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Flipping a classroom is not a teaching technique, it is more in line with a philosophy or way of teaching. It involves using technology as a tool, not the main focus, for helping students to increase their understanding of science or math concepts. Read Full Story

Y our students’ future and education needs are not like yours and mine. For the most part, we are a product of an education system heavily influenced by the industrial age - lectures and rote memorization. This style of teaching was primarily designed to produce factory and skilled trade workers. Read Full Story

Tweet Critical Thinking Encouraging students to use critical thinking is more than an extension activity in science and math lessons, it is the basis of true learning. Teaching students how to think critically helps them move beyond basic comprehension and rote memorization. They shift to a new level of increased awareness when calculating, analyzing, problem solving, and evaluating. Another way to view the power of critical thinking – as students learn how to apply and use... Read Full Story

Tweet Active Learning Active learning has a powerful impact on student learning. How? Student achievement increases through mastery of science and math content as a result of this technique. Students also develop improved problem solving, communication, and higher order thinking skills. Before discussing the benefits of active learning, I need to establish a definition for this teaching technique. “Students participate in teaching and learning beyond simply listening to lectures or... Read Full Story

Tweet Alternative Assessments Alternative assessments provide you opportunities to determine the true level of understanding your students have regarding science and math concepts. These tools improve the learning environment for your students, along with your assessment of their real understanding. So how does this happen? The use of an alternative assessment provides students the opportunity to demonstrate their breadth and depth of concept understanding. This moves beyond the... Read Full Story

LiveBinders is a free web 2.0 tool which offers educators the ability to save and organize materials for any class. One advantage of this online service the capability to update a binder anywhere an educator has internet access. This benefit offers teachers a convenient online location for their students find information during and after school. Examples include: resources placed in a binder help students complete homework assignments, complete research, review project rubrics, listen... Read Full Story

Google Docs is an easy-to-use online word processor that enables you to create, store, share, and collaborate on documents with your science and math students. You can even import any existing document from Word and Simple Text. You can work from anywhere and with any computer platform to access your documents. Considering the versatility of Google Docs, there are many ingenious ways teachers use this free online program with students. Here are just a few: Promote group collaboration... Read Full Story

In contrast to the digital footprint you use for your personal learning network, this focus is on the online digital footprint students’ use in your science or math classroom. The power of a well designed digital footprint brings the capacity to transform a classroom into an online learning community. Within this community your students use digital tools to create and develop a personal learning network. So what is a classroom online digital footprint? Another way of viewing this digital... Read Full Story

The use of web based technology is growing by leaps and bounds every day. These online tools are the new set of keys for opening your students’ minds. The vast resources on the Internet are making the use traditional methods of teaching and learning obsolete in countless ways. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Principles and Standards of School Mathematics (2000) states it quite well (also applicable to teaching and learning science): “some math becomes more important... Read Full Story

Like everything else on the Internet, trying to find images is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Without the right tools for finding science and math images on the web it is often an impossible, or at least mind-numbing, task. What is needed are search engines which make the job easier. This is where the tips and tricks provided below help this seemingly impossible task by using the top search Web 2.0 search engines and tools available today. These are valuable resources for both... Read Full Story