Stephen Radice Inspires Students and Colleagues
Stephen Radice is a multi-award winning chemistry teacher from Brooklyn, New York. For the past 26 of his 29 years of teaching, he has made chemistry accessible and brought it to life for every level of student at Edward R. Murrow High School. His wife, Kathy, also teaches chemistry at Murrow High School and collaborates with Stephen when planning lessons. It is clear that his fellow staff, chemistry colleagues around the country and most importantly, his students, admire him. Stephen was presented the Conant Award for 2013. Read the interview below and you will be inspired by his love for his career and his students. You can also read the article announcing his award in Chemical & Engineering News.
Social Media
Chemistry teachers are always looking for new ideas to reach students. Social media is a new frontier to reach students AND collaborate with other chemistry teachers around the world 24/7. I hesitated to join Twitter because it seemed like "just one more thing to add to my plate". I did finally log on and created an account.
Lab Accidents
The US Chemical Safety Board is an independent federal agency in Washington DC. They investigate industrial accidents. They just released a video of a young woman speaking about a high school chemistry class accident she was a victim of.
Ice clouds
When the outside temperature drops below 0°F (-18°C), the conditions tempt this experiment!
Standards and Inquiry or Standards vs Inquiry?
In my grad program one of our discussions concerned how to teach science the way science is actually done. This seems to be one of the core ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards. The standards want to encourage students to think more like scientists and engineers as opposed to students seeking an A. Please share your thoughts!
Expo Neon Markers
As the trimester comes to an end, I have the chance to reflect with my chemistry students and ask them about course likes and dislikes. A major "like" that came out was the use of the Expo brand neon markers. I had heard about their use from Brian Bennett @bennettscience and how well they show up on the black lab tables.
Greener Replacement Labs and Activities
I am a safety conscience science teacher. I am embarrassed about some of the things that I did in my classes early in my career that I did not realize were unsafe. I saw the demonstrations and activities done at professional development venues and assumed that if my mentors were using the activity, it was safe.
Student Recommendation Tips
Every year, high school teachers across the country are asked to write college recommendations for their current and former students. With today’s competitive college culture, and an ever-growing list of teacher responsibilities—how can we be expected to write 10, sometimes more, original college recommendations each year for our students? As a teacher who was just introduced to all of this two years ago, I’ve spoken with college recruiters, researched how and what to include within a recommendation letter, consulted with guidance counselors (who see the range of recommendations, confidentially), and, most importantly, spoken with veteran teachers who write recommendation letters. After putting together the results of everything that I have learned, I have developed the following set of tips and advice. So, whether you are a pro at writing recommendation letters and are just looking to keep your letters fresh or you are a complete novice, as I was not too long ago, I hope that my advice will be helpful to you.
Green Chemistry
This past summer, I took part in an online professional development offered by Beyond Benign. According to the Web site, “Beyond Benign was created by Dr. John Warner, a founder of the field of Green Chemistry, to provide an approach and means for scientists, particularly those involved in green chemistry and sustainable science, to reach out to the public.” I learned a great deal from the training. I was exposed to many resources that I did not know existed. I found lessons that I can easily incorporate into my curriculum that make a connection between the student and the chemistry content. Nothing is more powerful in a chemistry classroom than when a student can identify how the course content affects their everyday life and their future.
Particulate Models in Video
We are encouraged to use modelling these days and I have some activities to share along with some videos that might help you in the process.