Influence outside my classroom.

Right now I would love to say that I feel that I have a great deal of influence outside of my classroom. I feel that I have some influence but not as much as I strive to possess. I am one who juggles many things daily as I am sure most people do. I am not only a teacher I am a mother, wife, coach and graduate student. That is a lot to juggle. I feel that I do a good job on all accounts but would love to spend more time in each aspect of my life. I do not feel that any part of my responsibilities has fallen to the wayside but I could do more if there were only more time.

I collaborate on a weekly basis with the other science teachers in my department. With that being said it may be just sharing what we are planning on for the week. other times we sit down to come up with lab activities. This is when I feel that we are really making strides in the collaboration department.

One area that I would like to focus on in the near future is being able to talk with the elementary teachers and high school teachers. We could sit down and discuss what we felt the students needed to know and be able to when they enter our classrooms. This would help out the students and it would make it easier on each teacher. We could focus more on inquiry and not just the basics. There are often times that students walk into my room and they do not have the basic skills in order to be involved in the lab activities. I spend the first 6-9 weeks going over what they should already have an understanding of so we can work effectively in the lab. I have been in the elementary setting and I know that they are pushed to focus more on reading and math. If we could spend more time in the other subject areas then the students would have the potential to more motivated and willing to expand on their previous experiences.

Where's our Sputnik?

I can remember as a small child how excited I was when we studied space exploration in school. When sputnik was launched it sparked something in the American society. It sparked people to want to research and look to the stars. It sparked writers to focus on stories that involved space and what we could find out from space research. This also sparked kids to want to be astronauts and work for NASA. Now it seems as if the push of our government is to fight terrorists and to send foreign relief to the oil countries. Don't get me wrong I believe that we should help other countries in need.  The article brings up an interesting point about what our country chooses to spend a great deal of funds on. I understand that many countries look to the U.S. for help with matters. But when will it be our turn to receive the help of our government. 

There is has been a big push to improve education. the only issue is that it seems that funds are not being set aside. We must help our own citizens and invest in our future generation. We need to focus on those STEM careers. I think that there is a interest in the STEM careers but there must be something that will get people interested in the jobs that will boost our economy and that will help with technological advances.

Sputnik was of great importance and interest back in its day. This was a way to get involved in the race for space. Now it is hard to say what would spark this same interest. I know that by continually comparing our nation to other nations is not the way to go. Just like kids no two are alike. Our country is not exactly like other countries. we have our own strengths and weaknesses. We have to play on our strengths. As educators we must make sure that our students are given all the advantages and are taught the basic skills. Once we can build the knowledge base of our students then we can help mold them into the creative and critical thinkers we need to make the advances in the areas of science and math.

Model Lesson

I believe that models are a great way for students to learn and understand a concept. I chose to work with my students on earthquakes and the effect it can have on the environment. I had my students complete an activity where they built a skyscraper and then simulated an earthquake. They had to draw a picture of what their skyscraper looked like and what effect the earthquake had on their building. the next step was to reconstruct the building and reinforce it to with stand an earthquake. Then they followed the same steps as the first building. We also made a seismograph printout. The students simulated a small earthquake and tehn a major earth quake. we discussed the differences in the readings and the possible effects each earthquake would have in our area.

Natural DIsasters

Natural Disaster events always seem to shock the world. When you think about the ones that grab the attention of the world you think of earth quakes and tsunamis. Since i live in the south the main natural disaster that affects us are tornadoes. In my class once a week we talk about current events and science related topics. I like to make sure that my students are aware of what is going on in the world around them. At my school we have been part of different fund raiser to help the people of our community (those affected by the 2011 tornadoes) and also for hurricane relief through the red cross. Not only do we talk about current events but we also talk about past events that have effected our area and across the world.  One way to get them involved and aware of local agencies that help with disaster relief would be to invite some representative from various organizations in to speak with my classes. This was be informative and educational.

Backwards Design Lesson

This week I carried out a lesson that I planned using the backwards design. I use this method when planning my lessons. You should plan lesson by knowing what you want your students to know after you have taught the lesson.

My lesson centered around mining and its effects on the environment. I started my lesson my discussing different methods and natural occurrences that can disturb the environment. We discussed the steps of succession and looked at pictures that depicted the different stages. The next part of the lesson was hands on and the kids loved it. They participated in a mining simulation. They were each given a chocolate chip cookie. They were to outline the cookie on their paper before they started mining for the chocolate chips. This represented the land before mining. They were to carefully take out (Mine) the chips (Minerals). After they mined the minerals they were to trace the cookie on their sheet of paper. After they finished they write a description of what happened to the land as a result of mining. They saw that even though they were careful that the land was still disturbed. To wrap up the lesson we discussed ways that companies could help to restore the areas after they use it.

They seemed to enjoy it and of course they loved that they not only were learning but that they also got to eat their lesson.

Ask a Scientist....Still Waiting

I thought that I would ask a question that dealt with why do nails cells keep pushing up from their growth source when they die instead of like most cell breaking down and being replaced by a new cell. Also why do finger nails grow faster than toe nails. These both seem like pretty casual questions. I am hoping to get an answer before school starts back so I can share with my students. This is a topic that they would find interesting.

This happens often with technology in that we want an immediate response and rely on it to much at times. I have found that if I have technology built into my lesson for the day that I have a back up plan. I have had too many cases where technology failed me and had to scramble to find soemthing to fill in with.

Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 Tools.

I will admit when I read over the course project and saw that we would be required to present our project with a web based tool I thought oh no I have to learn how to use a new tool in a short amount of time.

Animoto- I was exposed to this tool this year from our curriculum specialist. I love this but you can only do a 30 second video in the free version. I do not know if I would use it enough to pay for a subscription.

Museum Box- I would love to use this when I go over a new scientist/ person in class. I think that my students would also like this tool.

ZOHO- I liked what I saw when i explored this site. I want to play around with it a little more. I signed up for an account.

My Brain Shark- This tool would be great especially if you teach several classes and wanted to make sure that they each got the same information. I like the thought if being able to narrate the slides. I have a program that I can already do this with. It is called keynote. I have put many of my daughters favorite books into this program.

Prezi- I was briefly introduced at the end of the school year. I believe that this maybe the tool that i decided to use for this project. I do like that you can embed videos  This a great
 way to share with other teachers.

When I think about using a presentation tool I want it to be fairly uncomplicated to use. I also would like for it to be one that I could teach my 7th grade students to create presentations for class projects.