You grew up in a small town. Yes, Ottawa, Ohio (not Canada) is really small with 5,000 residents. Our house is way out in the country; in fact, we don't get cable or internet. Many of my aunts and uncles live near us and our neighbors own the fields around us.

Tell us about your interest in teaching science. Initially I did not like science at all. In fact, when we played the game "Brainquest," I avoided the science questions. All that changed when I took Chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology as a junior in high school. I loved the labs. Both of these teachers were great and the classes got me excited about science. I've had good teacher role models and many aunts who are teachers who helped convince me to be a teacher.

Any highlights from high school? Because of my newfound interest in science, I joined Science Olympiads and this became my favorite club. We prepared all year for a competition that was held in the spring and I loved it. I participated in band and rifles, and also got involved in the musicals.

Highlights from college? In addition to ACTION,getting involved with Resident Student Association (RSA) and National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) with Residence Life has been an amazing opportunity. My roles over the past three years have enabled me to learn a lot about myself, leadership, time management, and much more.

What is one thing from ACTION that stands out to you? Since I haven't seen the outcome of my action research project yet, I'd have to say my practicum experience. Mine turned into a paid summer position so I logged more hours than most students. I learned to work with different types of people and improved my communication skills with those in authority. It was cool to use science to do real-world problem solving with something brand new.

Tell us a little about your Capstone Research Project. Many science educators use the 5E Model to create lessons (engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate). I am researching a 6E Model where the concept of "express" is added between "explain" and "extend."  I will use this 6E Model for an anatomy class during student teaching. This is part of a bigger, ongoing research project with Dr. Emilio Duran that I am excited to be part of.

Any advice to other students as they approach the Capstone Project? Work with your faculty advisor to hone in on a topic early and possibly lay out a draft for your proposal. Start broad and narrow your topic as you go. I put "research" on my "to do" list each week and spent several hours weekly researching my chosen topic so it was much less stressful at the end. It is the same as with Methods-if you stay on top of assignments, it isn't as hard as people say.

How do you feel to be graduating in May? I'm excited and nervous. I look forward to getting my own classroom set up and applying what I have learned, but I am nervous about finding a job. And, I will definitely miss helping with the ACTION Summer Bridge and meeting the new cohorts since I have been involved in some capacity over the past four summers. 

 Tell us about life before BGSU. Prior to seventh grade, I lived in six different states since my dad was in the Air Force.  I don't share my dad's love for planes, but we do talk about the physics involved with flying. Moving so much as a youngster helped me learn to interact with and meet a lot of different people; but, I was glad to remain at the same high school in Beavercreek, Ohio, which is two hours south of Bowling Green. I was a dancer in high school and in band, and took quite a few AP classes.

What have you gotten involved with at BGSU? The ACTION Summer Bridge really helped with the transition to college. I have many great friends and people I can turn to for help with classes. Along with many other ACTION students, I joined Hall Council. This enables us to be very involved with our residence hall by to giving input and voting on this that matter.  The meetings are also very fun with many prizes and incentives (I won a coffee maker last year)! I am also working as a Supplemental Instructor (SI) for Math 1260, helping BGSU students in this course master the material and creating worksheets. It is a great opportunity to work with college freshmen who are not that much different from the high school students I will be teaching some day.

What led to your desire to be a math teacher? I have always loved math. Even in elementary school this was my strongest subject and I would help others doing informal tutoring. In high school, when I wanted a break from homework in my other subjects, I would enjoy doing calculus homework. My senior year I was debating on attending UC to major in engineering or BGSU to major in education. Two things convinced me to pursue teaching-the ACTION program and my AP Calculus teacher who was the best teacher I ever had.

Any favorite memories from the ACTION Summer Bridge? Going to the Toledo Mud Hens baseball game was really fun. I liked that we did the fantasy baseball activity ahead of time so we could cheer for "our guy" during the game. And, it was nice to get out of Bowling Green and not be in a school setting for a while.

What are you most looking forward to in your remaining years at college? I am already beginning to consider topics and have an advisor in mind for the capstone research project even though that doesn't start until next year. I am picking up things from my Educational Psychology class that may be interesting themes. I look forward to building something new with the research. I also hope to get a General Business minor at BGSU. After working at Kumon Learning Center in high school, I am interested in possibly owning one of these centers someday and think the business background will be helpful on top of my math education degree. 

As seniors, Cohort 1 students are busy with methods this semester and are beginning to assist their Cooperating Mentor Teachers (CMTs) in their classroom placements. Most students stress the importance of working ahead on assignments since the workload can be heavy during methods. In preparation for conducting research in their classrooms next semester, a second session was hosted at the end of October with a presentation by Dr. Sara Abercrombie from Leadership and Policy Studies. Students appreciated her overview of action research in addition to her practical explanation of the steps involved in writing a research article.

