In Biology, we are currently in our Cells unit. We have learned about the different parts of the cell and have spent the past several days learning about cell transport, primarily diffusion and osmosis.
In high school, I remember doing an osmosis lab using an egg and perhaps at one point also some dialysis tubing. I remember thinking "why the heck would you soak an egg in vinegar and then in sugar?!" The connection wasn't there for me, even though I understood osmosis and diffusion.
I knew going into this unit that I wanted to do something different. I had seen pictures and posts using gummy bears instead of eggs. I figured my 9th graders would enjoy this much more than an egg.
On Day 1 of the lab, we did all of the setup. We took our initial mass measurements and soaked each gummy bear in a different solution: water, 50% sucrose, or corn syrup. We made predictions about what we thought would happen, and we let our bears sit over night.
On Day 2, we took out the bears and measured their mass. The expressions on the students' faces when they first looked at their bears was priceless:
"WHOA! It EXPLODED!" (A bit dramatic...)
"Eww... could you even eat that?" (They were definitely not allowed to eat them...)
"I wonder if you could make jello like this." (This comment was so random, I had to laugh)
The bears were pretty awesome looking, even I was impressed. They were able to get their measurements easily and clean up was a breeze since I opted for disposable cups and weigh boats to avoid the sticky mess of 200+ cups.
I think that this lab really helped them to visualize what happens in a hypotonic solution since many of them saw their bears expand so far that they burst. It took some coaxing to get them to verbalize the connections, but I was very impressed with how quickly they picked up on what was happening in the lab!
I posted the lab -- along with teacher setup and notes -- on my TpT site! Hopefully your students enjoy it as much as I did!
I have the pleasure of teaching two different courses to two different grade levels. I have two sections of chemistry (10th grade) and three sections of biology (9th grade). Each class has such a unique personality -- and it goes way beyond just grade level. Yes, there are obvious maturity differences between 9th and 10th graders. For some reason, there is a great deal of maturing that occurs between those years. Generally speaking, my 10th graders are more responsible and have greater concern for their grades while my 9th graders are still a bit in "middle school mode" and don't yet understand the fact that failing a class in high school means retaking that class in high school.
Beyond that, the classes vary so much in terms of personality and demeanor. I have classes that are studious and hard-working, and others that are full of energy that is not always directed into the proper outlets. I have a wide variety of students and a wide variety of grades that reflect that fact.
As an educator, I find myself in the conundrum on how to address these personality differences. In an ideal world, I would be able to differentiate each and every lesson and unit to meet the variety of needs in each class. I would be able to give every struggling student the one-on-one help they need and give each unmotivated student the confidence boost and pep talk that pushes them to achieve.
Unfortunately, I don't live in an ideal world. I am given a 55 minute class period to hit every item on the agenda. Sciences courses involve a great deal of prep work and labs take up an entire class and often spill over into other class days. How on earth can I ensure that my lessons work for each and every student? How can I ensure that every student is understanding? I do not have those answers, not by any means, but I do have a few strategies I use to monitor which students.
I love using any sort of instant-response system in the classroom. There are two main ways that I use this. One is the use of SMART Response system. I can create a short assessment, pass out the remotes and have students answer anonymously. I'm not a huge fan of "quizzes" but I like to give my quizzes in this format for a couple of reasons.
1) Instant feedback for student (they see their grade at the end)
2) Instant feedback for teacher (graphs of most missed questions at the end, along with student scores)
3) Engagement level (students love technology and things with buttons)
One downside is that it takes some level of preparation, as you have to prepare the questions ahead of time. It also feels a bit formal and doesn't always fit with what we are doing for the day.
My most used student feedback system is tentatively called "3-2-1 Five!" If we are covering new content for the first time, I will periodically ask students to show a number zero to five showing their understanding of the material -- zero, I am completely lost, or five, I could teach this to my partner. I count down from three and they show me their number in front of their chest. It's anonymous, quick, and students tend to be very honest. It takes a quick scan of the room to see who is struggling and I can make sure to get them to participate as we continue on. This works particularly well in Chemistry when we are doing practice problems, as I will ask after each problem and see if they are getting the hang of it or need to go back to review.
