Posting from Tom 8-30-2007

This has been a very learning week for me. I somethimes pitty the kids who are my students. I get what I think is a well planned out lesson ready for each class hour, but for some reason things don't quite ever go to well. My lessons never seem to take as long to present as I think they will so I end up wondering what to do at the end of class. I had quite the experience today, I was trying to show the difference between chemical and physical changes. I wanted to have some cool reaction ready for them so I came in early and started trying some stuff I'd heard of. when I started feeling naucase and dizzy I did some research and found out the fumes I was creating were toxic. So I moved on to the next little idea, potasium and water. It worked great the first time but the second time I tried it the potasium exploded and pieces flew all over. I caught a peice under one eye (yes it burned me decent) and another peice in the other eye. Needles to say I am now a big fan of safty glasses!

Hey Everyone,
I have started the new year observing in Jared Torgerson's class. I got to see how he starts the new year with all of his policies and procedures and a little "get to know you" activity. The student body had an assembly in the morning, so all the classes were shortened, but Mr. T was able to squeeze in a questionaire, explanation of the disclosure statement and play a short game where students got to tell a little about themselves. The first week is always a little hectic getting schedules squared away and making sure Chemistry doesn't have 40 kids registered in it (like his does). Fun, Fun, Fun. I'm sure glad I'm not a principal... Science teacher is going to be hard enough.

Welcome

This blog was created to facilitate the discussion of issues occurring in the science classroom. Tom will be posting here weekly as he engages in his internship he is completing this year. For all other participants, please feel free to post here as often as you like and to comment on the posts that Tom makes. I am hopeful that this venue will provide support for each members professional growth (mine included). Welcome!