Teacher-Administrator Dynamics-Tips for An Effective Partnership Are you looking for ways to have positive teacher-administrator dynamics so you can effectively work together? Let’s go through some ways to keep a professional, respectful and effective partnership with your leaders. Communication First! I could literally stop writing after this paragraph… Having open communication about EVERYTHING is key…
How to Have a Positive Relationship with Parents Keeping a positive relationship with parents of your students is probably the most difficult part of teaching. One upset parent can cause you to have unnecessary anxiety and stress and make it difficult to focus on your class. After teaching for over 35 years, and dealing with…
Use Backwards Lesson Planning to Create Science Labs Do you struggle with balancing time during labs and hands-on activities? Have you tried backwards lesson planning to create your science labs? I have mentioned this method in several of my blog posts, but I thought it would be helpful to focus only on this method to…
12 Ways to Use Sort Cards in the Science Classroom Do you need some ways to use sort cards in the science room to get the students engaged while learning concepts? I used to believe that matching sort game cards were for the younger classes. Once I started using them with my middle school students,…
10 Ways to Assess Students in the Science Classroom It’s not so easy to assess students in the science classroom since it is not as straightforward as other subjects. Students are actively working out of their seats, working on projects and following procedures. I am a strong believer in multiple ways to gather data on…
Mistakes I Made as a New Middle School Science Teacher If I could go back and correct the mistakes I made as a new middle school science teacher, I’m sure my 30+ year teaching journey would have been much smoother! I’m going to be transparent and tell you some of my biggest mistakes with the…
Using CER Science Image Prompts as Bell Ringers Have you been wanting to incorporate CER science activities into your curriculum but you aren’t sure where to begin? Using CER science image prompts, as bell ringers, has become indispensable in my classroom to spark curiosity and kick start critical thinking. I use an assortment of life, physical…
How Do You Develop Relationships with Middle School Students? Have you heard that it is crucial that you develop relationships with middle school students, but you don’t know where to start? After teaching middle school science for over 30 years, I feel that developing relationships is definitely the most important tool. Let’s go over some…
Review Made Fun: Science Classroom Gamification Can classroom gamification rev up the engagement and attention spans in your science class? “Can we play the review game?” This is the question I have heard for over 25 years of teaching middle school science. Many years ago I got bored reviewing for tests so I created a spelling…
Teaching Students Organizational Skills Teaching students organizational skills is critical and will stay with students long after their time in your classroom. I have often had alumni students come back to tell me how much they appreciated my “forcing them“ to do proper Cornell notes and to keep an organized notebook. They tell me that…