After I have an idea of which students are struggling, I try to make a conscious effort to double check their work later on, or to make sure I call on them if they raise their hand. It at least provides a place for me to start addressing their struggles in a timely manner so they don't get lost in a pile of confusion.
What types of strategies do other educators use to cater to the multitudes of personalities in the classroom?
I have always been a fan of Google drive, but when it first came out, it didn't have all the fancy tools that Microsoft Word did. Eventually, I stopped using it...
Until this year! My neighbor teacher talks about it and uses it for everything, so I thought I'd try it out. I must say, I'm a major fan.
Google Drive is awesome for three reasons:
1. Easy-to-Use
2. Portable
3. Versatile
The Google Docs portion of Google Drive looks and functions much like any other word processing program. Same types of options and same shortcuts make it a breeze to switch from one to the other. You can insert images and tables easily. You can even install customized fonts -- which is awesome since I like to use the same unique font for everything (see my previous post). It does not have every bell and whistle that you may find with a program like Microsoft Word, but it has enough for a basic user like myself. The only complaint I have is that making columns is a little tricky, but possible.
I love how portable Google Drive makes all of my school documents. You can upload any Word Document, PowerPoint, Excel Sheet, or PDF to Google Drive and open it anywhere. No more lugging out my school laptop to make a small change to something. I organize everything into folders by course and unit, which makes it simple to find everything. If I have documents on my computer for the unit I'm planning, I will quickly upload all the necessary documents to the folder so I can get to everything at home. I create and edit most of my documents at home where I'm free from meetings and interruptions and this is by far the easiest method.
My favorite thing about Google Drive is how versatile it is. You are not limited to just word processing, but can also create presentations, drawings, and spreadsheets.
The presentations are great because you can insert videos straight from YouTube! It's as simple as copying and pasting a link. It allows you to play the video within your presentation instead of having to open up a separate browser window. I've embeded videos into PowerPoint before, but would get lag spikes or skips in them. It was never reliable for me. As long as you have a stable internet connection, the inserted videos in Google Presentations work great!
Drawing is my new favorite document type! It seems like its supposed to be similar to Publisher, but I find it much easier to use. You can create any imaginable graphic using pre-created shapes, text boxes, various types of lines, or inserting images. I love using Drawing to create customized models for class -- I'll share some of these later! It is easy to use and has a ton of possibilities.
Best part about the Google Suite -- you can insert Drawings into Documents! You can create a customized graphic and embed it into a lab or activity document. So simple. So lesson changing.
Love it!
I think every teacher is guilty of having at least a few quirks -- certain brand of pens, certain organization system, desks aligned perfectly, papers turned in alphabetically... the list goes on! Some of the quirks I have help to keep me sane when my students are acting younger than their age, and some of them have no other purpose except to give me a little enjoyment.
In no particular order, these are my quirks.
1. A Similar Font (Found Here)
Every single assignment that I am able to customize is printed in the same font for all of my classes. I have even been guilty of re-typing something that isn't customizable just so I can print it in my font.
I started doing this after starting a new job and talking to our department chair. She uses one font for all of her assignments and noted how as soon as a student, teacher, or administrator sees her hand-outs, they know they are hers. I loved this idea, for some reason. It also makes a binder full of materials look connected, as if they all belong to the same book.
The only time I do not use the same font is when I type up a test. The font I use is pretty casual looking and some things, like decimal points, are hard to read at times. For a test, I use a more "boring" font, but continue to use that same font for all tests.
I also keep the formatting at the top of the page the same for every assignment -- name blank, period blank, date blank taking up row one; title bolded and underlined for row two. These are simple things that make all the student handouts, labs, quizzes, and activities look similar.
2. An Organized File Cabinet
I am that crazy person down the hall frantically searching for a right tab file folder because I only have center tab and left tab folders. All of my file cabinets are as neatly organized as possible -- I use alternating tabs labeled with blue ball point pen. I don't try to keep a huge amount of files, since most of them are electronic anyways, but I do file away the extra copies I have. It provides easy access to find something for an absent student, to share with a colleague, or to make extra copies of.
