Laura Trout

What is your institution? Lancaster Country Day School

What do you teach? Chemistry

How long have you used POGIL? 22 years

What was your "AHA" POGIL moment? After my first workshop, I went back to my classroom and tried my first POGIL activity. It was a revised version of the Nuclear Atom. The next day I gave the same quiz as I had for several years on atomic number, mass number, and charge. For the first time ever, I had near 100% success on that quiz. I was sold!

What do you wish you had known when you first started using POGIL? I totally missed the Process Skills part of POGIL. I was totally into the Guided Inquiry part, but the PS part didn't even register. I used POGIL activities for a long time without incorporating PS development into my classes.

What would you like to see The POGIL Project accomplish in the next 20 years? Continue to develop POGIL activities for more math, and more science content areas.

What does the POGIL community mean to you? The POGIL community is more important to me as colleagues than teachers in my own school. I feel like we speak the same language and have similar philosophies. When I'm frustrated, or need advice, I can go to any of my POGIL peeps and ask for help. They always have suggestions and make me feel better. We boost each other up.