news & tips for teachers
News & Tips for Teachers
Commitment to the Future
March 19th, 2011
On Monday March 14th, President Obama gave a speech pushing for changes to education. “I want every child in the country to head back to school in the fall knowing that their education is America ‘s top priority.” he said. The following …
Micro Motivational Moments
March 18th, 2011
In my online chemistry class there is a student who has fallen behind. She is bright, capable and tied to a host of medical problems. School and learning is her way out but helping her take advantage of the micro motivational opportunities …
Rethinking “Free” Education
March 16th, 2011
I have come to the conclusion that the only way to true education reform is to remove the “free” from public education. In recent years I have had more and more students in my classroom who take the educational system in this …
Can We Handle the Truth?
March 11th, 2011
We have received many responses to my blog regarding Pennsylvania teacher Natalie Munroe who was suspended from her job for complaining about her students on line. While many of you shared her sentiments, almost all the responses indicated that she should have …
On the Chopping Block
March 4th, 2011
On March 2, the United States government passed a stop gap funding measure for Fiscal Year 2011 to keep the government operational for another two weeks. The legislation written to allow this measure cut four billion dollars in domestic spending including the …
Amazing Glass
March 1st, 2011
A friend sent me a You Tube video on the future applications of glass that sent my head spinning. From the touch screens of the new tablets to walls that adjust to light to tables that interact the future of this material …
Exit Through the Art World
February 28th, 2011
Street art has always existed on the periphery of the art world, almost daring spectators to determine whether it has a rightful position as art or if it is just subversive vandalism. It is found in every city of the world, and …
Providing Good Feedback
February 21st, 2011
We have always known that what you write on papers gets read more than the local paper in may houses. The era of “good job” as feedback is long gone and more specific feedback is necessary. My feedback has changed over the …
Who is at Fault?
February 21st, 2011
Last week Pennsylvania teacher Natalie Munroe was suspended from her job for calling her students “rude, lazy disengaged whiners” on her personal blog. The blog was intended for her own personal use, she did not name anyone specificly, nor did she identify …
Benefiting from the NEA
February 19th, 2011
Last week President Obama spoke about reducing the national deficit by cutting unnecessary spending. One of the cuts he proposed was a $21 million cut to the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent agency of the federal government that extends support …
What If I Say Pretty Please? (Getting My Colleagues to Use Google Docs)
February 16th, 2011
About four years ago, I set up two Google Apps domains at my school. I just kind of did it, under the “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than seek permission” model of technology implementation. It’s free, and it wasn’t going to hurt …
Making Do?
February 16th, 2011
It ‘s February, and a whole month of March (with no vacations) looms ahead. Three more months of school and for the first time in twenty nine years of teaching I have run out of supplies. I have no more colored construction …
Is Free Education Really Free?
February 10th, 2011
Is a free education really free? According to the American Civil Liberties Union in California, it had better be. Completely. In September 2010 the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the state of California on behalf “Jane Doe” and “Jason Roe”- fictional names …
How Much Snow?
February 7th, 2011
I was watching the news and a video of a roof collapsing caught my attention. There is some amazing physics in that one video. How do engineers determine how much snow a roof can hold and how do they make sure buildings …
ISTE NETS*A Part 3: Excellence in Professional Practice
January 31st, 2011
After two sets of articles on the National Educational Technology Standards for both students and teachers, I’m now in my most ambitious series yet: the standards for administrators. I have been a student most of my life, and I have been a …
A New Virtual Reality
January 30th, 2011
I have a friend who teaches in an area of New Jersey that has been hit with several snowstorms. So far, twenty eight days into the new year they have used six of their eight allotted snow days already. What happens when …
No Dumping Here
January 27th, 2011
“You must love teaching art.” I hear all that phrase all the time. Followed by, “At least the kids all want to be there.” Not true, I want to scream. I wish all the kids wanted to be in my class, but …
Science as a Soap Opera
January 19th, 2011
We can learn a lot from the way they package TV shows. People are hard wired to pay attention to new things in packets that do not take eons of time. I think we try to package too much into our introductory …
Energy from Cow to Hamburger
January 11th, 2011
A wonderful test item from way back in the 80’s asked the students to track the energy of a hamburger from grass to cow to plate. It seems pretty straightforward but takes a lot of science thinking to explain fully. Food is …
High & Low Number Sense
January 11th, 2011
All my students are fascinated with records, highs and lows. I think this would be an engaging way to teach some number sense in science. I am amazed at the flooding in Australia this week. The human toll that a month of …
Do No Harm
January 10th, 2011
First do no harm — a part of the Hippocratic corpus in the physicians oath taken by prospective doctors. It should also be an oath sworn by prospective teachers, especially in this age of educational crisis. With dwindling budgets, parents pushing for …
Memory Work
January 5th, 2011
Kids are hardwired to remember some things (the color of their favorite toy or the number of days till the next vacation) but in teaching we do not often use the same brain based strategies to help them remember important science ideas. …
The Home-School Connection
January 5th, 2011
A young child’s entry into an early childhood program, whether it is for a few hours or for the entire day, signifies their first significant transition to a more formal setting then their home environment. As educators, we talk a great deal …
AWOL
January 2nd, 2011
What is the sound of one hand clapping? How about one hand blogging? Being reduced to using only one hand due to a broken left wrist I have been unable to adequately submit blogs and articles — for which I sincerely apologize. …
Encouraging Top Science Talent
December 28th, 2010
One Christmas I remember a neighbor got a chemistry set as a gift. He was interested in the set for a few days and then it became the toy that several of us played with for weeks on end. We continued to …
The Nuts and Bolts of PISA
December 28th, 2010
As promised this post will get into the nuts and bolts of how to use the PISA assessment items to improve instruction. These test questions are rich with ideas that will extend student learning. The first stop on the tour of these …
What is the Good News In PISA?
