What Can Be Gained By Asking a Question…

Let me tell you about Kelly’s class one day

One of my 6^th Grade Science Teachers, Kelly Lee, was facilitating a lesson on physical and chemical changes. The question arose — is boiling an egg a physical or chemical change — the students were encourage to research that night and be prepared to discuss the following day. The class dismissed and proceeded throughout the rest of their schedule making it to another teacher’s class. Still buzzing, the teacher overheard and gave the students their thoughts. BINGO! A clash, the two teachers have differing views. So Kelly goes out and does some digging… until she finds:

Now this is great and all, but let’s get back to this post’s title… Kelly reached out and asked a question.

Setting the stage for an awesome experience

When was the last time you spoke to a professor on the other side of the country who’s in charge of their own lab? If you ask me, I would tell you January 31^st 2019. That’s because Kelly tracked down Professor Gregory Weiss from UCIrvine’s Department of Chemistry and asked the crucial question, would you speak with my students?

Professor Weiss agreed — Skype was selected as the preferred platform — Arrangements were made with myself and the district’s IT department to get everything setup — Students were offered the chance to participate by signing up through a Google Form.

What an engaging opportunity! Professor Weiss knew just how to explain the science to his audience. His enthusiasm for what he does was infectious. Also, I must give it to the students who stepped up during the Q&A to ask great questions.

Before you go…

It’s funny sometimes how things have such amazing timing. Just prior to being brought into the loop on the above experience, I was listening to an episode of Jake Miller‘s EduDuctTape Podcast where he had on his first guest, Ann Radefeld. During the episode, Jake and Ann discuss ways to connect with a global community and participate in virtual field trips. Jake shared a fantastic resource with the listeners: SKYPE A SCIENTIST, a site which tries to connect classrooms to scientists. You can listen more about it in the episode:

Have you ever had a virtual guest in your classroom? I would love to read about it in the comments below.