praying mantis from our front yard

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Visual Aids


First off I really enjoyed this week’s topic.  Obviously pictures and videos are a necessary part of teaching science, as stated by Bransford and colleagues.  But what the web has allowed our students and teachers to assist in the students comprehension is incredible.  I loved the Digital Storytelling piece and am planning on looking into getting a webcam or equivalent so that my students can tell their “stories” on topics that are difficult for them, like protein synthesis.  I actually used Jing to create a voice thread to teach my environmental science students how to use a particular website in our class.
As for my role in regards to copyright I am lacking in this area.  I rarely cite references for images  and text that I borrow, and that is obviously something I will need to improve on.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

My attempt at Jing

Well I worked with Jing for a few minutes last night to better understand the tool, and then today created a screencast for my students to understand how to use National Geographic's FieldScope tool.  It was relatively easy to use, but with the 5 minute time limit I felt crunched.

But it was something new for me, so one more tool under my belt.  Check it out at, http://screencast.com/t/X2BQm1GJuk

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My take on Literacy


Obviously any scientist has to wade through tons of research in order to write a paper.  So its not as though I didn’t think that literacy has nothing to do with science for my students.  My only complaint is that students need to have different skills to digest science reading material, as compared to other classes.
  • ·       They first must consider the source of the information, is it biased; which much on the web is, if the students aren’t researching properly. 
  • Then students have to be able to digest the hundreds of vocabulary terms in the reading.  My students have no formal training in using Latin and Greek to help them do this.  The internet would provide a faster way for students to break the vocabulary words apart.
  •  Finally the communication piece; which I’m not sure if Web 2.0 or any technology would help with.  Students have to be able to communicate like a scientist.  I would say that 90% of my students while writing a lab report, want to use flowery phrases and not be precise and to the point.  They just don’t get the practice in reading or writing scientifically, and I’m not sure how blogging would help that!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Web Tools Week 2


This week I looked at a few different web tools.  After reading Science 2.0 I explored a few of the tools suggested. 
  • ·       In my Biology class I like to have my students create concept maps to gather all of their thoughts from the unit, and to help review, so I looked at Webspiration.  Initially I was pretty excited, but then after reading, I noticed that it was only a 30-day trial.
  •  As for PhotoPeach, to me this seemed very similar to PhotoStory.  The one feature that stood out, was the ability to share it on Facebook and other sites, which I thought was cool.  I can see this as being an option for student projects in place of PhotoStory.
  • VoiceThread- I viewed a thread, entitled After Chernobyl- Would you stay? .  As I viewed this I was thinking of using this in my upper level classes.  So many mediums are put into this site, which is great!  I’m sure the students would not only like to comment on one anothers projects, but have feedback from other people around the world.

                  Again though the technology is great- it would cost our school $1500 to get a subscription.

Other tools:
  • ·       I rely heavily on TED Talks for my AP Environmental class.  I love it, information right from the scientists at a level that my students should be able to handle.  It’s so authentic!
  • ·       I also looked into social networking for the classroom.  I have used, and plan on continuing to use EdModo.  First two of the four networks are blocked at work, so they would be pointless for me to use with my students.  The only other option besides EdModo is Twiducate.  Twiducate seems like a great tool, but since I’m not too comfortable yet with Twitter, it might take me a while to convert or use both.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Principles


There must be a reason for incorporating the technology in the classroom.
Good reasons:
·       To teach how to use programs that will be required in workforce or college (Excel, PowerPoint, PhotoStory, etc)
·       To conduct investigations that cannot be done in the classroom because of a lack of supplies/ monies
·       To explore specific sites that are specifically geared to the class (National Geographic’s Field Scope)
·       To conduct timely research (in Environmental Science our textbooks become outdated within a few months)
·       To allow safe interaction with students and teacher (Edmodo)
·       To get immediate feedback on students knowledge (Promethean Activboard with Activotes)
·       To make science more tangible (Promethean Planet)

Setting the Stage Reflection


After reading about the overall importance of Web 2.0 I pretty much agree with all of the authors points/ideas.  It is a great tool for publishing, it really helps with differentiation, but it also creates headaches.  Because of the integration of technology we have to consider whether students are failing a particular activity because they lack the technological knowledge or because they don’t understand the content.  While I have not had this experience personally, I know as a science teacher we deal with this in the disciplines of reading and math.  When students lack the necessary reading and/or math skills, it can get in the way of science.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills does a nice job of laying out expectations, but I imagine that this will be out-of-date within a few years. 

The article, It’s a Flat World, After All is a thoughtful perspective on where the world is headed.  The playing field is definitely leveling out.  You no longer need to be college-educated, a developed country, or rich to provide the world with a service.  For our students and for teachers this is going to prove quite a challenge.  As long as I have been teaching we preach to the students that college is the way to move up in the world, well it’s not necessarily true.   So how do we as school systems approach this new pathway? Also how can we afford to meet the technological needs of these students to prepare them for after graduation?

After reading, A New Challenge for 21st Century Science Education Leaders, I remembered my graduate class from last summer and discussions of the new science standards.  In the state of Maryland, Biology is a tested subject required for graduation.  The current approach to Biology is breadth, not depth.  The students walk away with random pieces of knowledge, but not a great understanding of how they all connect.  Based on the article we are not preparing them, yet the national science standards will not be available for at least a year- so what are we waiting for?  We need to make corrections now, or doom our kids. Or perhaps we should move away from making Biology the required course, and focus on Environmental Science.  All the skills, adaptability, systems, problem solving, suggested as necessary are focused on and used while studying Environmental Science.


Monday, June 13, 2011

Web Tools Introduction

Good evening!  I am brand new to blogging and twitter, so this will be an interesting class for me.  Looking forward to learning a lot.

I am wrapping up my 9th year of teaching in Maryland.   I have taught Biology, Environmental Science, Zoology, and AP Environmental Science.  I really see the work in this class applying best to my AP class.  My students in that class are way ahead of me in terms of technology.