Wednesday Wonderings: Down to the Wire

This is the last weekly post I will make. I have learned a lot, and not enough. I am better informed, but far from expert. Perhaps being “on the road” is a good model for my students. I can honestly model being a life-long learner as long as I continue to find areas in science […]


Sunday Synopsis: What I am thinking, doing, and learning

I am thinking that I would probably like to embed the ideas for this unit in other units, as well. These are fundamental principles, these Newtonian ideas… they cover many branches of science, and are actually somewhat difficult I find to really isolate. I am looking over the ideas and resources that I have been […]


Saturday Symposium: Still More Thoughts

Just finished attending a webinar (see the archive for February 19) on Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology. Much food for thought: how to make all lessons available to all students? Like Vaughn Chapter 9 where there is a pyramid to learning, the base of which is the set of practices and understandings that […]


Wednesday Wonderings: What Works?

I have been spending a lot of time cogitating, and basically spinning my wheels. I loved the way that Jana structured the final optics exploration: we self-assessed and then discussed our learning. Memorable for me was Jana’s description of how she decided to create shoebox cameras obscuras pretty much FIRST rather than last. The structure […]


Sunday Synopsis: Where I am headed

Over the next two or three weeks, I am expected to pull together my thoughts on this unit to produce a rough outline of a unit on my topic. Which is measurement of force and motion. Right at this moment, I have to admit that I am not completely sure whether I have all the […]


Wednesday Wonderings: Old Fashioned Thinking

//final publish time at 7:30 pm Weds// Please see my Saturday post for additional learning from this week! Doug responded to the Saturday post, feel free to add more here if you want! The “Big Idea Kit” from the Tools for Teaching Science website involves the following four steps: Identifying Inquiry-Worthy Ideas Attending to Students’ […]


Friday Fiddling (a day late): Everyday language

I am actually writing this on Saturday, but “posting” to Friday to keep things consistent in the online world. I just finished watching a video on the use of everyday language by students to describe their scientific thinking. Titled “Discourse Primer” this 30+ minute video shows what appears to be a 5th grade teacher asking […]


Friday Fiddling: Challenger, Force and Motion

Today was the 25th anniversary of what is called the “Challenger Disaster.” I was standing in a line outside a chow hall in Orlando, Florida when the launch took place. I had my back to it, so didn’t notice it. I was devastated later when I heard — I have always been intrigued by the […]


Wednesday Wonderings: Thinking about Thinking

This last week I have been thinking very carefully about the camera obscura we made last Friday and how it allowed even those of us who have some experience and knowledge about optics to engage in the process; to be able to observe things that formerly were “known” only through books and thought experiments. Rather […]


Wednesday Wonderings: The BIG IDEA

Three “Quality Questions” What is the nature of measurement? What can we use to measure force? Motion? How could you explain force or motion to someone who has never moved? What I know: The idea of measurement comes easily to me to me at this point in my life. I have a vast repository of […]


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