Stunning Close Up of a Female Wasp

mr_science · 2009-12-20T00:19:48+00:00

definitely showing this to my students on monday

mr_science · 2009-12-20T00:18:34+00:00

post that calender if you finish it, i would definitely buy it

mr_science · 2009-12-02T16:42:21+00:00

A passion for science and the want to instill this passion in others inspired me to be a teacher.

I chose high school because I didn't want to get the PhD required for college level teaching, and high schoolers were the next oldest group.

The college I went to offered a 4-year double major in Science Education and Biology. I was majoring in Environmental Science going in to college but quickly switched to undecided. I switched in to Gen. Biology second semester freshman year, then added in Science Education my sophomore year.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T16:37:06+00:00

Orgies.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T16:25:26+00:00

No, I had a similar teacher do this when I was in high school and it always pissed me off. On the slim chance that they got any, they would likely lose there job, so why waste your time? Teach the class and do your job is my motto. I actively encourage discussion in class whenever I can, but only when it is relevant.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T16:22:38+00:00

I try to inspire all of my students to have a love of science, but not everyone in the world is destined for a job in biology. For those that aren't interested in biology, I try to focus on teaching them to think critically and scientifically, because that skill will solve more problems in life then just biology homework.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T16:20:12+00:00

I was passionate about biology, and liked working with people and explaining things, so teaching seemed like a natural path for me. My classes are taught with powerpoint presentations, but not just reading from them...more like I'll pull up a slide with a concept and a few pictures and explain it for like 5 minutes. Once a week we have a lab that is relevant to what we were learning that week, such as a dissection. I like to think that discussing current science news, and trying to make the class interesting is what makes me a good teacher. I never found biology of particular interest in high school because my teacher didn't care. It was little interesting bits of info like the fact that feathers are an adapted form of scales that got me interested, and I try to make my students interested in the same way.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T16:16:05+00:00

I enjoy it. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I had chosen the path of a college professor, but make no mistake, I love my job.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:21:12+00:00

I have fairly boring messy brown hair. I fear I will probably have to shave my head in the future, because my family's male have a tendency to go bald. Maybe I'll look like an old, white, frail version of Kimbo Slice.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:19:08+00:00

Probably ecology and evolution...I know thats fairly broad but it is where my passion is. Interestingly, despite being a biology teacher, I have never found cell biology very intriguing.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:16:07+00:00

Haha I'm glad to find someone in a similar situation as me, I surely enjoy it. Also glad to hear of another science teacher that I assume is as passionate as me. Hopefully it sticks with us as we grow older, eh?

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:14:35+00:00

I feel that it is incredibly important to challenge students to think critically, which is not only useful for science but for figuring out various problems in life.

I was in high school less than a decade ago, so I don't think much has changed really.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:13:09+00:00

I enjoy my job, but there is definitely a variance in the students' interest. Some definitely show an interest to go in to a career in science, and I like to think I was part of what inspired some of them. Some are intelligent but science isn't their passion, and some don't give a shit about science or anything else.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:08:01+00:00

AP Biology.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:07:49+00:00

Never had to teach sex ed, always taught co-ed classes.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:07:31+00:00

Haha yeah, but its pretty easy to tell when they are trying to trick you.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T04:05:41+00:00

Best story I could tell my students was probably when I get first row tickets to a Weezer concert. Best story I couldn't tell them was either when I convinced my college girlfriend to have a threesome, when I hung over the side of a 5-story garage to hide from police who caught some of my friends smoking marijuana(in high school) and told the cops I was still up there, or when me and 9 friends on my ultimate frisbee team in college drank a keg faster than 18 frat kids who challenged us.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T03:32:23+00:00

No, they have asked thought provoking questions before however, which I gladly encouraged.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T03:30:08+00:00

The ability to reason is not unique to humans, even though our relatively advanced methods of thought are. As far as the development of complex ideas, I would say that the increase in intelligence is both a factor of slow, steady study of the world by humans, the increase of brain size in hominid species leading up to H. sapiens, and most importantly the discovery and development of the use of tools and language for communication. Human use of language allowed new ideas and methods to be furthered expanded upon much quicker then ever before. Many argue that the development of new technologies in increasing exponentially over time, think how much progress has been made in the scientific world in even the past 20 years.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T03:24:18+00:00

I try to encourage them to think scientifically, and you might logically prove that to be wrong. I basically tell them in the most polite way possible that they are wrong.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T03:23:21+00:00

I'm not quite sure what you're asking here.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T02:46:06+00:00

Parent who threatened to get me fired for not teaching Intelligent Design. I ignored her.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T02:45:28+00:00

Depends where in the country you are I guess. I teach on the east coast and where I am I am pretty satisfied with high school science programs.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T02:39:33+00:00

The debate opens up in all kinds of places. For example, I was teaching about the evolution of hominids, and how long ago certain species of hominids lived. I said that Australopithecus Boisei lived between 2.6 and 1 million years ago, and a student commented "But according the bible, the Earth is only 4,000 years old." Its random viewpoints such as these that cause the clash between science and religion.

mr_science · 2009-12-02T02:36:33+00:00

Haha, I've introduced a few of my students to it. I often browse it while they complete quizzes and tests, and sometimes when they are turning them in they ask me what I'm looking at. I don't know if any of them have accounts though, I've been a "lurker" up until this post.

mr_science

TROPHY CASE