We all have those few students who slack during the semester, have a 57%, and come begging for extra credit before grades are due. For many teachers the answer is…. … and I totally get it. Grading late work is no fun and I’m not going to go out of
Teaching human evolution can be a topic many teachers shy away from. Depending on the type of school you teach at and your student demographic, you might come across a few obstacles. In my 10 years of teaching I haven’t had any push back or complaints from parents, but I know
Ready to teach protein synthesis? (If you missed my DNA structure and replication blog post, back up and start there). Protein Synthesis is actually a fun concept for me to teach. For me, there are 2 barriers you need to cross in order for students to learn protein synthesis:1. Learning
One of the hardest parts of being a teacher is making sure you are providing instruction at the level of all your students in the classroom. In classes of 30+ students, it can seem daunting to modify for kids that still need help, while also increasing the rigor for kids
It’s almost April Fool’s Day and time to start thinking about how to trick your students! While it may be funny to scare students with a pop quiz or sending your best student to the principal’s office, I like an April Fool’s joke where the students learn a science concept
This is a great inquiry lab for your physics unit! In this activity students will be asked to figure out which of the following variables affect the period of the pendulum swing: the mass, the length of the string, or the angle the pendulum is released from. All you need
Physics is really exciting to teach because there are so many fun labs you can do. After teaching students about speed, velocity, and acceleration I wanted to do a STEM lab to follow up the unit. I decided to have students build a parachute out of a plastic grocery store
Have you been this teacher before? You think you had a great lesson, students understood the material, and then you go to grade the assignment and it’s clear they didn’t get it? Part of the problem may be you… (sorry, it’s true). I have come to realize over the years
Why use virtual labs? Virtual labs are a great tool to try if you have computer access. I love them because: List of virtual labs for high school science I’ve compiled a list of websites that have virtual labs. I’ll try my best to make sure all the links are
Your first year teaching is going to be one of the hardest years of your career. I frequently went home near tears thinking “I just can’t do this. It is too hard.” But I promise you, it gets easier! I’m in my 10th year teaching and I spend a lot
This blog post was co-written by Becca from Science Lessons That Rock and Tara from Science In The City. They have 22 combined years of teaching experience in the inner city. 10 TIPS FOR TEACHING IN THE INNER-CITY Always treat students with respect– Every year I give students a student
You made it to the last blog post in this 4 part series! If you missed any of the previous posts, you can click below to get caught up: #1: What is PBL? #2: Getting Started #3: The Product This last blog post will be about extending learning beyond the