L2R Blog One - Expectations

I'm appreciative of the opportunity to participate in the 2012 L2R project and summer institute.  This blog right now is a first for me.  I've read blogs quite often but this is my first opportunity to author one.  I've often thought a blog could be a great way for me to share information informally with my students.  From what I've been able to ascertain, most of my students do not currently follow any blogs or participate in blogging themselves.  This will be educational for both myself and my students.

I'm hoping to take advantage of all the great knowledge and contacts that will be available to me by participating in this project.  I have lots of questions I've been accumulating over the years and it will be great to get various ideas and opinons on these.  After my participation in the Wayne RESA ICCARS project last summer my students have really gotten interested in collecting and analyzing data.  Although we've been a GLOBE school for many years and have used various protocols, we never really shared our data on the web.  This past school year saw a real shift in that and I plan to work toward encouraging as much data collection and reporting as possible in the future.  I know my students will learn a great deal by being in contact with other students around the U.S. as they share their own research and hear what other schools are doing.

Finally, I am looking for more ways to incorporate increased individual and group research into my environmental science curriculum.  I'm specifically searching for techniques to help students develop and refine their critical thinking skills, interpret and make meaning of data, and to develop creative solutions to local environmental issues.  These are tall orders but with the skills and information gained while participating in the L2R Project, I'm confident my students will see great gains in their science skill set and have a wonderful time doing it.