Susan Curtis Baldwin County dIGItAL BOoK CrEatORs

For Susan Curtis, a science teacher and department head at Oak Hill Middle School in Baldwin County, showing students the practical applications of what they are learning in class is a critical part of the education process.

“When I was a student, there was really never a real-world application to what we were learning in class,” said Curtis. “For me, I put a big emphasis on how what we are learning applies to the real world.”

Curtis – who has been teaching for over 30 years and was recently named the 2023 Baldwin County School District Teacher of the Year – regularly invites guest speakers to her classes to share information about their careers and experiences.

When her students studied cell analogies, for example, a microbiologist visited to share his work in the field. For a recent unit on the human body, Curtis had an artist visit her class to help students create medical illustrations. For a forensics unit, she invited a member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to talk with students about investigative techniques. Recently, while students worked through a unit on genetics and blood typing, Curtis invited a local lawyer to share with the class how to effectively use forensic evidence to argue a case in court.

The students used synthetic blood to learn about blood type. Then, they had to solve a case using clues around the classroom and their new crime-scene investigative skills. Afterwards, the mock district attorney in their group had to argue who was guilty in front of a jury of their peers.

In addition to bringing in working experts to share their experiences, Curtis also uses the free Book Creator app in her classes so students can work together to create digital books to share what they have learned. Students work collaboratively to create digital books on each unit which are then shared through a class digital library.

Curtis said she learned about the app several years ago from a school technology specialist.

“We have created books with the Book Creator app for years,” said Curtis. “But with COVID, we were having to do so many things long distance that this was a great way to collaborate and have experts talk to us through Zoom, so we started making the books a required part of every project we do.”

Students use the app to create books to add to the class library. There are currently 14 books in the library – four of which were created this school year.

“The books aren’t graded – we’re just showing what we are learning. We have a good time with it,” said Curtis. “Some students really enjoy the programming piece, while others tend to write more of the content. Then we have strong math students who like to analyze what is in the book to make sure it’s right.”

For the next unit on evolution, the class won’t have a formal in-person speaker, but Curtis will share a three-part video series created by a human anatomy professor at Harvard. Students will watch the videos and write him letters with their questions. Another unit on interdependence of life will include a visit from a scientist who works on the Wolves & Moose of Isle Royale research project, the longest continuous study of any predator-prey system in the world.

For Curtis, the speakers and digital books are a culmination of her own career experiences. She started as an English Language Arts teacher and then taught math before eventually moving into STEM. After serving as a STEM instructional coach for several years, she returned to the classroom.

“I wanted to go back into the classroom to try out some of my ideas about teaching science more effectively,” said Curtis, “So that’s what I did.”