Friday the Thirteenth

The 504 double feature of a class today was absolutely fantastic!  Our science group had an excellent discussion with the Media Center Specialist, Pat, from Brighton Public Schools.  We began by sharing our ideas for classroom lessons based on the NYC Soda Ban Proposal.  As our objectives emerged, we expanded our perspectives on how best to assess student learning and what activities to include.  With each new topic, the information and resources that Pat shared with us were truly invaluable.  From the MEL (Michigan eLibrary) site to her own school’s library page filled with a wealth of resources for teachers and student alike, we learned an incredible array of techniques and tools for incorporating technology into a science classroom.  I came away from our session feeling inspired, excited, and eager to start designing lessons for my own future classes!  I also can’t help but cross my fingers and hope that wherever I end up, I will be in a school with fellow science teachers who are as receptive to and involved in collaboration as our STEM cohort!

After the break for lunch, we gathered with one of the other content-area groups to share our experiences from the morning session.  It was really neat to learn about their approach to the same prompt.  We had totally different objectives, widely different activities, and applied a host of different technological resources.  I was amazed at how many unique directions could be taken, all from a single media source/topic!

We wrapped up the day with our first—we, at least MY first—experience in podcasting.  The task itself was quite fun, but Kristin’s humor added to the lesson and made a Friday afternoon class seem less like work and more like play J  Definitely what I needed to end a rather long (but typical) MAC week!