Classroom Usage of a Blog

As our course comes to an end, I would like you to now reflect on how you could use a blog in your future classroom.  Please discuss the positives and negatives of a classroom blog.  Would this be a formative or summative assessment?  Could it be adapted for both inclusion as well as gifted students?

Wiki Usage in the Classroom

So today you had a chance to explore your very first wikispace! Though we are using it to merely share Cell Communication content, this may not be the best way to use a wiki. What are some of your other thoughts on how you could use this online collaboration tool within your classroom? What are some positives of this tool? Negatives? How do you think your students will respond to this use of technology?

Making Microscopic Come Alive

"The cell does what? where?, show me!!!" How do you show microscopic? Sure you can see a cheek cell & maybe the nucleus if you stain properly using a compound light microscope, but what about all the cell activity you teach your students about? How can you make the microscopic come alive? I have shown you or shared with you a few different activities/demos I use to make the cell "come alive," now you need to find some ideas. Share ones you may have already done but also think back to when you were first learning the concepts. What could your teacher have done to make not only the cell, but cellular activities "come alive?" 

Science in the Movies or on TV

This week we discussed DNA, which of all the topics in biology, I believe, DNA gets the most on-screen time. How many spin-offs of the original C.S.I. are there now? Think about TV shows or movies that involve biology. How could you use this in your classroom? Where in your lesson plan would it fit? Which science standards (eligible content) or BIG ideas would it address? Think beyond the writing prompts I shared with you in class. 

Rationale For Teaching What We Teach

If you have yet to hear "why do I need to learn this" or "when will I ever need to know this again?" You will. It may only take a day or two in the classroom. Teenagers live in a self-centered world where, of course, we all lived in at one point. They want to know how taking this 40 minutes or in my case 90 minutes out of their valuable 24-hour day is going to directly benefit them.

So the question I pose to you is "why do I (pretending I am now 15) need to know cell biology?" Look over our syllabus for the course & the topics we will be reviewing together. Answer as if you were answering the sometimes daily question from your teenage class and let them know the benefit of understanding this content not only now but in the future.

The rationale for learning is so important. I have my student teachers include this as part of their lesson plans so they are aimed with the knowledge to answer the "why" each and every day.