TEACHERS' VOICE blog

Dora Kastel is a leader of professional development programs at the American Museum of Natural History, primarily focusing on supporting science teachers with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy strategies. She is currently co‐project director of an NSF-funded curriculum and research study titled “Moving Next Generation Science Standards into Practice: A Middle School Ecology Unit and Professional Development Model”, in collaboration with SEPUP and the University of Connecticut. She is also a 2016-2017 CADRE fellow. Prior to her work at AMNH, she was a middle school science and math teacher for six years in East Harlem. She earned her B.A. in Geology from the University of Pennsylvania, along with her M.A. in Science Education and Ed.M. in Mathematics Education from Teachers College at Columbia University. She recently returned to Teachers College, and is a first-year Ph.D. student in Science Education. Connect with Dora on Twitter: @Dora_Kastel. Kathy Renfrew is the K-5 science coordinator for the Vermont AOE. She has been deeply involved with the development and implementation of the NGSS and is co-developer/presenter of NSTA: Teaching NGSS in K-5 webinars. Kathy earned National Board Certification in 1998 and won the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2000. She taught science for over 30 years. While in the classroom, Kathy won a Toyota Tapestry grant and built a 16×20 foot log cabin with her students outside her classroom window. Kathy’s passion is improving science opportunities and education for all K-5 Students.