Last weekend, I spent a vast majority of my Saturday making quizzes for my students to review for their midterms for my class. The Moodle system is powerful, but not very intuitive, at least from a teacher’s standpoint. But, providing the practice quizzes was more of a priority than the backend follies with Moodle in its current form. I made four quizzes, one quiz for each of the … [Read more...]
In the double block this week, we used microscopes to look at two different types of cells. We used Compound Light Microscope to view Elodea (Plant) cells, and Human Cheek (Animal) cells. There is a particular way to use the microscope. We received the microscopes with the stage lowered, and the scan objective selected. You carried the microscopes back to your seats with one hand … [Read more...]
I’m starting a daily Biology recap about what I covered in Biology class. We covered some major themes, including unicellular (one-celled) versus multicellular (more than 1 cell). Most multicellular organisms are made of many specialized cells. The next theme we talked about was Cell Theory. Cell theory is made of two main facets: Cells are the units of structure and … [Read more...]
If you fail to plan, plan to fail. -George N. Parks There is so much beauty in these words that speaks so much truth. Being prepared is important for so many life situations, and George Parks’ starred thought captures it beautifully. It’s amazing to me how often people fail to plan for things in life, and leave so many variables in the air. I’ve always been a planner, and … [Read more...]
The classroom has changed since we have learned more about how information is encoded in the brain, allowing more insight into classroom activities that encourage learning. Most teachers now realize that lecture doesn’t work, and we need to have engaging activities for students. Students should be part of a collaboration of active learning, and working on activies that promote the … [Read more...]
I’ve been teaching for the last 3 and a half months, and there’s tons of things that I’ve picked up. As a teacher, you are always constantly a student as well. I am constantly changing the way that I teach introductory biology to reach more of my students. I like to think of teaching as a constant evolution towards perfection, where we are keeping the traits that make us … [Read more...]
Many of my friends are still in college, and it’s now finals time. When I was in college, I took an average of 21 credits a semester, so finals time was often one of the more stressful parts of the semester. I can remember one particularly brutal semester in which I took 26 credits, and had 2 finals a day for 4 days in a row. The biggest tip I have is to start studying … [Read more...]
I’ve been using Facebook as a learning tool for a while. I originally started using Facebook as a way to pass on homework, as I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go with Facebook. I use a Facebook page for my class, and do not accept friend requests from students. The Facebook page allows me to reach students in their homes. I’ve now started asking “Questions of the … [Read more...]
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