Science Education Idea Exchange

I hope you'll forgive all of the videos I have been posting. We are in the middle of selling our house and moving. I was wondering about how to make my banner a little more exciting with new fonts and stumbled upon this video. There are many fonts available with just the click of a button. Mind blown!

My school was adapting PBiS and looking for an easy way to recognize our students. We discovered that there are many tools that can be used to generate certificates automatically. We have linked it to the Google Forms and Sheets. The first three minutes of the video below are on how to set up the Google Form. At about 3:50, he begins to show you how to use AutoCrat to make magic happen.

I am kind of obsessed with this and wanted to share more resources and places to get you started, if you're interested. I have made a few more templates that can be downloaded from my TPT store by clicking here . I'll admit, they are nothing like the resources you can find created by other people. Please follow me and leave honest feedback, if you do. :) As for other resources, I found a Facebook group called Bitmoji Craze for Educators . There are many ideas shared and some free templates and how-to instructions. Check it out!

Bitmoji Classroom is a newer phenomenon that teachers are sprucing up materials they share with their students. It utilizes Google Classroom and Google Slides. The video below is a great tutorial on how to make one and he includes free templates. I have made one for an art teacher friend and it is available for free on my Teachers Pay Teachers site. A preview is below.

P2R's are a concept I created for encouraging active reading for my students based on other ideas and research I have seen. Here's an example in the works below: As students are completing the preview and read section, I circulate to help answer any questions. It is a great way to help students with words they don't know without them raising their hands and feeling embarrassed, especially since I require them to list at least one word. This is a natural way to differentiate to your readers as well. The review section can be tailored however you see fit. I've included graphs, calculations, big-picture short answer questions to name a few. I believe it's important to get students reading!

Wizer.Me  is a free resource for teachers to create their own worksheets and share them with students, either on Google Classroom or by a link with a code. There are several worksheets created by other teachers that you can duplicate. The worksheets can have matching, tables, multiple-choice questions just to name a few. (Think of it as a prettier Google Form.) It will even grade the worksheet for you!

Just a quick and simple tutorial on how to put a table of contents into your Google Docs that has links to leap to sections. 1. Under "Insert", click "Table of contents" and choose the option with the blue lines if you want links or the option on the left if you want a table of contents with page numbers only. 2. To create headings that will appear in the table of contents, click on "Normal Text" and choose heading 1. If you want subheadings, choose heading 2. 3. After you have created your headings, you will need to refresh the table of contents. Unforunately, you do need to update it every time.

I am excited to announce the completion of my lesson plan bundle on photosynthesis on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! (Below are some clipart examples from the bundle.) In it, you'll find two labs, a WebQuest, kinesthetic activity, critical thinking question to assess understanding, and a goofy game to get students scrambling to find pieces of photosynthesis. My eventual plan is to finish up the MS-LS1 and have a unit plan ready to go for the next school year.  The lesson plans can be adapted to student learning at home- save for the labs, when students would need supplies like plant seeds and test tubes.

Having students partner up quickly can be a challenge. At my store, you can download this freebie  to help facilitate partner work by giving students a choice. At the same time, you can mix-it-up for the students so they work with different people in the classroom. I learned about this technique from a former administrator and it worked pretty well. There can be hiccups with shy, new, or absent students, so be mindful of your class culture before beginning.

I think Jamboard might be my favorite collaborative response tool. It was created by Google, so if your students use Google Classroom, it has many features they are familiar with already. In real-time, groups of students/teachers can edit a screen. You can add text, pictures, and scribbles. Once the group is done, the board can be saved and downloaded. I used this to generate class ideas and would project it on the board as students were working. With distance learning, this could be a useful tool for students to outline a project plan of attack. I have not figured out a way to track who creates what. I wish there was an edit history like Docs, Sheets, and Slides, but there is not. If you have found either of these things, please let me know.

Padlet  is a free online resource that students can post answers, links, and pictures to a teacher-created question. The teacher creates the Padlet by choosing a background, choosing a posting format, and writing the topic for students. When the Padlet is ready, it can be shared with students on Google Classroom or by providing the link. Some things to be aware of: posts are anonymous, so students may get into mischief the number of Padlets on the free account is limited Since it's real-time editing, it may be overwhelming for some students to view

Mentimeter  is a free teacher resource that allows you to survey a group and create real-time data. The teacher poses a question and posts the code for students to use to cast their votes on a cellphone or other wifi-enabled device. I used it for classroom management at the beginning of the year. I would ask students to list attributes that make a great classmate. I set it up to create a word cloud of their responses and would tell them that this would be our class contract with one another. It is definitely eye-catching for students. Some downsides to this is that there is no way to tell who gave what response. Also, the free account has a limited number of surveys you can create and save. (A workaround is to delete old surveys when you don't need them.)

Many Teachers Pay Teachers will be throwing sales tomorrow and Wednesday on their products, including myself. All my materials will be 20% off. Click here to check it out!

I had first heard of Legends of Learning when I was on a curriculum selection committee for my school. It looked like lots of fun and they had many games for students to play to learn. Don't get me wrong, CoolMathGames is popular, but not always the high caliber learning we're looking for. I noticed recently that they have free demo games. They're easy to use and there are some gems! To get started, do a web search using their name and the subject you're looking for. (I have not found a way to search their website directly.) If you happen to figure it out, please share in the comments below. :)

I recently learned about this free online tool called " Boom Cards ". They are interactive questions for students about whatever topic you'd like. I have an example below created by another author. By Ratelis Science The questions are sorting and matching. You can make your own or find pre-created ones. In some cases, you can find free sets to use. Better still, you can assign it to students on Google Classroom. (In some ways, this reminds me of Quizlet.) Just another amazing and free online tool!