I recently became the science department chairperson. My meetings are a disaster! People arrive late and complain when I try to discuss issues. I don’t think we accomplish anything. What can I do to make meetings more productive? —Irene from Wisconsin As a new chairperson, you may run into some resistance from teachers used to [...]
Our department chair is encouraging us to add comments to student writing assignments. This sounds time-consuming; I have more than 100 students in my Earth science classes. Would students even read my comments on lab reports or term papers? —Steve, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania When students don’t understand the purpose of their assignments, they may think of [...]
My middle school students this year are very scatterbrained. It seems to take forever for them to get focused at the beginning of class and to find the materials they need when I ask for them during class. When it’s time to get into groups for a lab activity, there is a lot of commotion. [...]
I’ve recently been asked to mentor a new teacher in the science department. I’ve never had this role before. I want to help her, but I don’t want to be too intrusive or judgmental. What should I do? —Erica, Abilene, Texas The first year of teaching is difficult, and a recent study indicates that 8% [...]
I just started my first teaching position (middle school Earth science) and already I feel overwhelmed. It seems like I need 36 hours in a day. What can I do to get everything done? Does it get any easier? —Ted, Fargo, North Dakota Congratulation on your new position! I’ll answer your last question first. Yes, [...]
I’m an elementary teacher and I’m thinking of taking the Praxis test to be certified to teach science in middle school. It has been many years since I was in high school and college, and I only took the basic science classes. Could you suggest resources to help me prepare for the test? —Twyla, Mississippi [...]
Our district has a goal for every teacher to reinforce student literacy skills. We’re struggling with this at the secondary level. Most of our students seem to have decent reading levels, and the reading specialists provide extra help for those who need it. So what can we do in science classes to improve student literacy? [...]
I’ve applied for several teaching positions, and the thought of an interview (assuming I’m lucky enough to get one) makes me nervous. How should I prepare? What kind of questions will the committee ask? —McKenzie, Columbia, Missouri Having been on both ends of the interview process for faculty and administrative positions—as part of the interview [...]
Last year, I started giving pretests at the beginning of each unit. The students were upset because they didn’t know many of the answers, even though I explained I didn’t expect them to know everything and the pretest wouldn’t count as a grade. Are there other ways to find out what students know about a [...]
I’ve been reading about the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, with “creating” now being at the top. The examples I saw for this level included things such as posters, puppet shows, songs and dances, or skits. These may be enjoyable for younger students, but I can’t really see my high school chemistry students spending time on these. [...]
