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All, I want to have guest speakers next year, but I can't figure out how to make it work in the middle school.  My colleagues don't like to miss instructional time and we don't do interdisciplinary instruction.  I teach four life science classes, from 7:30 am - 11:53 am.  There is a 20-minute lunch in there.  I feel bad to ask a person from the community to stay all day and repeat themselves four times, but that's what it would take for all of my students to hear the presentation.  Otherwise, I thought I could have the presentation in one of my classes, I videotape it and show the presentation to the other three.  However, it just doesn't seem like it would be as great as the in person where they could ask class-specific questions.  Any ideas out there? TY.

Aloha! I teach 7th grade life science from 8:40a-2:20p and have about 8 guest speakers a year. I have found that most guest speakers are willing to stay all day and repeat themselves!! I usually provide them with water and lunch/snacks. I have found that most guest speakers do not provide notes for students to take, so I ask for their PowerPoint before they come in order to create a student handout. My students are much more engaged when they have something to follow and take notes on. Go for it! Guest speakers enrich the unit and experience! Kimberly

I think that incorporating guest speakers is a great way for the students to be engaged and also for them to see how the content they are learning can be applied in the "real world." I am currently in a teaching program, and this is something I would like to incorporate into my future classroom. Based on my experiences in middle school, when we had guest speakers that could relate to the grade as a whole for cross-curriculum, we were able to have a class assembly. However, on the smaller scale, we typically received a handout and the speakers were always happy to spend the day to answer our questions and present. Additionally, I have even experienced a group Skype session that was a very influential experience.

Hi Anne! I am a current pre-service teacher in Iowa and think incorporating guest speakers into the classroom is a great idea! Even in my college classes, my professors bring in guest speakers to talk to us. It might seem like asking a lot from a speaker to spend a day in the classroom, but what I have learned is that most of them like doing it! So many people out there want to help students in the classroom and do not mind taking time to talk to them. Guest speakers usually feel honored being asked and enjoy discussing their passions and careers to students to hopefully inspire them to follow in their footsteps. I would recommend not video taping because that would be unfair to the students. Half the fun of guest speakers is interacting with them and asking them questions. By videotaping, that does not allow your other classes to ask questions. Another idea if you do not want to keep one speaker for the whole day, maybe see if you could get multiple speakers from the community that do the same job/passion and trade off who comes in to talk. Then each speaker would only be there for an hour or so and every class gets to hear from a speaker regarding the same information. I think the best thing to do would ask community members and see their responses, the worst they could do is say no. You might be surprised how many community members want to help. Good luck and keep up with the great ideas. Natalie

I think that guest speakers in the classroom is a great idea! As a soon-to-be teacher, I hope to be able to get guest speakers in my classroom. As a current student, I have had many guest speakers that stay for teach section of the course, often repeating themselves. This could also be good for them to because they can figure out which content of their talk is the most important so they don't run out of time, or what else to add!

I agree that having guest speakers are an effective way for students to also stay engaged. Instead of always listening to the voice of the teacher, they can explore other instructors or professionals philosophy on science.

If you can't get a real person for whatever reason, check out Skype a Scientist (skypeascientist.com).  They match up classrooms with working scientists.  Teachers can request different kinds of scientists (biologist, geologist, etc) & experiences (1st gen college student, etc).

So far I've been matched for 3 of my 4 classes & we're arranging for our meetings.  My scientists are a cancer researcher (twice) & an ocean current researcher (from NOAA).

Hi, I'm a preservice teacher at UNI. So I don't have a classroom of my own yet, but having been in the schools at least once for most of my classes I have experienced a ton of different teaching styles and classrooms. So it can often depend on the school and specifically the classroom, but if you want to have guest speakers in your classroom I absolutely think you can do that even if the other teachers are not as on board. Many speakers are already used to giving the same speech more than once so many of them would be completely fine with giving the same presentation more than once. And if you still aren't sure you can reach out to someone you know well to try it out once before getting a speaker you don't know as well. I think having speakers is a great way to enrich instruction so I absolutely encourage it. 

Hello Anne! I am a student at the University of Northern Iowa and I think this was a great question! As a future teacher I would love to have as many outside guest speakers in my class because I feel like the students can relate to what they learning more if they hear it from a person who uses it in their everyday. This also eliminates the 'when are we ever going to use this' thought that many middle school students have. As for the speaker repeating themsleves, if the person truly cares about what they are talking about they will enjoy repeating it a hundred times if they had to! They also want to help educate students on what they do every day and maybe convince students to do the same when they grow up!

I think it is a great idea to have guest speakers in the classroom. It would be beneficial for the students to be able to see science being used outside the classroom, that way the students are able to connect science topics to real world situations. By having someone who uses what the students are learning about in the classroom in their daily life, it brings excitement to the students because they are talking about something they love doing. 

Awesome! I think that guest speakers add a lot of insight to the classroom and keep the students engaged.

Visitor speakers as a rule feel regarded being asked and appreciate examining their interests and vocations to understudies to ideally motivate them to emulate their example. I would prescribe not video taping since that would be uncalled for to the understudies. A large portion of the enjoyment of visitor speakers is interfacing with them and asking them inquiries. By recording, that doesn't enable your different classes to pose inquiries. Another thought on the off chance that you would prefer not to keep one speaker for the entire day, possibly check whether you could get different speakers from the network that do a similar activity/energy and exchange off who comes in to talk. At that point every speaker would just be there for an hour or something like that and each class gets the chance to get notification from a speaker with respect to a similar data. I figure the best activity would ask network individuals and see their reactions, the most exceedingly awful they could do is say no. You may be shocked what number of network individuals need to help.

Hi Anne! I think having guest speakers is an amazing idea for your students. It makes the content they are learning come to life. I often find that students don't understand why they are learning the content; bring in a speaker would give them an idea of how the content can be useful. Also, my husband is a scientist. He is absolutely thrilled anytime I ask him to talk with my students and show them what he does for a living. I honestly think that most people who are asked to speak to a class understand that there are multiple classes they would have to speak to. From my experience, any guest speaker who says yes generally understands and is okay with the schedule.