The 2011 PAEMST application required the submission of a videotaped lesson as delivered in the classroom. The length was not to exceed 45 minutes. And there were to be edits or breaks; not stopping and restarting the recorder. Simply one continuous shot. The application stated a need to see students' faces in addition to the teacher's lesson.
So the shooting conditions were non-ideal. If one were hoping to produce a slick representation of the lesson, one would use multiple angles, sophisticated microphones, etc. Nonetheless, here is the video that I submitted, as recorded by my ace videographer and then-Rio student, Amir Khazaieli.
PAEMST Video - Why The Sky is Blue - Dean Baird
In my own assessment, I think I was pretty stiff and unnatural. I had never recorded a class before, so the students were not entirely at ease with a camera locking in on them. Thankfully, the lesson was robust, and it went well.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
My PAEMST Application Essay
When the simpler elements of the PAEMST application are complete, it's time to hunker down and complete the extensive written response. The overall title of the 2011 essay was "Dimensions of Outstanding Teaching." And it was... thorough!
In brief, applicants were asked to document
1. Mastery of their content appropriate for the grade level taught (with sub-prompts, in 4 pages).
2. Use of instructional methods and strategies that are appropriate for the students in the class and that support student learning (with sub-prompts, in 4 pages).
3. Effective use of student assessments to evaluate, monitor, and improve student learning (with sub-prompts, in 3 pages).
4. Reflective practice and life-long learning to improve teaching and student learning (with sub-prompts, in 2 pages).
5. Leadership in education outside the classroom (with sub-prompts, in 2 pages).
Integral to most dimension of the written response was the 45-minute lesson that was videotaped (without the use of tape) and documented in the Supplements section of the application.
(Note: PAEMST is a living organism and any element of the process is subject to change without notice from one year to the next.)
The world was crackling with news of the demise of Osama Bin Laden while I was finishing the written response. A strange distraction, but a foreshadowing of the fact that important national and world events proceed without regard to one's PAEMST timeline.
Here is a zipped folder including a PDF of the written response and the supplements:
Dean Baird's "Dimensions of Outstanding Teaching" with lesson supplements
In brief, applicants were asked to document
1. Mastery of their content appropriate for the grade level taught (with sub-prompts, in 4 pages).
2. Use of instructional methods and strategies that are appropriate for the students in the class and that support student learning (with sub-prompts, in 4 pages).
3. Effective use of student assessments to evaluate, monitor, and improve student learning (with sub-prompts, in 3 pages).
4. Reflective practice and life-long learning to improve teaching and student learning (with sub-prompts, in 2 pages).
5. Leadership in education outside the classroom (with sub-prompts, in 2 pages).
Integral to most dimension of the written response was the 45-minute lesson that was videotaped (without the use of tape) and documented in the Supplements section of the application.
(Note: PAEMST is a living organism and any element of the process is subject to change without notice from one year to the next.)
The world was crackling with news of the demise of Osama Bin Laden while I was finishing the written response. A strange distraction, but a foreshadowing of the fact that important national and world events proceed without regard to one's PAEMST timeline.
Here is a zipped folder including a PDF of the written response and the supplements:
Dean Baird's "Dimensions of Outstanding Teaching" with lesson supplements
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
My PAEMST Résumé
Teachers applying for the PAEMST are rarely short of résumé material. But there has to be a limit on the length of the résumé even if only for the benefit of those tasked with evaluating the applications.
I posted an online résumé back in the mid-'90s, when I was first learning HTML and posting web pages. I've maintained it (casually) throughout the intervening years. But it was much too much for the PAEMST application.
The PDF that follows is what I submitted, sans some personal contact information.
Dean Baird's PAEMST application résumé
I posted an online résumé back in the mid-'90s, when I was first learning HTML and posting web pages. I've maintained it (casually) throughout the intervening years. But it was much too much for the PAEMST application.
The PDF that follows is what I submitted, sans some personal contact information.
Dean Baird's PAEMST application résumé
Thursday, April 14, 2011
1998
I never saw Deep Impact or Armageddon. But the preview for Deep Impact showed a scenario in which the Earth was about to take a beating and certain people were being moved into specially prepared shelters to survive the calamity.
