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Shrinking budgets, saving energy
photo by Stevie Rocco “Schools, once known as energy wasters, are embracing conservation in increasing numbers....
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
I’ve applied for several teaching positions, and the thought of an interview (assuming I’m lucky enough to get one) makes me nervous. How should I prepare? What kind of questions will the committee ask? —McKenzie, Columbia, Missouri...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Tips for the first days of school
The first days of school offer teachers an opportunity to set a positive tone and convey to students that their classrooms are supportive learning environments for all. Free chapter excerpts offered in the August 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat incl...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
I once worked with a principal who encouraged us to check off the comments boxes on progress reports and report cards. Most of these were rather generic and impersonal. We thought—wouldn’t it be great to have database of comments to choos...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
My neighbors just drove off, heading towards the first day of kindergarten for their daughter. I love to see the excitement on children’s faces as they go to “the big school” for the first time....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
What do students already know?
Last year, I started giving pretests at the beginning of each unit. The students were upset because they didn’t know many of the answers, even though I explained I didn’t expect them to know everything and the pretest wouldn’t count as ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Teaching with technology (revisited)
In case you haven’t seen it yet, the July issue of Science Scope is themed around technology....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I’ve been reading about the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, with “creating” now being at the top. The examples I saw for this level included things such as posters, puppet shows, songs and dances, or skits. These may be enjoyable fo...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Back in the 1990s, when I was a technology director, a school board member asked me “What technology should our students use to prepare them for the workforce?” I responded that what our current elementary students would use in college or...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Summer can be a time of rest and renewal and an opportunity for teachers to fit in professional pursuits like reading that new book, taking a workshop, or conducting an in-depth study. In the July 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat, we invite readers t...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
Connecting with families over the summer
At the end of the school year I gave each preschool student’s family (about 58 of them) a note and a self-addressed stamped envelope in the hopes that they would write to me to let me know about any explorations their child experiences o...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I was recently at a workshop where the presenter used the term “bell-to-bell teaching.” As a student teacher, I was embarrassed to ask what this means. —Cory, Mobile, Alabama...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
What can I do on the last few days of school? This year (my first as a teacher), my exams were over, projects were completed, and my grades were turned in. But after that it was hard to keep the students focused. —Angie, Salt Lake City, Utah....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Find support and share resources at the Learning Center
As I was packing up materials and readying the classrooms for summer storage I reflected back over the year and thought about the next. Developing an on-going inquiry (or overlapping inquiries because more than one class uses the space at this school...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
On the train, returning from a busy day in Philadelphia and the annual ISTE conference (International Society for Technology in Education), I finally had time to think. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a technology-related conferenc...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 16: biotoxins
What can be a poison in one form can be therapeutic in another, which begins to explain why researchers would look to the biotoxins produced by warm water dwelling snails for solutions to chronic pain and a host of other neurological conditions in h...
By admin
Blog Post
Preparation for the future….
“Ways you promote college preparedness and career readiness skills in your science classroom.” is the topic for this blog….while we always have those items that we “must” teach in the classroom which are based on curricular deci...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
Va-cation, stay-cation, and edu-cation
But you only work 9 months a year! How many times do teachers hear that? Those who make that comment obviously have never been a teacher or a family member or friend of a teacher. (And I’m not sure where the 3 months off idea comes from. My cla...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 14: flower color
In a sea of green vegetation, you’ll find reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and purples—a beautiful range of colors that pop out, saying to insects and other pollinators, “visit me, visit me, no, not that one…....
By admin
Blog Post
I teach seventh grade science and am currently putting together my wish list for next year. I’m looking for information on data collection devices such as Vernier, RED (Really Easy Data) or Log It. In particular, I would like to use the devices...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
NSTA Press author Bill Robertson has extended his popular Stop Faking It! series with the new teacher resource Companion Classroom Activities for Stop Faking It! Force and Motion (Grades 5–9)....
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
1st and 2nd grade students collecting and analyzing data, 7th graders too!
Collecting and analyzing data follows observational steps in science inquiry. To get inspired about expanding your students’ science experiences, read about the data collection by first and second grader teams who are National Elementary School Win...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I recently graduated from a teaching program with a biology certification. With the current economic situation, I’m not sure I’ll get a full-time teaching position. What should I know about substituting? —Alex, Chattanooga, TN...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Last weekend, I did volunteer work at a county park nature center. Many people were taking advantage of the beautiful weather: walking the trails, birdwatching, biking, running, and picnicking. When a family came in to the building to see the display...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Cell phones and cancer? A modern science debate
Do cell phones cause cancer? Those five words have been floating around for over a decade, but only recently has it caught the attention of mainstream cell phone users, some of whom out of fear have changed their usage habits....
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
“Though wholly fabricated from such common raw materials as coal, water and air, nylon can be fashioned into filaments as strong as steel, as fine as the spider’s web, yet more elastic than any of the common natural fibers and possessing ...
By admin
Blog Post
"Distractions" in the classroom
I’m having some classroom management problems in my middle school science classes. I think the classroom itself provides many distractions and contributes to the problem. My middle-school students sit at lab tables, facing each other. Their c...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
A wise professor once told us, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail.” My takeaway from that class was that teachers need a variety of tools, from basic strategies to more specialized on...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Student blogs replace worksheets
Blogs provide a great way to extend the classroom beyond your 45 minute class period. They can be used in a variety of ways to spark discussion and student research. Chris Ludwig, a high school science teacher in Colorado, wrote this blog post to...
By Eric Brunsell
Blog Post
“I know what I mean but I can’t ‘splain it.” I used to hear that from my middle school students in physical science, especially on essay questions. Sometimes the concepts are indeed hard to ‘splain in words. Visuals and ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Spring bird sightings bring reflection on conference sessions
If children bring a downed and abandoned nest to school, have them return it to the same location....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
On being a "cooperating" teacher: The greatest lesson ever
In a previous blog on student teaching, Christina Atton reflected on her student teaching in science. Her cooperating teacher, Ms. Chevin Stone (from Donald E. Gavit MS/HS in Hammond, IN), shares her experiences as Christina’s cooperating teach...
By Mary Bigelow
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Did you see this article from Education Week shared on NSTA’s Facebook page? Study: Interactive Tools Matter More Than Teaching Methods...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Activities that focus on food and cooking can help students see how relevant and fascinating science can be in everyday life. In a recent illustration of the enduring appeal of food’s scientific underpinnings, one of the most sought-after classro...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
All you earlybirds out there are in for a treat this month if you look eastward just before dawn (and the weather is clear). Four planets will be engaged in a slow-motion dance, aligning themselves differently day by day in a tight segment of the s...
By NSTA Web Director
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For the past few years, I’ve had a self-contained fifth-grade class, and my students and I enjoyed doing many hands-on science activities and investigations. Next year, I’ll be teaching science to all of the sixth-graders....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
While reviewing some materials from a workshop, I came across a few online gems this week to add to the SciLinks keyword assessment. Even some of the experienced teachers in the workshop had to stop and think about the differences between analytic an...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Family science: ideas and resources for activities
Towards the end of the school year we often think of resources we can share with families to use over the summer....
By Peggy Ashbrook