ASTA Arkansas Science Teachers Association
Mission: To support Arkansas Science Educators
CHAT GPT - New Tool for the Classroom
Positive Use for Teachers and Students
CHAT GPT is a great online tool that can help teachers and students to learn the importance of asking questions. For teachers, it can develop lessons, provide resources, and create a learning environment where teachers can expand on their understanding of a topic or how to design a lesson plan. For students, it can help them to condense information through research into usable pieces easier to read, navigate, and learn from. The goal of using this tool in the classroom would be to show students the importance of asking questions or how to research information in a meaningful way that can be used for learning. If you have ever had students in your classroom, who find it hard to complete a webquest or find information online because they become overwhelmed, this tool can help to condense this information into manageable pieces.
Education is Changing, but are Teachers' Needs?
Stephanie Long, ASTA Elementary Director
The world of education is constantly changing—research, instructional strategies, funding, assessments, curriculum, legislation, mandates, teammates, administration, etc. However, amidst this ever-growing list of changes, one constant remains: the tools all teachers need to be successful.
The Membership Committee of the Arkansas Science Teachers Association recently surveyed teachers across the state of Arkansas in an effort to identify their current instructional, classroom, and professional needs. The purpose was to use the information to support science instruction for teachers and science learning for students. Over 160 teachers participated in the survey, with representation from 57 school districts, all six regions in Arkansas, and 36/75 counties. Responses reflected all levels of education, including elementary (62), middle (55), and secondary (59).
Changing How You Teach: A Skills Based Learning Approach in Secondary Education
By: Whitney Major - Southwest Director ASTA
“Critical thinking skills are extremely important. If you can think critically about a problem we have to solve on the job, work independently, and seek out the correct answer, then I will hire you today. The content you need to be successful, I can teach you while on the job.” Words spoken by a panelist at the STEM Conference on April 14, 2023 to young women across the state.
Powerful words that speak truth into what employers are looking for in future employees. The main goal of high school is to prepare students to become active members of society and the workforce in our communities. By using a skill-based learning approach in the classroom, we, as educators, can make the content learned in Chemistry class or 11th grade English more applicable to the students’ future employability.