6:30 AM Thought I’d get an early start to set up a booth and prepare the election booth. Have the ballots, have the display board, have my presentation materials. I should be able to get there before anyone else. Off to Edmond!
7:00 AM OK, already to plan B. Presenters are already setting up. Dr. Allen tells me to set up my display on a round table in the atrium. If more than 30 presenters show up we will be in trouble because this place is full of tables.
7:15 AM Dr. Allen ASSURES me that the coffee will be here by 8.
7:30 AM Set up the election booth and Dr. Cristol comes by and tells me to move because they need the table for a booth. So, where is that coffee? Yippee! the first voter signs in.
7:45 AM Dr Cristol makes me move the election booth again! Wow!
7:50 AM Coffee arrives along with Danish and bagels. yum. I took a few pictures of people registering and discover that I forgot the usb cable to my camera so I can’t post pictures in real time. OK, I’ll post them later…
8:00 AM Man it is windy!!!! Every time the atrium door opens the registration materials go flying. This would NOT by a fun day on the bicycle. (although I could probably use the against-the-wind training.)
8:15 AM Looks like a great crowd! We’re running them through pre-registration pretty quickly. So far there are about 40 people who have done on-site registration. Jeff welcomes everyone and announces that the sessions will start at 8:30. People are moving off to the first ten presentations of the day.
8:30 AM About 30 people hang in the atrium, but most people are off at sessions.
8:45 AM Folks keep filtering in to on-site registration. The Science Museum Oklahoma folks brought a Segway and they are tooling around. Dr. Cristol even hopped on it. Should I use the picture of there coming toward me, or the one of her driving away from me…
9:00 Am Talked to Dr. French, Zoology Professor at OSU. Oops, as NABT activists we should have set up a booth and helped spread the word about the National Association of Biology Teachers. There are more life science teachers in this state than any other secondary science discipline, why are there just a handful of NABT members? It’s a really cool organization. Really.
9:30 AM The Silent Auction tables are getting a lot of traffic. Let’s keep those bids comin’ folks, this isn’t a bargain basement, it’s a fund raiser to recognize the hard-working kids ay OJAS and Science Fair.
10:00 AM Caught Dr. Allen during a undignified moment while she she is eating a cream cheese-covered bagel. Do you have trouble eating one w/o getting cream cheese from ear to ear and up your nose? I do… and apparently so does Dr. Allen.
10:30 AM Vendor break! The atrium gets very crowded.
11:00 AM We have a candy bowl on the on-site registration table. I am facinated by how many people pick up candy, even walking out of their way to do so. And there isn’t a single bit of chocolate!
11:45 AM In the Lunch Line! It’s kinda slow. We had predicted 200 for lunch, 300+ is more like it. There must be 10 varieties of bread. I’m so confused. Do I want the hard roll, the sesame seeds, the pita…? I take the hamburger bun and load up the sliced turkey.
12:45 PM The lunch line is still going. But nobody seems rushed to frustrated. The lunch is simple, but good.
1:00 PM Jeff starts the awards by asking all the different groups to stand. The pre-service teachers get the loudest and longest applause.
1:10 PM The elementary, high school and college awardees Annette Huett, Susan Baker, and Dr. Fabiola Janiak-Spens are all very appreciative. Their gratitide is genuine and remarks are moving. They better stop or the water-works are going to start. They are good folks.
1:15 PM I get to introduce Dr. Uno. I have known Gordon professionally for many years, but some of these folks were in his classes at OU. We present him with the Jack Renner Award, which is OSTA’s highest honor and presented to a person or organization that has made significant contributions science education in Oklahoma. In his remarks Gordon invokes the memory of Dr. Renner. It occurs to me that a large number of the folks in this room probably talk about or discuss inquiry teaching or learning cycles but do not know they can do so largely through the research and writings of Dr. Renner. Gordon does so much for science in the state and nation, NSF, AAAS, The College Board, AIBS, NABT… We pat ourselves on the back for selecting Gordon for this well deserved award.
1:30 PM I have to leave lunch to set up for my presentation. Folks are already in the room waiting for me!!!! It was a nice group. 22 or so. The room was a bit hot and stuffy, but who knew it would be 75 degrees on November.
3:00 PM Start cleaning up the vendor area. I pack the Science Olympiad display and Amy and Vanessa, the two Olympiad Coaches who manned the booth reported they had a good time. Their advise to S.O. booth visitors: Don’t hold back! Science Olympiad is something to jump into and enjoy fully, not explore tentatively. Just Do It!
3:30 PM We have LOTS of T-shirts Stay tuned for a report of whom to contact if you want one. They aren’t date specific and we received a lot of positive comments about the design. And since it’s still early in the century, the slogan will be good for another 91 years.
