Jim C. introduces himself as a hopeful middle school science teacher with diverse experiences including a background in botany and the military. He depicts two key concepts for being an effective science teacher: how science progresses through observation, tentative conclusions, analysis and reflection; and the teacher's role in guiding student discovery. Jim then outlines his educational and professional background, desire to work with middle schoolers, and need to improve his technology skills. He provides an overview of the course modules and assignments available online and details the performance assessment rubric and expectations.

1. Introduction to a Science Teacher Hopeful
[1 Teacher + 22 Students]
[DNA + Experiences]
_________________________
“Inquiry in the Midst of Chaos!”

2. Hello Classmates! I’m Jim C. That’s me, in the snapshot
above, meditating on the best way to blend a diverse biome
of DNA, hormones, and experiences, plus topical content,
and chaotic inquiry into an unfinished product worthy of
being called a middle school science student.

3. The next two slides depict concepts that I think I
should always keep in mind to be an effective
teacher of science:
- How does science progress?
- What are my roles in guiding students toward
a path of methodical discovery?

4. OBSERVATIONS
TENTATIVE CURIOSITY,
CONCLUSIONS QUESTIONS,
HYPOTHESES
WHAT AND
ANALYSIS &
HOW TO
REFLECTION
MEASURE

5. Anyone
have a
snorkel?
BUILD A WIDE-
RANGING
PERSPECTIVE
IMMERSE ENSURE A
STUDENTS IN LEARNING-RICH ASSIST IN
INVESTIGATIONS ATMOSPHERE DESIGNING
EXPERIMENTS
MODEL AND
COACH
COLLABORATION

6. The Teacher’s “DNA” & Experiences
• BS Botany, MS Administration
• 20 years in the Air Force, 10 more as a consultant for the
Dept. of Defense. Now living near Buffalo.
• Scout leader – comfortable working with middle schoolers.
• 4 months as a long-term sub for middle school science and
math – that’s when the biology teaching bug bit.
• Technologically inept!
– Flew a $50 million aircraft for a living, but my cell phone is 10 yrs old,
and I don’t know how to text.
– I should get an A just for successfully snapshotting my talking avatar
into this PowerPoint thing, even without those elusive green waves!

7. Full Disclosure
I once spent a week learning to hang-glide, but not over the
shark-infested waters of the Second Life Sea!

8. Overview of Modules and Assignments
The modules and assignments which comprise this course are available in Angel.
The page will look like this:
Click here to go to the Overview page in Angel (password required):
https://esc.angellearning.com/section/default.asp?id=EMPU-8PDMQ4

9. Grade Distribution/ Evaluation / Expectations / Deadlines & Penalties
Performance assessment will follow the overall rubric shown on the course’s associated Angel page.
Click here to go to the above page in Angel (password required):
https://esc.angellearning.com/section/default.asp?id=EMPU-8PDMQ4

10. See you ‘round campus!