0 The kids are blogging!

So what exactly is a blog? The word is actually a combination of the term "web log," and it simply refers to an interactive website maintained by an individual who comments regularly with updates, news, etc. Readers can comment on posts and interact with the author of the blog. The site you are reading right now, of course, is the Eagleview STEM blog. I have it set up to be public so that anyone can access it from anywhere.

In the STEM Lab lately, the students have been using kidblog.org to learn about blogging. According to their site, Kidblog is designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with their own unique blog. It is safe and secure. I've set up each student with his own personal login ID and password, ensuring that student work stays protected and is accessed only by those who have permission from me.

To help the students become familiar with how Kidblog works, I've posted some questions pertaining to their STEM projects. Students then respond to my posts and can interact with each other via the blog. In the future, I will teach them how to post their own blog posts and recieve feedback from peers. Students can also access Kidblog from home as long as they know their individual logins and passwords. Ask your children to show you how it works - I bet they'll be excited to teach you about it!

0 By popular request

Our after-school science FLIGHT club has been a huge success! We are having so much fun investigating and learning together. Each week, we've been handing out paper copies of the experiments so that students can try them at home, but several students have been asking if I would post materials/directions on the blog. And so, without further ado, I introduce you to the Science Club page of our blog! You can access it in the sidebar to the left, under pages. It's called, simply enough, "Science Club". Enjoy!

0 STEMapalooza 2010

I just wanted to let everyone know about a really exciting opportunity coming up. STEMapalooza 2010 is being held at the University of Colorado Denver on October 8th and 9th. It's FREE and open to the public!

For students, parents and teachers, it’s an opportunity to:

• dive into hands-on, “minds-on” activities such as fast-track racing, robotics, film production and rocketry
• learn the latest information about math and the sciences
• see how STEM relates to you and the lives of people in your community
• explore future career possibilities in many areas, including aerospace, health care, bioscience, environmental science, technology, engineering, arts and entertainment

For more info, check out the STEMapalooza website. Sounds like it's going to be really cool!!!

0 Rotation one - complete!

We made it! The first round of specials rotations is now complete! We spent the first rotation together talking about notebooks and why they will be useful tools for us as we move through our year. The students understand that "real world" scientists and engineers use notebooks to keep track of their thinking and learning, noting progress and making changes and improvements to their work as they go. We will use ours in much the same way! Each student was given a STEM notebook to organize and set up, and our notebooks now each contain a table of contents, a glossary, and page numbers, as well as a bit of personalization in the form of a decorated cover and an "All About Me" page. The goal in asking the students to personalize their notebooks is to help them feel a sense of ownership and pride in their work, and to help them value the books as their own individual learning tools.

As we begin the next rotation, we get to start diving into the fun stuff! Stay tuned for updates - it's about to get exciting!

0 Wow!

Thanks to everybody for a FANTASTIC Back to School Night! What a success! I'm so pleased with the turnout last night and all of the positive energy surrounding our new STEM Lab. This year is going to ROCK!

1 And so it begins...

...another school year up and running! And let me just say, getting to know 300 students is no small feat. Fortunately, I already know a good handful of them very well from having taught them previously, and I know several others relatively well simply from having spent the past 6 years here at EVE. Needless to say, I still find it necessary to familiarize myself with the vast majority of the students, and so we spent our first days together connecting names to faces and going over routines and expectations.

As the students now begin to make their way into their first official 3-day rotation, we will be taking care of some business tasks that will pay of greatly in the long run. Each student is responsible for setting up his own STEM lab notebook. It's a big job, but the notebook will serve as an invaluable tool for documenting student thinking and learning throughout the year.

I cannot wait to see these students grow and learn and blossom. Here's to a great school year!