Creating stories in chemistry

Our brains lock onto stories. Our experiences are one story after another, each contributing to the long story we call life. As such, our brains are used to comprehending things presented in the format of a story1. Using a story format to present information to our students seems like a natural way of engaging students [...]

Nearly text free (and loving it)

I used the following presentation to go over how and why to balance chemical equations with my 9th graders:

Balancing Chemical Rx

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: chemistry chemical)

The concept itself isn’t complex, but instruction often gets bogged down in providing students with a list of specific steps to follow (First, [...]

Final Exam Projects- Day 4

I’ll try to keep posting on the progress of the projects as I go. If you haven’t already, check out the summary of what was happening on Day 2. Students are now set on what they’re doing and how they’re going to do it. Now it’s just a matter of getting their projects done.

I [...]

The Update (where I’ve been & what I’ve been doing)

A slight break…

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I’d like to say it was a planned hiatus- like I’ve been in collecting lava samples in Hawai’i or taking a meditative break inside a sensory deprivation tank. The truth is much less exotic. As some of you may already know, I’ll be moving to [...]

Hopeful for great student presentations!

One day, I’d really like to see an erupting volcano. Yes, I’m planning at some point to visit Hawai’i and see Kilauea erupting in classic basaltic shield volcano style, but I’d really like to see a massive, ash cloud, explosive, Plinian eruption. Of course, I’d like the guarantee of being perfectly safe in doing so. [...]

As promised: Presentations Before and After

As promised in yesterday’s post, I’ve posted my before and after presentations that I made to go over basic Earth structure with my Earth & Physical Science classes. I’ve already used the updated presentation, and the students seemed to enjoy it better than the overly bullet-pointed first version. You may not be able to follow [...]

Design, presentations, and the power of the network

It all started with dread.

The last week or so, my classes have been covering material that I made PowerPoint slideshows for several years ago. While at the time, I put in lots of images and even embedded some video, I found myself dreading to give those presentations to my classes. I started pondering [...]