Author Archives: Shay

Why should we care?

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Shay

The last lesson I taught at my field featured a video of scientists tagging sharks to estimate population sizes. Once the video ended, I had a student as my why we tagged sharks. I gave him the basic answer of … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges for Science Teachers | 5 Comments

Stop running with scalpels!

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Shay

And you thought kids running with scissors was bad… Surgeons use these tools to cut people open and we expect high school students to be able to safely use one to open a frog? With having a solid set of … Continue reading →

Posted in Managing a Science Classroom | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Make Me Excited

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Shay

Getting students engaged with a lesson can be the hardest thing about teaching. You can come up with the most engaging things possible, and then realize that it will cost way too much to actually carry out. Obviously, we can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Engaging Resources for the Science Classroom | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What am I good at?

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Shay

“But I’m not good at anything.” “But I’m not creative.” “But I’m not smart.” These are excuses you will hear every day in a classroom. I am the speaker of those words. There are some days when I feel I … Continue reading →

Posted in Strengths in Science Classrooms | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Child Leaders

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Shay

  Which of these beaches would you rather go to? Unfortunately, more of our beaches are becoming like the littered beach on the left. Humans have been leaving a path of destruction on our beaches. The article The Effects of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Research in Science Education | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Serendipity

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Shay

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. There is something that is so special about the combination of all of these things that makes wonderful things. Professions in STE(A)M are in high demand in many different fields. It is important to … Continue reading →

Posted in STEM Activity | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Who do you think is a doctor?

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Shay

This is what I got back from google when I searched for “Doctor” in images. This is what I got back from Google when I searched for “Engineer” in images. In both of these images, about one forth of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Equity | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Head Spinning

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Shay

Thinking about thinking can really make your head spin. Thinking about other people’s thinking can be even more daunting. This daunting task is something that teachers must do on a daily basis in order to know how their students are … Continue reading →

Posted in Making Thinking Visible | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Take me to Africa

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Shay

My grandparents were avid world travelers when I was younger. Every time they would come home from a trip they would show me their pictures of where they went. The pictures that I really cared about were the animals. After … Continue reading →

Posted in Constructivism | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Collaboration Nation

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Shay

In many classrooms, students sit in straight rows, face forward, and the teacher lectures at them for 45 to 55 minutes. The students take notes (or sleep) and then move on to their next class. This is not how students … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooperative Learning, Misc | Tagged , , | 10 Comments