Laws of Motion
As you walk into Shreena Punwasi’s Galena Park ISD eighth-grade science classroom, you immediately feel an electric energy that conveys a sense of excitement about learning. Punwasi’s classroom culture is characterized by her student’s high level of engagement, solid questioning, and the team work developed between her and her students.
Punwasi aims to foster student curiosity in her classroom by providing inquiry-based learning experiences for her students so that they are free to explore, wonder and learn through peer to peer questioning and experimentation. Most importantly, she believes that students do not have love science, but learn something new each day that will get them excited about school.
“In my experience, no 13-year-old is truly fascinated by the work of Sir Isaac Newton, but put a football in their hand and relate his laws of motion to the Houston Texans and suddenly you have their attention,” said Punwasi. “I believe that science is so much more than formulas and vocabulary. It’s about looking around you and conceptualizing why, how and what if.”
As a lifelong learner herself, Punwasi participates in the Conoco Phillips Rice University Applied Mathematics Program, a model lab for Houston Math and Science Teachers. Her favorite teachers were the ones that encouraged her to ask questions, which is why she was naturally drawn to study and eventually teach science. "My aim is for my students to learn something new and of value everyday so that they can feel successful in a world that sometimes tells them that they are not very successful,” said Punwasi. #IAmTXEd Galena Park ISD