Science Education Idea Exchange

Here's another great resource for the emergency absence.  Kristin Consorti  created a lesson plan on creating a  Natural Disaster Survival Kit . They are an ELA teacher, so it encourages writing and lists the standards covered by the lesson.  The lesson plans are easy to follow and are print-and-go. Not to mention, the topic is engaging for students. Included is a way to score the project and clear guidelines for students.  Download your copy today! Photo by  Raychel Sanner  on  Unsplash

One of the best things about being a substitute teacher is seeing how others organize their classroom. In October, I covered for a teacher and love how she handles seating charts! She has a binder with tabs for each class period. Directly underneath is a layout of the tables in her room. She has the names of the students written on tiny sticky notes. This is great because it's easy to:  Make quick changes to a seating chart when you inevitably put two students together that do not promote a good learning community. Arrange students when it's time for a new seating chart. No typing in names or moving it around on a computer before printing it off. It looks much crisper than a handwritten seating chart, too. Photo by Christina Victoria Craft on Unsplash

I have been subbing for a year in a few different schools and age groups. My favorite is the middle school teachers who are prepared for a guest in the room. They all tend to have some variation of my list below: 1. Lesson plans 2. Emergency procedures 3. Rosters/seating charts with pictures: Include any special information, like if the student has band lessons during class. 4. Important contact information, like admin (grade-level, if applicable), attendance, tech department 5. Hall passes: when are they issued, how are they issued 6. Supervision or other duties 7. Do you share your room during your plan? Bonus points for the teachers that put it in a clearly labeled binder. It's a lot of work, but it makes it easier for me to run another teacher's classroom successfully. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

  No-Frills Science is a new TPT store created by a teacher with many years of experience. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash I found their freebie scavenger hunt on the periodic table of elements in a recent search. It offers a lot for a free resource! What I like: print-and-go lesson plans and answer keys included could be utilized with a sub bad puns

 I was in a classroom that the teacher utilized emotional education in her classroom. The students were not excited to see a guest teacher, which was my first tip that they loved her. Not only was her room cozy, but she was well prepared for me to teach. One big takeaway, her note sheet for me to complete. There was only space for "positive comments". Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash It really helped me reframe my thinking as I was working with students and focus on her students that were doing great things, which were most of them!

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash  I know I dreaded being gone last minute and not having something that could be done by a guest teacher. Now that I am a guest teacher, I appreciate when teachers are organized and allow me to teach a mini lesson. With this in mind, I thought about 11 different units/categories I taught in middle school. I create stand alone lesson plans for each that don't require too many materials and background knowledge to complete. You can find it here .

 Edheads has updated their site! I have to admit I have a vested interest since I helped create some of the content that is posted. What's new? STEM Mysteries   have students look at phenomena and pieces of evidence to reason why something unusual has taken place. This could be an ideal activity for a day you have a sub or as an introduction to NGSS. Check out the hard work we've done over the last two years!

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!  

 I am not good at blogging consistently, but man is life busy! Anyway, knowing that life is busy, I decided to share what I have ready for guest teachers in my classroom. The template can be downloaded for free from my Teachers Pay Teachers site. It's here to serve as a reminder of important things to include and hopefully make this crazy season a little more restful for you.