Science Teachers, Listen Up!

Are you planning on being a science instructor? Or are you teacher that is planning on doing any kind of experiment in your classes that requires chemical? Then this website is for you! Flinn Scientific Safety. Under the guidelines that knowledge is power, this website offers teachers knowledge in lab and chemical safety. This is an important website because, as science teachers, we will be responsible for the safely of our students especially in the laboratory classrooms. Such questions as, "What are the 5 most important question to ask before purchasing a chemical?" How do you read Flinn's Chemical Safety Label? Or what is the seven step process to cleaning up your chemical storage area? Do you now know the answers to these questions? If not, please make it your priority to find out, on Flinn Scientific Safety.
As teachers, it is almost common sense and expected that we will be educated especially when it comes to lab safety. Can you imagine walking into a classroom, acid falls on a student, and you as a teacher has no idea what to do? Don't make this be your story. This website can help you know what is important for you to know before you enter a lab room.

How Stuff Works

How Stuff Works is a website with relevance. The name itself clearly depicts what this website entail. This is a website where educators can be prepared for students who are always asking "How does that work?" When I was in high school, I remember always asking my teachers to explain theories, concepts, or even formula's. I wanted to know how these "things" we relevant to my life. Why did I need to know about different issues in my environment? Are we as educators able to thoroughly explain to our students how the oil spill effects their health? Or even the simple questions such as how does fireworks work? Sometimes students or even our very own children will ask random questions such as "What will happen if I get locked up in a walk in freezer?" We need to try as much as possible to be on point with questions such as these that might confront us in our home as well as in our profession.
For this reason, How Stuff Works, is very beneficial to any educator. By frequent visits on this site, teachers can feel more confident to answer random, and/ or challenging questions. We must push our students to think out of the box. But when they do, we better have a good answer!

Cody's Science Education Zone

Unity within the educational community serves as one of the main methods for teachers to know that individually, as well as collectively, they matter. Often times teachers all over the U.S have many complaints. Until these complaints are shared, we then realize how much educators have in common. The concerns, frustrations, and ideas to enhance the school systems are all indicators of what unites teachers in America today. I found an oasis for teachers. A website where teachers can read current information on educational issues as well as ideas on how we can better our curriculums is right at our finger tips. Cody's Science Education Zone is a wonderful website that teachers all over America can place lesson plans to inspire other teachers. This is an ideal step on how educator can encourage other educators to be BETTER educators. Someone said to me that "the best educators or teachers is the ones that never cease to learn" Not only can we or should we learn from our students, but teachers should count it a very good deal to learn from each other.

Cody's Science Education Zone is catered for science as well as math teachers. Something that stood out from this website was the tab that directed you to a HUMOR dictionary. This dictionary took my mind to the most common well known science contributors and added humor to their work. Sometimes it's good to find joy and humor in even the most solemn concepts and formulas. Hope you all enjoy this website.

Intergration.#2

OK. I found another insightful website and I know that anyone who takes a look at it will fall in love as did I. This website is a wonderful website for teachers. Teachers post lesson plans so that other teachers can use it, or better yet, become inspired with it. Although these lessons are catered more towards grade levels 6-8, all the lessons can be adaptable for every grade level. Hotchalk, is similar to a secret teachers club!. Teachers from all over the world build upon other teacher all around the world! And there we have it. We grow as a community, as a culture, as educators, and as a world.



Another thing that I love about this website is that it has Of course the interest that I have in Chemistry lead me to take a look at the Science section. Interestingly enough there were many science lessons and projects that covered all the areas of Science; including Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. When I saw this, I automatically fell in love. ....

I checked out some of the Chemistry projects and I was delighted to see some familiar projects; "How to make a soap bubble last longer" and "What do you get when you mix borax with glue." This website had many other experiments that explains the fundamentals of Chemistry. I found a website that I would be inspired from as an educator. I am certain that anyone that takes a look at this website will become inspired as well.

Intergration

We were assigned to check out the integration center on course port. The task was to find a web site worthy of sharing with the class, as well with fellow blogger's. I found the most genius but simple and fun website dealing with Polymers. This website is called The Macrogalleria. The purpose of this website is to allow the science students learn what polymers are and to ultimately understand that chemistry can be found in the "real world." The very first thing that I noticed when I went on the website was the color. Because I am an extremely visual person, I am always drawn to a great proportion of color on a website. The second thing that was quite commendable was that this website was able to capture CHEMISTRY in its simplicity. Many students fear the very name of Chemistry. Under this seemingly intimidating name, we find students saying that "Chemistry is so confusing and boring and has no relations to me." Well The Macrogalleria brings out the most simplest terms of chemistry in order to explain something that is actually very sophisticated.

The concern that I have as a teacher is if, my students will basically GET IT. I want Chemistry to be the new gym, or even the new recess; a class that students looks forward to. We can learn so much in chemistry if and only if we realized that Chemistry relates to us in our world. Macrogalleria creates a world for students to find an oasis in Chemistry and polymers! To top it of, this website is very entertaining. You just want to see what is on the other page. You can't stop clicking on available links because, this website will capture the interest of students to want to learn more.

BLOGGING

Blogging is a wonderful option to integrate in the classrooms. As the world moves more and more towards a technological means of communication, it is important to make sure that the students are updated as well. I vision myself using blogging in my classroom. I would like to teach high school chemistry. As a Chemistry teacher I would introduce an experiment to the class. I will go through with the class the Scientific Method: Ask a question, Do back ground research, Construct a Hypothesis, Test your Hypothesis by doing an experiment, Analyze your data and draw a conclusion, Communicate your results. Blogging will be integrated when I ask the students to blog about the first four steps. I would ask the students to write about their expectations for the experiment that we would doing in the near future. Basically, the students will be using their blogs as a journal.

I would also use blogging as a means of the students having easy and unlimited access to me as well as their class mates. This session would be call, "open mike." If the students have any suggestions, concerns, or general comments pertaining to the class, they would have the opportunity to write about it on their blogs. I've always embraced the idea of having each class as a controlled family environment, where everyone can be free to give any ideas they might have that can enrich their education progress.

The benefits of blogging in the classroom is that it allows students to be comfortable to participate. Often times I find that most shy students who do not participate in the class room discussion is because they are afraid of the consequences of their class mates looking at them as they speak, or even laughing at their ideas. Although blogging does not eliminate publicity, it enhances comfort in freely sharing ideas and participation.