4:00 PM As a participant turns in her evaluation form she says “This was my first time to attend and it was fun. I’ll be back next year”. Can’t top that…
MyScience Underway
6:30 AM Thought I’d get an early start to set up a booth and prepare the election booth. Have the ballots, have the display board, have my presentation materials. I should be able to get there before anyone else. Off to Edmond!
7:00 AM OK, already to plan B. Presenters are already setting up. Dr. Allen tells me to set up my display on a round table in the atrium. If more than 30 presenters show up we will be in trouble because this place is full of tables.
7:15 AM Dr. Allen ASSURES me that the coffee will be here by 8.
7:30 AM Set up the election booth and Dr. Cristol comes by and tells me to move because they need the table for a booth. So, where is that coffee? Yippee! the first voter signs in.
7:45 AM Dr Cristol makes me move the election booth again! Wow!
7:50 AM Coffee arrives along with Danish and bagels. yum. I took a few pictures of people registering and discover that I forgot the usb cable to my camera so I can’t post pictures in real time. OK, I’ll post them later…
8:00 AM Man it is windy!!!! Every time the atrium door opens the registration materials go flying. This would NOT by a fun day on the bicycle. (although I could probably use the against-the-wind training.)
8:15 AM Looks like a great crowd! We’re running them through pre-registration pretty quickly. So far there are about 40 people who have done on-site registration. Jeff welcomes everyone and announces that the sessions will start at 8:30. People are moving off to the first ten presentations of the day.
8:30 AM About 30 people hang in the atrium, but most people are off at sessions.
8:45 AM Folks keep filtering in to on-site registration. The Science Museum Oklahoma folks brought a Segway and they are tooling around. Dr. Cristol even hopped on it. Should I use the picture of there coming toward me, or the one of her driving away from me…
9:00 Am Talked to Dr. French, Zoology Professor at OSU. Oops, as NABT activists we should have set up a booth and helped spread the word about the National Association of Biology Teachers. There are more life science teachers in this state than any other secondary science discipline, why are there just a handful of NABT members? It’s a really cool organization. Really.
9:30 AM The Silent Auction tables are getting a lot of traffic. Let’s keep those bids comin’ folks, this isn’t a bargain basement, it’s a fund raiser to recognize the hard-working kids ay OJAS and Science Fair.
10:00 AM Caught Dr. Allen during a undignified moment while she she is eating a cream cheese-covered bagel. Do you have trouble eating one w/o getting cream cheese from ear to ear and up your nose? I do… and apparently so does Dr. Allen.
10:30 AM Vendor break! The atrium gets very crowded.
11:00 AM We have a candy bowl on the on-site registration table. I am facinated by how many people pick up candy, even walking out of their way to do so. And there isn’t a single bit of chocolate!
11:45 AM In the Lunch Line! It’s kinda slow. We had predicted 200 for lunch, 300+ is more like it. There must be 10 varieties of bread. I’m so confused. Do I want the hard roll, the sesame seeds, the pita…? I take the hamburger bun and load up the sliced turkey.
12:45 PM The lunch line is still going. But nobody seems rushed to frustrated. The lunch is simple, but good.
1:00 PM Jeff starts the awards by asking all the different groups to stand. The pre-service teachers get the loudest and longest applause.
1:10 PM The elementary, high school and college awardees Annette Huett, Susan Baker, and Dr. Fabiola Janiak-Spens are all very appreciative. Their gratitide is genuine and remarks are moving. They better stop or the water-works are going to start. They are good folks.
1:15 PM I get to introduce Dr. Uno. I have known Gordon professionally for many years, but some of these folks were in his classes at OU. We present him with the Jack Renner Award, which is OSTA’s highest honor and presented to a person or organization that has made significant contributions science education in Oklahoma. In his remarks Gordon invokes the memory of Dr. Renner. It occurs to me that a large number of the folks in this room probably talk about or discuss inquiry teaching or learning cycles but do not know they can do so largely through the research and writings of Dr. Renner. Gordon does so much for science in the state and nation, NSF, AAAS, The College Board, AIBS, NABT… We pat ourselves on the back for selecting Gordon for this well deserved award.
1:30 PM I have to leave lunch to set up for my presentation. Folks are already in the room waiting for me!!!! It was a nice group. 22 or so. The room was a bit hot and stuffy, but who knew it would be 75 degrees on November.
3:00 PM Start cleaning up the vendor area. I pack the Science Olympiad display and Amy and Vanessa, the two Olympiad Coaches who manned the booth reported they had a good time. Their advise to S.O. booth visitors: Don’t hold back! Science Olympiad is something to jump into and enjoy fully, not explore tentatively. Just Do It!
3:30 PM We have LOTS of T-shirts Stay tuned for a report of whom to contact if you want one. They aren’t date specific and we received a lot of positive comments about the design. And since it’s still early in the century, the slogan will be good for another 91 years.
4:00 PM As a participant turns in her evaluation form she says “This was my first time to attend and it was fun. I’ll be back next year”. Can’t top that…