I’m a big fan of task cards. If you’re not familiar with the term “task card”, it’s just a card that has a question on it for students to answer. Can it get any easier than that?? For some reason I only discovered them a few years ago, but I keep coming up with new …
5 Quick and Easy Ways to Use Task Cards in the Classroom Read More »
You know it’s coming. As we approach winter break, you might be looking for some holiday science activities. Are you excited? Reluctant? Either way, I’ve got you covered! Here are 11 ways to bring some holiday cheer into your science classes: 1) Winter Holiday Trivia Sometimes you want to embrace fun holiday activities…but don’t always …
11 Winter Holiday Science Activities – Something for Everyone! Read More »
If you don’t already do regular retrieval practice in your classes, you’ve got to get started! Retrieval practice is creating opportunities for students to pull out information from their brains rather than trying to stuff more information in. It’s commonly regarded as one of the best ways to get your brain to retain information. As …
Looking for a quick win that you can implement in your class tomorrow? Assign a Six-Word Memoir! This is exactly what it sounds like – a story told in only six words. It’s something I see in high school English classes and I’ve adapted it for science classes. Basically, you want to get to the …
I love holidays. I know not everyone feels this way, but I love any excuse to get excited about something! And I’ve found that students also appreciate effort around holidays to bring some fun into class. And you know what? You can TOTALLY do some Halloween-themed science lessons and connect it to academics. Even if …
8 Ways to Bring Spoooookiness to Your Science Class on Halloween Read More »
Does anyone have to teach Classification? You know…Domain, Kingdom, Phyla, Class, Order, Family Genus, Species? For years I knew that I was only doing a mediocre job with this content. And I LOVE this area (hello, my IG feed is full of nature!) but the standards weren’t translating to anything exciting in my classroom. How …
Engage Students in Classification with…Fecal Transplants!? Read More »
Teaching can be overwhelming. So let’s not waste time with too much preamble and instead just jump into some more time-saving strategies that you can use to simplify your teaching life! If you missed the 3 strategies introduced in Part 1, check out my previous post here! Here are 4 more ways that you can …
Some Easy Ways to Simplify Your Teaching Life (Part 2) Read More »
Are you tired? Do you feel like you’re working harder than your students? This is Part 1 of 2 of some ways that you can take back your time and work smarter, not harder. Let’s jump in! 1) Don’t grade everything. (Note: I know this is not always possible – a lot of schools require …
Some Easy Ways to Simplify Your Teaching Life (Part 1) Read More »
Let’s face it: there’s a high chance that teachers will be missing some school days this year. It’s in your best interest to have some emergency lessons ready to go if you have to suddenly miss school. Let me share some things to make it easier. First of all, I have two main goals with …
6 Science Activities to Leave With a Sub That Are NOT “Busywork” Read More »
Let’s jump right in – I LOVE having activities that are ongoing throughout a good chunk of the year. Most of them are SUPER SIMPLE, and students love to revisit them over time. They’ll often check them out or talk about them as they enter the room or when they’re on a break, and it’s …
5 Easy Ongoing Science Activities to Engage Students All Year Read More »
