I subscribe to many blogs, listserves, and RSS feeds as a way to keep up with current events. This week, two articles caught my attention for their relation to science teaching.

The ISTE Connects blog had a discussion How do you teach creativity? in response to the recent Newsweek article The Creativity Crisis We often think of creativity in terms of the arts, but I had a great conversation with a colleague on what creativity would look like in science. I’m not sure we can “teach” creativity, but it would be an interesting discussion on how we can promote, encourage, model, guide, or recognize creativity in our science classrooms – new, different, or untraditional ways of problem solving, problem finding, inventing, communicating.

Risk-taking can be a component of creativity, but one area in which we shouldn’t take risks is in safety. Scientific American has a recent article Danger in School Labs. Although the article uses examples from college and university situations, the topic is one that should be on the agenda of every school this fall. NSTA has many resources to assist, including the Safety in the Science Classroom portal with links to many resources.  Every school should have a copy of the relevant NSTA publication:

• Investigating Safely: A Guide for High School Teachers
• Inquiring Safely: A Guide for Middle School Teachers
• Exploring Safely: A Guide for Elementary Teachers

Use the keyword “safety” in SciLinks to find web-based resources such as MSDS documents, suggestions for lab safety guidelines, handouts for students, and other suggestions. Two topics to start with are Safety in the Science Classroom and Chemical Handling and Safety. And every month, check out the suggestions in the Science Scope column Scope on Safety.