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Top 5 Ways to Spend Less Time Grading

Are you drowning in grading? Does the thought of the pile of papers on your desk deflate you like a balloon? Do you wish you could spend less time grading and more time… doing anything BUT grading? There’s no doubt about it - grading assignments is one of the biggest time-sucks in teaching science. Here are the top 5 ways I've found to make grading more manageable without sacrificing quality.
spend less time grading
easy prep middle school science labs

Easy Prep Middle School Science Labs

When I first started teaching (don't ask when... it was along time ago), there wasn't much out there for easy prep middle school science labs. It seemed like every lab required supplies or tools from a science catalog, and they were generally extremely HIGH prep. As in, I'd have to stay after school way too long the night before to set it up. So, I've always had a sort of "love/hate" relationship with labs. but not anymore!

10 Engaging Fast Finisher Activities for Science

"I'm Done! What Do I Do Now?" Let's talk about one of the biggest challenges we face as science teachers – pacing activities to work for everyone in the room. Most teachers have very heterogeneous classes these days. We’ve all been there… some students are still working through their lab while others are sitting there with nothing to do. We have some kids that require almost all of our attention and others that could probably sail through college science courses already. It’s a challenging mix.
Fast Finisher Activities for Science
astronomy activities for middle school

Astronomy Activities for Middle School

Despite the fact that this post is about astronomy activities for middle school... it’s time for a little confession... I’m not that into space. (I can hear the science teacher gasps from here!) In an effort to make astronomy a little more fun to teach, I developed lots of cool (and rigorous!) astronomy activities.

Teaching Growth Mindset in Science

Let me paint a familiar scene: A student is frantically erasing their hypothesis after an experiment, trying to make it match their results. Sound familiar? But can we blame them? They've been conditioned by years of education to believe that success means getting the "right" answer on the first try. However, when students understand that failure and revision are natural parts of the scientific process, everything changes. Their entire approach to learning transforms.
teaching growth mindset in science
protein synthesis in middle school

Teach Protein Synthesis in Middle School?

I’ve always found that kids universally love learning about DNA and genetics. It’s one of those topics that seems to spark a natural curiosity more than most. It’s fun, engaging, and a home run of a real-world connection. But teaching DNA in middle school brings a unique challenge. Should we also teach protein synthesis in middle school?

Emergency Science Sub Plans

It's that sinking feeling we all know and dread... the sore throat, the call from childcare, or the family emergency that can't wait. On top of worrying about those things, we have to make SUB PLANS. Way to make a difficult situation... difficult-er, right!? While it can seem like a lot to get a science sub binder up and running, once you've done it once... you're basically done.

10 Science Movies for Middle School

It can often feel a little taboo to talk about showing movies in class. I'll see a teacher ask on a forum somewhere, "What are the best middle school science movies?" and the post will then be littered with a million teachers offering their opinion about how useless it is to show movies and how they would never do such thing. Well... I'm here to say... I show movies (and documentaries) in class sometimes. There! I said it!

Current Science Activities

If there's one thing I get excited about, it's bridging the gap between the textbook and real-world science. Integrating current science activities into class makes the subject matter more fun and engaging. More importantly, it helps students have those lightbulb moments when "school" concepts connect to the world around them. If I may use a buzzword here, it makes the learning authentic.

Gifts for Science Teachers

Let's talk about gifts for science teachers! I want to make one thing very clear. TEACHERS DON'T NEED GIFTS. Teachers appreciate gifts. We truly do. But we're people, too. We understand the busyness and the financial strain of this season. And to be honest, most kids do not give teachers gifts. Your child will be in the majority if you skip worrying about teacher gifts this year. It's fine, I promise! However, if you insist on giving teacher gifts and you'd like to make it science-themed, here's some great ideas!

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