Teaching+Elementary+Science

I am the Science Specialist at Summit Academy Charter School. It is my hope to learn how to make the internet a powerful tool for the Teachers at Summit Academy.

Science is a tremendous weakness for the schools of the United States in general and in Utah specifically.

Most Elementary Teachers get one class in Science. It is a course on how to teach 4th Grade Science. Most of them have chosen teaching elementary because they love to teach children or be with children. Perhaps they have not given a moment's thought to teaching science. The assumption is made that it will just be a standard part of the curriculum and not need special attention. This could not be further from the truth.

Science must be interactive and stimulating. Science is the study of the entire world. Study of science requires the application of the math and language skills that can be taught so routinely. And then, most importantly, the best science learning comes when the student learns to challenge the world as he is accustom to seeing it. This can threaten the teacher and may make her feel that her authority is undermined.

So the teachers come to the subject with a basic fear of science and any thing that has to do with technology. So it is the geeks, the kids who just don't fit in, that have found a way to use computers to connect while the students that naturally and easily connect with the teacher reflect her fear of the unknown. . . Science and technology.


 * More to come!**

Google Earth

Formative Assessment

Copyrights

This new page is for the collection of copyright guidelines that teachers need to be aware of.

TPACK This is a brief discussion of what I still have to learn on this matter.

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A library of books on the web. It is very difficult to find good books for reading that strengthen children in science. The most popular books they read are fantasy, not science fiction. We have a generation that sees negociation and mental capacity, even psychic powers as the solution to problems, rather than science. With the advent of computers, we can add to that extreme violence and we have a lethal mixture.

Where are the books that teach science as a method to tackle problems and challenges of life? By building a library on the web, we can create a better educated community among a group of teachers about science. And We can create a vacuum that will facilitate the creation of literature for science learning.

Now here are some fun websites for a student to go to for science experiences and learning! I think I will try to bring this to use on my page at school.

rss url="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/index.rss" link="true" description="true" length="20" number="10" date="true" author="true" enclosure="true"

I found a fun place to send children for learning on the web. I want to really explore this.

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=**That is fun stuff!**=

What I would like to do is figure out how to set this up to link to my page on the school website and then create a collection of links for each lesson the children would go to.

rss url="http://feeds.hitrss.com/UENResources" link="true" description="true" length="20" number="10" date="true" author="true" enclosure="true"

A link to a teacher website full of information sponsored by UEN


 * And the Best is yet to come!! :)**

Photostory

Week 9 Reflection

Week 10 PLE Submission