So 1,000,000 people were going to be saved. Stay with me here! Of those, 800,000 via a lottery and 200,000 were pre-selected. And there were teachers in among those 200,000. How would they be chosen? I bet winners of the PAEMST were among the chosen ones.
In 1998, I applied for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. I had recently completed my Masters of Science in Instructional Leadership (with Honors), was elected to the officer cycle for the Northern California and Nevada American Association of Physics Teachers, been published in The Physics Teacher, was an editor on the Metrologic Physics Bowl Exam, was on the Golden State Exam Development Committee, and played a role in my school's designation as a Department of Education Blue Ribbon School.
I had spent 11 years conquering the physics-teaching world and was ready for some recognition at the national level. My mentors, Walt Scheider and Steve Keith had earned this honor. As did my Northern California physics teaching colleagues, Paul Robinson and Andria Erzberger. These were all great physics teachers; I was a great physics teacher. It was time to join the club.
So I put together the best application I could. I polished it. I honed it.
I didn't make it past the first screening. That hurt. Worst of all, I had to fear comets just like everyone else.
It wasn't until 2000 that Susan Crown honored me with through Cornell's Merrill Scholar program. Later that year, Paul Hewitt happened upon my Book of Phyz and plugged my into the Conceptual Science team as lab manual author. Story for another post. And it wasn't until 2003 that was appointed to California's Content Review Panel. PTSOS didn't take off until after that, and the Laser Viewing Tank was a spin-off of that.
The "excellence in physics teaching" universe is bigger than I imagined. And I know now that I will never conquer it.
So 1,000,000 people were going to be saved. Stay with me here! Of those, 800,000 via a lottery and 200,000 were pre-selected. And there were teachers in among those 200,000. How would they be chosen? I bet winners of the PAEMST were among the chosen ones.
In 1998, I applied for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. I had recently completed my Masters of Science in Instructional Leadership (with Honors), was elected to the officer cycle for the Northern California and Nevada American Association of Physics Teachers, been published in The Physics Teacher, was an editor on the Metrologic Physics Bowl Exam, was on the Golden State Exam Development Committee, and played a role in my school's designation as a Department of Education Blue Ribbon School.
I had spent 11 years conquering the physics-teaching world and was ready for some recognition at the national level. My mentors, Walt Scheider and Steve Keith had earned this honor. As did my Northern California physics teaching colleagues, Paul Robinson and Andria Erzberger. These were all great physics teachers; I was a great physics teacher. It was time to join the club.
So I put together the best application I could. I polished it. I honed it.
I didn't make it past the first screening. That hurt. Worst of all, I had to fear comets just like everyone else.
It wasn't until 2000 that Susan Crown honored me with through Cornell's Merrill Scholar program. Later that year, Paul Hewitt happened upon my Book of Phyz and plugged my into the Conceptual Science team as lab manual author. Story for another post. And it wasn't until 2003 that was appointed to California's Content Review Panel. PTSOS didn't take off until after that, and the Laser Viewing Tank was a spin-off of that.
The "excellence in physics teaching" universe is bigger than I imagined. And I know now that I will never conquer it.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Walt Scheider
The first I ever heard of The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching was when I partnered with Walt Scheider.
I was in need of a cooperating teacher for my observation and student teaching assignments at The University of Michigan's School of Education. It was my senior year at Michigan. I had switched my major from Aerospace Engineering to Education (Physics Major/Math Minor) at the end of my sophomore year. There was some tumult involved in that road fork.
In any case, I was now on a path to become a high school physics teacher. On purpose. I needed a master teacher to work with. In an unusual embarrassment of riches, Michigan had two physics teachers-in-training that year. The routine was to work with the veteran teacher at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.
But Dr. Jean Krisch, the best physics instructor I had at Michigan, told me about Walt Schieder. He was the physics teacher at Ann Arbor Huron High. Krisch's daughter had been a student in Scheider's class, and he came highly recommended. Although I did not set the river on fire in Krisch's Physics 401 course, I admired her immensely and set off to make arrangements with Scheider.
Walt Scheider held a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard. He was a successful research scientist. One year—deep into his career—he turned down a $125,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to go teach high school physics. So there he was at Ann Arbor Huron High.
It was about that time that PAEMST was born. Scheider applied that very first year. And he won. He deserved it. By all accounts, Walt Scheider was an outstanding physics teacher.
