President Obama Signs New ESEA - Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 2015

Check out the article by EdWeek!

"Human gene-editing research, even on embryos, is needed and should go ahead"

Scientists from around the world convened a global summit earlier this week about the ethics and use of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system. What is CRISPR you say? Well, check out this Youtube video if you'd like to learn more about the method.

At the summit, scientists essentially gave the "green light" to the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, but said that "moral, ethical and safety concerns would make it 'irresponsible' to proceed with clinical studies in germline cells — eggs, sperm, embryos and other cells that transmit DNA to future generations..." The summit also decided that "researchers who edit embryos or other germ cells in labs would not be doing germline editing if the resulting embryos are not implanted in the uterus for reproductive purposes...". This means that a new and effecient technique for gene editing is on the way to help scientists understand and fight genetic disease. I can't wait to see what new doors this opens for science! Read the article from ScienceNews to get the full story.

33% of Quality Arable Land Lost in the Last 40 Years

In an article by Oliver Milman, The Guardian tells us that scientists have estimated that 33% of quality arable land has been degraded and that steps need to be taken amid a global growing need for food production. This is only exacerbated by ecological struggles that continue to hit our radar. Humanity hasn't been the best steward of this planet for some time now and we're beginning to see how vast this field is that we're preparing to reap. It may be cliché, but this is the only planet we currently have. It's time to get to work!








Graphic:
http://archive.larouchepac.com/node/17776

Saving lives or euginics?

          "Alternating the promise of cures for intractable diseases with anxiety about designer babies and eugenics, hundreds of scientists and ethicists from around the world began debating the boundaries of a revolutionary technology to edit the human genetic code." Read the rest of the article here.

Happy Birthday to "On the Origin of Species"!

On the Origin of Species

Today's Teacher Toolbox!

I was talking with my Cooperating Teacher last week and the topic of new toys and technologies in education came up. Now, I'm a bit of a technophile and I get pretty giddy about this stuff, so I got excited and talked about several new apps and software that I hoped to integrate into my teaching. My CT has been teaching for a while now and has kind of lost touch with the emerging and newly established technologies available for both students and teachers. After seeing his excitement over some of the new "toys" I showed him, I decided that I would create a section in this blog to talk about the new tools of the trade. Teacher's Toolbox enter stage right.

The next thought was, which toy to showcase first? Kind of like that day before show-and-tell, I had to decide what I wanted to share. Well, I decided to start with an app that has been my saving grace throughout college and will probably continue to be until something better comes along. Sorry, I'm such an opportunists with my apps! That saving grace is Evernote.

Evernote is a digital note taking and sharing application. It's available for your PC or laptop, tablet, and your phone and is completely free. I can't say enough how much I love this software and how lost I'd probably be if I didn't stumble across it. Evernote allows users to create, organize, prioritize, and share digital notes that can be accessed from just about any internet connected device anywhere. Users can create notebooks, separating groups of notes into categories such as classes, responsibilities, personal notes, shared folders, etc. One can also "tag" notes with special labels which can be used to quickly find specific types of notes such as notes tagged as "assignments" or "tests". One of the features that I really love about Evernote is the ability to add a "reminder" to a note, essentially setting a date and time for the note. This is great way to make an assignments list that automatically prioritizes your notes into the order that they need to be accessed or turned in. The image below shows the notebooks section circled in red, the reminder system in blue, and note title and tags circled in green. I highly recommend that you check out this app and software. 

There are several other digital note taking software available, but this one has been my favorite for several years now. Digital notes are incredible easy to figure out, use, and access. Thanks to programs like these, I have the entirety of my college notes available on my phone or laptop at pretty much all times (granted that I have internet access).

I hope you check out Evernote or other digital note taking apps and find ways to let them improve your class experience or life in general. They're very handy, intuitive, and generally free! How can you go wrong!? Anyway, that's it for today's Teacher Toolbox. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, leave 'em in the section below.

Which Way Do We Go?

