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Recently, students at my school created clay tiles to make this mosaic, which is hanging in the foyer between the second and third floor hallways.

Mosaic

In the upper right hand corner, I smiled to see this tile:

Elements Periodic

Recently, our school was fortunate to have a visit from Billy Collins – former poet laureate of the U.S. He read a few entries from Poetry 180 - a collection of poems for each of the 180 days of the school year (geared at high school students). You can see all of the poems here.

Inspired by his visit, I asked my students to either select or write a poem about science – which they would post on our class discussion board. Not only did they really enjoy reading what others posted, a few did a fantastic job writing their own science poems:

We started a little competition you see
Between my bright lab partner and me
Well I made a fish that glows in the dark
So he made a cat that doesn’t meow but bark
To beat him made I a lobster with wings
So he made a crocodile that sings,
So well that I gave my dog a few extra legs
To run past his roosters laying eggs
Out of hand it then got with my alliperizebralion
Pronouncing his beast I ain’t even trying
And after I gave his firstborn the head of a moose
We both decided to call it a truce

There once was a chemist named Larry
Who wanted to be really hairy.
He brewed up a potion
That set into motion
Some hair-growing that was quite scary.

A naive young biologist, Shay,
Thought that rocks and stones had DNA.
With his rock-carving tools,
He looked like a fool,
And wasted there many a day.

As we were going over their submissions in class, one student questioned what poetry had to do with science. Of course, I took the bait and led the class into a discussion on the importance of creativity in science.

We discussed science in art, and art in science. We discussed science writing (like David Quammen and Lewis Thomas). We discussed wildlife photography, National Geographic’s CritterCam, and David Goodsell’s Molecular Art (see image right). And we also discussed one of the most important creative endeavors in science – experimental design.

Beyond the occasional creative assignment (Drawing Moles, Making Reaction Rate Videos, Einstein’s Facebook), I’ve never taught science using creativity as a common thread. And while this was readily apparent to me, I hadn’t realized how much my students had mentally segregated science from creativity.

So as I think about preparing for the next school year, I will be making sure that my students understand the influence of creative thought in science.

Are you tired of Google Video, YouTube, and other video services being blocked at your school? Try TeacherTube.

With a motto of “teach the world“, TeacherTube is designed for education. So far, I have found this site to be slow, but it has promise. You can make comments, rate videos from 1-5 ‘apples’, and tag videos/search by related tags. But most importantly (which helps to keep it safe), you can flag all inappropriate videos.
Until we can convince school districts that technology is a tool that has to be taught how to be used properly and safely (like driving a car or crossing a street), TeacherTube may allow you to post, view and share videos with your students.

This video (and its byline) sums up these concerns: [Link]

“Technology is not the enemy — ignorance is. I am concerned that we need to intentionally teach students the technology skills they need to know. They do not get it automatically nor do they learn it at home.”

Recently, Dale Basler traveled to St. Louis for the National Science Teacher Association Conference, where he was introduced to Yahoo! Teachers.

Yahoo! Teachers promises a peer network where teachers “create, modify and share standards-based curriculum.” While it is not yet, active, you can find your school and identify yourself in the peer network, and you can sign-up for an official invitation once it launches. Sign-up now!

Watch the sneak peak video:

1. Keeping Time. Make sure your computer is ready for the changes in Daylight Savings Time (which starts this weekend!).

From Microsoft:

Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time (DST) will be extended in the United States. DST will start on March 11, 2007, which is three weeks earlier than usual, and it will end on November 4, 2007, which is one week later than usual. This results in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than in previous years. Unless certain updates are applied to your computer, the time zone settings for your computer’s system clock may be incorrect during this four-week period. In particular, you must make sure that both your Windows operating system and your calendar programs are updated.

If you use Windows Vista or have Automatic Updates turned on, you may not be affected by the change in daylight saving time. If you want to confirm, follow the steps in the Daylight Saving Time Update Guide found at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst.

(Documentation for Apple operating systems is available at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305056)

2. Computer Efficiency. Review the article “Keep your PC running smoothly with these tips” by Jeffrey Branzburg from www.techlearning.com. (Article is reposted below). There are some obvious tricks, and the article outlines them below.

Once you have secured your copy of MS Office 2003 (free for AASD employees – you can check one out from central services downtown), download Learning Essentials for MS Office at http://www.microsoft.com/learningessentials/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=001&active_tab=Overview

“Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office 1.5 provides education-specific tools for students and educators to get the most out of their familiar Microsoft Office applications. Curriculum-based templates and toolbars for Microsoft Office Word, the Microsoft Office PowerPoint® presentation graphics program and Microsoft Office Excel® spreadsheet software help students and educators get started, stay organized and successfully complete high-quality work.”

Here are a few ways to increase your productivity as a teacher in the Appleton Area School District from your own home:

1. Use Citrix: [Link]. Citrix is a Windows-based program that allows you to log on to the district network at home. Ideally, it brings up everything at home that you can access from school. This is especially useful in accessing your H: drive.

2. AASD Mail: http://mail.aasd.k12.wi.us. This is useful if you only need to access your e-mail account from home.

3. e-sembler: http://gb.aasd.k12.wi.us. This allows you to log on to your e-sembler grade book at home to update grades, etc.

Don’t forget to also check the AASD Helpdesk information page: http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/helpdesk/. This contains useful information about e-mail, printing, software, chancery, phones, etc. Check this page first to see if can help you.

Need graphing paper, a blank calendar, flags, staff paper or even storyboards? www.pdfpad.com allows you to select a variety of ‘blank’ documents, then it creates a pdf file for you to print, save, etc.

With Any Video Converter, you can convert most any video format (DivX, XviD, MOV, rm, rmvb, MPEG, VOB, DVD, WMV, AVI, MPEG-4) to another – including iPod/PSP, etc.

Any Video Converter features an easy GUI, and is FREE! Download is available HERE.

 
[From Lifehacker]