Cohort 2 attended two more sessions this past month. One focused on how to conduct literature reviews by Dr. Kyle Ingle. He provided valuable practical insight and resources for students. The second session led by Dr. Brahier included a discussion about choosing a topic. Students brainstormed some potential topics to research such as the importance of vocabulary, impact of classroom management, self-efficacy, peer teaching, effects of communication, and more. Students will now meet with their faculty advisors to begin choosing and/or narrowing down a topic to research. Since students will be working on the project for nearly two years, choosing a topic of interest and one that is feasible is crucial.

Eleven members of Cohort 3 are currently engaged in a practicum experience and are being exposed to real world science and mathematics. For

example, have you ever thought about the number and type of trees found in your city parks? Amber Mathias and Megan Chapman are doing just that for the City of Perrysburg as they assist with a tree survey project. And, any idea what is involved and how much it costs to host a huge event such as a 10K Mud Run (similar to a Tough Mudder or Warrior Dash obstacle course race)? This is what Jen Tomasko and Paul Carmean are faced with as they examine whether an event like this is financially feasible for the BG Parks and Recreation to host. Students are learning much more than anticipated through these projects.

Jessie Wiandt   researching geckos with Dr. Underwood

Cohort 4 continues to examine exactly where their group research project may take them.  Students working with Dr. Eileen Underwood have already tweaked their research topic to make it more specific. Working with geckos

to look at the effect of food preferences, students have narrowed their research to compare three types of food-a standard fruit baby food mix, a commercially available gecko diet (called Repashy superfood), and a fresh fruit puree made of fruits similar to those found on New Caledonia.  Growth rates based on weight measurements are being observed for geckos fed each type of food. To find out their results, all are invited to attend the Choose Ohio First Research Symposium at BGSU on Friday, April 12, 2013 from 4:15-6:00pm.

Favorite BGSU courses

We asked Cohort 1 what their favorite class has been at BGSU so far...

Kaylee Paul: EDTL 2740 (Introduction to Secondary Mathematics) with Dr. Matney. He really made it fun and engaging for all of us and looked at mathematical topics in a different light. I liked how we were able to get a glimpse into each of the subject areas, but I wish that we could have had a semester course like this for each topic area. The course was really interactive and the atmosphere was great. I also thought the topics that we covered, and the way that students could discover them, were really beneficial. 

Matt Jones: Education Psychology. I enjoy studying the aspect of how people learn throughout their life. This is key to being a successful teacher because if you cannot meet the needs of how your students learn then you cannot truly teach them the material. 

Kim Verhoff: CHEM 3150 (Teaching in the Chemistry Lab). This is a class designed for Chemistry education majors to help learn about lab safety and teaching chemistry in the laboratory. We got to do fun demos and labs in the class and read real world articles related to chemistry. I especially enjoyed working with the CHEM 1250 lab class as a "TA" helping them to learn the basics of Chemistry.

Scott Green: Honors Introduction to Critical Thinking by Dr. Paul Moore (Director of the Honors Program) with TA Josh Ebert. I'm almost tempted to classify the course as something other than a class, more of an experience, really.  It was all about adjusting how one normally views the world, and recognizing biases and flaws in the way we think. Dr. Moore and Josh guided us in our discovery of what we truly valued, and it helped me as a person to recognize that I have the capacity to accomplish much more than what I believed I was capable of.  I also gained the tenacity to question nearly everything I hear or read, including Dr. Moore's teachings. In summation, I gained much more than I believed possible from any college course, and the studies I undertook have had an enormous impact on who I am today.

Allison Bailey: History of Math with Dr. Meel. I have always loved math and this class really helped me to see the story behind something I'm passionate about. 

Erin Ziems: Educational Psychology. Although I took regular psych my freshman year, I didn't really care for it. It just wasn't interesting. But then I took Ed Psych (with Sansenee Olson, fantastic teacher) and it was fascinating, interesting and a lot of fun. It also helped answer a lot of questions I had regarding teaching and how to teach my students.

Patrick Nightingale: All of the classes I have taken with Dr. Emilio Duran stand out to me.  He is a great teacher and someone I look up to. In his classes we practiced and performed what we were learning about. Everyday had an activity rather than just a lecture.  Dr. Duran has very high expectations for his students, requiring each to perform their best.  He has done a great job preparing us for teaching.  I also enjoyed Education in a Pluralistic Society with Dr. Kubow. This course was my first insight into education in other cultures.  All of my classes previous to this one dealt with education in the United States, despite how much we could learn by observing other countries.  This class was a good opportunity to observe other countries and then look back at our education system through different eyes.  

Mike Treon: My favorite math class was Modern Geometry (Math 2040) with Dr. Meel. For general education courses, I really enjoyed Introduction to Logic (Phil 1030). Both of these courses were interesting to me and were full of group work. 

EDHD 3160 sessions - Tuesdays, November 6 & 27

Preview Day - Saturday, December 1

ACTION Student Holiday Party - Friday, December 7