       Often in life, we're presented with situations which confound us, make us question some of our foundational principles and understandings. Many people resort to a simple understanding of a complex situation. It's just so much easier to default to our base reactions and respond with base ideologies. If I've learned anything in my 32 years on this beautiful blue dot, it's that nothing is ever simple. Sure, we might be able to see simple patterns and what appear to be simple solutions, but how often have those patterns led to simple solutions which brutalize the beautifully complex reality we live in? Life is complex, convoluted. By definition itself, life seeks to create complexity out of simplicity, entropy pushing us further and further into a future of dazzling options yet scary complexity. It's easy to fear a future where the simple life we hope for shrinks in front of possibilities we can't quite fathom. Always remember this: at our core, hidden under all of our cultural norms, personal belief structures, and countless psychological and social pressure piled upon over years of struggle and success, we are human, beautifully and devastatingly human. All of the positive, negative, constructive, and destructive reside in us as individuals and societies. Don't let our increasingly complex world drive you to simple solutions, ones that hack through the process of understanding, giving us just shreds of true comprehension. Pause, reflect, and analyze. It's hard to find pieces of truth when the puzzle has been dumped haphazardly on the living room floor, scattered and trampled by the opinions of countless others. Science teaches us to be objective, seek truth no matter how difficult the search or hopeless it may seem at times. True understanding can find beauty in complexity. Take the time to think, don't just react. Humanity is an amazing thought, in part because of it's complexity. Don't reduce it to primitive monotony.

“Before you act, listen.
Before you react, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.”

― William Arthur Ward

Happy Birthday Carl Sagan!

Carl Sagan would have been 81 today and it's a shame that he's no longer with us. Few have inspired more curiosity in science than Dr. Sagan. His 1980 television series, Cosmos: A Personal Journey, is the most widely viewed American public access show in history and spawned a successful sister series staring Neil deGrasse Tyson, entitled Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. To learn a bit more about this amazing scientist, check out this article from HowStuffWorks Science.

Cyber Charters Have 'Overwhelming Negative Impact,' CREDO Study Finds

A recent study by the Center for Research On Education Outcomes (CREDO) finds that online education underperforms traditional "brick and mortar" schools. Having experienced online education myself, I'm not at all surprised by these findings. Students need to connect to material, discuss it, and make it an active part of the experience. I had little luck connecting to material found in my online classes and honestly, my work was less inspired as well. The're cheap and easy to access, but online institutions lack a vital part of the puzzle, the human element. Teachers don't need to be the dispenser of knowledge anymore. Students have the collected knowledge of all humanity available in the palms of their hands. A teacher"s role has adapted to be the mediator between this knowledge and the current understanding of the students. Guiding students to the correct information in an orderly and well-paced structure is now the focus and with today's media and technology, the possibilities are exciting! Interactive presentations, web-based virtual labs, and a wide variety of social and sharing software combine to create an environment where limits are set by the teacher's imagination, not the textbook. Online education is exactly that, an interactive textbook. Sure, it has videos, tutorials, and a plethora of "help" options, but those options won't put you face to face with someone who is capable and wants to help you. Time will tell on web-based education and while I don't see the concept losing steam anytime soon, the numbers aren't looking good!

Tractor Beams!!

Scientific American article on new tractor beams

Demo-A-Day Video

My first demo video for one of my education courses!

Happy Mole Day!

No Sitting on the Job!

It's been drilled into my head from the beginning of my education courses that teachers should rarely, if ever, sit down during class time. This accomplishes several goals for the teacher, including behavioral management, "withitness", and making the teacher available to all the students for on-on-one help. That being said, I'm not sure if I'd condone throwing out all of the teachers' desks!

That's exactly what Donna Connely, a Bronx K-5 principal, did according to a recent article circulating around Slate and the New York Post. Connely felt that her teachers were sitting too often during class, so the desks were removed, students watching as the teachers emptied their desks and pushed them into the hallway for removal. 

Connely decided to return the desks after a strong social media response and several articles in media outlets such as the New York Post and Slate, I guess that's one good thing about the immediate feedback of social media, make a mistake and people are all too excited to point it out!

When the education field is tumultuous and things are in a constant state of change, what good do actions like this do for students? What went through students' minds as humiliated teachers begrudgingly shoved desks into hallways? Better yet, what education was accomplished that day and how long will the ripple effect last? Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments section below.

How to Change Education

Where should schools draw the line?

