Teacher Spotlight: Meet Mr. Basler
Dale Basler has been a teacher of science in Appleton, Wisconsin since 1998. He currently teaches physics and physical science at Appleton East High School.
In 2004, Dale was elected President-Elect of Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST) and served for four years on the WSST Board of Directors. For two of those years, Dale served as President of WSST.
Q: What types of digital tools or social media are you using in your classroom?
A: Nothing affects my classroom more than RSS feeds. I follow a variety of sites and podcasts that I share with my students. My news reader allows me to share information with the class and keep up with current topics without spending valuable time searching for it– the news comes to us.
I’ve also been trying to get my students to create more videos. I just cannot see a future where my students won’t be asked to create multimedia presentations in their careers. I want to push their creativity and help them become comfortable using new tools– all while learning physics too!
Creativity requires feedback and encouragement. I’ve had my students post their projects to a variety of online video sharing communities. The teacher can comment on a student’s work but nothing motivates students more than feedback from their peers.
I require my students to comment on their classmates’ work. Students learn from both the comments their video receives and through the process of critiquing others.
Last, but not least, is Twitter. This seems to be the perfect tool for a teacher. It’s quick and easy to use. I’ve used it to network with other teachers and as a way for my students to journal (via their cellphone) during a field trip back to the students in the classroom who couldn’t join us. Now that I’ve convinced my school district to stop filtering it, I plan to use Twitter even more with my students.
Q: How have your students responded to the integration of technology into your curriculum?
A: Over the past two years I have been doing a podcast for my students as a way for them to review and reinforce what we’ve been learning in the classroom. However, not a lot of my students are big podcast listeners. This was new to them. I started putting tips for quizzes in the podcasts to get them into it. The reaction has gone from, “What are you doing?” to kids coming in on Monday and asking, “Hey, where’s the podcast?”
Q: Why is Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) important?
A: There are many reasons to promote and encourage STEM education. We can talk about the future competitiveness of our country if we slip behind in STEM fields. Yet, I argue that STEM education is important for all students– not just the ones who are heading toward a career in this field.
A solid STEM education helps all students become better citizens. It helps us become more aware of our surroundings, what our political leaders are saying and what our stores are selling. I shriek when I overhear customers at big box stores being bamboozled by the store clerk because they are not technologically literate. Or when they’re duped by fuzzy mathematics at checkout time.
What really gets me is when science is misused and misrepresented. Magnetic bracelets, crystal therapy and all sorts of other quackery take advantage of people daily. We need to improve STEM education for all of our students so they cannot fall victim to such dubious claims.
Q: You and your colleague Brian Bartel co-host NSTA’s Lab Out Loud, a bi-weekly podcast on science education, news and technology. Who has been your favorite guest so far and why?
Lab Out Loud has been an absolute blast. We’ve had so many wonderful guests. One of my colleagues put it best, “Even if nobody listens, you’ve gotten to talk to some extraordinary people in science.” Fortunately people are listening too.
If I had to pick a favorite, it would be our most recent interview with Phil Plait, otherwise known as The Bad Astronomer. Plait’s website, badastronomy.com, often discuss topics that are close to my content area so it was easy for me to make a connection to what he was saying. He pointed out the need for us to teach our students to be skeptical– a point I also agree with tremendously. Plait was also quite funny which makes our job as interviewers a breeze.
Q: Dark chocolate or milk?
A: As a proud resident of “The Dairy State” I have to say milk.
Q: Favorite Quote?
A: “There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts.” -Richard Feynman
Thanks Dale! See you at the NSTA Conference in Boston.
Note: If you’d like to nominate an educator for our Teacher Spotlight, or would like to share your story on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know.
NSTA ‘08: Celebrating Science Education
This week the Yahoo! For Teachers Team will join science teachers from around the country at the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) Annual Conference in Boston to learn what’s new and exciting in the world of science education.
We’re looking forward to reconnecting with teachers we met last year at the 2007 NSTA Annual Conference in St. Louis and can’t wait to meet up with more amazing educators this year.
We’ve set up a special NSTA 2008 Group on Flickr and invite all educators attending NSTA 2008 to share their pictures and conference memories with their colleagues.
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
In Their Own Words: Calling All Middle Schools
Our little school is “walking” I-80 from DuBois, Pennsylvania all the way to San Francisco, California and we’d love to visit with you along the way.
To make this wellness project more than just laps in gym, we are asking you to introduce your middle school and tell us something about your area. You can see (and hear) the VoiceThread proposal by Mrs. Sperling by clicking here.
The proposal is just that. If we get some interest we’ll have our students make a voice thread that will act as the network for the meet and greet.
If you’re interested, or know another middle school that may be, just drop us an email. dsperling@dasd.k12.pa.us or me, at kpruitt@dasd.k12.pa.us.
Good VoiceThreads make good neighbors I always say!
Ken Pruitt
Tech Integrator, DuBois, PA
Note: If you’d like to share your project with other educators, or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your projects with educators around the world.
WIRED Science Student Video Contest
WIRED Science and PBS are sponsoring a “WIRED Science Student Video Contest” that is open to all students in grades 9-12 (contest is also open to home school students).
This is an opportunity for students to work with their peers to create a video explaining a science concept, ideas on the future of science, or–well, anything else you think will help you snag the prize. Yes, there are prizes.
You can learn more about the contest, find the application form, along with all the details over on the WIRED Science Education page.
Don’t forget that Jumpcut has free, easy-to-use video editing tools. And if you need a refresher on copyright, be sure to check out CreativeCommons.
But hurry. Application and videos are due by April 1st, 2008. So hurry–grab that camera and get those creative juices flowing!