Two years later, I show up—unannounced—looking to horn in on his classes. "I don't think I can take a student teacher this year because I'll be carpooling," was his response to my proposal. I clearly came across as an intelligent, confident, well-prepared candidate. In reality, he never had a student teacher and wasn't necessarily looking to take one on.
But I was persistent. I somehow convinced him I wouldn't interfere with his carpooling agenda or permanently damage his students. I treasured the time I spent in the presence of this master. I soaked it in as best I could. He gave me very little time in front of the class. Arrangements were looser in those days, and I was something of a Guinea pig working with him.
What little time I did have in front of his classes was enough to point out—at least to me—that I wasn't as good as he was. I wanted to be that good. But I wasn't.
I feared that at the end of it all, he would counsel me into considering an alternate career path. Instead he wrote me a glowing recommendation that I did not feel worthy of. We kept in touch, off and on, for years after I moved out to California. He died just a few years ago.
Walt Scheider is a bright star in the constellation I use to steer the ship of my curriculum.
I was in need of a cooperating teacher for my observation and student teaching assignments at The University of Michigan's School of Education. It was my senior year at Michigan. I had switched my major from Aerospace Engineering to Education (Physics Major/Math Minor) at the end of my sophomore year. There was some tumult involved in that road fork.
In any case, I was now on a path to become a high school physics teacher. On purpose. I needed a master teacher to work with. In an unusual embarrassment of riches, Michigan had two physics teachers-in-training that year. The routine was to work with the veteran teacher at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.
But Dr. Jean Krisch, the best physics instructor I had at Michigan, told me about Walt Schieder. He was the physics teacher at Ann Arbor Huron High. Krisch's daughter had been a student in Scheider's class, and he came highly recommended. Although I did not set the river on fire in Krisch's Physics 401 course, I admired her immensely and set off to make arrangements with Scheider.
Walt Scheider held a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard. He was a successful research scientist. One year—deep into his career—he turned down a $125,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to go teach high school physics. So there he was at Ann Arbor Huron High.
It was about that time that PAEMST was born. Scheider applied that very first year. And he won. He deserved it. By all accounts, Walt Scheider was an outstanding physics teacher.
Two years later, I show up—unannounced—looking to horn in on his classes. "I don't think I can take a student teacher this year because I'll be carpooling," was his response to my proposal. I clearly came across as an intelligent, confident, well-prepared candidate. In reality, he never had a student teacher and wasn't necessarily looking to take one on.
But I was persistent. I somehow convinced him I wouldn't interfere with his carpooling agenda or permanently damage his students. I treasured the time I spent in the presence of this master. I soaked it in as best I could. He gave me very little time in front of the class. Arrangements were looser in those days, and I was something of a Guinea pig working with him.
What little time I did have in front of his classes was enough to point out—at least to me—that I wasn't as good as he was. I wanted to be that good. But I wasn't.
I feared that at the end of it all, he would counsel me into considering an alternate career path. Instead he wrote me a glowing recommendation that I did not feel worthy of. We kept in touch, off and on, for years after I moved out to California. He died just a few years ago.
Walt Scheider is a bright star in the constellation I use to steer the ship of my curriculum.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Nomination
I was nominated for the PAEMST in 2009 by California's 1989 PAEMST honoree in science, Steve Keith. I was flattered, but I did not apply.
I love what I do for a living and I take it seriously. Through the years, I have been recognized for excellence, but I had never applied for any such honor. I never aspired to be Teacher of the Year at any level. The only thing I ever envisioned being was Teacher of the... classes I teach.
Steve Keith was one of my official mentors when I arrived in Sacramento at the ripe old age of 21. I don't know how many times I turned to him in panic, but I sure was glad he was there to help.
Steve taught at Casa Roble High School: half a county away, but still in the sprawling San Juan Unified School District. He led many physics-themed workshops in the popular Schools and Colleges for the Advancement of Teaching Science (yes, SCATS) program at CSU Sacramento. He was clearly passionate about physics. He was level-headed. He was a Mac user. He was a good guy.
As it turns out, he still is. All those things!
A few years ago, the Physics Teacher SOS New Teacher Workshop program that Paul Robinson, Stephanie Finander, and I were running expanded. We had been presenting exclusively at Robinson's San Mateo High School, but I was charged with mirroring the program out of my own school. I needed a partner to co-present the workshops. Steve Keith was the one guy I knew would be up for it.