I saw this video a while ago and it's recently become a hot topic on social media. Yesterday, sitting in a botany lab with my lab group, a discussion began where this video and its ideas were a main topic. Many of the students and even the teacher expressed concern about what isn't being taught in our public schools. There seems to be a consensus that young adults are leaving high school ill equipped for daily life, unprepared to face the daily challenges of being self-reliant and independent. 

While we discussed how students don't seem to understand personal finance, basic personal healthcare, job and interview skills, or even maintaining their homes and vehicles, a thought occurred to me that I felt was worth sharing: Where are the boundaries for the ideas and skills that public schools should teach? Where does public education draw the line?

I remember being taught how to balance a check book, dress professionally, operate a washing machine, and several other skills when I was young. The issue is that I was taught these skills by family and friends. I learned these social skills in my social environment. Now don't get me wrong, my school offered several courses in which the goal was to prepare students for "real life", but these were classes that students took to fill their schedule with a class that didn't cut into their Friday night. Maybe these classes are being culled from the curriculum do to low student interest or it could be because schools are struggling to cover the content and new instructional methods being passed down from state and national education departments.

This brings us to my main point. Who is responsible for teaching students basic life skills? I have no doubt that many educators would delight in providing students with skills that would help them become better individuals and citizens, but I don't know of many who can find any time in class to provide these lessons. Coming from a Biology background, there is no lack of content that I would love and actually feel I need to cover, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. Many educators already struggle finding a middle ground between what they feel they need to cover and not covering so much material that students are incapable of processing and retaining it.

So, should schools focus on trying to provide a well rounded education including life skills to all students or should they focus on just academic topics? The general idea in western education is to provide a well rounded education, one composed of several subjects and cognitive skills. Now, my ears perk up when I hear people discussing the state of education these days and I often hear people lamenting the fact that they have to learn two years of foreign language, the quadratic equation, and which acid is the final product of the Kreb's Cycle when they plan on becoming a media specialist. It makes sense from either perspective, well rounded or content focused education. I think the issue is that there isn't a consensus on what public education should include, at least a realistic one.

If schools focus on content and academics, that leaves the burden of basic life skills on the shoulders of parents and the community. If schools try to include basic life skills in every student's education, that means less content and other skills covered in class. Unfortunately, you apparently can't have your cake and eat it to. So, where do you stand in this debate or do you have a position? If you do, feel free to comment! 

Did we miss a turn somewhere?

 I really like what this guy has to say. He has some great insights about education and educational culture. There's a big pressure nationally to "teach to the test" and honestly, I can understand why educational institutions find their educators doing this. If students don't do well on these standardized tests, the schools are defunded and teachers and faculty are subsequently "let go". An article posted by the NEA explains some of the opinions and numbers. 

It seems to me that this form of high stakes testing is rough on students. Instead of being able to explore science (I guess we should include the other subjects as well...), students are placed in a tunnel vision approach for the test with no errors allowable, no side trips! These investigations and allowing curiosity to be nurtured and encouraged doesn't seem to have a place in the modern educational arena. The focus is content coverage and preparation for evaluation, both on the part of the student and the teacher.

Sure, there needs to be a way to assess teacher and student performance, but is our current model working to the benefit of our students? Is this the best method we can devise to maximize learning and interest in academia? I'm rarely satisfied with good enough, usually focusing on ways to improve and not just be content with the status quo. I think it's about time we rethink our approach, find ways to maximize true learning and a fostering of academic curiosity. Doing this while finding a better assessment method won't be easy, but anything worth doing rarely is!

He's gonna ask a question....RUUUUUN!!!!

So, I had the joy of teaching my first lesson of the semester at a local high school. The lesson went really well and the students seemed to have a good time with the activity. With all the educational joy floating around and the excitement from the activity, I was surprised to notice something a little disconcerting. THE STUDENTS DID NOT WANT TO ANSWER QUESTIONS! Now, for those of you who already teach, this is probably not exactly a revelation to you, but many of us "green horns" haven't had enough time in the classroom to have experienced this. Students DO NOT like answering questions, specifically during the lecture. I noticed and addressed this in my lesson that day.

I decided to bring this up right in the middle of my lecture, mostly because the opportunity presented itself and I felt that it's advice that often isn't handed out to students. The truth is, at least in my experience as a student, most of us practically crawl under the desk hoping to avoid answering the teacher's questions during lecture! Why is this the case? Why are we so afraid to speak up when called upon, especially when some of us, myself included, have no problem speaking up in class about pretty much anything else? Well, to put it simply, no one wants to look stupid in front of a crowd!

