Recommendations

When I first started blogging (sometime early last summer) I came across a number of blogs that have allowed me to reflect and develop my educational "theory" and apply it to make changes in my classroom. Most of them are science related, some are math, and all of them offer great insight into what a classroom can (and in most cases, should) be like. Yesterday, I created a blog roll that lists the main ones that I make a point to read whenever I have the time. Here's a few snippets from that list:

The Math/student-engagement guru:

Dan Meyer is a pretty big name in the math blogosphere, and his blog was the first one that got me searching for others. It was his TED talk that led me to him; if you're interested, start with his "Author's Choice" page. Highly recommended for anyone working with students who are less self-motivated (or anyone in math or science). 

The Puzzlers:

Each of these guys post frequently about science as well as education, and many of their posts leave me questioning and reflecting:

John Burk is a physics teacher who has endless insightful posts. I was particularly intrigued by his recent post about the growth mindset.

Brian Frank is another physics guy who teaches teachers, and constantly has interesting posts about physics as well as teaching.

The SBG-er:

Probably the best resource I have found for SBG guidance has come from Jason Buell. He has an entire page that lists all of the posts about SBG, and they have been an immense help in my transition to SBG this year. It's worth mentioning that he's also a science guy.

****UPDATE
I neglected to include another great SBG (and science) resource: Shawn Cornally, who also has a TED talk that is quite good. He also has a page of SBG stuff, and it's not just for science!


The Newest Addition:

A blog that I just found last week, but has been a great addition to my reading list, belongs to Nick Mitchell - yet another science teacher (surprise surprise). I particularly enjoyed his most recent post about the purpose of using demos in science. Couldn't have been more timely - our district just had a recent incident, and I will be attending a meeting with other science teachers to discuss our district's demo safety policies this week.

Winter Break Reading

One of the best parts of winter break is that I actually have large chunks of time where I can sit down and read - rather than just the 30 minutes of SSR time at school. After racing my way through The Hunger Games trilogy, I spent a chunk of time last night and today reading articles about education. Specifically, I had come across a link to an Alfie Kohn article talking about educational research and some of the ways it is used improperly. As a scientist who is always on the lookout for ways that scientific data is ignored or misrepresented in the media (teachable moments, you know!) I thought it was interesting to look at educational research in the same way. It's kind of a long article, but if you have the time its worth reading. The last portion - a more in depth analysis of research about homework and its (lack of) benefits - was very intriguing.

After reading the article, I perused Kohn's website for a while as well, and looked at a few of his other articles as well. I can understand conservative critics finding issue with his progressive views, but I surely appreciate his critical look at many "common sense" practices. In many ways, it reminds me of similar ideas in Ken Kumashiro's book, Against Common Sense (which I read for class this past semester).

Another book I received for Christmas is called Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. I've only looked at the first few pages; I will give a more complete review when I've finished it!

I've also found a few articles about modeling in science; not sure if I will have time for them this break but they are on my list as well.