http://www.stevespangler.com Making Science Education Fun Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:38:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en © alyssa@stevespangler.com () alyssa@stevespangler.com() 1440 Making Science Education Fun alyssa@stevespangler.com No no http://www.stevespangler.com/stevespangler/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.stevespangler.com 144 144 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2007/04/08/500-soda-geysers-at-nsta-convention/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2007/04/08/500-soda-geysers-at-nsta-convention/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2007 05:28:33 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2007/04/01/500-soda-geysers-at-nsta-convention/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2007/04/08/500-soda-geysers-at-nsta-convention/feed/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/30/teacher-evaluations-%e2%80%93-the-great-dinner-table-experiment/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/30/teacher-evaluations-%e2%80%93-the-great-dinner-table-experiment/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2005 23:07:42 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/?p=130 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/30/teacher-evaluations-%e2%80%93-the-great-dinner-table-experiment/feed/ 00:01:01 During my first year in teaching, my first evaluation revealed I wasn't as terrible a teacher as I thought. My principal said: "I notice when ... During my first year in teaching, my first evaluation revealed I wasn't as terrible a teacher as I thought. My principal said: "I notice when I come into the room you go into performance mode. It makes learning so much fun but I am not sure if it is transferred to the kids though. Can they remember when you are not there?"? She said if you create an experience that gets kids talking about it at the dinner table and that transfers to the parents who come back and say the kids tonight were floating and sinking bowling balls in the bathtub, then you have truly made an impact. Well, that was a huge call for me. So I started creating activities and lessons that I knew kids would go home and do. Like making cans of soda float and sink and challenging mom and dad to identify whether the soft drink is diet or regular. Or bending a spoon (try that in a restaurant) or, my favorite, setting the table and then yanking the tablecloth from underneath! Create experiences that truly translate back to the real world, as kids share their experiences at night at the dinner table. Listen to my podcast about my first teacher evaluation (File size is 0.9 MB) (Show length 3 minutes 40 seconds) Educating,,Podcasts alyssa@stevespangler.com no No http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/28/teaching-teachers-to-do-magic/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/28/teaching-teachers-to-do-magic/#comments Sun, 28 Aug 2005 10:05:13 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/?p=112 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/28/teaching-teachers-to-do-magic/feed/ 00:01:01 A teacher can be an amazing teacher. In science workshops and seminars, I teach teachers how to do magic. I grew up in a family of ... A teacher can be an amazing teacher. In science workshops and seminars, I teach teachers how to do magic. I grew up in a family of professional magicians, but my 13 years in the classroom didn't involve a lot of magic other than science magic, like water floating upside down in a glass, or a ping pong ball floating on a stream of air. Teachers are aware of how important it is to teach content. Sometimes they need to stop for a moment and learn how to be a presenter of science. I teach you how to put the coin in your hand and make it disappear. It's a technique used by magicians to grab our attention. It excites us. Makes us want to know how it works. And it can be worked into the Five E's: it excites the kids, makes them want to explore, engages them in learning and experiment in the process and, finally, evaluates their learning. And it can be as simple as a little experiment with the vanishing coin. Listen to my podcast to hear how teachers can do magic in the classroom (File size is 0.8 MB) (Show length 3 minutes 20 seconds) Educating,,Podcasts alyssa@stevespangler.com no No