He retired from the classroom a few years ago, but he's fit as a fiddle and remains a treasure-trove of pedagogical know-how and workshop presentation savvy. Having him on board meant we could run a PTSOS workshop series in Sacramento. The man would be worth his weight in gold if we measured his weight on Jupiter and the gold's weight on the Moon. Think about it!
In any case, he didn't give up on me. He nominated me again in 2011. The only way to stop him from this flattering nagging ("flaggering") was to apply for the dang thing. If I win, he was right and I get to meet the President! More likely I loose to a better-qualified candidate and he leaves me alone about PAEMST. Win-win!
I love what I do for a living and I take it seriously. Through the years, I have been recognized for excellence, but I had never applied for any such honor. I never aspired to be Teacher of the Year at any level. The only thing I ever envisioned being was Teacher of the... classes I teach.
Steve Keith was one of my official mentors when I arrived in Sacramento at the ripe old age of 21. I don't know how many times I turned to him in panic, but I sure was glad he was there to help.
Steve taught at Casa Roble High School: half a county away, but still in the sprawling San Juan Unified School District. He led many physics-themed workshops in the popular Schools and Colleges for the Advancement of Teaching Science (yes, SCATS) program at CSU Sacramento. He was clearly passionate about physics. He was level-headed. He was a Mac user. He was a good guy.
As it turns out, he still is. All those things!
A few years ago, the Physics Teacher SOS New Teacher Workshop program that Paul Robinson, Stephanie Finander, and I were running expanded. We had been presenting exclusively at Robinson's San Mateo High School, but I was charged with mirroring the program out of my own school. I needed a partner to co-present the workshops. Steve Keith was the one guy I knew would be up for it.
He retired from the classroom a few years ago, but he's fit as a fiddle and remains a treasure-trove of pedagogical know-how and workshop presentation savvy. Having him on board meant we could run a PTSOS workshop series in Sacramento. The man would be worth his weight in gold if we measured his weight on Jupiter and the gold's weight on the Moon. Think about it!
In any case, he didn't give up on me. He nominated me again in 2011. The only way to stop him from this flattering nagging ("flaggering") was to apply for the dang thing. If I win, he was right and I get to meet the President! More likely I loose to a better-qualified candidate and he leaves me alone about PAEMST. Win-win!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
About this blog
Blogs can be slighted as self-indulgent. As graffiti with punctuation. Written by people with too much time on their hands and read by people with too much time on their hands.
Fair enough.
A wise colleague once told me, "There is no history unless you record it."
This blog is my attempt to document my experience as an applicant for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
It will be my story of how I ended up in Washington, DC, being honored as one of the best science teachers in the United States of America. I have always acknowledged having an ego the size of Montana. Hence Phyz.org and The Blog of Phyz.
The Presidential Award is a singular event. Important enough (to me) to establish a separate blog for. I leave it to my gentle readers to decide how self-indulgent it is.
The plan is to document as much of this process as is practicable. Maybe post the application essay. Maybe post the submitted video. (I'll need help on that as I can't seem to successfully Handbrake the video off the DVD that my videographer student produced. Apparently it contains a bad "atom." Wha?) There will be photos and stories relating to the recognition program coming up in Washington. And after that, who knows?
Don't necessarily trust the post dates as the dates the posts were authored.
Fair enough.
A wise colleague once told me, "There is no history unless you record it."
This blog is my attempt to document my experience as an applicant for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
It will be my story of how I ended up in Washington, DC, being honored as one of the best science teachers in the United States of America. I have always acknowledged having an ego the size of Montana. Hence Phyz.org and The Blog of Phyz.
The Presidential Award is a singular event. Important enough (to me) to establish a separate blog for. I leave it to my gentle readers to decide how self-indulgent it is.
The plan is to document as much of this process as is practicable. Maybe post the application essay. Maybe post the submitted video. (I'll need help on that as I can't seem to successfully Handbrake the video off the DVD that my videographer student produced. Apparently it contains a bad "atom." Wha?) There will be photos and stories relating to the recognition program coming up in Washington. And after that, who knows?
Don't necessarily trust the post dates as the dates the posts were authored.
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