Jul 26
[This is part of a series of posts I’m writing as I reflect on another online course I’m taking this summer, Stanford University’s EDUC115N How to Learn Math. Sure, I’m a Science teacher but I have taught Math so I’m familiar with Math instruction. Besides, we do use Math in Science so it’s not like …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/07/26/growth-mindset/
Jan 22
 Coming up on three years ago, after 19 years of teaching, I began to question grading. I wrote a blog post titled, Do Grades Help or Hinder Learning? I knew that grading, the ways I had tried it until then, was not working. Grades were not motivating all of my students, it was the focus …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/01/22/why-go-gradeless/
Oct 15
Diane Ravitch writes, speaks and blogs about education reform. Not the kind of reform that jeopardizes education but the kind of reform that will make education a priority for all children (click on my education reform tab for more info). Ravitch is coordinating a Campaign for our Public Schools on her blog. She’s urging us …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/10/15/letter-to-the-president/
Oct 01
Last week we took 6th graders to Camp Cispus. I wrote about an unexpected change of plans where one of our 6th graders noticed that the road we normally take to Windy Ridge and Spirit Lake to see Mt Saint Helens was closed. Luckily, the Johnston Ridge Observatory, facing the horse shoe shaped crater and …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/10/01/mt-saint-helens-2012/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/08/13/vote-for-me/
Aug 10
Every year I find some way to get feedback from my students. I’ve been getting feedback from my students for years to determine what I’m doing well and what could use some fixing. I especially wanted to see what students thought this past school year about getting feedback from me because I struggled finding time …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/08/10/student-feedback-11-12/
Jul 30
Live animals in Science class are great. For the past 15 years that I’ve been teaching mostly Science I’ve mainly taught Earth, Physical, and Environmental Science. Even in Environmental Science we barely worked with live animals. I did get to trap fish with students but we just caught, identified, then returned them to the creek. …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/07/30/live-animals-in-science/
Dec 05
Through my work with the Olympic Math and Science Partnership (OMSP) I have been learning a lot about the formative process. One aspect of formative assessment or assessment for learning that is of extra interest to me has been questioning. Questioning used to be one of the five key strategies of assessment for learning but …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/12/05/questioning/
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/29/what-is-stem/
Nov 28
Associate Professor Steve Wheeler wrote a blog recently about learning styles titled A Convenient Untruth. In his blog Steve writes about the dangers of using the idea of learning styles to brand kids as one type of learner. It’s a good read and definitely something all teachers should be aware of so they don’t use …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/11/28/learning-styles/
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Aug 13
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August 13, 2012
My Awards, Grades and Competition blog post has been nominated for an award! My first nomination (well, 1st and 2nd nomination it seems as my blog was also nominated for a Middle School Teacher award)! (For more information on who sponsors this award please read the comments section of this blog post.) Here’s the reason they …
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