There are literally thousands of online videos featuring the Mentos Geyser experiment, but this video is worth a few minutes of your time. It’s a first-class video produced by Mr. Delos Santos and his third grade class at Stone Ranch Elementary in San Diego, California.

Mr. Santos says that the project first started out as just a science experiment for the unit on Matter, but quickly grew into a much bigger project. But it’s not just a video, the class created their own “Fizz”ical Science website. “The largest challenge in producing a project like this is being able to engage all students in the digital learning process. Teaching them the proper technique and how to convey their message in a clear and systematic way was another challenging aspect of our project,” according to Mr. Santos.

Here’s the best part… The video has been nominated for an iVIE (Innovative Video in Education) Award! The award ceremony will take place on May 20th, and we’ll keep you posted.

BUT… We held our own screening earlier today and our staff would like to present Mr. Delos Santos’ third grade class with our own video award - a $100 gift certificate from SteveSpanglerScience.com Congratulations to the third graders from Stone Ranch Elementary!

…and nice job Mr. Delos Santos - the gift certificate is on its way.

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Most teachers feel, at one point or another in their careers, the dreaded BURNOUT.You may not even know you’re suffering from burn-out until it’s too late, so it’s important to keep a close eye on your own attitude and health.Teachers aren’t used to keeping watch over themselves, but we are just as important as our students and our families!

In the Jan-Feb 1995 issue of Instructor magazine, Dr. Judy Downs Lombardi, a professor at the University of Texas, listed these symptoms of possible teacher burnout…

• You’re bored with teaching and don’t feel there’s anything more to learn about your job.
• You bristle at suggestions of new ways to teach.
• You dream of perfection and judge your professional performance without mercy.
• You are plagued by the feeling that you should be doing more at school, even though you’re working hard.
• . . . You feel more comfortable doing paperwork than interacting with students, colleagues, and parents.
• You can’t remember why you went into teaching – or find yourself saying, ‘If only I hadn’t majored in education.’
• Teaching isn’t fun for you any more, and you complain about it incessantly.You take your frustrations home and can’t get them out of your mind.
• You count the days until the next break or summer vacation.
• You worry excessively about your students and their problems.
• You don’t take good care of yourself.You eat poorly, don’t get enough sleep, have let hobbies lapse, resort to unhealthy outlets for stress, and so on.

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