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2005
High School
Teacher of the Year
Keith Zeise
Rufus King International
Baccalaureate High School
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The Milwaukee Section's Teacher of the Year Award for 2005 goes to Keith Zeise. Keith is one of the new young innovative teachers in our public schools who have taken on the call to interest and prepare the new generation to be future chemists. As a chemistry teacher at Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School of the Milwaukee Public School System, Keith employs a number of innovative techniques to engage the student and at the same time allow the student to understand the chemical concepts.
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Keith's teaching style is one of allowing the students to make their own conclusions. By engaging the student and with some gentle prodding, Keith will guide the student so they deduce the correct conclusion. He does not want to give the student answers that they just memorize. As a result, the students approach their labs with a sense of discovery, and projects take on a unique individuality in concept and execution. In short, Keith wants his students to be "thinkers". For example, in the photos below, several of his students show their projects demonstrating chemical bonding. |
The student models are hung from the ceiling. |
Tosh Hribal(l) and Sean Gallitz(r) show their model of formaldehyde bonding. |
Taysha Jackson(l), Krystal Cvikel(c) and Shanee McCoy(r) show their model of ethylene bonding. |
The assignment for the lab was to construct an electrochemical cell using a salt bridge, measure its output, and compare it with literature values.
(l-r)Lindsey Wurch, Alison Lakritz, Julia Perkins, Keith and Carol Lemke
(l-r) Megan Armbruster, Emma Mondadori and Keith.
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Keith Zeise's teaching technique also tries to utilize the students basic knowledge into the learning of chemistry. For example, he has invented the "Musical Periodic Table". Students are told to write down the major characteristics of a list of about 20 songs. These songs are given in order (where the song number is related to atomic number). Each song is played for about 30 seconds, long enough for Keith to act crazy and dance, while the students write down the characteristics of the song, such as genre, vocal type, etc. The students are then asked to place each song number into a "group". The final task is when the students are told to arrange the song numbers into a chart. The challenge for many students is keeping the song numbers in order from left to right and top to bottom. The students often discover the concept of periodicity themselves, and some have even been able to predict the next song type while Keith is still giving the songs.
(l-r) Keith, Sean Gallitz, Tosh Hribal
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Keith Zeise is a 1999 graduate of UW-Milwaukee where he majored in secondary education with a minor in chemistry. In 2004, he received his M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, again from UW-Milwaukee. At Rufus King, Keith also is a coach of Cross Country and Track and Field. In his spare time, Keith likes to go running and fishing.
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