Teaching

My Teaching Philosophy

Unit Planning Strategies

What will students learn?
- You need to make decisions based on your Enduring Knowledge - that is to say - what you want your students to know and be able to do long after they leave your learning community. Your enduring knowledge must drive and connect to everything that you do with your students.
- Sample Questions for Grade 12 Biology: Molecular Genetics Unit
What do students already know?
- Students' Alternate Prior Knowledge and Alternate Conceptions
- Visit the PASS-Promoting Authentic Secondary Science web site (http://resources.educ.queensu.ca/pass/) to see some some examples of diagnostic assessment strategies and the research that supports their use.
- How Can I find Education Research about Students' Alternate Conceptions? (pdf file prepared by Cory Laverty)
How will students learn it?
- Learning Activities are available for teacher candidates on the qshare site. Use your ticket from your instructor to access them.
- PEEL database (www.peelweb.org) is accessible with no charge through a Queen's computer. The Guide to the PEEL Database will get you started.
How do you know what they learned?

Science Learning Activities

Learning Activities that teacher candidates have prepared since 2005 are available on the Queen's "qshare" site.

Graduates - please contact me at christie@queensu.ca for your "ticket" to access these activities.

Web Resources

Resources for Teaching Science

PASS: Promoting Authentic Secondary Science: this site is just beginning to grow - more activities will be added over time. (http://resources.educ.queensu.ca/pass/)

Science Education Resource Page, Faculty of Education, Queen’s University: this is a valuable site: Check it out now - don't wait - you won't be disappointed! (http://resources.educ.queensu.ca/science)

Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) provides current health and science articles from a Canadian perspective at these sites. (www.cbc.ca/health and www.cbc.ca/technology)

CBC also produces the "News in Review" with excellent educational resources that deal with relevant and interesting topics in a variety of subject areas. Complete resource packages are available in many libraries. (http://newsinreview.cbclearning.ca/)

Statistics Canada has resources for all subjects. Students can use real data to investigate real problems that interest them! (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/edu/index-eng.htm)

Science Canada - it is nice to have Canadian content in your class! It is not as extensive as previous web sites but it does have Canadian content. (http://www.science.ca/)

Resources for Teaching Biology

Access Excellence is an incredible collection of “field-tested” teaching strategies, including virtual microscopy, virtual dissections, field trips and links to many more biology websites. (http://www.accessexcellence.org/)

National Association of Biology Teachers…this association publishes the American Biology Teacher - a must have journal for all Biology teachers! Check out their teaching resources! (http://www.nabt.org)

Science Net Links is a very comprehensive teaching resource for all grades!
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com