Science Teacher of the Year (High School): Cynthia Chan

Meet Cynthia Chan

I turned 50 this year and have been a teacher for 27 years. I’d say the main theme of both my life and my teaching career is “change and evolution”. By year 50 of existence and year 27 of teaching, you’d think I’d have everything figured out. But quite the contrary, I find myself constantly discovering new things, about myself, about the world, about humanity, and about teaching and learning. I have discovered that wisdom comes from all directions, from those who came before me, from my peers, and from those younger than me, with fresh and new perspectives. I’m the kind of teacher who’d learn new things then revamp my entire curriculum and teaching approach every 6 or 7 years. I’m always doing the hard things, taking the challenging routes, no matter how much it scares me. I went from mostly lecturing, to being more group work focused, to adopting the Modeling Approach. I went from drilling rote memorization, to fostering critical and analytical thinking. I went from being great at teaching the way I was taught, to crafting learning experiences that are more effective, even if it puts me in a position at which I’m not the most comfortable. Like socratic dialog. The Modeling Approach relies heavily on socratic questioning techniques, which I’m not great at, but I just keep trying. In essence, my journey in both life and teaching, is to keep learning, and keep changing. It’s scary and it’s hard work, but do it anyway.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in science education?
Collaborate with your colleagues: There are a lot of great resources out there, some tried and true lessons and labs. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Look at what your colleagues are doing, share ideas, steal, tweak, make improvements. Adapt things that already exist into something that fits your style. Incredible and brilliant work results from collaborative efforts. Keep an open mind: Always be willing to listen, to learn, to try new things. Don’t calcify. Resist the urge to grow stagnant. But with that said, don’t be too hard on yourself: Don’t over extend either. Know that we all have limits. Life is hard. We can only do what we can do. It is ok and important to rest, to know where our limits are, and be content with what we can do at the moment. It’s a delicate balance. Finally, know that you are incredible for choosing this field.

What's next for you?
I don’t know! What’s funny is that I never had any plan or intention of changing my teaching style, or climbing the ladder, or winning awards, anything like that. Like many teachers, I just try to learn and constantly try my best at what I do. However, now that I have this many years of experience under my belt, I am open to being in a mentor position in a more formal way. I am already a department co-chair, I am already mentoring new science teachers informally. I could explore being a teacher specialist for science, or formally being a mentor teacher for the school or district. Being a teacher trainer in some capacity has always been an interest of mine, so I’d like to explore that. I also just look forward to continuously learning and collaborating with my colleagues. I have wonderful colleagues at my school who are great collaborators, and I look forward to working with them all the time.

Do you have a hidden talent? Tell us about it!
Not so much a hidden talent, but a hobby I'm obsessed with: I love swing dancing. I Lindy Hop and Bal. I follow but I'm learning how to lead. Please dance with me.