supplant their incorrect ideas with our correct ones. Instead, we need to hear what experiences our students have with the concepts we are learning, and what everyday language they use to talk about them. Our job is to then use that thinking as schema to build upon, to help students build out robust explanations from their current starting points. By valuing the thinking they bring in with them, we show we value their backgrounds, their experiences, and their identities. We show they belong in and are part of the scientific community.
Is there anything that was easier to do in a remote school environment?
I don’t know if it was easier, but I definitely sharpened my communication skills. Being literally in their homes over zoom was eye opening, and the amount of two-way communication with families, about everything from academic expectations to tech assistance, was a breath of fresh air. It’s something I’ve carried forward into in person learning this year and I’m so glad I have.
What is one concept that excites your students and why?
Fifth-grade is lucky to have space as part of our earth science standards. It captures and ignites their imagination like nothing else, they look forward to it all year. Outside of just being incredibly cool, it gives students a chance to wrestle with really big ideas, to understand something they didn’t before, to see beyond the walls of the classroom and glimpse the potentially limitless questions waiting for them out there. And to see that they can begin to answer them.
What kinds of problems are your students interested in solving?
My students are always fired up about solving injustice and inequity problems. Thinking about how human choices affect different populations and how they can design different solutions to problems of access is exciting work. Resources, ecosystems, sustainability, these are all issues my students feel passionate about and want to work to improve. They are also laser focused on anything that gets them more screen time and less school work in any and all contexts!
Where do you see more opportunity for collaborating with other disciplines to teach math or science?
STEM in particular lends itself to integration opportunities because at its core, it’s building explanations and designing solutions. Students need the skills of ELA and math to build and communicate those understandings and, reciprocally, they are easily engaged in STEM concepts to practice ELA and math skills. Teachers who are expert in both the CCSS and NGSS can find points of overlap and reinforcement if given the opportunity and support to create those experiences.
Who have you been following or reading from a math and science perspective in the past two years? Any other publications, blogs, etc. that you would recommend?
I have read and reread Ambitious Science Teaching by Windschitl, Braaten and Thompson. The framework for instruction leads to deep understanding and equitable access for all students and is applicable across all content areas. I also really like Jennifer Gonzalez’s Cult of Pedagogy blog and podcast. She has great ideas for reflective teaching, instructional strategies, and lots of great guests. Matt Miller’s Ditch That Textbook is an absolute treasure trove for ed tech. Not just tools, but why and how you would want to use them, tied to effective instruction and leaning hard into student ownership.
