#03: Science Kits with Love from Kansas to Haiti

02/01/17 • 8 min

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10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher

Matt Clay is a science teacher in Ness City, Kansas and a doctoral student in education at the University of Northern Colorado researching environmental experiences. Matt is helping his science students create science kits for students in Haiti.

So many bored, unexcited students. Today’s students want to do meaningful work in all of their subjects. But it can be so hard for teachers to relate their content to real world problems. In today’s show, Matt Clay talks to Vicki Davis on 10MT about how he saw a need and is rallying his science classes to meet that need. Matt takes us from when he found a need on the streets of Haiti to how he got his students and parents excited about meeting that need. He also shares the problems and pitfalls with such a project and how any teacher can apply this type of project in their classroom.

Matt and his class have set up a funding page to help send their science kits to Haiti at https://www.gofundme.com/haitisciencekit.

A full transcript of this show and the show notes is available at www.coolcatteacher.com/podcast as well as details on this month’s giveaway contest to win a MakerBot mini replicator 3D! I use this printer in my classroom and love it!

Matt and his class have set up a funding page to help send their science kits to Haiti at https://www.gofundme.com/haitisciencekit.

Previous Episode

#02: Secrets for Teaching Great Writing in the Classroom by Using Peer Review

1 Recommendations

Jennifer Burgin teaches amazing 2nd graders at Oakridge Elementary in Arlington, Virginia. She was named Oakridge Teacher of the Year and Arlington Public Schools Teacher of the Year in 2016. Too many teachers are working too hard to teach writing.

When the teacher is “queen of the classroom” and has to do everything (review, give feedback, find mistakes) it either burns out the teacher or frustrates the students. Today’s show will help teachers solve this problem by learning the fundamentals of facilitating peer review that works.

Starting at the beginning with simple steps and moving towards a full peer review classroom, Jennifer talks with Vicki Davis on 10MT today about how her classroom changed when she started using peer review. She also shares her biggest mistakes and frustrations and how teachers can avoid them. Finally, she talks about how every teacher can start using peer review today.

A full transcript of this show and the show notes is available at www.coolcatteacher.com/podcast as well as details on this month’s give away contest to win a MakerBot mini replicator 3D! I use this printer in my classroom and love it!

Next Episode

#04: Simple Ways to Find Your Teaching Blindspots in the Classroom

1 Recommendations

Dr. David Guerin, (@DavidGeurin) is the 2017 NASSP Digital Principal of the year. Davide believes that excellence is not the same as success. True excellence is a mindset, a desire to serve, a belief that helping others leads to the best outcomes.

SMART Learning Suite is today's sponsor. Register for my free Differentiating Instruction with Technology webinar sponsored by SMART Learning Suite next Thursday, February 9 at 4pm.One of the hardest things about teaching is not knowing where we're falling short.

It is easy for teachers to remain clueless about the things they are doing that are hurting learning in the classroom. In this episode, Dr. David Guerin shares several ways that teachers can seek out and find their blind spots so they can be better teachers. It may seem risky to find out our blind spots as teachers, but it will unlock better learning.