Its budget time, and you've got to stretch a tiny budget into a wealth of school supplies. I'm right there with you, and I often wish that there was some place that I could check to see what other teachers thought about certain products. So, I created one. I'll be posting my likes and dislikes on a variety of educational materials and supplies. You can post to! Please do, and make sure the product your discussing is in the title of your post to make it easier for people to search for what they're looking for. Thanks and happy hunting!

Find what you're lookin' for quickly!

Wednesday, June 25

Space Math!

As we live in a climate of, "Teach to the standards," the difficulties in teaching now tend towards engaging students in curriculum that is not, in itself, engaging.  This week, I come to you from the Goddard Space Center, near DC, where I am participating in a STEM teachers' conference.  Today, I find myself in a lecture with Dr. Sten Odenwald, NASA's man for all things in space math education.

While I sit here drowning in a sea of Greek characters and hypothetical quantities, you benefit, as I am able to bring you SpaceMath@NASA.

Consider how fascinated your students are by black holes and the search for life on other planets and apply that to teaching your math standards.  It's all there in fantastic, FREE booklets with questions that you can work through with your students.  I'm talking to you too, Elementary School Teachers!  He has something for everyone!  You can download whole PDF books of problems by clicking on the "Problem Books" tab at the top.

And, if you like what you see here, you can also get some great astronomy books and other useful tools by Dr. Odenwald for reasonable prices at the astronomy cafe.  


Sunday, June 8

The push for technology in education is hard right now, and science equipment is so expensive!  Here's a great alternative to thousands of dollars worth of digital microscopes.

Moticam X

From Motic, where the best science stuff is born, comes the best digital camera yet.  A small (approx. 4" square) box fits over any monocular scope and transmits the image to any wireless device with the free app.  The applications for this are endless and, for the price of one digital scope, now any scope can be not only digital, but wireless!

                       Moticam X