Science Podcast

The podcast I choose to review was called: WHY? THE SCIENCE SHOW FOR KIDS I choose this podcast because I thought it would be a great tool to use in my science classroom. This podcast is created by Dr. Dave Brodbeck. He each episode he helps kids answer many different questions related to science; from how does the brain work to is there life in space? I think this would be a good resource tool to have kids look at while learning about the particular topics he discusses. This could either be incoporated into a daily lesson or set-up as a center for the week.

http://www.podcastpickle.com/

http://feeds.feedburner.com/whyscience

Global collaboration in the classroom

K12science is a science teachers dream. It is a website that incorporates collaborative science projects into the classroom. This site provides a number of interactive internet projects that classrooms from across the globe can team up and work on together. Each classroom will participate in the same activities at their school. There is a number of tasks and questions each class is responsible for answering. Classrooms will then post and compare their results on the project site. This site is an awesome way for students to see how life in other parts of the world is like in comparison to their own. This site is awesome! I really wish I would have known about this site sooner, because I teach k-8 science and some of these activities would have been great projects for my students to participate in.

Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) Collaboration Center is like bringing a field trip to the classroom. This website allows students to videoconference and interacts with different schools, professors, professionals, and experts on a particular subject matter. I choose to explore one of the interactive programs called “Program Flyer: CSI: The Experience Meet the Expert: Forensic Science” This program allows students to interactive virtually with a Crime Lab investigator at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. Students will be given the opportunity to compare and contrast real science to television perception of forensic science, compare different fields of forensic science, develop an understanding of the complexity of fields related to forensics, and ask questions to the expert. This think this site is also another site that would be very beneficial to use in my classroom. I am currently having the student’s research particular careers within science and medicine. Forensic psychology and investigator are of the two most popular choices in my class. I think this program would have been very popular in my classroom with the students. This is definitely something that I could have used to give them further information about that job field, along with teaching to the interest of my students. I could have set up different programs within the careers the students were interested in and have them participate in an interactive experience along with research information for the profession they choose. This would have given them practical hands on knowledge and experience that one cannot obtain inside the classroom with a book.
For a global cooperation project, I think Flickr would be an good site to use within your classroom. Flat Stanley’s are a popular theme/ activity to use within the elementary school classrooms. For those of you who do not know what a Flat Stanley is, it is a paper doll that is sent in an envelope to other classrooms across the world, with the promise of returning back to it home classroom with a detail description of the places he has traveled. Flat Stanley is a great activity for elementary schools to use in the social studies classroom. It allows students across the globe to interact with one another via snail mail. However, with up the upcoming trends in technology, snail mail might not be the best way to travel anymore. By using flickr, classrooms can post via the internet a global map with pictures and information about their Flat Stanley’s travels. On Flickr, schools could collaborate together to share pictures and information about all the places Flat Stanely’s have traveled in a year. This would be a great way to expose students to different cultures and countries around the world.

Videos

I choose to post an Earth day and solar system video because i currently teach science. The Earth day video could have been used in my classroom last thursday on Earth Day to help further educated the students on what they can do to save the planet. I could have also showed the students how to use google earth by watching the video and then actually applying what the video said to look at the earth online. This would have been a good activity to do on earth day.

I really liked the solar system video because it explained why Pluto is not longer a planed in our solar system. That question would often come up in all grade levels when I was teaching the solar system. I really liked this video because the director explained the information about pluto in a way that was understandable and entertaining to children.

online classes

http://bwatwood.edublogs.org/

Learning In a Flat World: Who Let This Disaster on My Reading List: March 22,2010.

I found this post be very interesting. The post was about a book written by a teacher who teaches entirely online. The commenter of this posts discusses how he thinks that online teachers need to have practical experience in a classroom before teaching online courses. He also states how he feels that the students suffer tremendously from online courses. I liked this post because I tend to agree with him. Although online courses are nice and convient to the learner and the teacher, I think students obtain more informatino and benefit much more from actually attending a class with a physically present teacher and classmates. I feel that student collaboration is an important part of learning and even though one can collaborate through emails and blogs, personal interaction I feel is still the best way to go. I also think that online classes are more appropiate for students at a college level versus and elementary/high school. I feel that socialization is an important skill that students need to learn and without that life skill, pursuing a career were one has to interact with others is going to be difficult.

The learner is like a.......

The learner today is like a bridge. It order to expand ones knowledge, the learner has to build connections with other people and open ones mind to new ideas and places. The video stated that "social software allows individuals to form new connections with one another. Like a bridge, these connections are going to allow individuals to expand their thoughts, opinions, ideas, across the world, communicating with other individuals. "Our ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill" (reading). This core skill is going to allow individuals to grow in their fields and become more real rounded and educated individuals. I think social media is a great tool for individuals to take advantage of, because I feel the best way for people to become more educated and skilled in their career, is to collaborate and learn from others.

Social Networking Group URL

http://flatclassroomproject.ning.com/

I think participation in this group would be very useful for me because I teach science. I like to do collaboratively assignments in my classroom, where students work together in groups on an assignment, project, or lab. I think this site would be very useful to me because it will help me find some new innovative ideas that others have been using and might also help me expand on the ideas that I use in my classroom. I could also use this site in my classroom to show my students how other students their age are working together in group projects around the world and maybe help formulate some ideas that they would like to do in our classroom as a whole. I think collaborative working is a great thing for students to be exposed to but it teaches them tolerance, how to collaborate with others, be patient, and share ideas, along with a sense of self/group responsibilities.

Three Ways to use blogs in your classroom.

1. Question and Answers: You could create a blog for your class in which students could post questions about the material they are learning. Other students, can help answer the questions and post upon them. I think this is a good way to use your classmates as a resource for information instead of going directly to the teachter. THe teacher could monitor the blogs to make sure the students are on the right track or help guide them to the correct answers.

2. Study Guides: You could put study guide and test discussion questions that the students and work on throughout the unit to help prepare them for an exam. This way students who are normally to shy or embarassed to ask a question in class are given the chance to ask a question or for help on exam material.

3. Discussion Questions: You could have students for homework comment on a discussion question you might have talked about in class that day or will be talking about in class the next day. This would be a good way to understand how well your students are paying attention or understanding the material in class. It is also a good way to see how much your students might already know about a topic you are going to teach and will help you focus on things they do not know very well.