Central Kitsap’s Newest Science Teacher, Kaitlin Caylor
Kaitlin Caylor
This year has a lot of new things; the people, rules, social distancing, sophomores that feel like freshmen, and a lot of new staff, specifically a “hands on science teacher” Kaitlin Caylor, as described by Paul Birkenfeld, a fellow science teacher.
This is Caylor’s first year teaching at Central Kitsap High School. She teaches marine science and regular biology.
Caylor completed her undergraduate work at Western Washington University studying marine biology, and her masters at the University of Oregon in education.
“Which is a great asset to us as we look to adopting new curriculum for our newly aligned science classes,” Paul Birkenfeld, the head of the science department said.
Currently, she is the club advisor for Environmental Club, and not looking to start anything new.
“If a student came to me about starting a club I wouldn’t turn them away,” Caylor says “But I am not actively seeking to start a club.”
As a teacher Caylor’s favorite thing is her students.
“I love to watch them make sense of what we are talking about in class and being able to apply it to their own lives,” Caylor said. “That’s really exciting for me to see that happen everyday in my classroom.”
In a survey that was sent out to her students, a majority said that they loved Caylor and her teaching style. Teachers are also impressed with Caylor and the way she runs her classroom.
“I think she does a great job getting students involved with hands on activities in class, has great classroom management and will be very much an asset to our department and culture at CK,” Birkenfeld said.
A student favorite was the way Caylor took notes in class.
“I have slides that I create for students. I put them up on the screen and every single student keeps a composition science notebook. And that’s where they keep a record of their own learning, so they take their notes there, and then they will do like all of their activities so we’ll either do notes before or after an activity depending on what they need it for,” Caylor said. “And then they can always refer back to it so they keep it all in one place, which was really helpful for them. And then I also post the slides on Google Classroom so they can always go back to it whenever they need to.”
Another student favorite is that Caylor doesn’t assign homework.
“So I don’t assign homework on a daily basis, I respect students’ time outside the classroom. I know they spend like seven hours here a day learning,” Caylor said. “So I want them to spend their time outside of school doing whatever they need to do, whether that’s a job, a family commitment, sports, whatever it is. So, my homework policy is whatever they don’t finish in class, is what they take home.”
While students have a lot of respect and love for Caylor there were a few complaints, for example Caylor only lets students use their notebooks for two to four minutes during tests.
“I let them use their notebooks for two to four minutes in the middle of a test. So they start the test without their notebook, and then I tell them to open their notebook, everybody opens it up, they get four minutes to look at whatever they want, and then they put them away for the rest of the test,” Caylor said.
Students also said that Caylor could be a little better at controlling classroom volume and talk a little quieter.
Overall everyone has been impressed with Caylor during her first year of teaching at Central Kitsap High School.
“I think basing all her decisions on what is best for kids will carry her far and carry her long into her career and into retirement,” Birkenfeld said. “Whatever decision she makes, if it’s best for kids, advocate for kids, advocate for your program, and she will be a success wherever she is.”
