Mar 28
Chimacum Middle School 6th graders have been monitoring our neighborhood creek, Chimacum Creek, for the past 15 years! When asked to to develop an integrated STEM unit this year for our 6th graders I went to my fellow 6th grade teachers, the Humanities teacher, Ms. Langston, and the Math teacher, Mr. Meacham, and asked them …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2017/03/28/a-stewardship-stem-project/
Jan 31
This post was originally published on the WA State CORELaborate site! A STEM Partnership and Rocketry This is my second year as one of the teachers of OESD 114’s Olympic STEM Pathways Partnership (OSPP). This past summer we got to work with UW Earth Science professors through a NASA-funded consortium! One of the activities we …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2017/01/31/ngss-and-rocketry/
Dec 22
This post was originally published at the CORELaborate blog here. Aligning a Kit (or any Science Activity) to NGSS I have the STC/MS Kit, Energy, Machines, and Motion (EMM). I use that kit with my 6th grade students for their physical science experience. The first unit of the kit is the Energy unit. The NGSS …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/12/22/aligning-a-kit-to-the-ngss/
Nov 28
This post was originally written on the CORELaborate blog here. Last week my 6th graders used Inquiry Boards to design and conduct experiments flipping water bottles. I took photos of a few of their lab write-ups and graphs to show the great work they did. Using Inquiry Boards makes the lab write-up process much easier …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/11/28/inquiry-boards-bottle-flipping-lab-write-up/
Nov 22
This post was originally published on the CORELaborate WA blog here. NGSS says start with a phenomenon to hook kids, get them interested and get them thinking and asking questions. After having to ask kids every day to stop flipping their bottles in class so we wouldn’t have to hear that obnoxious bottle falling sound, …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/11/22/bottle-flipping-lab/
Nov 21
This post was originally published on the CORELaborate WA blog here. Is the Scientific Method dead? Does the NGSS have guidelines for students as experimental designers? Before NGSS, WA State’s revised 2009 Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALR) number 2 was the Inquiry standard for questioning and investigating. That provide a framework for how Science teachers …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/11/21/ngss-the-scientific-method/
Nov 14
Just out on Larry Ferlazzo’s EdWeek Blog, Classroom Q&A with Larry Ferlazzo, is the response to the question about the biggest challenge facing Science Teachers. Last week I shared a link to Larry’s BAM Radio show where I got to share my thoughts on the topic and here’s a link to the follow-up EdWeek blog …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/11/14/response-to-the-biggest-challenge-science-teachers-face/
Nov 04
I was so happy and honored to be asked by Larry Ferlazzo (check out Larry’s blog if you don’t read it already) to be a panelist on his BAM! Radio Network show, Classroom Q&A! We tackled the topic of solutions to the biggest challenges facing Science Teachers. It was so cool! I’ve embedded it above …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/11/04/biggest-challenges-facing-science-teachers/
Oct 17
Originally posted on CORElaborate here (re-posted here in its entirety with the author’s – me – permission). I don’t use rubrics very often and when it comes time to have students self-assess I prefer proficiency scales. When I last wrote about using CER, Claims – Evidence – Reasoning, for having students write experiment conclusions, I …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/10/17/cer-rubric/
Oct 14
Originally posted on CORElaborate here (re-posted here in its entirety with the author’s – me – permission). Time for NGSS Shifts! I wrote a series of posts on the shifts in teaching called for in the Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) standards. Now it’s time to look at the shifts called for by the …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2016/10/14/ngss-science-shifting/
Cohort 7!
I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026!
I'm a Curipod Ambassador! :)
