Justin M. Siebert

Never Go to Bed Angry

I wrote this for the NYC Midnight flash fiction challenge the same weekend I was finishing “Haunted Mansions Are Never Wheelchair Accessible.” I almost gave up on this story because I wasn’t feeling the prompts (ghost story / walking trail / contact solution) and because of the Crippling Self-Doubt Monster, the terrifying, real-life antagonist inContinueContinue reading “Never Go to Bed Angry”

Haunted Mansions Are Never Wheelchair Accessible – (My First Published Story!)

Read it here. I almost didn’t finish the story. I started writing it soon after The Arcanist (an online flash fiction literary magazine specializing in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror) announced their Ghost Stories contest. I’d already submitted a few stories to The Arcanist and received rejections for each, so I knew this was a longContinueContinue reading “Haunted Mansions Are Never Wheelchair Accessible – (My First Published Story!)”

The Stories Lost in Flame

A score of people wandered the smoldering ruins, treaded carefully over scorched and splintered wood, searched for any words that remained. They wore their brown robes hiked up short over their ankles, their feet shod with sturdy-soled boots instead of sandals. They wore their faces long and solemn. The apprentice stooped amidst a pile ofContinueContinue reading “The Stories Lost in Flame”

Why You Should Always Buy the Biggest Pizza Pi!

Yesterday was Pi Day, and as a high school science teacher, this is a big deal. Not as big of a deal as it is for math teachers, but until the practical but not-yet-widely-accepted Tau catches on, it’s the best mathematical constant we can celebrate during the school year. My wife Carol and I aboutContinueContinue reading “Why You Should Always Buy the Biggest Pizza Pi!”

Can people in wheelchairs kick ass?

A friend of mine shared this photo. It stirred up in me a lot of thoughts about disability (I have a complete L2 spinal cord injury, meaning I’m paralyzed from the waist down). Everything I wrote here applies to a non-disabled person thinking about a disabled person, or a disabled person thinking about aContinueContinue reading “Can people in wheelchairs kick ass?”

I’m picking up a new hobby: Animation!

I just made this .gif file! Hype! I downloaded an animation app for mac called Hype. My first thought was to check out Adobe, but $50/month is a bit steep for me (or $20/month with the teacher discount). Hype is just a $50 one-time purchase. Why? Well, the short of this is that I wantContinueContinue reading “I’m picking up a new hobby: Animation!”

Tic Tacs, Aliens, and Action Potentials!

Here are manipulatives I made and bought (i.e., tic tacs) to help students memorize the steps of action potentials! I have resources and a more detailed description of the lesson cycle posted below. Developing the Action Potential Model We go through the action potential steps together first. We have a section on cell membranes at theContinueContinue reading “Tic Tacs, Aliens, and Action Potentials!”

Common Origin and Varied Graphs in the Buggy Lab

For the buggy paradigm lab, I wanted the graphs to all look different so we could compare and contrast. To get some negative positions, I made a common origin out of tape and staggered the tables. I also made at least one group run their buggy the opposite direction so we could figure out theContinueContinue reading “Common Origin and Varied Graphs in the Buggy Lab”

Big Idea Posters in Anatomy & Physiology

“Anatomy and Physiology is just a lot of rote memorization, isn’t it?” I have been asked that a handful of times, and my gut instinct is a resounding “no.” Then, I admit that there is a fair amount of memorization in my A&P class. That’s just part of the package. But memorization is not theContinueContinue reading “Big Idea Posters in Anatomy & Physiology”

Innate and Adaptive Immunity – Flipping, Whiteboarding, Case Studies, Thinking!

EDIT: I now have my own adaptive immunity video! For my classes, I now use my own video instead of the Bozeman video. The human immune system is extremely intricate and complex. In a high school A&P class, it’s an extremely important but somewhat abstract process. Like every process in physiology, we have to simplifyContinueContinue reading “Innate and Adaptive Immunity – Flipping, Whiteboarding, Case Studies, Thinking!”