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Dr Melissa Braaten

@mbraaten.bsky.social

Associate Professor of STEM Education and Teacher Education at University of Colorado Boulder. I study how teachers learn and grow over their careers amid often impossible circumstances. Talk to me about cooking, camping, hiking, gardening, & Italian wine.

11,107 Followers  |  1,886 Following  |  33 Posts  |  Joined: 11.10.2023  |  2.1832

Latest posts by mbraaten.bsky.social on Bluesky

It’s emotional support roast chicken and crispy roastie potatoes over here. I don’t care how hot it is outside. Self care at all costs.

19.09.2025 22:26 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Her series of books about women scientists in America are among the most compelling and important that I’ve read as an academic. And she had to grind throughout her whole life to write them. May she now rest.

30.08.2025 15:54 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

Hi, we are an alternative to Amazon-owned Audible πŸ‘‹πŸ» With us, you select the independent bookshop you want to support (we have 3,000+ partners across the globe), and we share profits from your purchase with them.

We're also employee-owned and a registered Social Purpose Corporation.

14.03.2025 17:28 β€” πŸ‘ 9039    πŸ” 3150    πŸ’¬ 141    πŸ“Œ 176

One of the really special things about Sesame Street was always these little art films that were less about teaching a specific thing than they were about instilling a sort of meditative sense of wonder at how the world works.

14.03.2025 03:50 β€” πŸ‘ 5123    πŸ” 1171    πŸ’¬ 59    πŸ“Œ 34

First class I took as a doctoral student was with Dr Sandra Harding. She set me on a path and shaped who I am as a scholar and human. Her stories of her own doctoral studies brought important perspective that I think of often.

08.03.2025 03:01 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Please. And stop using AI to generate images. Just dump a water bottle out and run your hair dryer for 15 minutes. 🫠

27.02.2025 02:41 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Whew, I needed this. Thank you to @hschweingruber.bsky.social for sharing it and for all that you are doing right now.

31.01.2025 12:14 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

It’s important to know that a lot of productive activity is happening in person and offline, too.

Not all of it can be broadcast online, but we’ve had hundreds of people showing up to our trainings, mobilizations, and more.

Keep going. Tyranny is eroded by a sea of small acts. Everything matters.

30.01.2025 04:03 β€” πŸ‘ 121347    πŸ” 19358    πŸ’¬ 2345    πŸ“Œ 888

Great resources coming from TJ McKenna and Eve Manz!

25.01.2025 16:12 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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During a recent interview with HEP, @mbraaten.bsky.social delved into why she, Mark Windschitl, and Jessica Thompson wrote their bestselling book, AMBITIOUS SCIENCE TEACHING. Watch a clip from this discussion here: https://bit.ly/3P80KSN

17.01.2025 21:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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HEP author Jessica Thompson spoke to us about how educators and leaders are applying AMBITIOUS SCIENCE TEACHING to their work. Learn more about this book, which she co-wrote with Mark Windschitl and @mbraaten.bsky.social, in this video clip: https://bit.ly/4gf1HVf

16.01.2025 20:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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During a recent conversation with us, HEP author Mark Windschitl spoke about takeaways from his bestselling book, AMBITIOUS SCIENCE TEACHING, which he co-wrote with Jessica Thompson and @mbraaten.bsky.social. Watch a clip from this interview here: https://bit.ly/4gJfsLw

15.01.2025 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Can confirm! Happy Birthday Bob!

12.01.2025 02:28 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I am a climate scientist and this is correct ⬇️

09.01.2025 03:06 β€” πŸ‘ 32116    πŸ” 9245    πŸ’¬ 322    πŸ“Œ 101

We’re lucky to be in a community where these aren’t prohibited or controversial ideas for public school teaching. And yet, that’s still the main source of worry for new teachers. Again, activist teachers who do this everyday are here to say (with their whole chest): It’s possible!

06.12.2024 12:30 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This is my final class with student teachers. They teach for one more semester in their K-5 sites. Their goal today is to commit to a specific climate education effort for their upcoming semester and to combine it with youth civic action. Their activist mentors are there to push and help.

06.12.2024 12:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This intergenerational mentoring has been powerful. I’m seeing a rupture of a few presumptions held by student teachers: 1) These seasoned teachers are radical educators, not stuck in old ways. 2) Civic action and climate education can happen with little kids; it’s not too controversial.

06.12.2024 12:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Local climate activist retired teachers join our undergrad elementary teacher ed classes again this week. We’ve been studying what they do with local K-5 classrooms to support kids’ climate action and civic engagement. Now it’s time for our student teachers to commit to goals for next semester.

06.12.2024 12:20 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This is great news! Thanks for curating this important section!

03.12.2024 13:44 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1,000 a month. A year later, nearly half of participants said they had housing. Participants in Denver's basic-income program reported having more-secure housing, though results were similar in the trial and control groups.

Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1k/month. A year later, nearly half had housing.

They also had fewer ER visits, nights spent in a hospital, and jail stays.

The report estimates that this reduction in public service use SAVED the city $589k.
www.businessinsider.com/denver-basic...

26.11.2024 00:47 β€” πŸ‘ 37171    πŸ” 12622    πŸ’¬ 721    πŸ“Œ 1256

Happy Friday all my teacher friends!! You made it!!

22.11.2024 13:02 β€” πŸ‘ 71    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Welcome new friends! I post about my research with teachers and community members who are finding ways to act for climate justice through education and civic engagement. I live and work in Colorado where such work is possible and valued.

12.11.2024 11:42 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Looking West from the CU  Boulder campus toward the Flatirons. We are standing in a green grassy area lined with conifers and enjoying the early autumn sunshine.

Looking West from the CU Boulder campus toward the Flatirons. We are standing in a green grassy area lined with conifers and enjoying the early autumn sunshine.

Since there are few opportunities to teach science in K-5 schools in the U.S., my undergrads are practicing facilitating each other’s science experiences. We’re figuring out how beavers change waterways and ecosystems. Messy stream table work great outdoors so this is my classroom today!

07.10.2024 17:01 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! I’m just getting started so haven’t talked to anyone yet. I appreciate the connections!

04.10.2024 14:32 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

First finding comes from a systematic look at all of the public-facing documents and media from a school district aiming to create and enact climate action policies. Imprecise terms might be a starting point for moving from sentiments to actions. Conceptual clarity is always worthwhile.

28.09.2024 15:09 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Whoa! This is so great!

28.09.2024 14:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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You know what day it is

21.09.2024 16:35 β€” πŸ‘ 350    πŸ” 109    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 10

OpenAI hosting university presidents to pitch enterprise contracts. Google spending $25M to, in part, train K-12 teachers to use AI.

Resharing my paper arguing educators and students should learn against and about GAI while developing a Luddite praxis: repository.isls.org/bitstream/1/...

20.09.2024 21:18 β€” πŸ‘ 45    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

Thank you! I feel very alone in this standpoint.

19.09.2024 03:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Later in the evening I got a message from one of the climate activist teachers. She sent a photo with half a dozen of the new teachers who had all showed up at a local climate action event. I’m feeling hopeful about the power of some intergenerational teacher-activist mentoring. Stay tuned!

14.09.2024 16:54 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

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