I see teaching as a lifelong opportunity to deepen my understanding of science and scientific thinking. I cannot imagine more enriching work.”
Monica’s Story
While a freshman at Stanford University, Monica Sircar shared her interest in becoming a teacher. To her surprise, both her teachers and her friends cautioned against this choice. She was uncomfortable with the idea set forth by others that she should pursue a career that carries ‘more respect’. “I take issue with this notion. My enthusiasm for learning about and communicating science is the quality that supported my success as a student, and is what compels me towards a teaching career.”
Monica spent her childhood examining amphibians, reptiles, and insects in the streams and woods of Iowa, Indiana and Ohio. After graduating from Reno High School in Reno, Nev., she brought this love of nature to Stanford University, where she studied as an undergraduate. Here, she developed interests in sustainable food systems, sexual health education, and mental health. In 2004, she received a grant to support her undergraduate research on the neural correlates of depression.
Monica taught middle and high school science in the SF Bay Area for nine years, including four years teaching environmental science in a project-based learning school. A longtime fan of the SF Bay Area, Monica feels, “It’s the perfect mix of exhilarating human energy and stunning natural beauty.”
As a Senior Fellow, Monica has increasingly focused her practice on supporting teacher learning and science curriculum design. In partnership with other Senior Fellows experienced in PBL (Sarah DiMaria, Carlee Madis, and Sheila Orr), Monica co-developed a Knowles Academy PBL Course, co-authoring written insights from this collaboration in Kaleidoscope as well as the research journal Education Sciences.
She also supported efforts to shift science curricula towards the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), first as the science curriculum lead at Summit Public Schools and later as an EQuIP science curriculum materials peer reviewer at Achieve, Inc. She contributed to instructional materials design at BSCS Science Learning for their flagship NGSS-designed biology curriculum, BSCS Biology: Understanding for Life, as well as OpenSciEd middle school materials. Monica has since returned to Stanford to pursue a PhD in science education, where she has been learning with and from other science teachers as they develop science curriculum units that center relevance, sustainability, and justice.
Courses Taught
PBL: Project-Based Learning for Rigorous Math & Science Instruction