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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

Art and Science
The Interface of Art and Science
// Thursday, June 19, 2014 • E Posthuma
Toward the end of the school year we inevitably have disruptions to our normal instructional day. On one day in May, our classes were shortened to only fifteen minutes to accommodate for a series of school wide exams. On this day, I decided to choose some of my favorite chemistry-themed YouTube videos and share them with my students.
Energy Bar Chart used in Modeling Instruction
A Modeling Approach to Energy Storage and Transfer
// Saturday, May 3, 2014 • E Posthuma
In a previous blog post I described some problems I encountered when beginning my instruction on energy this year.  From the misconceptions fostered by the biology textbooks using the phrase “high-energy phosphate bond” to idea that energy comes in different forms, the Modeling community recognizes the challenges of teaching the energy concept and has developed a way of talking about energy designed to help students construct a consistent and cohesive model.
Cross-Discipline Discussions on Energy
// Sunday, April 13, 2014 • E Posthuma
Have you ever thought about the ways we, as chemistry teachers, talk about the concept of energy?  Think about all the different terms we use when we talk about the role of energy in our curriculum:  endothermic, exothermic, heat, specific heat, heat capacity, enth
Socratic Questioning (Whiteboarding Part II)
// Sunday, March 2, 2014 • E Posthuma
In my last article I described several different strategies you could use in your classroom to integrate the use of whiteboards. Whiteboarding can be a powerful tool for increasing student engagement when it is implemented well.
Students participate in a BoardWalk
Whiteboarding Strategies
// Sunday, January 26, 2014 • E Posthuma
In my first post I mentioned using the Chemistry Modeling Curriculum (CMC) in my classroom. Although Modeling Instruction (MI) has been around for over 20 years, I discovered it during a workshop in the summer of 2010.