I have four file cabinet drawers currently: Biology, Chemistry, Biology Tests, and Chemistry Tests. I find that keeping separate drawers for tests saves a lot of space. I keep all the "Do Not Write On This Test" copies of tests clipped/rubber banded together for easy access later. The 9th grade academy at the high school has a re-test policy so there is a good chance I will need to access all of those tests at a later date.
Hopefully sometime soon I will have the chance to go through and further organize my file cabinet. My goal is to color code the folders into categories: Quizzes, Labs, Test Review, and Classwork.
3. Class Color Codes/File Bins
I teach two preps and have an alternating schedule -- Biology, Chemistry, Biology, Chemistry -- which can make it complicated to keep my head on straight at times. To help myself out, I assigned Biology the color Green and Chemistry Red. The agenda/essential question for each class is written in this color on the board along with any upcoming lab, test, quiz, or project due dates.
I keep a file bin of all my copies for the week organized by class and day of the week. I have a "catch all" folder for each subject that holds original copies, scantrons, test answer keys, assignment answer keys, etc. All of this eventually gets filed away somewhere else, but lands in this folder until I have time to sort through it. I have a folder for each day of the week for both subjects. All my biology folders are in the front, all my chemistry folders are in the back. At the very back, I keep extra file folders.
As I make copies for the week, I put them in the folder for that day. I can easily move the copies around if my plans change. On test days, I keep all of the test materials in the folder (periodic table, scantrons, test copies, and after-test activity). I have found that this prevents me from giving Class A a study guide, but forgetting it in Class B.
I have absolutely loved this system so far. As soon as I make copies, I put them in a folder -- which has cut down on a lot of counter/desk clutter. If a student is absent, I can easily find the missing work from earlier in the week. I typically empty out the folder and file away the extras when I have new materials to put in the folder for the following week.
4. A Teacher Binder
Not only do I have a teacher binder (as most do) but I have a particular kind of binder, with labs/dividers/inserts in my particular font (see #1). My binder has eight sections: Attendance, Seating Charts, Calendar, Lesson Plans, Grades, Assessments, Biology Standards, Chemistry Standards. Most of these sections are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain a few of them.
I use current seating charts to also number lab groups or project groups. As I change the seating chart or lab groups, I replace it in the binder. I also post a copy on the back bulletin board in my room.
The lessons plan tab is by far my largest tab. I keep all of my lesson plans and will eventually file them away. I created a template unique for my schedule that has three sections: Biology, Chemistry, and Advisement. There is a box for each of those for every day of the week. I also put a notes section at the end of each class for lab setup notes and other reminders. The boxes are pretty large. I usually divide the biology and chemistry boxes in half and use the upper box for objectives and activities and the bottom box for warm-ups and homework. I always always write in pencil. I change plans often and have to erase things. I'll create a post later with the lesson plan template I use.
The grades section also has all of the IEP/504 accommodations for my current students. I find this very handy when I have to quickly recall which students get extended time and which do not. Highly recommend!
I'm sure there are other quirks I have, but these are the ones I experience every single day. What classroom quirks do other teachers out there have?
Welcome to I Teach Science and...
Before I delve into the inner workings of my teacher brain and show you the many ideas and things I have made for my classes, I wanted to share a bit of myself!
I am a third year teacher currently teaching High School in Georgia. I currently teach Biology (freshmen) and Chemistry (sophomores). I used to think that I only wanted to teach biology and I didn't want to teach chemistry, but I am finding that I almost enjoy chemistry more -- maybe this has something to do with the maturity difference between freshmen and sophomores!
I didn't originally go to school to be a teacher, but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE what I do. I do think that my unconventional path to the classroom has given me some perspective and perhaps some unique ideas and methods.
Outside of the classroom, I love cooking baking, video games, and The Gilmore Girls (among other shows that my husband refers to as "woman shows").
I love my husband, I love our cats, and I love my job. It's all pretty wonderful.
I decided to start this blog to share some of the resources, ideas, and experiences I have every day in the classroom. As a teacher, I love reading the blogs of other teachers, but I get frustrated when I search and find SO MANY middle school or elementary school blogs (which inevitably I still read to find things that translate to high school), but I have found very few High School Science blogs, for whatever reason. Hopefully, this will not only connect me to other high school science bloggers but also open the gates for some collaboration and brainstorming -- Yay!
