PAEMST Spotlight: Colleen LaMotte, NBCT

This week we’re spotlighting Washington’s state finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST), who will go on to be considered for the national award in 2021. Check out the rest of our PAEMST Spotlight interview series here.

What has surprised you about teaching during a pandemic?

I have been most surprised by the strong connections I have made with students. Community is such a critical element for my classroom. Without it, students don’t feel safe enough to take the academic risks needed to grow as learners. I was so fearful that this would be impossible in the remote setting. On the contrary, in some ways, I’ve been able to get to know my students even more than when we are in person.

What is your greatest wish for school next year?

My greatest wish is to continue to grow professionally and think deeply about what it means to “learn science” and what true understanding of big ideas looks like. Constant reflection and learning is a critical component of anti-racist, justice-centered pedagogy. Further, as a reflective practitioner that loves to learn, I am better able to influence colleagues and change pedagogy on a systems level when I model responsive pedagogy. While we all face exhaustion in the wake of COVID-19, my wish is that we will return next year ready, as educators, to take risks, get in “the learning pit”, and continually strive to be better for our students.

What advice would you give to parents or caregivers who want to incorporate more science and mathematical thinking into their students’ lives?

Science is about wonder. Far more important than knowing facts, is the habit of looking at the world and wondering, “What is happening that we cannot see that can help us explain what we can see? What is the relationship between these factors? If this is true, what else must be true? When might this not be true?” Asking deep conceptual questions that can apply to any observable event is an invaluable cognitive routine that fosters creativity and the desire to know more.

Science is also about sensemaking. When students can talk through ideas without fear of being corrected or told “the right answer”, they will open their minds to big ideas. I recommend for any parent or caregiver sharing curiosity with your student, having conversations that focus on big ideas where puzzling and sensemaking is valued far more than knowing facts, and modeling that it is ok to “not know”.

Is there anything that has been easier to do in a remote school environment?

From a remote setting, it has been easier to connect with “shy” learners: students who don’t feel comfortable sharing their thinking in a public space. Having the “direct message” chat feature has allowed me to check in more quickly with students and has allowed students to feel more comfortable sharing their ideas. I’ve gotten to know so much more about students due to this feature and it has turned into such a beautiful gift.

Further, collaboration with science teachers across the district has been easier due to the option for remote meetings. In response, we meet as a cross-district team once per week to develop curriculum, review student work, and address problems of practice. Just this week, we spent our hour together following a protocol to analyze our most recent unit and identify student gaps in understanding and brainstorm how to better support student learning in this topic in the future.

Can you think of a funny moment to share from the past year+ of teaching in the pandemic?

There have been so many funny moments and I’m pleased to say that I laugh everyday with my students. Yet if I had to choose one, it would be “the dance.” At the beginning of the school year, in one of my classes, it was revealed that one of my students did NOT like to dance…ever. So naturally, anytime I assigned work, I would add a required dance component in jest. (For example, I might assign students: complete a model of a process and then record yourself dancing while explaining your model.) We all would joke about requiring this one student to dance in order to “pass science.” It was such a fun community connection, and the dance-loathing student enjoyed the attention and humor. Fast forward to the end of the term. Students were working in small group breakout rooms to make sense of some patterns in data. When I visited one room, I was greeted by two students signing their ideas, while the “nondancer” danced his heart out to the rhythm. It was such an unexpected gift — so funny and so very middle school — I still laugh just thinking about it!

Where do you see more opportunity for collaborating with other disciplines to teach math or science?

Projects are a great way to collaborate with other disciplines to support contextualized multidisciplinary learning. When students are able to view a topic through a variety of lenses, the potential for deeper understanding is present.

What are some of the jobs and pathways you are most excited to see your students preparing for?

Science has really intersected with students’ lives during this pandemic. Now, perhaps more than ever, students experience directly the need for science and scientific literacy in our population. Many students are excited to continue to learn more.

Who have you been following or reading from a math and science perspective in the past year? Any other publications, blogs, etc. that you would recommend?

I’ve been reading Caitlin Tucker’s Balance with Blended Learning and NSTA’s Teaching Energy Across the Sciences. These have both been valuable resources. I’ve also begun to explore recently Grading for Equity by Joe Feldment. Two other absolutely critical resources for all science teachers are:

• Disciplinary Care Ideas: Reshaping Teaching and Learning
• Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices.

Lastly, I follow the “Cult of Pedagogy Podcast” and appreciate the ideas I’ve learned there.