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Related Resources
In Their Words: Earth Day…A 24 Hour Webcastathon
Educators and students from across the globe are planning a 24 hour long “Webcastathon” on Earth Day 2008 (Tuesday, April 22nd). Thanks to our good friends over at World Bridges, the audio from the conversations will be broadcast live at Edtechtalk.com/live.
The goal of the day is to share stories across the globe about what we’re doing to help better the health of our planet.
Our conversation will follow the 24 hour day in GMT time, which basically means we’ll be observing the day as it passes through Greenwich, England.
There are many ways that you and your students can participate right now. You may start contributing content by visiting the Earth Day Webcastathon planning page at: enviroscims.wikispaces.com/Earth+Day and leaving an audio comment on the two VoiceThread projects.
Or if you and your students publish any videos, pictures, podcasts or any other digital media online in the days and weeks leading up to Earth Day, be sure to tag them as, earthcast08, so we can aggregate the material in one central location.
Also, if you and your students would like to moderate an hour long block live (or even 30 minutes), there is still an opportunity to do so. You may fill up your time slot in any manner that you wish (interview scientists, local leaders, folks doing positive things in your community, etc)
Contact Matt Montagne at mjmontagne at gmail dot com if you’d like to moderate a portion of the day. Finally, if you’d simply like to listen in during the day, you can do so by visiting the Webcastathon planning page throughout Earth Day.
We’ll have a live, moderated chat room that we’ll be using to allow for greater participation.
We hope you and your students are able to join us is some capacity for the 24 Hour Earth Day Webcastathon!
Thanks!
The Earth Day 2008 24 Hour Webcastathon Planning Team
Note: If you’d like to share your project with other educators, or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your projects with educators around the world.
Call For Presentations: Innovative Learning Conference
The Innovative Learning Conference (ILC) 2008 is a new event produced in partnership by CUE and FETC for the K-12 education community. ILC is devoted to advancing student achievement through an interactive event that will include hands-on workshops, concurrent sessions, meetings and exhibitions.
ILC is designed for teachers, principals, district administrators, curriculum designers, media specialists, technology directors and other educators.
Applications to Present at Breakout Sessions are being accepted through April 1, 2008. You can learn more and complete your online application by clicking here.
Derek
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
New NSDL Resource: Beyond Penguins & Polar Bears
Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is a new online professional development resource for elementary teachers which focuses on preparing teachers to teach polar science concepts by integrating inquiry-based science with literacy teaching.
Research has shown that this integrated approach can increase students’ science knowledge,academic language, reading comprehension,
and written and oral discourse abilities.
This program is funded by the National Science Foundation Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL). Kimberly Lightle, Principal Investigator for the NSDL Middle School Portal, is the lead specialist on the project.
Derek Baird
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
Related Links
In Their Words: Many Voices For Darfur
Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel
In a way, we decided to take sides when we launched Many Voices for Darfur, a global collaboration project. Wendy Drexler and I asked our students an unsettling question: What is our responsibility to help end the genocide in Darfur? The answer we came up we with: spreading awareness.
So for 48 hours, starting at midnight EST on March 6th, many student voices will be collected in the name of those suffering in Darfur. We are asking k-12 students around the world to visit our Many Voices for Darfur blog and leave thoughtful, well-written comments. It is our hope that hundreds or even thousands of students will come together to help raise awareness about the first genocide of the 21st century.
Want to get involved? It’s incredibly easy to participate. Students simply visit the Many Voices for Darfur blog during the 48 hours and leave comments addressing one of the prompts listed on the homepage. For more detailed instructions, visit our Many Voices for Darfur Wiki. To learn more about Darfur, check out our Resources Wiki Page.
Mr. Moses, a teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada, made a short YouTube video describing the project for his students. He makes a request for multi-media projects that students could share and link to starting on March 6th.
Read what what others are writing about our project. For more information please contact me.
Mr. Mayo
8th Grade Language Arts Teacher
Rockville, MD
Related Resources
- Mr. Mayo Blog
- Flickr > tag > darfur
- Wikipedia > Darfur
- Yahoo! Teacher Document > Twitter Many Voices Project
Note: If you’d like to contribute your story or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your stories with educators around the world.
Introduction to del.icio.us
Related Links
In Their Words
One of the best things about working on the Yahoo! For Teachers initiative has been the opportunity to travel around the country to meet teachers and hear their stories. Here are just a few of the amazing teachers we’ve met:
- Last year at the 2007 NSTA Conference in St. Louis we met a science teacher from Kansas who, for three years, sold popcorn at the school basketball games to raise enough money to buy a SMART Board for his classroom.
- At NECC in Atlanta, we met Ms. Vickie from South Carolina. Many of the children in her classroom have parents serving in the military who are stationed overseas. When Ms. Vickie and her classroom heard that children in Iraq and Afghanistan didn’t have enough school supplies, they began a campaign to collect pencils for the soldiers to distribute to schools.
- At our Yahoo! Teachers Workshop in NYC we met Mr. Circe, an innovative and cutting edge teacher, who is finding creative ways to integrate and use technology in his classroom practice. He is also sharing his knowledge of Web 2.0 technologies, mentoring both new and veteran teachers in his school community.
These are just a few of the outstanding educators we’ve met who have shared their stories with us. And we, in turn, have shared these (and more) experiences with our colleagues here at Yahoo!.
We thought it was time to provide an opportunity and forum for educators to share their stories, best practices, social activism and innovative uses of technology with their community. So starting this week, we are pleased to begin a “guest post” feature on our blog called “In Their Words.”
If you’d like to contribute your story or know a teacher we should showcase on the Yahoo! For Teachers blog, just send an email to yteachersblog (at) yahoo (dot) com and let us know. We’re looking forward to hearing and sharing your stories.
Derek Baird
Yahoo! For Teachers Team
