Category: Best Practices
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Why I’m Changing My Classroom Phone Policy
Last year, I decided to run a social experiment with my honors class. This was a small class of 18 students taking Advanced Placement Biology, with a mix of juniors and seniors. The experiment was to see if these digital natives could handle having an open policy on cell phones. I allowed them…
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Writing to Learn – A Common Core Standard
A collection of activities for students to use writing assignments to engage in lessons and learn scientific concepts.
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Are Exit Tickets a Good Way to Assess Understanding?
My genetics unit for Freshman Biology always starts with a history lesson on Mendel and our understanding of heredity at that time. One of the main themes of this lesson is a comparison between two ways of thinking about inheritance and two competing theories: The Particulate Theory and the Blending Theory. Students struggle…
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Teaching Chi Square Analysis
How to teach chi square analysis in biology. Includes presentation slides and student assignment.
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Are Kids Out of Touch with Nature?
My students are suburban raised and have very little experience in the wild. After reading the article, “Give Childhood Back to Children,” I considered that playing outside not only helps kids learn social structures, it also allows them to explore nature.
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What is “Mastery” and Why is It Important?
Education leaders often talk about mastery. Here’s what it means to me and how I can assess whether students have mastered content.
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Mini Field Trip to the Park
If you’re on the last days before school is out for the summer, you are probably encountering a lot of excited kids who really aren’t interested in sticking their nose in a book. Why not take them outside onto the school grounds or a nearby park and do outdoor projects?
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Top 5 Online Quiz Makers
List of apps that can be used to help student learn content. Practice quizzes can be shared across social media or LMS. Best quiz apps include quizziz, quizalize, and quizlet.
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5 Creative Ways to Teach the Cell
Teaching the cell can be fun and engaging for students. Here are five creative ways to help students learn the parts of a cell.
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Using Infographics for Projects and Learning
Use infographics in your lessons to help students understand concepts. Students analyze graphics or create their own!
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How to Have a Great First Day of School
Things I do the first day that are intended to get students interested in the class and excited about science. Classroom management is still important, and I avoid going too overboard the first day because then students get the wrong impression that every day is going to be Super-Happy-Fun-Time. That being said, there are some…
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Improve Student Writing in Science – A Guide
Ways to incorporate writing strategies into a science curriculum for writing and science literacy.
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Student Activities for Reading Assignments
Use these activities for student reading assignments. Post it notes, pair and share, highlight text, and concept maps
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Simple Experiments with Biodegradable Packing Peanuts
Describes what to do with all those packing peanuts you’ve received with your science orders. How about these cheap and simple student experiments!
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Three Elements of Authentic Learning Projects
One movement in education is to increase the number of AUTHENTIC learning modules, where students look at real-world problems, and work out solutions. This is often done in a collaborative environment where students work in small groups to produce an artifact or presentation that demonstrates their mastery of the topic.