high school chemistry

Summer of POGIL: Reflections and Teaching Tips

The summer is an ideal time for reflection, a time to process and grow as an educator. This summer I was fortunate enough to attend the POGIL® National Meeting at Washington University in Saint Louis as well as assist as one of the facilitators at the Northeast Regional Meeting at Manhattan College. While there are numerous ways to spend your summer vacation, I wanted to share some reasons why POGIL® draws me in time and again.

BCCE, Collaboration and Flipgrid

Since I am unable to attend BCCE this year, I am asking for readers to consider two things to help me out. First, if you are attending BCCE, I hope you will submit a blog post to ChemEd X outlining at least one thing you learned. Second, I hope to find one or more teachers willing to try out Flipgrid and open our classrooms to share what we are teaching/learning. 

Developing Learning Targets and Structuring Assessments

Learning targets are typically written as “I can” statements. Because our level of understanding is so much different than our students’, it is far too easy to write a target that you think is easily interpretable, while at the same time, remains unclear to your students. This article provides some information that will help teachers write meaningful learning targets.

 

Technology Considerations for the Chemistry Classroom

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) can be the vehicle by which teachers decide if and how a technological application can be incorporated into their classrooms. TPCK more recently coined as TPACK technology, pedagogy and content knowledge incorporates technology into Lee Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) construct. PCK is the means by which a teacher takes his/her content knowledge and transforms it into content knowledge for his/her students.

The Chemistry of Outer Space

A variety of activities performed at a science camp that relate to the chemistry of the solar system are reported. These activities could prove useful in the chemistry curriculum or in planning for National Chemistry Week in 2018, the theme of which is Chemistry is Out of This World!