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From The Early Years photo cache (click the pic for more)....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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“Would you like to be a student in your classroom?” This month’s guest editorial says it all when it comes to classroom management....
By Mary Bigelow
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"I had a carrot for breakfast"
From The Early Years photo cache (click the pic for more)....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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With all of the technology that students have (e.g., cell phones, laptops), I’m concerned about “cheating” on tests and writing assignments. —Anne, Rochester, New York This is a very timely question, in light of a recent report Hi...
By MsMentorAdmin
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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 spring, a few back issues of NSTA journals I want to review, and several of the resources listed in...
By Mary Bigelow
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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 my unit plans, lesson plans, and other resources? —Don, Cedar Rapids, Iowa ...
By MsMentorAdmin
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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, Scientific American, and the National Science Foundation provide summaries of current issues and inte...
By Mary Bigelow
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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 often agonize over what and how much content to “cover.” We lament that students don’t see...
By MsMentorAdmin
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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 this video program will “take a dynamic, entertaining look at the research, and the researche...
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 potential health hazards in eating food from a school garden. Did you guess that washing hands is on...
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 camp. The children were playing a conversation-starter game they’ve developed of asking the lu...
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 teaching a subject I’ve never taught before. I was told I am “highly qualified.” What...
By MsMentorAdmin
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In an earlier blog, I spotlighted the Teachers’ Domain website, with its collection of lesson plans and multimedia resources. The more I see of this, the better I appreciate it!...
By Mary Bigelow
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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?” one said, “A triangle” referring to its outer shape. They also had a group based on material— ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Many current approaches to the design of curriculum and instruction are emphasizing the use of “big ideas” (aka essential questions, overarching themes) as an organizing framework for courses or units. I’ve done several presentation...
By Mary Bigelow
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I’m concerned about the decrease in scheduled time for science instruction, especially in the primary grades. The teachers say that it’s all because of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and its emphasis on reading and mathematics. Is this the c...
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 despair if I thought that same understanding is lost to children who grow up in urban, constructed ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Preschool play as assessment tool
Preschool play can reflect young children’s knowledge about the natural world and the human interaction experiences they’ve had. I get to observe and learn what the children express through play when we finish our opening discussion and they move...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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The June/July issue of Learning and Leading with Technology has a description of the website Science Buddies, a comprehensive resource for science fair participants of all ages....
By Mary Bigelow
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My school does not have a recycling program, but as a science teacher I’d like to set an example of “green” behavior. What can I do in a single classroom? — Tyler, Louisville, KY I’m sure you’ve heard of the expres...
By MsMentorAdmin
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From the Early Years photo cache (click the pic for more)....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Standards and guidelines are great resources for lesson planning
Wanting to use best teaching practices and develop my students’ science thinking to the best of their capability, I look at what governments and curriculum developers think should be happening in an early childhood classroom, and what topics should...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
From the Early Years photo cache (click the pic for more)....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Even if you’re not a member of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), you can access their 2009 NECC conference blog. The National Educational Computing Conference is scheduled for June 28-July 1 in Washington, DC, and ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I just finished my first year in the classroom. It was a challenge, but I learned a lot. With the end of the school year approaching, do you have any tips for what should I think about or prepare for next year? —Rene, South Bend, Indiana...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
One of the arguments against year-round schools is that “kids need a break.” But isn’t it ironic that by the end of July, we see articles in newspapers or blogs on the topic of what to do when kids say they’re bored?...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Sometimes you see a new application on the web and think “This is cool!” – and then as a teacher you wonder “How can I use this?” I recently was introduced to Wordle, a free, Internet-based application. Wordle takes wor...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I have the opportunity next year to co-teach two science classes with a special education teacher. Approximately one-third of each class will be special education students. We’re both interested but a little apprehensive. How do we make this wo...
By MsMentorAdmin
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Certain trees in my neighborhood are currently supporting populations of growing Eastern Tent Moth caterpillars. Children were excited to tell me about the “nest” they saw “way high” up in the tree (about 15 feet up)....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
What shape is your bubble wand? Children and making choices
From the Early Years photo cache (click on the pics for more). The children were happy that I had enough of each color pipe cleaner (known as “fuzzy sticks” nowadays) that everyone could choose their favorite color. We wanted to make bubbles and ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
For a project I’m working on, I wanted to revisit what I know about cooperative learning. When I Googled the topic, among the many resources I found was one from a professional development series Concept to Classroom, produced by Thirteen Ed O...
By Mary Bigelow
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It seems like it’s getting harder to motivate students. What can we do? — Roseanna, Beaverton, Oregon I’ve found we cannot motivate others; motivation comes from within the individual. We can threaten, cajole, plead, or reward stude...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Can you tell that it will rain soon by the way the air smells? Do you like the smell of snow? I like the way the air smells just as a badly needed rain begins—it makes me think of the earth exhaling as the water soaks in (but this could be a miscon...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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It’s not hard to get young students interested in the earth sciences that explain and describe the world around them. And yet for many students, the upper elementary and middle school grades are the last time they’ll be exposed to earth s...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
When I saw the theme for this issue, Teaching with the Community, what came to mind was students visiting community resources such as museums, zoos, and parks on field trips or students and teachers using the community as a classroom. But the article...
By Mary Bigelow
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This may seem like a simple thing, but I get requests for a considerable number of letters of recommendation every year. I suspect you do, too. I almost always say yes–partly out of being somewhat flattered, I’ll admit, but also because t...
By AnnC
Blog Post
Handouts about science to share with families—add your favorite resources
“What kind of science do you teach young children?!” people sometimes ask when they hear that the preschool curriculum includes science. Being able to share how the science activities are age appropriate, lay the groundwork for deeper understandi...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Easy clean up tip for fine-grained materials
Here’s a tip for simplifying the clean up of dry, fine materials. Put a smooth cloth down under the item, such as a Tenebrio beetle container or a tabletop sensory box....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Have you had any experience with partnerships between K-12 teachers and higher education faculty? We’re thinking of writing a grant proposal for this type of project and we’re open to suggestions. — David, Springfield, Massachusetts...
By MsMentorAdmin