So, I told the class "Hey guys and girls, if you knew all of this information already, I'd be out of a job! You're all here because you DON'T KNOW what we're talking about....YET!" One of the best ways to get past the "yet" is to ask questions, answer the teacher's questions, and in general, not be afraid of being wrong. We're all going to be wrong, so embrace ignorance! I can pretty much guarantee that several of the other students in the class are just praying that someone will ask the question that's been in their mind the whole class. So, don't be afraid to speak up, answer the lecture questions, or ask your own questions! We all just might learn something ;)

Great tools for curiosity: Discrepant Events

What is a Discrepant event?

Discrepant events, or a Conceptual Conflict, are situations or scenarios where what one observes does not match what one would expect to observe. It is a paradoxical event that clashes with what the observer knows to be true, essentially throwing a wrench in their cognitive gears. When this happens, the general reaction is a discomforting curiosity that leads the observer on a path to reach a kind of equilibrium or solace. In the case of its use in science education, the students (observers) were motivated to figure out the trick or understand why the event didn’t make sense. Students who were generally disengaged or unmotivated were also lured into the educational trap! Students just couldn’t stand not knowing how it all worked and this lead to a change in their mindset in the classroom. It lead to the mindset that so many teachers seek to instill in their students: wonder, curiosity, and a desire to overcome the challenge. Teachers who can present the right challenge to students in the right fashion can have profound effects on their students.

                I had a teacher like this once, an 8^th grade Biology teacher with a crazy personality and an even crazier taste in pants. I heard about this teacher within a week of starting classes in the school. It seemed like everyone knew him, liked him, and wanted desperately to be in his class. After I heard his name buzzing around for long enough, I walked over to his classroom to see what all the fuss was about. Sure enough, the lair of a mad scientist with a soft spot for critters, specifically snakes. I saw rabbits, several snakes, various rodents, and all manner of beakers, burners, and cool scientific stuff. It looked like a classroom I wanted to be in, but it wasn’t the pets or even all the cool gadgets littered throughout the room. It was him, Mr. Granderson. He had a reputation for blowing stuff up and doing crazy demonstrations in his classroom, a reputation I was lucky enough to confirm when I took his class the next year. He didn’t just blow things up, set them on fire, and entertain us until our hearts were content, he challenged us. Many of his little demonstrations were discrepant events, leaving us perplexed and itching to learn. This drive is the result of the application of discrepant events in the classroom.

The joy of Microbes!

Scientific American tells us a little about Microbes!

SciFi to Diversify!

There's a lot of material to cover in the average Biology class... A LOT. So much so that students can get burned out on taking in so much information, especially if that information is coming directly from the text book and the average worksheet. So, what can we as educators do to increase student engagement, get students to enjoy digging into a massive pile of content? One answer: using science fiction in popular books and films, such as The Martian, to introduce new material and create new unit environments for students to explore. Instead of introducing cellular process content in the manner that the textbook lays out, introduce films and other science media and tie the content to it. For instance, the teacher could create a hypothetical scenario where the students play the part of a scientist, trapped on Mars and trying to survive until a rescue ship can make the long trip to the red planet, much like Matt Damon's character in the film. To introduce those cellular processes, the teacher could pose a question to the student scientists: How do we grow food on Mars? This creates an original, applicable, and engaging learning environment that ties content to current events, making the content fun and relevant to the students. This question, "How do we grow food on Mars?", can introduce students to Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration, Human Nutrition, and even branch into basic plant morphology. There are many ways to tie the content in your classroom to exciting things going on in students' lives. Instead of plowing through that textbook, bring the content out of the book and into the real world!

Editing the Human Genome: Where do you stand?

According to many recent articles, scientists in the UK applying for permission to alter human embryos in order to increase their viability for in vitro fertilization. This certainly isn't the first time that genetic engineering has shown up in the news, but the debate over its ethics continues. Sure these proposed enhancements could potentially give infertile parents a higher chance of successfully conceiving a child, but at what cost? The enhanced embryonic cells are duplicated exponentially, passing on any genetic tampering to future cells and in some cases, future progeny. This is one of my and many others' concerns with genetic engineering: what are the long-term ramifications of this type of experimentation? There is a lot of grey area in this type of discussion and I would love to hear how you feel about the idea. If you have an opinion, leave a message in the comments below!

