Science Education Blogs

My first few tries at finding a good science education blog didn’t go so well. I was using Google which was shockingly unhelpful. However, I finally tried to search for sites that had education blog links. I found a site that lists the top 100 high school teachers who blog http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2010/05/16/top-100-high-school-teachers-who-blog/.

 On this site they categorize the blogs by subject. Since I am interested in science I looked through the 10 science blogs listed. I enjoyed all of them but these two I enjoyed the most.  

Reflections of a Science Teacher (http://sanmccarron.blogspot.com/)

This blog caught my attention because it gives a few specific examples on how this teacher connects chemistry to real life using some fun experiments (soap and marshmallow making). However, what got me to stay was a particular post about technology and Bloom’s Taxonomy. In this post the author discusses using apps and other digital tools that are associated with the different levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy including Twitter, Blogging, Glogster, and Schoolloop. I have never heard of Glogster before but it sounds like a good substitute for poster projects. I am going to have to check this site out for possible use in lesson plans.

Mr. Cantor’s Biology Blog (http://cantorsbiologyblog.blogspot.com/)

This is a blog for Mr. Cantor’s students. I personally like this blog because I like to follow along with his class and he gives a lot of helpful links for his students. I also think it is an excellent idea to give students different ways to look at the material discussed in class since people learn in different ways. By giving the students links to other sites, he is giving the students valuable resources that they would not be able to get in class.

Thoughts on Kohn's Opinion of Grading

            The Kohn article we read for class this week was very interesting. I would have enjoyed discussing it a little more in class so I will do it on here. Some very good points were discussed in the article about the negative effects of grades on students. Since all of you have read it I will try to avoid summarizing it.

            I feel like my own high school experience had many of the negative effects Kohn described about grading students. I was only concerned about my grades, so I would memorize the material that was going to be on the tests the night before, do well on the test, and then forget all the material in just a few weeks. One of the main arguments for grades is that it motivates students. I was only motivated to get good grades not actually learn the material. I became an expert at memorizing material for short periods of time. I also remember comparing grades with my friends constantly. Some of my friends were competitive to the extreme and would literally have fights over their grades. At the time, I just thought it was annoying, but now I realize how destructive that was for each of us.

            About halfway through college I started to realize just how obsessed people are with grades. People were worrying about their grades constantly. It was rare to hear someone talk about a subject without bringing up what grade they got on a particular test or paper. It was really annoying when people would tell me all about their grades and how they were doing in all their classes. Many times I have told people that they are in college to learn material, not just to get good grades. If they would just spend all the time that they worry and talk about their grades studying then they would probably get better grades.

            Since grades have been a part of our schooling for such a long time, it will be hard to remove them completely. However, the article did bring up some excellent strategies that would probably help relieve students from the pressures of getting good grades. If there is no grade put on individual assignments, then the first thing students will look at is the comments made by the teacher, not the grade. This seems like a simple strategy to get students to look at the material.

What is Education?

What is education? In class this past week we tried to define what education is in small groups. I was surprised at how difficult this one word is to define. My first attempt to define education was that which helps lead people to become functioning members of society. However, the more our small group discussed this question, the more I felt this basic definition was lacking. I feel this single word needs more than just a sentence to really get at its meaning.

            My group discussed how education builds on itself. One cannot simply jump into the education process randomly. It starts at birth and as a child grows so does their education. Without first learning the alphabet one cannot learn to read or write and one cannot learn math without first learning numbers.

            We also discussed how education is not only found in a formal setting such as a classroom, but found throughout life. Education occurs everywhere someone goes. Every time a child or an adult experiences something new they are being educated.

            The last thing we had time to discuss was that everyone’s education is influenced by their support system and their willingness to learn how to become functioning members of society. I had to argue that these factors do play a part in one’s education but do not define their education. Someone can rise above a lousy support system if they are willing and determined (at least here in the US). Some people are not very willing to learn and do not appreciate education. I have known many people who felt this way including myself as a child. I did not want to learn and certainly did not appreciate it. However, I went through the motions and did all (well more like some) of the work and eventually started to appreciate it. One does not have to be willing to learn to gain the education that is required to function in society.