E Posthuma

University High School of Indiana

ChemEd X Subscriber, Subscriber, Staff, Editor

ChemEd X Member since: October 2013

Erica is an award-winning high school teacher with over 25 years of classroom experience. She has taught in both public and private independent schools in the Midwest. She has served on her ACS local section board, the Indiana University School of Education Alumni Board, the ACS Exams Institute Board of Trustees, and as the Director of Communications for the American Modeling Teachers Association.

Posts

Integrating Three Types of Chemical Representation

// Monday, February 8, 2016 • E Posthuma

I spend a lot of time working with models in my classroom - developing mental models, drawing models, talking about models, testing models - you get the picture. As I was planning my school year last summer, my colleagues and I started thinking about how our students interacted with the models.

Veritasium in the Modeling Classroom

// Monday, October 19, 2015 • E Posthuma

When I was a novice modeler I was constantly searching for quality online video resources to share with my students. I quickly discovered that YouTube was rife with explanatory science videos, but I had a hard time finding ones that fit with my classroom culture.

Teaching Kids How to Fail

// Monday, September 7, 2015 • E Posthuma

Last year, I worked hard to teach my students how to fail and I believe it was the most important lesson they could have taken away from my class.

New PBS Series: The Mystery of Matter

// Thursday, August 20, 2015 • E Posthuma

PBS has a wonderful new mini-series titled, "The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements". At the time of this post, the series is freely available to stream through your local PBS station.

Jumprope - Making Grades Irrelevant

// Monday, August 10, 2015 • E Posthuma

Earlier in the summer, I was shopping around for a standards-based gradebook. As the lone teacher at my school venturing into this unchartered territory, I did what any responsible techie teacher would do. I turned to the twitterverse for suggestions. I quickly identified the two most recommended platforms.