Category Archives: Pedagogy

I hate lying to students

Much of what is covered in introductory Science is simplified. It is simplified for a reason – the full explanation is complex, involves higher level mathematics, or concepts that have yet to be learned. In most cases I explain to … Continue reading

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Video of EdCampTO 2011

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Socrative: web based response system for the classroom

I like the idea of “clickers”, when used judiciously, as a means of quickly checking rates of comprehension of a topic in a non-threatening (ie anonymous) way. But there are hardware requirements – both the clickers and the receiver – … Continue reading

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A Foray into “non-traditional instruction”

This year, with the Ecology unit in my Grade 9 Science classes, we focused heavily on invasive species. So after seven weeks of class (we have each class every other day), I think I gave a total of 4 traditional … Continue reading

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The Trouble with Content

One of the things that nags at me with Science education is that, at pretty much every level, the focus seems to be preparing kids for the next level. I recognize that the sciences cover a huge aount of information, and … Continue reading

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Implications of the “Facebook Index” to the Secondary Classroom

I recently cam across the article Students using Facebook in your class? Better try a bit harder by Matthew Ingram on the tech site GigaOM, which caught my attention because of this post I wrote not long ago.
Ingram begins the article … Continue reading

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Simple analogy for homologous chromosomes

I am teaching Grade 11 Biology this year for the first time in seven or eight years, and quite enjoying it. One thing about doing a course you haven’t taught in a while is the joy of going back through … Continue reading

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My meandering thoughts on EdCamp Toronto

It is now a week after EdcampTO, and my thoughts about it have been slowly fermenting over that time – not really allowed to be forefront due to the insane schedule this week, but bubbling up from time to time, … Continue reading

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Just what is “edcamp”?

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure, which may not sound great coming from someone helping to organize the upcoming edcamp Toronto at York Univeristy on Oct 15. I can tell you what it is conceptually, but since it hasn’t … Continue reading

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More on Engagement in the Classroom

In my post A Touch of Dissent I talked about how engaging every student may not always be as realistic as we would like. I have been giving it some thought recently, and I realized that the idea of trying … Continue reading

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