A Battle of Attrition - Time to Suit Up

One of my biggest concerns as a future educator is finding effective ways to motivate students to take an interest in Science and education in general. A student that isn't excited to be in your class or motivated to succeed in their education isn't likely to perform at their best. Since this is our goal as teachers, to unlock the full potential of our students, interest and motivation has been a big part of my lesson planning process. I think that science is a FASCINATING subject, but unfortunately, not everyone feels the same (crazy right!?). So, today I want to talk about one of the easiest ways to motivate your students. I'm sure that, like myself, many educators begin starry-eyed and idealistic, hoping to change the world one student at a time. Unfortunately, for some educators, this zeal is lost for a variety of reasons. How many of you remember sitting in a classroom with an instructor who seemed to have given up on motivating students and bringing excitement to their class? Students pick up on this easily and it has detrimental effects on student morale and performance. We as educators MUST continue to bring energy and excitement about our subjects to our classrooms or risk losing our students' interest. Now, not every student can be persuaded by the instructor's energy alone, but it can be pivotal to many. Don't give into the weathering effects of daily life, instead strive to be the driving force behind student motivation. If the instructor isn't motivated and excited to be in the class, how can we expect students to reciprocate? Student interest is a major factor effecting performance and can be affected simply by the instructor's classroom presence and energy level. Don't fall prey to disinterest or apathy! I had an instructor tell me yesterday, "Teachers have to be great actors", and this applies directly to the teacher's classroom persona. Sure, we all have bad days, bad mornings, and slumps in motivation, but we can't afford to let that affect the way we deal with students on a day-to-day basis. The show must go on, so put on your professional "happy face" and get inspired to inspire. It's time to fight the good fight and do all that we can to stay motivated in the classroom!

Professional Educational Organizations

      So, today I'm giving a quick speech about professional organizations for educators. I made this presentation to highlight some of the perks to becoming a member in one or more of these organizations. Groups like the National Association of Biology Teachers offer a multitude of resources related to Biology and Life Science education and will be a great tool for me during my time teaching. They even have a bioclub! I really look forward to some of the great opportunities that these organizations can offer, such as networking with other Biology teachers, keeping up with the latest methods and news, and conferences and workshops to gain the best skills. If you're an educator reading this, are you a member of any professional organizations? If so, tell me which ones in the comments below!

National Literacy Day!!!

Today, we focus on literacy. But wait, this is a science blog!!! So, how does literacy effect science education? We all remember being assigned chapters of text to read in science class and many of us actually read them! The unfortunate reality for many is that the average science textbook can be about as interesting to read as a VCR manual. This is especially true if one's reading skills are sub-par or one hasn't been shown the most effective ways to read and comprehend an "expository text". While fictions read in English and Literature classes offer a plethora of interesting stories, those bits of information presented in science textbooks tell an amazing tale of the richness and dynamic nature of scientific reality, albeit in dry and humorless fashion. As teachers, we should strive to make the information relatable to students and give them the tools to comprehend and use the information presented. Have you, as a science teacher, thought about implementing reading strategies into your lessons or methods? Since teachers do not generally have enough time to cover all the material they would like while in the classroom, this leaves them little choice but to assign reading to be taken home and completed solely by the student. This method is only effective if the students are able to effectively read and comprehend the text. Without the skills to do this, that textbook looks more and more like the manual above, not exactly thrilling. Take time today to look for ways to help improve your students' reading abilities as they will ultimately improve the students' overall academic performance in science and other subjects as well. Happy reading!

Links:
Question Answer Relationship Method
Promoting Critical Thinking with Science News

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

There are some really good points in this video. What can we do as individuals and organizations to make education more effective and applicable to peoples' lives? What is wrong with the current system and how can we fix it? I speak with people often about these questions and I get as many questions as I do answers. Watch the video and tell me what you think!

The journey begins! 

Today, I created a blog to keep track of my progress as a teacher and to share my thoughts with the web. This blog will showcase my philosophies in education and some of my personal interests that relate to education and science in general. Feel free to follow along and take this trip with me!