These are blogs about Science or about the Science we do in my classes.
Jan 30
For years I’ve been wanting to give my students 20% of their class time to work on projects that matter to them. Call it Genius Hour or Passion Projects or 20% Time, it’s something I’ve been wanting to offer my students, but I never did. “How can I prepare kids for state exams if I …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/01/30/genius-hour-is-as-cool-as-i-thought/
Jan 07
Photo via Pixabay by Cuncon By Ginger Reid Climate change is something that’s on a lot of people’s minds these days, but many of us either aren’t sure how to make changes that will help or are unsure of exactly what climate change is. There have been many discussions on this controversial topic, and many …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/01/07/guest-post-on-climate-change-the-best-changes-for-your-home-to-help-reduce-the-effects/
Jul 11
I just read this article on Mindshift, Will New Standards Improve Elementary Science Education, and it made me think of something we teachers talk about often, the natural curiosity that kids come to school with when they first enter school. Something about the way traditional schooling is done to children strips that natural curiosity. In …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/07/11/ngss-and-enjoying-science/
May 30
When I first started working at Chimacum Middle School I noticed that Chimacum Creek ran right by the main campus. As a matter of fact, there was an old fish hatchery that hadn’t been used in years on school property. Turns out it had been used by high school students years before I started working …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/05/30/beyond-tree-planting/
Apr 07
Curriculum is a great guide. I’ve taught for years with no curriculum and all that freedom is a bit much and comes at a cost. When I’m designing all the curriculum I teach it takes a lot of time, especially since I have to make sure it fits within the scope and sequence of my …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/04/07/engineering-with-sphero-and-knex/
Apr 06
Sometimes I think Math teachers are lucky. While they have students who don’t understand certain concepts at least the students and their families don’t question or doubt or just plain not believe mathematical concepts. I guess the same is true for tech and engineering. But for the S in STEM, Science, we have to deal …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/04/06/becoming-scientifically-literate/
Mar 08
I finally got to see Black Panther! And I’m so glad I went. It was GREAT! So well done and the movie did a fantastic job of bringing the Black Panther characters to life. I’ve been a fan of the Black Panther superhero since I was reading comics growing up. After watching the movie I …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2018/03/08/black-panther-movie-engineering-quote/
Nov 21
The culminating lesson of the first STEM Robotics 101 unit was quite enjoyable for me and for my students. This post will show how that engineering challenge aligned to the engineering standards. The Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) for Engineering, MS-ETS1 – Engineering Design, has four performance expectations for students (read this post to see …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2017/11/21/stem-robotics-with-faraday/
Sep 26
This post was originally published at CORELaborate! I participated in a webinar recently as part of my work with the Olympic STEM Pathways Partnership or OSPP. We focused on the dimension of the Next Generation Science Standards or NGSS known as the Science and Engineering Practices or SEPs. One of the things we discussed is …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2017/09/26/the-doing-of-science/
Jul 15
Well, more like Watershed Guardians. Last year I found out about this NOAA project called Ocean Guardian School. When I read the description I knew Chimacum Middle School had to apply to be an Ocean Guardian School! Our Environmental Stewardship Project was perfect! Even though we focus mostly on our neighborhood creek, Ocean Guardian Schools …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2017/07/15/we-are-ocean-guardians/
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I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
