"Blogged Down"

Instead of saying I'm "bogged down," I'm going to say I'm "Blogged down!"  I have found a few wonderful blogs that I would like to follow.  But, I am feeling "Blogged down" because I have just spent 2 hours trying to set up an aggregator using Pageflakes!  I was not able to conquer this task yet, but I will be back at it in the morning, after a large, strong cup of cappuccino! 

In the meantime, I can still suggest a couple of these blogs for your perusal.  The first one, which I believe is my favorite, is "Science, Education, and Science Education," www.chemistar.com/blog/.  This blog is written in heartfelt terms by an experienced educator in high school science.  As she assess the practice of assessing, she gets down to the basics asking questions such as, "Do students learn?"  In blogging about her first day, she openly shares her goals for the school year, which are both noble and humorous.

Another blog that I found quite amusing and at the same time informative is "Science Teacher, Breaking Out of the Classroom and into the World,"  www.doyle-scienceteach.blogspot.com.  I raucously laughed out loud when I read his blog, "Food is not Energy."  He said how important using the correct language is when explaining things to children.  He used an hilarious example of how he had Karl and Groucho mixed up as a kid.  Worth the time to read.

So, if you're feeling "Blogged down," take a break, grab a cup 'o Joe and join me in reading some well written blogs by science teachers.

Travel

I love to travel to wondrous and exciting places.  There is nothing quite like going to new surroundings, being awed by the distinct beauty of the area and embracing a culture far removed from my own.  I traveled to southern China a year ago to see the mysterious karst mountains.   On Tuesday, I traveled to another "wondrous place" as I sat in Education 2250 and talked with Brecque.  Brecque is a young lady who teaches Biology and Chemistry in a predominately Navaho high school in Cuba.  She opened up and discussed the adventure she is having in this diverse setting.  Many of the concepts in the Perkins/Gomez article (Abt-Perkins, D. & Gomez, M .L. (1993).   A Good place to begin:  Examining our personal perspectives.  Language Arts, 70, (3), 193-204.) came to life as Brecque shared her stories.  Brecque now has an openness with her students, so they are in a setting where they can, "tell their own stories on their own terms," though it took a while to break through the cultural barrier to get to this point.  For the first couple of weeks, the students only spoke Navaho, as a form of rebellion, sending her the distinct message, "You are not one of us."  With patience and perseverance, Brecque worked toward building a mutually respectful relationship.  Brecque shared a key piece of her philosophy of education when she told us she wants her students to know that each one is important.  I could hear the sincerity in her voice and see it in her eyes.  She invited me to come observe in her class and in her school!  I think I will take her up on her offer because I love to travel to new settings and experience diverse cultures!