December 20th, 2010
PISA, Program for International Student Assessment, is a hot topic right now because our students in the United States generally score at or below average. Why that might be important to a classroom teacher is a good place to start letting these …
How Are We Doing in Science?
December 15th, 2010
Every so often students around the world take assessments that are designed to show how each country is doing in terms of student achievement. The assessment that seems to give the most interesting results in PISA (the Program for International Student Assessment). …
“Feel” and “Create” Your Way to an A
December 10th, 2010
Not long before Thanksgiving, my seventh and eighth grade students handed in their completed photography movie projects. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that, in a frenzied flurry of activity, culminating in all but one of my eighty-five upper level …
Seedling Questions
December 8th, 2010
There are questions that are directly connected to big ideas and your standards, questions that just come up in class and questions that arise from another question. All are valuable but we tend to not pay as much attention to the most …
Transparent Time Management
December 7th, 2010
It is that time of year when we all run out of time. The curriculum gets crunched with concepts we want to cover before vacation and our classes are interrupted with a hundred different events. The secret to holiday sanity and good …
Celebrating Holidays
December 2nd, 2010
Many teachers in public schools have had to put away the holiday decorations and face a celebration free December. I know that it is not possible to celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, and a host of other faith based traditions in the classroom. …
BragVest and other iPhone/iPad apps for Scouting
November 30th, 2010
My son and I are brand-new to Cub Scouts this year. He just earned his Bobcat rank and is happily working his way toward Tiger. We started a new Pack at the school where my son attends, and I am the Pack …
What in the World Are You Using the Lab For?
November 23rd, 2010
I have a colleague who teaches all of our seventh grade social studies classes. She’s also an English teacher, and she’s been in the education profession for many, many years. One might think she’d be hesitant to use technology with her students, …
Thanksgiving Science
November 23rd, 2010
Every holiday is full of great opportunities to tie in science but in the past I have not made good use of the connections with Thanksgiving. This year I intend to dig into Thanksgiving with gusto (and some great science). The turkey …
The Science of Cheese
November 16th, 2010
We had a brown bag lunch in my room a while ago and one student who was eating lunch with me to make up for some violation of the class rules finished his detention duty and came over when I offered him …
The World of Nanotechnology
November 16th, 2010
I admit that the tiny world of nanotechnology sounds like so much science fiction that it caught me off guard to find out how much nanotechnology is in our everyday lives. That kind of concept integration should be a part of some …
Google This
November 12th, 2010
Sometimes I think that the American news media likes to rub our noses in the recession. They seem to go to great lengths to illustrate to ever widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Case in point, this week’s coverage of Google’s …
Good Teeth
November 9th, 2010
A student in my class came in and told me that he and his brother drink about one full 2 liter bottle of pop each day. The class decided that this is a good place to begin an investigation on pop, nutrition …
ISTE NETS*A Part 2: Digital Age Learning Culture
November 9th, 2010
After two sets of articles on the National Educational Technology Standards for both students and teachers, we embark on my most ambitious series yet: the standards for administrators. I have been a student most of my life, and I have been a …
Instant Gratification to the Rescue!
November 9th, 2010
Ever want to know what your students are thinking? Worried that many of them are not really grasping the key concepts some days? Need to find out if they really WERE listening when you were explaining the expectations for a project? Feel …
What is IB Art?
November 7th, 2010
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) is an international educational foundation …
Science with Halloween Leftovers
November 4th, 2010
With the ghost and goblin costumes put away for another year I am left with a rather large bowl of Halloween candy. I think there must be some great classroom ideas in there….and there are. First, know that if I do not …
International Mindedness
October 27th, 2010
Who in the world, historical figure or living person, best personifies your idea of international mindedness? It was a question posed this past weekend during the visual arts workshop at the International Baccalaureate World Schools Program Conference. The International Baccalaureate program or …
Your Father’s Famous Four Questions (Part 4)
October 24th, 2010
In a recent blog post, I shared four questions that parents typically ask their children before letting them out the door. These questions came to me from Lori Getz, who writes about them in detail in the Parent Resource Center of her …
Remembering Our Essence
October 21st, 2010
There is a story about a stream that flowed around many obstacles until it arrived at a desert. The stream tried to cross, but its waters disappeared into the sand. The stream heard a voice. It said, “The wind crosses the desert. …
Brown Bag Science
October 19th, 2010
A friend and I have been working on ways to help kids to adopt healthier eating habits. Short of following them around or inserting a nutrition unit into an already crowded curriculum what should we do? Well, we decided on twice a …
Post It Note Science
October 19th, 2010
The old question goes, “which came first…the chicken or the egg”. This is always good for an interesting discussion in biology. But, buried in the thinking that surrounds that question is the idea that we need to spend some time teaching students …
National Arts and Humanities Month
October 12th, 2010
On October 1st, President Barack Obama proclaimed October as National Arts and Humanities month. As the arts lose strength in the standardized assessment based curricula being adopted by public schools, Obama’s proclaimation gives credence and value to our discipline. He sees the …
Your Father’s Famous Four Questions (Part 3)
October 10th, 2010
In a recent blog post, I shared four questions that parents typically ask their children before letting them out the door. These questions came to me from Lori Getz, who writes about them in detail in the Parent Resource Center of her …
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