after the bell

When I began teaching high school physics in the late 1980s, I wanted to introduce my students to the way that electronic data collection techniques, i.e. using computers and probes to collect and analyze data, were changing how scientific investigations were designed and carried out.  Despite the fact that I was communicating with colleagues each [...]

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One of the things I loved about teaching was its annual opportunity for forgiveness and  redemption.  The years that I was able to teach the same topics to a different set of students gave me the hope of eventually doing it well.  But this opportunity of a fresh start brings its own pressure, and many [...]

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The August 14, 2007 episode of public radio’s The Story  focused on Rafe Esquith’s views of students and teaching.  Mr. Esquith is a fifth grade teacher in Los Angeles and has written a book called “Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire – The Method and Madness Inside Room 56.”  What caught my ear in this [...]

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Mike Rose’s commentary in ED Week, “Grand Visions and Possible Lives,” reminded me of the importance of the day-to-day interactions teachers of all types have with students in public schools.  Rose visited public schools across the nation to find out what was actually happening, and characterized the essential learning moments as follows:
This sense of the [...]

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As you gain experience as a teacher, your awareness of and concern for the development of your students will probably grow. When I was teaching, I was often concerned about how I was contributing to my students’ preparation for college (and life).  In this article, Mel Levine provides illustrative examples to identify cognitive tools that [...]

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I read today that the State of Colorado decided to buck this year’s trend by refusing to require high school students to take more science and math.  Their decision is described here.  On the face of it, it seems obvious that one answer to our nation’s need for a larger technically qualified workforce is to [...]

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The High School Survey of Student Engagement was conducted by researchers at Indiana University.
I found one excerpt from an interview especially interesting:
Yazzie-Mintz says the survey indicates students are just trying to get the diploma and leave:
“It’s as if the focus is so much on getting that degree, ending high
school, and going to [...]

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A conversation with Michael Summers described in the NYT tells about an undergraduate program at the University of Maryland – Baltimore County that recruits and nurtures minority scientists.  In addition to the main point of the article, which is that it is possible to activity promote minority participation in science at the undergraduate level, two [...]

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Though how science actually works is often studied by philosophers of science more than by practicing scientists, the national science education standards clearly call for science teachers to help their students to understand how scientific knowledge is constructed in particular disciplines.
I ran across this explanation of scientific laws, theories, and facts on Edutopia.
Scientists often have [...]

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This article in Education Week discusses a Boston teacher’s efforts to integrate high quality laboratory experiences in his ninth grade physics class. You may wonder why this is news, but I am curious whether you agree with the author’s assessment of what quality laboratory experiences entails. How is what this teacher is trying [...]

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