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Blog Post
I’m an elementary teacher and I’m thinking of taking the Praxis test to be certified to teach science in middle school. It has been many years since I was in high school and college, and I only took the basic science classes. Could you sugges...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
It’s a challenge for science teachers to design activities and investigations that fit into the time periods we have. But science research and investigation doesn’t always fit neatly into 45- or 60- or even 90-minute packages. (One of my ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Authentic experiences in microscopy
OK—you’ve seen the adventures that students have to explore living things, but you don’t have the funds for a field trip and your school is not close to a park or other greenspace. What to do?? Or, you’d like to have your studen...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
YouTube is an amazing resource, with videos on just about any topic. There are animations, videos of demonstrations that you might not be able to do in your classroom, and records of talks by famous scientists....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Our district has a goal for every teacher to reinforce student literacy skills. We’re struggling with this at the secondary level. Most of our students seem to have decent reading levels, and the reading specialists provide extra help for those...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Shrinking budgets, saving energy
photo by Stevie Rocco “Schools, once known as energy wasters, are embracing conservation in increasing numbers....
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
I’ve applied for several teaching positions, and the thought of an interview (assuming I’m lucky enough to get one) makes me nervous. How should I prepare? What kind of questions will the committee ask? —McKenzie, Columbia, Missouri...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Tips for the first days of school
The first days of school offer teachers an opportunity to set a positive tone and convey to students that their classrooms are supportive learning environments for all. Free chapter excerpts offered in the August 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat incl...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
I once worked with a principal who encouraged us to check off the comments boxes on progress reports and report cards. Most of these were rather generic and impersonal. We thought—wouldn’t it be great to have database of comments to choos...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
My neighbors just drove off, heading towards the first day of kindergarten for their daughter. I love to see the excitement on children’s faces as they go to “the big school” for the first time....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
What do students already know?
Last year, I started giving pretests at the beginning of each unit. The students were upset because they didn’t know many of the answers, even though I explained I didn’t expect them to know everything and the pretest wouldn’t count as ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Teaching with technology (revisited)
In case you haven’t seen it yet, the July issue of Science Scope is themed around technology....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I’ve been reading about the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, with “creating” now being at the top. The examples I saw for this level included things such as posters, puppet shows, songs and dances, or skits. These may be enjoyable fo...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Back in the 1990s, when I was a technology director, a school board member asked me “What technology should our students use to prepare them for the workforce?” I responded that what our current elementary students would use in college or...
By Mary Bigelow