Renna Wolfe

Renna Wolfe, PhD, is a science teacher at La Jolla Country Day School, a private school in San Diego. Following her undergraduate studies at Smith College, Renna earned her PhD from the UC San Diego Neurosciences Graduate Program, where she was heavily involved in science outreach. Renna enjoys using her neuroscience background to shape her teaching style and promote the well-being of her high school students.

Can you describe your academic and professional background? What path led you to pursue a career in science education?

My Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCSD taught me that I loved science and I loved the opportunities I had in education and writing (TAing, writing papers, and the neuroscience outreach program experiences I was involved with) but I didn’t want to maintain a research career or a lab of my own. My next step was looking for opportunities in science writing and education. Through LinkedIn I joined groups that were related to these fields and found an opportunity to do freelance writing of educational materials. I wrote for companies like OpenStax and Discovery Education, from home. During this time, I had a couple good friends teaching at La Jolla Country Day School, one of whom was a former UCSD Neurosciences program student and one of whom was the spouse of a neuro program student. They recommended I try my hand being in a classroom so I signed up to be a substitute teacher. After a few weeks of subbing, I knew I enjoyed it enough to take on a position teaching science. I continued freelance writing and when a teaching position opened up for biology at LJCDS, I gladly accepted it. In this case the hiring process was rather easy because they already knew me from subbing. I still went through a formal full day interview, which including teaching a demo lesson in both chemistry and AP Biology. I prepped those lessons well and did my best. I also had multiple interviews during the day. This is a typical hiring experience at our school, but I don’t know about the public school system.

Can you tell us about your current responsibilities? What is a typical day or week like in your role?

I teach only part time at LJCDS, which means I only teach two classes. At the moment I teach both sections of AP Biology offered at our school. This part-time schedule gives me extra flexibility to also take care of my 5 and 7 year old kiddos, which is no small task. Now that I’ve been teaching for 5 years, my prep for AP Biology is minimal, but if I were to take on a different class, I would spend a great deal of time getting ready for each lesson. Part of my time is spent grading, which is the least fun part, and the rest involves thinking of fun new ways to engage students and obviously being in a class with 15-20 teenagers that are, at least for the most part, pretty eager and interested kids, is the best part. It’s also really fulfilling to be part of a team that cares so much about education because I’ve grown to care deeply about it also. With a neuroscience background, it’s also really fun to connect mechanisms of learning with real-world applications whenever possible. Another very rewarding component of the job is that I can use my science background to better understand many of the afflictions that teenagers are experiencing, such as high levels of anxiety and depression. After a great deal of research into those mechanisms, I can talk to parents and families about these topics and help them understand what’s going on in students’ stressed out brains, and how to develop coping strategies.

What are some of the challenging aspects of your job?

The most challenging aspect of my job is the pressure that I put on myself to be the best teacher I can be, and give each student as much personalized attention as possible. This can be very consuming if you let it. Finding a balance is the ultimate struggle for most teachers. Again, my struggle here is minimized due to my part-time position.

Do you have any professional plans for the future?

I haven’t thought too deeply on this as I’m quite happy in my current role for now. I would like to expand the work I do in the field of student well-being and stress management. I have given a few talks on this and related topics but would like to grow those opportunities.

What’s changing in education? Are there any new trends we should be aware of?

The biggest change at present, obviously, is the distance-teaching happening now. It’s not that fun, for anyone. No one knows how much this might remain part of lives into how much of the future…but it does make teachers think more deeply about how to engage kids in the learning process when you’re not standing in the same room with them. Before COVID, there had been a slow progression in the world of education towards understanding how students learn and motivate best, and how to achieve those aims by adopting new teaching strategies. It’s a growing field, involves a lot of debate over best practices, and it’s a whole lot of fun to think about.

What activities, internships, or organizations would you recommend someone get involved with to help them break into K-12 education?

Try to get as much teaching and mentoring experience in grad school as possible, if/when possible sign up to be a substitute teacher at various schools, perhaps volunteer or work for an after school or tutoring program with children, even a counselor position with an org like the YMCA or Boys and Girls club, or at summer camps, etc. I had one friend actually apply for and complete a teaching position, while he was still in grad school, at a local 2-year school to teach one class (about a 3 month time commitment, potentially only in evenings). This was a great way for him to get his foot through the education door.

Is it common for other teachers to have a scientific/academic background (i.e. have PhDs)? Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages someone with a PhD might experience in your field?

All of the (5) females that have taught science at LJCDS since I started there have had Ph.D.s (with one exception who had a masters in physics). There are more than you think! Again, public school might be a different story. With a Ph.D., you can be hired by a private school without having official teaching credentials – this is a pretty big advantage. Students also call you ‘Dr.’ which is kind of cool.