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bloomfield

Vision: A quality science education fosters a population that...applies scientific knowledge and skills to increase economic productivity. 2009 NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards I am a science teacher, and occasionally a good one. I am certified by the state of New Jersey (Liberty and Prosperity), and paid by the Township of Bloomfield, ...

Poor little rich kid. Mr. Duncan is going to take a lot of flak for his Katrina komment, joining the Brownie School of Fixing by Diaspora, but he's already getting blog-flogged for that. No, I'm more interested in the psychology of Duncan Dogooder, trying to anticipate how much damage this poor little rich kid is going to inflict on public ...

A few of my goldfish made the annual pilgrimage from my backyard puddles to classroom aquariums. The classrooms were empty as I cajoled bubblers and filters to return to life. Saturday classrooms feel like midnight cemeteries. Each classroom has a list of essential questions defining the ultimate goals of a unit. Our district spend gobs of money ...

I grew up in a new suburb carved out of the woods near the Sandy Hook Bay. We spent most of our waking hours outdoors, not necessarily by choice. As soon as you got home from school, you changed out of your school clothes and went outside. Every day. And we stayed out until dinner, ate, then stayed out again until dark. Our division was new ...

Does Arne Duncan's position of authority in one of the greatest nations ever have anything to do with his ability to play hoops? I'll give you a second or two to ponder this... Does this mean the Act-We-Dare-Not-Call-the-NCLB should mandate a basketball skills course? Butcher, baker or candlestick maker? What will your child do when she grows ...

Bloomfield, New Jersey, sits on the border of Newark, part of the urban fringe. No commercial farms exist here now, and if someone pursued such a quixotic venture, they would not grow wheat. We already have Kansas for that. Still, given the rabid efforts of many Americans in these parts to grow lawn grass, it seemed a reasonable proposition to ...

A colleague mentioned today how difficult it was to teach Pascal's law in an era when children don't know what a piston is. (Who works on cars anymore?) I threw out the ol' hit-the-bottle-with-a-rubber-mallet demo which is a lot of fun. I love the sound of breaking glass! Not sure how well Pascal's law shines through the chaos (and I'm sure ...

I have a clam in room B360. Every now and again it pokes it foot out. If you move the beaker, it pulls it right back in again. The students are fascinated. A live clam in their class. Imagine that. While it's a little disheartening that a clam's foot can compete with my, um, well-crafted lesson plans, I put up with its insouciance. Descent ...

Capturing critters for the classroom is, understandably, frowned upon. I'm more concerned for the critters than the students, not because I'm a heartless educator, but because there a few ways most of the local critters are going to inflict anything more than an adrenaline surge in the classroom This is a slug found in my garden. While it is ...