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Michael Woods

Michael Woods

Teacher Blogger, Secret Life Team

J. Michael Woods, M.Ed. is a Special Education Inclusion Science Teacher in the School District of Palm Beach County where he’s been teaching since 1992. Currently, he co-teaches Earth-Space and Biology (in a class with both regular and special education students).

Outside the classroom, Michael serves as a co-Track Facilitator for Project SMaRT, and he is involved in an innovative iPad Pilot Project to integrate the iPad into the science curriculum. Michael trains extensively in the area of technology and will present for the 11th time at this year’s School District of Palm Beach County’s Technology Conference.

Michael’s “Secret Life” includes two passions. His first started 15 years ago when he began volunteering at Camp Juliena, a camp for 6 to 12 year old youth who are deaf or hard of hearing. And his second is in the area of Holocaust Education. He has travelled extensively through Germany, Poland, and Prague with Holocaust survivors and served as the “teacher blogger” for one of his trips through “March of the Educators”/March of the Living.

Michael's Secret Life Posts

Michael Woods

[Teacher Tips] If I Could Have 30 Seconds of Your Time…

As a new teacher blogger for ”Secret Life,” I’ve been ruminating about the topic of my first blog post. To that end, I decided my best approach would be to simply navigate through the site and see what caught my interest.

 We dare you to sum up your work in 30 seconds! My first stop was this week’s “30 Second Science” episode featuring Neuroscientist Dave Sulzer. I have long been a fan of Sixty Second Science podcasts and have often incorporated them into my lessons. But 30 seconds? Is that enough to deliver content?

Reminding myself that most commercials are 30 seconds or less, I clicked play and watched. I was amazed. It will take most readers longer than 30 seconds to read this blog post—but they won’t get the depth of knowledge they will get by watching a 30 Second Science episode!

After viewing the “30 Second” segment, I was curious enough to watch the longer segment (at only 1:56) entitled “Impossible Questions.” In fewer than 5 minutes, the episodes deliver robust knowledge appropriate for any classroom. I’m now a fan! And I look forward to sharing my thoughts on how you can use “Secret Life” in your classroom over the coming months.

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