|
Timothy Mackey; Lancaster, PA
 "My
one lacrosse coach was an archaeology professor, and he would take students
out on archaeological digs at Indian sites…and it always came out,
here were loads and loads of questions all the time, but not always answers
to the questions. And I realized that the pressure’s off now. To
allow children to simply ask questions, to wonder about things…that’s
at the heart and soul of science…the question is what it’s
all about. ”
School at a Glance:
James Buchanan Elementary School
Lancaster, PA
Grades: K-6
Enrollment: 414
Students per Teacher: 16.9
Ethnicity:
72% White
17.5% Hispanic
7.5% Asian
1.5% American Indian
Percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch:
18% versus a state average of 32%
Tim Mackey has taught fifth grade at the James Buchanan
Elementary School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for thirty years.
During that time, he continued his professional development by earning
a Master's
degree in Education from Millersville University in Pennsylvania.
Tim has worked on developing science units in collaboration with the Lancaster
County Park and Muddy Run Environmental Center, both in Pennsylvania.
Tim has also been involved in environmental studies at Echo Hill
Outdoor
Environmental School, located on the shores of the Chesapeake
Bay in Maryland.
Tim is a firm believer in using inquiry methods to teach
science, but acknowledges an intriguing challenge to teaching
this way. "When
teaching a lesson that is inquiry-based, you're never sure where
the kids are going to go with it. But that's the whole point.
You have to lay it
out there, give students the materials, and let them deal with
it, question it, look at things, and discover things on their
own. It's — it's
unscripted. You're not always sure what's going to happen…You have
to be prepared to veer off the path periodically. If you are
not intimidated by that, it can be a lot of fun."
|
prev:
children's ideas
