Category: Subjects

When Your Child Doesn’t Like to Read

“I just can’t get her to read!” I often hear protests like this from parents when I suggest that their child read more for fun. Because it’s an important lifelong habit that I want my students […]

Why I Love The Library

The worst year of my life was the year I was in eighth grade. I was fourteen, had braces on my teeth, and was, according to our grumpy and insensitive doctor, ‘chubby’. I found boys baffling […]

An Epic Guide To The History of Board Games

History Of Board Games What is the first board game you can remember playing? What is your favorite board game? Is it Monopoly, Chinese Checkers, Chess, Risk, or a more ancient game like Backgammon or Snakes […]

The Importance of Female Role Models in STEM : Showing Girls They Can Build the Future

When I was little I dreamed of becoming a writer. At the age of nine I declared that I would be famous for writing a series of short stories entitled, “The Eraser that Ate my Pen” […]

RIGHTS DON’T STAY RIGHTS ALL ON THEIR OWN

Quite a bit of adolescent hand-wringing starts to snake through the room after a couple of minutes. Kids look at me puzzled, but I pay them no mind. I’m in full test-proctor-mode. “But Mr. Bowen, this […]

Modern Day Pioneers: That’s no Oregon Trail up ahead – it’s the convergence of STEM and World Languages

What does it take to be a pioneer? To leave the tried and true path in search of something more. To know that it is not if failure will strike, but when, and how you will […]

The Thrill of Breaking Out

Sixty minutes remaining. I started the count-down on my phone as the bell rang announcing the start of French three. All around the room posters of futuristic cars, bioluminescent animals and locked boxes were positioned, poised, […]

Family Time With the Doodle Crate

As my children get older, they don’t spend as much time playing with one another. This is especially true of my high school junior and her fourth-grade brother. One is interested in driving and hanging out […]

Tinkering Around With Tinker Crate

One of the best gifts you can get for a child is something that keeps them engaged yet teaches them at the same time. When children are toddlers this is easy – the child is still […]

STEM Lab Deluxe and My Child: A Match Made In Heaven

Raise your hand if you’ve seen the Mentos In Cola trick? I’m guessing your hand is up (if so, you can put it down now). Did you know who the first person to show it on […]

How Minecraft Can Foster a Love of Reading

More and more educators are finding success using gaming for education. Minecraft, in particular, has shown its ability to be a game that’s both engaging and potentially educational. For starters, the game allows players to think […]

Ultimate Project Based Learning – How Student Teamwork Built a World Championship Car

Every year for the past twenty the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team (STA EVT) has built a new vehicle from the ground up to give our students the best engineering experience a high-schooler can get. […]

Word of the Day — Akin

The following is adapted from Episode 32 of the Word of the Day Podcast. Akin, an adjective, means “like or similar to,” and is perfectly suited for making comparisons between things. The etymology is pretty interesting. […]

Avoid The Brain Drain! Here’s How You Can Make the Most of Outdoor Learning This Summer

The summer months are notorious for triggering brain drain. The shear gap in time, combined with the hiatus from hours of learning every day, prompts a decline in knowledge acquisition and retention. Now, it is no […]

A Pythagoras Investigation Using GeoGebra

GeoGebra is an awesome mathematical tool! It even allowed me to discover something new. Well, at least new to me! For an insight to my ‘new discovery’, take a peek at the dynamic image (gif) above. […]

Word of the Day – Cumbersome

Hey! It’s me, Jamie, of the Word of the Day podcast. It’s the show where we take useful (but sadly underused) words and explain how awesome they are, and why it really isn’t too tough to […]

A Mom, Two Kids, and a Water-Testing Kit [Review]

This week, my kids and I were very excited to try out our new water-testing kit. The older two (ages seven and five) love science, AND they drink a great deal of water, so this was […]

The Secret to Learning a Language

When I lived in New York I would go to Georgia each year to visit my dear friend, Jenn. She and I had met in theater class and had done a few shows together. We got […]

Utilize Your Students and Surveys to Measure Your Teaching Effectiveness

A teacher’s stakeholders’ satisfaction with their course is an important measure of instructional effectiveness that is too often overlooked or outright ignored. Of course, it’s absurd to hope to satisfy every young adult’s needs and wants […]

Appreciating What, Where and How Boys Read [Infographic]

Unfortunately for many boys, what gets in their way of reading for pleasure are very well-intentioned adults who try to steer them in the “right” direction. That’s why the greatest gift we can give boys this […]