Bitmoji Welcome

Bitmoji Welcome

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Data Driven Seating Charts

Kagan seating is something I was introduced to when I taught in Nebraska. I loved the idea because the idea of intentionally pairing and seating students just makes sense! (For more information, check out this bloggers post!)

I used a spreadsheet to sort my students for Kagan seating. First, I would use their last final grade percentage. Second, MAP testing for reading, since my school used MAP testing for benchmarks.

Then, I would have the form sorted by grade first and reading second. From that, I could divide the class into quarts for high, high medium, low medium, and low. My strongest students were in the back of the classroom while the ones who struggled the most in science were closest to the front. (This works best to orient students based on how you use the classroom and where you spend most of your time.)

How do you do your seating charts? 

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Genetics Escape Puzzle Room


2023 flew by and I didn't post anything, but that doesn't mean things weren't happening!

We moved and I started subbing while I have munchkins.

I am excited to announce that I have created a genetics puzzle escape room on my Teachers Pay Teachers. It is active as of yesterday and is a great review tool or could be used when you have a guest teacher. 

I have another puzzle room in the works. Stay tuned!

 

Friday, July 29, 2022

Sale!

 I am throwing a sale on all items found in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! See the graphic below for more information!


Friday, July 22, 2022

Educreations

One tool that offers a free introduction to try is Educreations. It allows you to create and share videos with your students. It is user-friendly and now has the capability to be shared on Google Classroom and Remind. This is especially ideal for a flipped and self-paced classrooms, as well as distance learning.

The drawback is there is not too much storage on the free version, maybe a couple videos at most.

Friday, July 15, 2022

Self-Paced Classroom Resource

Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

Through EdPuzzle, I found this free course that you can learn about self-paced classroom through the organization Modern Classrooms. I am excited to learn more ideas to reach every learner in my classroom! (Plus, I think they give you a certificate for completing the two hour course.)

Friday, May 13, 2022

Grading Tricks

Early on, I developed a system that worked well for me to keep track of grades and keep students honest.

Set-up: I would have a paper copy of a grade book. It doesn't need to be fancy. Just a list of students and places to name the assignments. As you write down the assignments, it is helpful to note when it was assigned and when it was due. That way, if a student is absent, you can figure out their new date with relative ease. You can take it with you as you look over student assignments for a quick reference. And, if the online grade book ever crashes, you have a backup. (I even found it handy if students changed one class period to another. Sometimes their grades would not transfer.) 

Absent students: Make a little dot in a corner of their box to indicate they were absent when the assignment was collected. 

I know some teachers mark it as missing in the grade book, but I have found that creates more stress for the parent/student and the teacher as a result. If there is a notes section for the assignment online, list when their assignment is due. You can also list the new due date on the assignment for you and the student to reference. 

Late assignments: In the paper grade book, trace the outline of the box. If a student is having chronic missing assignments, this will bring it to your attention. 

Corrections/retakes: My school had a policy that students were allowed to make corrections on all graded assignments, so I would note this in my paper grade book by dividing the box in half and writing the regrade score on the bottom half. 

In the online grade book, I would note that the assignment was "corrected; original score: ___". 

Grading colors: I switch the color I grade with and tend to go in rainbow order, because who doesn't love rainbows? By doing this, I avoid using just a red pen. It also makes it harder for students to forge the grade, which I had one try when I was a student-teacher.

You could pick to use one color for each day of the week in order to keep track of when things are graded. Or, just cycle through colors. Or, pick a color at random and go crazy!

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash


Friday, May 6, 2022

Freebie: Where does drinking water come from?

This is a free resource in my store that is designed to introduce the NGSS earth science standard number three for middle school. 

Students work in small groups to create a visual representation of where water on earth is found and what types of water are used for drinking water.

Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash