Beginning of Year 2

It was great to see all of the Science Cadre members again.  It seems just like yesterday when we started on this leadership journey together. Tami shared a wonderful story of how she is inspired by kids who despite all the knocks against them, are excited by coming into our science classes and dreaming big.  It is amazing how science can change a child's perspective.

Do you want to build a better website? On October 1st in Florence, Geneva & Roseanne will be presenting a class on web design. Let Virgil know if you wish to attend. Also, please fill out your attitude & beliefs survey as well as the leadership survey  You will find them under the Professional Development tab on our website.  November 5 is our Fall Training. This is going to be a great year for science!!!

And now for something completely different...
My next unit is on cells, and I thought this would be a great way to start...
It is by They Might Be Giants....Cells.

PBL

Just a reminder...we need to be working on our Project Based Lesson plans. Also, if you are at the Arizona Science Teachers Association Conference, come and see some of your fellow cadre members. They will be presenting at the conference. The ASTA conference is a great way to network with other science teachers, and to gain valuable information.

Below is another great video to use when teaching Elements. It is also by They Might Be Giants. Enjoy!

Beginning of School

Wow! School's already started! I am so excited to see if I can implement some STEM strategies in my science classroom. Many of you are using your websites with your students. Let me know how the kids, parents and admin like it or what comments you are hearing. 

I don't know if you know the band They Might be Giants, but they do a lot of educational songs and videos. Below is a video they made on the Scientific Method. Show it to your kids, they might get a kick out of it.

School's Almost Here

Wow...summer is almost over...it has gone by so fast. As you are getting ready for school, don't forget to update your website. Every time I look at the sites, I get goosebumps. Your sites are amazing! When you start planing your science lessons, keep this in mind. How can I make this into a STEM lesson. How can I add math, technology, or engineering to my lesson?

Summer Academy

We are now halfway through our NGSL Science Summer Academy. I am so proud of this group. The websites they have been building are looking great! Everyone is so fun to work with and have super attitudes.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the week will bring. We will start to build our PBL today!

Life Science Complete

So we have now completed the Life Science class at CAC. Our next meeting is April 30 in Florence. I don't know about you, but I am excited!  During our next meeting we will learn about what makes a great website, and then we will leave with a website. See you there!

Misconceptions on Study Guide

Tonight Virgil assigned each row a misconception in the study guide to answer. Please post your answer in the comments below! Just click comments, identify which letter misconception you are answering and then write your answer. See you next Tuesday!

Spring Break

I just checked on the blog. I thought that the last two posts had posted. Apparently not. Well we are now two weeks into classification and evoloution. Hopefully we have all had a super spring break and are ready to go back to our classrooms teach kids all about the wonders of science.

Remember that this Tuesday, March 22 the purchase order is due. If you have lost the forms, they are all on the website.

So in a little less than a month we will get together to build our websites. If you haven't had a chance, please email Geneva your gmail address and also please take the Tech Inventory.

See you on Tuesday!

Taxonomy - More than one?

Tuesday night's lecture was on taxonomy. We learned that while there is the classical Linnean taxonomical system, there is also Systemics which is based on an organisms evolutionary relationships. I loved the new mnemonics fro teaching the kids taxonomy. Karen, please call or forget going steady. Much better than the King Phillip one, and easier for kids to remember.

The April 30th professional development session is but a month & a half away. Start thinking about what you want your website to say about you as a teacher. Now is the time to start putting your outstanding lessons on a jump drive or (even better) uploading them to Google Docs. If you want your lesson to be editable by anyone, keep it as a word document. If you want the document kept as is, upload it as a PDF file. MS Office 2007 & 2010 both have features that allow you to save it as a PDF file, but what happens if you don't have those programs? You can install Cute PDF onto your computer, it is freeware. Then when you want it to create a PDF file from your document, click print and choose Cute PDF and it creates your file as a PDF.

See you next Tuesday!

Cellular Reproduction and Google

Tonight we learned about cellular reproduction, mainly meiosis and mitosis. Many of started teaching this concept ahead of the AIMS test so it was very topical. The most interesting part of the night came when Bill started describing cancer as a sociopath. It was a great analogy, particularly when talking to students about cancer and how it works.

Now that many of you have registered with Gmail, you really should check out Google Docs. One of my Ed Tech professors required every one to use Google Docs instead of MS Office. I was furious...until I started using it. All of your documents are stored on-line increasing accessibility. They also have versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word and they are all compatible with MS Office. They have thousands of templates and lessons for teachers. Check out Google for Educators It has so many ideas and uses for Google. It even tells you how to search websites by reading levels. (Particularly useful when designing web quests or projects for some of your lower readers).

Google often has contests for students. Have your kids enter the Doodle for Google Contest. The theme is "What I'd like to do someday..." If your kids win...$15,000 scholarship for them and $25,000 tech grant for your school. Another contest the kids could enter is the Google Science Fair for kids 13 - 18. It might work for your 7th & 8th graders.

Start thinking about your website.
Have fun this week!