Hi! Welcome to my site. My name is Trevor, and I'm currently studying Computer Science here at the School of Mines. I'm in the first year of my Master's program, so I still haven't finalized my research topic. However, I've mostly narrowed it down to something involving education, and more specifically, teaching the concepts of "computational thinking" to fifth grade students. I am also a fellow in the Bechtel Educational Excellence Intiative, which has me working in two elementary schools in the Adams 50 school district: Sherrelwood Elementary and F.M. Day Elementary. This is what prompted the cartoon above. I got my undergraduate degree, a B.A. in Philosophy, from American University. Since I am now teaching science with this degree, I thought the comic was appropriate :)
Being a fellow in this educational initiative entails a few responsibilities. First, as mentioned above, I spend two full school days a week helping with the instruction of math and science. I assit two first, one second, two thrid, and one fifth grade class in the daily instruction of math and science. The goal of the program is to see if having subject experts in the classroom aids in the instruction of these subjects, gives the students a role model in the field, instills motivation in the students to persue the field, and most importantly, make these subjects fun! That last item is my favorite part of the program. To see some of the fun science experiments I've brought in for my students, check out the "Fun Experiments" section on my Lesson Plans page.
Also on the Lesson Plans page are my lesson plans! That's another major aspect of the fellowship. In this section I have full lesson plans I have developed that you can use in your own classroom. These lesson plans are written with Colorado grade level standards in mind, and are lessons I have actually taught in the classroom. So, in addition to the actual plan, I provide feedback on how the lesson went, as well as things I would do differently or improve upon. If you have any questions or feedback regarding the lesson plans, please get in touch with me via the Contact Me page.
Finally, I do have a life outside of school, although sometimes that's easy to forget. To find out more about Trevor the person, check out my About Me page. Thanks for visiting, and make sure to check back soon for more lesson plans!
