February 2012
11 posts
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Code Monkeys Assemble
A few weeks ago I posted about the poster that I had created for the new computer programming club that I am running in my school. “Code Monkeys” is a way for me to get the most interested students some programming experience. We do not have a computer science course. We used to (I wrote it), but I wasn’t entirely psyched about the dynamic, it being populated with students...
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The Scale of All Things →
A link from a former student, accompanied by the following email:
So, I found this thing and it’s really cool and you should totes look at it. I think it’s super duper awesome, but you being the science teacher have probably seen cooler stuff….
have fun :D
While I haven’t seen this, I have seen similar things. This one does as good a job as the others, if not better. I...
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Adventures in Inquiry: Opening It Up All The Way
As you might have gathered, I’m a big believer in letting students develop their scientific skill set in my classroom. A big part of this involves working to provide my students with opportunities to try out that kooky, crazy, mixed-up endeavor of human experience that we call the “scientific method”. To that end, I’m always trying to find ways to have my students spend more time giving the...
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January 2012
35 posts
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“As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney vetoed a bill paying for kosher food...”
– -Evidence that Newt Gingrich thinks the Florida electorate is comprised entirely of gullible Jews.
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SBG: Half a Year In.
If you’ve been checking in for longer than a little while (in which case, bless you heart!), you will be aware that I am in the middle of implementing a Standards-Based Grading (SBG) approach in my Honors Chemistry course. This is detailed here, and also here.
The initiative continues apace. I haven’t written about it in a while, but recently, I was reminded that I said I would,...
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Sometimes I'm Not Nice.
Usually I am. My student population, and the vibe of my room don’t tend to drive me to having to be anything else. But last Monday, at the end of four days of midterm review, I found myself becoming a bit short with a few honors chemistry students who were not demonstrating what I would consider to be a level of understanding of certain, superficial, chemistry topics (things like what...
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I make music: Epic Theme for septuagenarian...
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In which I am resisted by the techno-disinterested...
I dig the tech. A lot. So much so, that I pretty handily outpace all but the most tech-centered students who I teach. Seriously, in the eight years that I have been teaching, I have worked with exactly one student who had better chops than I do when it comes to using the computer, and exactly one student who has approximately equivalent chops to my own.
And let’s be perfectly clear, I...
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I make music: Awesome jingle for an abandoned...
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I Make Music: ”Understanding Prezi”...
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Books I Read: "Endless Forms Most Beautiful"
Have you ever read anything by Sean Carroll (Biology version)? If not, you should. At least if you are looking for some good writing about the life you share the planet with. Dr. Carroll is a practicing evolutionary developmental (or “evo-devo”) biologist, who knows quite a bit about the genetic basis of animal development, and the seemingly uncountable ways that evolution can function in the...
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I make music: ”K-Cast” Chiptune...
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I wrote an Op. Ed... →
…for US News & World Reports Politics Blog & Policy Blog (STEM subsection).
Which brings up a host of existential print-related questions, as it is a blog, so how can it have a section opposite the editorial?
Still, it’s an interesting read (I think), if you are in to thinking about the changes to AP Biology that are coming down the line shortly. Plus, since it’s for...
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The Ultimate Consequence of Only One Earth
Ecology 4: Ecosystem Structure. On Prezi.
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Tips for Supervisors: Give Useful Feedback.
As you might remember, I was group observed a few weeks back, as part of our district’s “professional studio” observation structure. It was a great process, and I thought that the feedback that I recieved from all of the folks who were kind enough to offer was cogent and actionable (outside of the typical platitudes).
A friend of mine, working in a different district, well...
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The Environment & You
Ecology 4: Ecosystem Structure. On Prezi.
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Who Eats Who
Ecology 3: Community Interactions. On Prezi.
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Thomas Malthus Was (sort of) Right!
Ecology 2: Population Dynamics. On Prezi.
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Books I Read: "Merchants of Doubt"
This one is actually a bit overdue. I finished the book in early December, after it was recommended to me at the end of October, after a discussion about why it is that some people don’t seem willing to accept scientific consensus. “Merchants of Doubt” does go a ways toward shedding some light on the issue, along with providing the reader with enough evidence of willful and deliberate efforts...
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My New Year's Resolution
In the year 2012, I resolve to spend at least one hour per week navigating my computer using only keyboard shortcuts.
If you can dig it, then we are kinded souls.
If you can’t understand why anyone would ever want to only use keyboard shortcuts to move around a modern computer, we have a different ethic when it comes to computers. Similarly, I would wager that if you are in this later...
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Why You Do What You Do
Ecology 1: Behavior. On Prezi.
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Why Prezi.
If you’re a regular pod visitor, you have seen my AP Biology presentations being uploaded on a semi-regular basis during the last little while. They are all part of a major push by me to move my presentations over to the Prezi platform. Recently, 2 things occurred in relation to this initiative: 1. I finished! You can click here to look upon all that I have created. 2. An e-colleague...
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Happy New Look!
It being the new year, I figured it was time to spruce up the site again, with a new theme that focuses more on posts, making pictures and media bigger, and longer posts a bit more readable.
Consider it a gift for all of the events in your life that I have missed and will miss in the future.
December 2011
31 posts
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Shivers, Sweats, & Pee-Pee
Physiology 5: Thermoregulation & Osmoregulation. On Prezi.
