JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
With all of the technology that students have (e.g., cell phones, laptops), I’m concerned about “cheating” on tests and writing assi...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
As I head off to the beach next week, along with a few mystery novels, I’m going to pack some of the books I ordered at the NSTA conference last...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Getting (and staying) organized
For the first time, I’ll be teaching two different subjects (biology and environmental science). Do you have any suggestions for how to organize...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Staying up-to-date on professional issues
I subscribe to many blogs and other RSS feeds to try to stay up-to-date. In a previous post, I noted how RSS feeds from organizations such as NASA, S...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Critical science "skills"
What are the critical skills you think students need to be successful in science? —Niki, Baltimore, Maryland In science department meetings, we ofte...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
What was your favorite color when you were five? Many young girls like pink, a stereotypically female color....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Have you seen the National Science Foundation’s new online magazine Science Nation? The NSF’s news release dated June 1, 2009, states that...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Read “Safety First” by Sarah Pounders and you can reassure your director and students’ parents that you are informed about how to avoid ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Raise your hand if you're a scientist!
I received the greatest compliment while sitting at the lunch table with a mixed age group of my students who are enrolled in the end-of-school-year c...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I’ve been asked to teach a different science course next year. I’m looking forward to the change, but I’m a little nervous about tea...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
In an earlier blog, I spotlighted the Teachers’ Domain website, with its collection of lesson plans and multimedia resources. The more I see o...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Rocks: collecting and classifying
On the playground two sisters collected rocks and set them on a bench where they grouped them by size. When I asked, “What kind of rock is that?” ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Many current approaches to the design of curriculum and instruction are emphasizing the use of “big ideas” (aka essential questions, overa...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I’m concerned about the decrease in scheduled time for science instruction, especially in the primary grades. The teachers say that it’s a...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Although I credit my early childhood exposure to orchard, field, woods, and creek as the foundation for my understanding of the natural world, I would...
By Peggy Ashbrook