Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

NASA announced last week that they will be hosting another launch tweetup, this time for the launch of Discovery (STS-133) on November 1. The tweetup will be a two-day event on October 31 and November 1 culminating with the afternoon launch of Discovery. Here are some reasons why you should sign up:

1. It’s the last launch and mission of Space Shuttle Discovery.
2. It’s your chance to see a launch up close and personal (right next to the iconic countdown clock!)
3. You will have a chance to see parts of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center that are not on the public tour (like the employee cafeteria )
4. It’s a great way to share the excitement of space exploration with your students
5. It’s a fantastic teaching and learning experience for #STEM teachers and students
6. You will meet some of the coolest space enthusiasts
7. You will meet some of the coolest astronauts and NASA engineeers
8. It’s a once in a lifetime experience
9. You never forget your first launch
10. This is one of the two remaining scheduled shuttle launches, soon it will be too late

I went to the last NASA launch tweetup for STS-132. It was amazing! Plus, I shared the experience with my students through our class blog and Twitter. They became so excited about space and exploration. Many even came in early on the last day of school to watch the shuttle landing on NASA tv. They learned a great deal, and this excites me since they are the future of space exploration!

So, what do you do if you want to be a part of this amazing event? Follow @NASA and @NASAtweetup on Twitter. Check out the #nasatweetup hashtag. Find more information on the NASA tweetup web page, and be sure to register for your chance for a spot on August 24-25. I’m sure they are looking for a few good teachers to share this even with students. Give it shot – you might just get chosen to have on of the most amazing experiences of your life!

First of all, I know that many of you reading this post will wish you had my two classroom problem. It’s not a huge issue – it’s more about the best use of space. Here’s some background on the problem.

Last year, my school split in two. We went from having over 2,700 students to less than 1,100 students. It was a huge change. We also had a brand new school building built to hold around 1,800 students. That left us with many empty classrooms. (I know what you’re thinking – what a fantastic problem to have.) Well, my principal made the decision to give all science teachers two classrooms. Our two rooms have an adjoining door. One is a middle school science lab (which means it has sinks and lab tables), and the other is a regular classroom (no sinks, and individual desks and chairs).

Here is my problem. I am not happy with the way I used the space last year. We spent to little time in the lab and way too much time in the classroom. I want to spend more time in the lab this year. In fact, I want the lab to be our primary place for class. There are a couple of reasons for this. Practically, I need to use this space more because when I no longer have two classrooms, this is the one I will keep. With regards to instruction, it seems better practice to have my students in the lab more. It puts them into the culture of being a scientist. Many times last year we completed some activities in the regular classroom and not the lab. They were not traditionally labs and so did not need to be conducted in that environment. Students had a more difficult time realizing they were still doing science. Later in the year, we spent more time in the lab, and student engagement seemed to increase just because of where we were.

So my problem for this year is – how do I best use this secondary classroom space? I’m thinking of using the lab almost daily and breaking out in the regular classroom on the following occasions:

• during assessments (individual desks make for easier monitoring)
• break out groups (sometimes we just need to spread out into two rooms when doing some projects – sometimes even into the hallways)
• a student escape (we all get overwhelmed by people be around us too much – it’s nice to have a close spot to get away)
• a lounge area (a place for students to work on their e-portfolios, read a book, or work quietly on their own)

I think this will make the use of the space I have work better. I’m not sure though – it’s all a bit of trial and error. So, if you had two classroom spaces, how would you use them?

If you are a science teacher and use Twitter at all, you really need to see if you can find time to join a #scichat discussion. #Scichat is similar to #edchat – a discussion about education related topics for one hour every Tuesday evening at 7 pm EDT. However, #scichat focuses on science education. The first episode of #scichat was held on Tuesday, June 8 at 9 pm EDT. We decided to continue to hold #scichat discussions every two weeks.

So, the second edition of #scichat is coming up tomorrow evening. For more information about the founding of #scichat, please visit this page on Edutopia. You can also vote here for the topic of this week’s #scichat. I hope to see you there!

I am a huge NASA fan. I have been for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it’s a byproduct of growing up in Florida, or the fact that my first visit to Kennedy Space Center was when I was 20 months old. Regardless of why, I am a huge NASA fan.

NASA Tweetups

Even before I became a teacher, I knew there were a lot of opportunities for educators with NASA. However, it wasn’t until I started getting active in Twitter that I really saw how involved with the public NASA is. NASA hosted it’s first “tweetup”, a gathering of twitter users, on January 21, 2009 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Since then, NASA has continued to support tweetups including two launch tweetups (STS-129 and STS-132) as well as tweetups at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for Earth Day, and as part of World Science Fest in New York City.

I had the distinct privilege of being a part of two of these events in person. Both I would call once in a lifetime experiences. I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to do things like this again. But then again, I never thought I would have a chance to do anything like this in the first place – so who knows!

In February of this year, I traveled to Houston, TX for the first NASA tweetup that was held at Johnson Space Center. It was a fabulous day. We began with a welcome session and Q&A with astronaut Bobby Satcher. We even had a recorded message from three of the ISS station crew members! Then, we began our tours visiting the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, the shuttle Mission Control Center, and the ISS Mission Control Center. This was during the mission of STS-130, and we were able to watch both the shuttle wake up from the shuttle MCC, and President Obama’s conference call to the shuttle and station crews from the ISS MCC! It was incredible!

Here is my photo album on Flickr from this event. (Note I do have more photos – just not uploaded yet!)

Then in May, I was chosen to be a part of the STS-132 launch tweetup at Kennedy Space Center. This was the second launch tweetup and included 150 people. I wrote a lot about it on my class blog. I used my blog and Twitter to stay connected with my classes in GA while I was experiencing the shuttle launch in FL. My students have a great appreciation for NASA and the shuttle program specifically because of it. Here is my Flickr set from that event.

If you are interested in all of the ways NASA is involved in social media, you can visit the NASA Connect page. If you are an educator not on Twitter yet, the NASA opportunities alone are worth the time investment!

Educator Resources

NASA has a plethora of educator resources. It’s easy to miss some of the great opportunities that they have available because there is so much information. The NASA Education page is a great place to start. You can find even more information from the Educator Resource Network Field Centers and State Centers. Take a look, and you’ll probably find there is a center not too far from you.

I also recommend signing up for the email list of NASA Education programs. You’ll receive emails a few times a week about all sorts of programs for k12 students through to post-doc. I find it’s the easiest way to stay on top of all of the exciting NASA opportunities that I can incorporate in my classroom.

NASA Explorer Schools Project

You have probably heard about NASA Explorer Schools before. NASA has revamped this program, and it will be relaunching on September 1st. It’s open to classrooms in grades 4-12. What’s unique about this relaunch is that it has been opened up to a larger audience. If you are interested in more information or registering for the orientation to be a part of this project, please go to the NASA Explorer Schools Project page.

NASA Electronic Professional Development Network

NASA has partnered with Georgia Tech to provide professional development opportunities to teachers. These are online courses in a variety of subject areas. They will soon be adding self-paced programs in other areas. Be sure to check it out periodically, as application windows open and close. (Right now the course Using Robotics to Enhance STEM Learning is open for applications.) Be sure to check out the NASA Electronic Professional Development Network site soon! By the way, did I mention that these courses are free and you should be able to talk to your school or district about receiving professional development credit for them?

I hope this gives you some information to help you get started in finding NASA materials to use in your classroom. NASA caters to all curriculum areas – not just science, math, technology, and engineering. I will also be sure to share new opportunities as I run across them. NASA is an amazing organization, and they can help make your classroom be out of this world!