A Strategy to Encourage Self-Reflection
This simple idea can help students learn the importance of honest self-reflection and foster meaningful conversation between the student and teacher.
This simple idea can help students learn the importance of honest self-reflection and foster meaningful conversation between the student and teacher.
I recently participated in a conference known as the Digital Pedagogy Lab as a fellow, which required leading a workshop (or an equivalent). I chose to structure my workshop around the ideas of critical pedagogy and STEM, and particularly how we use these ideas in a practical way in the classroom (both F2F (face-to-face) and DL (distance learning)). This blog will be one of a two-part series on these topics.
In order for students to be fluent enough with the CCCs and core ideas to use them to support their arguments, we teachers need a way to help students become familiar with them.
Since 2013, I have been creating video tutorials for use in a flipped classroom setting. Over the years, the format of my videos has evolved as I’ve uncovered the best practices in technique.
Having presented on the topic several times over the summer, I am sharing strategies for helping support diverse learners. As we teachers prepare to go back to school, I have summarized my presentation into a list of ways to help your classroom be inclusive for all learners.
When it comes to the best approach for student learning, there seems to be two very divided camps: those who promote direct instruction and those who favor inquiry. I have been thinking a lot about this issue for several years now and decided to finally write my reflections down, based on 6 years of experience as a science teacher.
I facilitate a working group of chemistry teachers in the New York area and we recently created our own activity surrounding the topic of oxidation. The goal of the probe was to force students to think about what the meaning of oxidation is, as well as to allow students to engage in the science and engineering practice of argumentation. This was an introductory lesson to my oxidation and reduction unit prior to students learning the terms oxidation and reduction.
The thought of being videotaped while teaching could make me break out in a cold sweat. Will I say the right things? Will I stumble over my words? Will I look awkward? Will my students behave the way I hope they will? Aaaaah! Deep breaths!
More students use YouTube than any other demographic. Considering this reality, I began creating my own video content on my YouTube channel, The Science Classroom. As a seasoned YouTube content creator, I offer tips for getting started with your own science tutorials.
Check out several whiteboarding techniques that can be used to reduce and distribute the cognitive load carried by our students.