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Archive for the ‘Technology in Education’ Category

February 14th, 2013 by Luann

Creativity and Science, Part 1

I’m leaving tomorrow to attend Learning and the Brain’s Educating for Creative Minds conference.

I’ve been creative before.  Several of my quilts were chosen for an exhibit at an art museum

Brain

in Ohio. I’ve been creative in my classroom for years. It takes a great deal of creativity to keep teenagers engaged as they learn an abstract subject such as chemistry. I’ve created lessons, labs, projects, presentations, lab stations, grant proposals, graphics, models, rubrics, assessments, and a few bazillion things I’ve already forgotten about. Oh, and a dissertation, the production of which is fundamental to my question: What does it mean to be creative in science?

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Posted in AP Chemistry, Creativity, Learning, Technology in Education | 5 Comments »

June 30th, 2012 by Luann

Becoming an Accomplished Teacher

This post was inspired by a Twitter conversation with @GetUpStandUp2 and @kiwigirl58 in which I learned that Randi Weingarten,

John Dewey in 1902

John Dewey in 1902

president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated in an interview with Walter Isaccson, (described here in the Atlantic) that teachers should have to pass a bar exam. This bar exam would not be merely a test,but would also have a “clinical component.”  The discussion, which eventually included a few remarks from Randi, focused on how we might improve teacher quality. Then, @Nancy Flanagan of Teacher in a Strange Land inspired me to actually blog again. (If you’re not following these people, you should be.) Here are my thoughts, as one who’s been developed professionally in a number of ways, on becoming an accomplished teacher. Stay with me here……

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Posted in Mentoring Teachers, National Board Certification, Parents, Policy, Technology in Education | No Comments »

May 24th, 2012 by Luann

Scavenging For Science

Many years ago, I needed something engaging for AP Chemistry students once their exam was over.  I found a scavenger hunt, hard copy as this was the olden days, handed out by the late Dr. Cliff Schrader at a conference.  I’m forever grateful to Cliff for so many things he gave out freely to anyone who asked.  Among so many other things, he taught me to share.

I reworked the list a little to reflect some things my students knew or in which they had shown interest.  The first few years, the kids worked in groups and competed to see which group could collect the most items the most quickly.

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Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Collaboration, In the Laboratory, Inquiry, Investigations, Technology in Education, Uncategorized | No Comments »

April 14th, 2012 by Luann

Will I “Flip” my Classroom? 2012 edition

Truth is, I already did. Years ago.

About 2 years into my career, I figured out that if students arrived in class already knowing something about the day’s learning, they took away a deeper, more satisfying, understanding. We were able to use class time differently, in ways that helped us learn more authentically.

I did not need standardized tests, value-added evaluations, or clever new names for the method to figure this out, by the way.

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Posted in Classroom "Management", Creativity, Equity, In Class, Learning, Teacher Leadership, Technology in Education | 1 Comment »

March 19th, 2012 by Luann

Buh-bye, Calendar

This post has little to do with science, or education.  It has everything to do with organizing my work, my students, and my life.

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Posted in Classroom "Management", Collaboration, Mentoring Teachers, Technology in Education | No Comments »

March 11th, 2012 by Luann

Adoption, 2012 style

I’ve worked in 5 districts in 23 years.  Our current adoption will be my 4th experience. The availability of electronic delivery and open source materials have added interesting options to our decision-making. First, I present lists and links to content, including sources for inquiry and engineering design resources. I’ve saved my thoughts on devices until the end.

Please comment including any other resources you’d consider if you were us.  Also, please comment on individual resources if you have experience or thoughts that might help us make a decision.  This list does not include all of the traditional hard-copy textbooks and support materials we’ve been sent.  I don’t want this post to take a year to read.

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Posted in Collaboration, In Class, Inquiry, Technology in Education | No Comments »

October 10th, 2011 by Luann

Writing and the Lab Report

Oregon requires students to complete an inquiry work sample (here’s the one we will use this year) at some time during high school.  Our classes function on an inquiry basis at some level almost daily.  I’ve played with many strategies to help students write about their work in a manner that facilitates their learning while documenting their work in a manner that survives the scrutiny of a scientific peer review.

Most recently, I’ve incorporated the work began with Linda Christensen (from Lewis and Clark) and the Oregon Writing Project. Freshmen begin keeping all lab and inquiry work in a bound theme book, AKA fondly as “my lab book.” My vision for the appearance of student lab books has morphed over the years.  Some things change very little, though, because good science is good science and good science writing is good science writing. At my current school, I’m blessed with like-minded colleagues who have helped me refine my vision as it is shared in this post. Here’s our current plan…..

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Posted in Assessing learning, Biology, Chemistry, Collaboration, In the Laboratory, Inquiry, Investigations, Technology in Education | No Comments »

April 3rd, 2011 by Luann

Under One Big Sky: Finished.

The journey is over.

47,556 words, 200 pages. Defended.  Paperwork filed.

Crashed with my sons, daughter-in-law, and grandsons.  Called husband.

I’m now Dr. Mom, Dr. Gramma, and Dr. Dear.

And sitting in the airport waiting for a flight back home, I feel a bit lost and empty.

Maybe I’ll have something to say about it later.  Maybe not.

Posted in Assessing learning, Elementary Science Education, Inquiry, Mentoring Teachers, Technology in Education | No Comments »

February 15th, 2009 by Luann

One Ringy-Dingy…….

The smartphone industry is making a pitch that cell phones belong in the classroom. (You have to register to read the NY Times article, but it is free.)

Students could write experimental questions and hypotheses in 140 characters or less on Twitter and 160 characters or less on their cell phones as txt messages.  Steps in their experimental design, photos of their setup would be workable.  Data tables might be a challenge though unless there’s software I’m not aware of.

My experiment with phones in Physics and Marine Biology this year will be public soon.  I’ll probably have my wrists slapped by admin because having the phones is a blatant violation of school policy.  We call them ‘cameras’ and ‘blog posting devices.’  The kids are so involved that I really haven’t seen anyone txting.  Nice.  They are learning as well.  Later today, I will go get my own photos of their work to share.

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Posted in Investigations, Technology in Education | 1 Comment »

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