Info for Teachers

If you're a primary or secondary school teacher and you're teaching or planning to teach a topic or module on an astronomical theme, I'm more than happy for you to involve this blog.

I've tried to pre-empt some questions you might have, and I've answered these below. If you have a question about using this blog in an educational context that I haven't covered, feel free to post a comment (you'll need either a google account or an Open ID to do that. Alternatively, you can post your questions here and I'll do what I can to answer them.

FAQ*

What's the point?

• Including the use of ICT in your teaching can help you to meet certain teaching standards.
• Reading and taking part in a publicly available blog may help to show that there is relevance and interest in the topic/subject outside of your own classroom and educational establishment.
• Blogging (and other emergent and emerging technologies) is something that many students can relate to.
• I may already know the answer to some questions your students ask, whereas you might have to spend your own time researching an answer if your specialism is not in this subject.

And finally,

• Many teachers are experimenting with using blogs in their own teaching (see this example: http://rohanssecret.blogspot.com/ It's not astronomy related, but it is an example of including emerging technology in teaching). Working with mine will allow you to get a feel for the medium without the hassle of setting your own up.

How could I use your blog as part of my teaching?

Some possibilities for using this blog as part of your topic include:

• Suggesting that your students ask questions independently (either at home or using school computers). I'll do my best to answer any questions I get, and I'll try to make them as child-friendly as I can (although higher level questions will probably require higher level answers!)
• Come up with one or more questions during a class debate. Post them on behalf of your class, and go through the answer(s) in a future lesson (contact me if you want to do this, so that we can make sure I've responded by the time your follow-up lesson is due!)
• Get your students to write a blog entry about what they have learnt. This could be done for homework or in class; individually or in groups. I'm more than happy to post well-written entries from guest bloggers. It may be encouraging for students to have their work published on a relevant website!

What are your credentials?

• Qualified teacher (PGCE Secondary Mathematics, University of Leicester (awarded 2007)) in my fifth year (as of posting date) of classroom experience.
• Astronomy background to degree level (BSc (hons) Mathematics with Astronomy, University of Leicester (awarded 2004))

Astronomy is a hobby of mine, although I admit it has fallen by the wayside in recent years. I'm determined to get back into it, and this blog has been created as something of a kick up the backside to make sure I do. Please help me to achieve this!

*Forseeably Asked Questions.