Teaching Teachers with Dr. Summer Morrill (S4 E6)

Thinking Like Scientists in the Classroom

Overview: In this episode of Chalk Radio, Sarah Hansen interviews Dr. Summer Morrill about how thinking like scientists can make us better teachers and how teachers can be powerful mentors for future scientists.

The Role of Teachers as Mentors

• Summer shares her experience as a first-generation woman in science who didn't have anyone in her family or close circle who was a scientist. She explains how having teachers who were role models was instrumental in her journey to becoming a scientist.

• Summer talks about how her life experiences led her to be interested not only in biology itself but also the teaching of biology.

• Summer remembers her high school biology teacher, Mr. Janaki, as an example of a good teacher who encouraged students to question and think about why things are the way they are and how they work.

Training Teacher Assistants

• Summer talks about her role at MIT, where she and her colleagues were tasked with training about 100 teacher assistants working in the biology department each year.

• Summer explains that the biggest worry or challenge new TAs usually come to her with is being wrong and not knowing the answer to a student's question.

• Summer encourages TAs to model their science thinking skills in the classroom and to show their students that being unsure and not knowing is actually a great thing.

Summer's Philosophy

• Summer shares how her own experiences with public speaking informed her approach to teaching scientists how to teach biology.

• Summer talks about how she was terrified of public speaking in high school and college, but by the time she got to graduate school, some of those nerves had gone away.

• Summer explains that the nervousness and imposter syndrome she felt when she first got up to teach was a big barrier, and she talks about the pre-semester training run by one of the professors in the department that helped her overcome it.

Supporting Inclusive and Equitable Classroom Instruction

Overview: This study guide covers the strategies and techniques used by Summer Morrill, a teaching assistant instructor, to create an inclusive and equitable classroom environment. It focuses on her approach to teaching TAs, her Multiple Hands, Multiple Voices strategy, and her approach to grading.

Multiple Hands, Multiple Voices

• Summer's experiences as an instructor informed her approach to teaching TAs.

• She emphasizes the importance of recognizing that students come from different backgrounds and have different experiences.

• The Multiple Hands, Multiple Voices strategy encourages participation from all students by waiting until multiple hands are raised before calling on someone to answer a question.

• This gives more time for students to think and provides a picture of how different people think differently about a particular problem.

• Summer suggests using transparency and giving students conscious time to think by counting to six in their head or singing a verse of "Happy Birthday".

Grading

• Summer dedicates a session of her TA training to grading, focusing on creating structures to grade effectively and equitably.

• She encourages TAs to use rubrics for grading, do anonymized grading, and give detailed feedback.

Supporting Students

• Summer emphasizes modeling empathy and care for students as human beings.

• One session of the TA course is titled "Supporting our Students" and focuses on listening to students and responding to real-life scenarios.

Inclusivity in the Classroom

Overview: This section discusses the importance of inclusivity in the classroom and how to implement systems to provide feedback.

Inclusivity

• Students may face personal issues that affect their learning.

• Students can challenge teachers to be better.

• It is important for students to push themselves.

Example Scenario

• Summer Morrill took an example from her own classroom.

• They were talking about genetics and using gendered terms.

• A non-binary student raised their hand and said it felt exclusive.

• Summer wished she had thought about it ahead of time.

• She looked up more about how to be more inclusive.

Providing Feedback

• TAs wanted to know if their work was making a difference.

• A worksheet was developed to think about community and engagement.

• TAs sign up to be observed and notes are taken.

• Notes are for learning and not evaluative.

• TAs meet afterwards to discuss what's going well and brainstorm ideas.

• Teaching is a skill set that can be cultivated and practiced.

Adapting Summer Morrill's Pedagogy for Other Subjects

Overview: In this episode of MIT Chalk Radio, Sarah Hansen interviews Summer Morrill about her pedagogical tools and how they can be adapted for other subjects.

Adapting Summer's Pedagogy

• Summer's OCW materials are adaptable for other subjects and instructors.

• Summer suggests leaving space to make the materials adaptable to the particular discipline.

• Summer suggests pulling a problem or question from one of the courses that the TAs are in.

• Summer suggests tailoring the materials to the TA's direct experience as much as possible.

Summer's Excitement for Teaching Secondary Students

• Summer is excited to transition to the high school world and be a mentor and role model for students who don't yet know that science is their thing.

• Summer is looking forward to doing lots of cool biology with her students.

Accessing Summer's Materials

• Summer's materials will soon be available on the MIT OpenCourseWare website.

• As always, the materials are open and free.

Credits

• Producers: Sarah Hansen, Brett Paci, and Dave Lishansky.

• Show notes written by Peter Chipman.