Teaching Science Without a Science Background Teaching science without a strong science background can be very scary! With the teacher shortage, many elementary and middle school teachers come from non-science backgrounds. Here are some tips with an emphasis on developing curiosity, more than being a science expert. Hopefully I can take some of that fear…
Embracing The Mess: Why a “Messy” Science Classroom is a Good Thing Do you have a messy science classroom? Are supplies scattered everywhere, with half finished designs, and your students are buzzing with excitement? Guess what? That’s a good thing! A messy classroom isn’t a sign of failure, it’s evidence of active engagement, creativity, and…
10 Tips For Engaging Disinterested Students We all know the struggle of engaging disinterested students no matter how hard we try. Over the years, I’ve found a few strategies that make a difference in my middle school science classroom. I put together ten tips that I have used to try to keep students engaged—even the…
Must-Have Student Handouts For an Organized Year in Science We can’t assume that students come into science class with all the learning tools they need. What must-have student handouts can you provide on the first day of school to set students up for success? Most students are visual learners, so I like to provide tangible…
Personalized Project-Based Learning Through Choice Boards Do your students groan when you assign a new project because they find it stressful or boring? What would happen if you used personalized project-based learning with choice boards? I was surprised when my students kept thanking me over and over when I first utilized choice boards several years…
How to Help Students Succeed in Science Class Are your students unsure how they can succeed in science class? Do they constantly ask how they can get an A in your class? We often assume that students have the tools to succeed in science class, but science is a completely different type of class than…
Back to School Essentials: Middle School Science Teacher Starter Kit What’s in a middle school science teacher starter kit? Tons of saved time! How nice would it be to have 25 middle school science teacher ready-to-go resources to start the year?? Let’s go through what is included! #1 Science Teacher Lesson Planner My lesson planner is…
Dealing With Students Who Are Reluctant To Learn At some point in our teaching careers, we all encounter students who are reluctant to learn for various reasons. These students can be challenging as they may become disruptive in class. I’ve put together a brainstorm of methods that I’ve used throughout the years to help engage…
The Importance of Teaching Graphing on Both Paper and the Computer Are you realizing the importance of teaching graphing on both paper and the computer? Are your students simply entering the data on their devices, and making “pretty” graphs, without really understanding what they represent? You know me. I’m all about the digital notebook, but…
What Students Should Know Leaving Middle School Science Besides all of the concepts that we need to cover, what do students need to know leaving middle school science? What Students Should Know Leaving Middle School Science Updated May, 2024 Of course, we want our students to be good citizens and independent workers, but what else?…
