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Mary Bigelow

I was a secondary science teacher for 27 years and then moved to a curriculum/PD position at a regional service agency, where I worked with several math/science partnerships. I currently blog for NSTA (including doing Ms Mentor for several years) and am a webwatcher for the SciLinks project. I am the coauthor of "Rise and Shine: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Science Teacher." I am an avid birdwatcher, too, and I volunteer at Wildwood Part and Nature Center in Harrisburg, PA,

Location

PA

Affiliation

Retooled (not retired) science teacher and administrator

Social Media

Twitter: @tramaire
Skype Name: tramaire

Recent Posts by Mary

Fri Nov 20, 2020 3:39 PM in Setting Teachers Apart

Hi Hannah! This is really a thought-provoking question! I think that teachers don't start on Day 1 as "great", and I've never seen a rubric to assess "greatness." Writing curriculum and doing lab investigations are certainly important components of science teaching, but in my experience the characteristics of great teachers relate to their unrelenting passion for what they do -- caring about thei...

Fri Nov 20, 2020 3:14 PM in How to Save Money as a New Teacher

Hi Sidney -- Interesting and relevant activities and investigations don't necessarily involve expensive or elaborate equipment. Check out the articles in NSTA's journals ( Elementary , Middle , High School ) for ideas that could be used or adapted within budgets! Also, the NSTA reports has a column on Freebies for Science Teachers that highlight free or low-cost ideas. Here is this month's edi...

Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:38 PM in Assessment Tips for a Struggling Preservice Teacher

Hi Lexi -- The type of assessment you use really depends on the learning objectives. For those that ask students to explain or describe (rather than recall), perhaps encouraging them to draw and label a response may work. For example, in my middle school life science class, a task was to describe how cephalopods (squid, octopus) move. A student said to me that he had a hard time finding the word...

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Recent Public Collections by Mary

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Seasons

4 Resources

Teaching through Trade Books: Seeing the Seasons
Type: Journal Article
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Teaching Through Trade Books: Seasons by the Sun
Type: Journal Article
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Science & Children Lessons - Teaching with Trade Books

9 Resources

A collection of articles from recent issues.

Teaching Through Trade Books: The Tool and Eye
Type: Journal Article
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Teaching Through Trade Books: Animal Parents and Their Offspring
Type: Journal Article
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Science & Children Lessons - The Early Years

9 Resources

A collection of articles from recent issues.

The Early Years: Experiencing Inquiry
Type: Journal Article
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Early Years: What Other Colors Can Bean Seeds Be?
Type: Journal Article
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