‍It's Teacher Appreciation Week! So, we're sharing three new posts in our Educator Spotlight series. LabXchange was designed for - and with - educators. Our teacher co-developers and ambassadors help us ensure that LabXchange is easy to use, saves time, and also creates opportunities for both teachers and students. Thank you for everything you do, teachers!

‍Would you like to share your own LabXchange story? Contact us.

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About Uma

Your school: GREEN Charter School, Greenville, SC

Classes taught using LabXchange:

• AP Biology
• Honors Biology
• CP Biology
• Forensic Science

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Who are your scientific or teaching inspirations?

Francis Collins (Human Genome Project, Bonnie Bassler (microbiology), Briana Pobiner (paleoanthropology).

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How has LabXchange helped you address challenges in your classroom/teaching practice?

COVID-19 has really pushed teachers to rethink their teaching strategies and a top priority for me was to make my classroom resources equitable for all students. LabXchange is a wonderful resource to simulate labs and consolidate resources from different websites. It allows students to progress at their own pace and since I can tailor my lessons to fit my classes, it is an outstanding differentiation tool.

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How has LabXchange helped you adapt a required curriculum (e.g. to support the specific learning needs of a class or student?)

As I mentioned above, differentiating for my different learners is easily possible via LabXchange. I also love that my students can do virtual labs.

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What sets LabXchange apart from other online learning tools you have used?

The fact that I can pull from a variety of different resources and modify my pathways is a uniquely important feature. I also like that there are ready made pathways if I do not have the time to create my own.

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What is your favorite LabXchange resource, and why?

I love the Gel Electrophoresis lab because it closely simulates the actual lab procedure. Doing labs is an essential component of doing science.

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What do you hope to accomplish in your career as a STEM educator?

I want to inspire my students to pursue STEM careers, to be problem solvers, and critical thinkers. I want my female students to have diverse role models so that they can see themselves as future scientists.

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Just for fun

What’s your favorite science joke/pun?

I make horrible science puns, but only PERIODICALLY!