Response to Readings (week 2)

In the Thier article, I appreciate how specific examples of literacy strategies can be incorporated in any science classroom. Specifically, I really like the idea of "Write as You Read Science." In my classes, to make sure students do the reading for homework, I often include include accompanying questions that address specific ideas I want them to understand or encourage them to make predictions. I would like to give more open-ended assignments where students can identify what they think is important or interesting and I suspect I will become more comfortable with this over time. "Write as you Read Science" has clear guidelines and expectations, but still give students the freedom to identify in the reading what they learned and expand on their ideas or questions.

For a large inquiry lab assignment this spring, I required students to use Google Docs so that they could share their lab report with me so that I could give them feedback all the way through to the final product. I found this to be an effective use of Google Docs, however there were some glitches as graphs or diagrams would often not show up, or the program would take a very long time to update when all students in the classroom were using it at the same time. I have recently set up Google Reader, though I find Professor Brunsell's netvibes dashboard easier for navigating classmate's blogs. I am looking forward to exploring more on the NSTA website this week as well as browsing the science talks on TED.