PLN

Well, I finally made a Twitter account.  I always thought it was just a way for people to write about what they are doing for all the world to see, or to follow celebrities around and get a glimpse into their world.  I had no idea that it could be used to follow other educators.  I have already begun following a number of chemistry teachers, and I have been searching for forensic science teachers to follow as well.  I haven’t found any yet, but I’ll keep searching.  I haven’t sent out my first “tweet” yet though.  I’m kind of nervous because I’m not sure that anyone would want to hear what I have to say LOL, and also because I’m so busy that I don’t know that I will have a lot of time to “tweet.”  We’ll see though, I’m excited to see what I can learn from the people I’m following!  :-)

  

Something else that I'm interested in learning about joining a list serve.  Not quite sure what this is yet, but one of my colleagues told that I should find a forensics list serve.  He is on an AP Chemistry list serve and has said that it has been extremely beneficial to him.  We'll see how that goes too!  :-)

Introduction and Video Comments

Hi everyone!  I am a teacher at South Milwaukee High School which is a suburb of Milwaukee.  I teach chemistry and forensic science to Junior and Seniors.  I have a real passion for teaching and believe in making science fun and exciting for my students through the use of hands on labs and demos. I'm a bit of a pyro, so that helps too!  J  My husband and I have a 2 year old son and we are expecting a daughter in September. J

I very much enjoyed the videos for this week.  Of course Alan November caught my attention right away since he is a chemistry and biology teacher.  He really stressed that what motivates students is purpose.  I definitely see this in my forensics classes.  Students love to do the labs that they see on shows like CSI because they feel that these are used in real-life so they must have purpose.  He also stated that teachers are more important than ever so I feel that we need to figure out how we can change the American school system to be designed to teach and nurture the 3 skills that November discusses. 
I like how Randy Nelson said that it is better to have proof of a portfolio versus the promise of a resume, it really made me think.  The message at the end I think was an excellent one, “Students are our solution!”  Our students are such amazing young people and not only are we teaching them, they are definitely teaching us!

Like everyone has said, the big question is “How do we get there?” This is one of the goals that I have for the class; however, my cyber skills seem to be a lot more basic than most of you.  I am not that technologically savvy and I would like to be.  I would also like to figure out how I can utilize the cyber world that students are so “wired” into outside of school (Well, sometimes in school too, even when they’re not supposed to be J), in my chemistry classroom, but not take away from the hands on laboratory based learning that is so essential in science.