JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
It is interesting teaching at the college level – the common phrase of “put your cell phones away during class” is still heard regularly. I actually have one colleague who will confiscate the cell phone until the end of class and ...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
My colleagues and I have noticed many students entering middle school have had few experiences with science investigations. We’re considering doing a summer session before school starts to engage students in science and help them learn some bas...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Summer is a time when many families visit a beach. How do you help your students build on what they learned through their summer beach experiences when they return to school? Maybe our colleagues whose schools are within walking distance from a beach...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Features of STEM education envisioned for needed reforms
–Occasional commentary by Robert E. Yager (NSTA President, 1982-1983)...
By Robert Yager
Blog Post
My principal encourages all teachers to have students do class presentations during the year. I like the idea, but the thought of listening to 150 “oral reports” on a chemistry topic is mind-boggling, not to mention time-consuming. Do you...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Beginning the year with a plan to support science talk
Calling on experienced teachers—what do you advise new teachers to do to establish routines that support discussion, especially discussion where children share their ideas and evidence for those ideas? Discussion can happen in small groups, with an...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Have you been to a meeting or conference presentation and seen people typing or texting? I often wondered: Are they taking notes? Checking email? Making dinner plans? Playing a game? I found this a little disconcerting, until I realized that they cou...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
You say derecho, I say “what?”
Like many other residents of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, I learned a new weather term this week: derecho. After scrambling to the dictionary and Wikipedia, I learned that the word is pronounced deh-RAY-cho and comes from the Spanish word f...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
What teachers can learn from students
I’m a first year physics teacher. I hear my colleagues talk about what they learn from their students. This puzzles me—what can I learn from students who don’t have the content knowledge that I do? —Wendy, Elizabeth, New Jersey...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
What are science teachers reading in June?
Science teachers are reading an eclectic selection of teaching resources this month, judging by the top content on NSTA’s website. You can look inside these books by downloading a free sample chapter at the NSTA Science Store. Post a comment or t...
By Claire Reinburg