Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree...

... Why does winter break always end so quickly?! I feel like I just cleaned up the classroom and ate my last workroom cookie.

Now, to be fair, technically I don't start again until January 5th. I have August syndrome. You know in August, when you feel the excitement/dread of the school year starting to sink in? That's what I have right now, but in December. I feel like I need at least another month of sleeping time. Don't even remind me of prep time.

My school does semester classes instead of full year classes. This means that I have two weeks left with my fall classes, then we start a new semester with new classes after MLK day. I will have two new preps.

I am trying to approach this like I would approach a new school year. In a way, that is what is happening. New classes, new students. (Technically I've had most of these students before, but you know what I mean.) But I always feel like I am worse in the spring semester. I think it's because I am tired and not as peppy as I am in August. I am more likely to adopt the "good enough" mentality.

This spring, I am going to try to turn that around. I am going to do my best to approach this semester as if it is a new school year, at least mentally. New lessons, new classes, new decorations, new seating arrangements, etc. Maybe that will get me out of my funk!

I hope you all had a great break! Good luck with the remainder of your school year!


Cheers!
- S

Differentiated projects for high school chemistry

Hey. How is everyone? It's been a while. I promise that I haven't fallen off the earth. It has been a really crazy start to the school year, and I haven't been able to post as much as I would like.

This semester I teach honors chemistry. It has definitely been a challenge for me. I know that chemistry is already an honors level class, just from the content material alone. However, I also wanted to make it more than just a hard academic class. I want to expand it to really differentiate for high level kids. I have at least five students who are classified as AIG (academically and intellectually gifted) and several who used to be in the program but are not anymore. 

I can't say that I've been successful every day. We all fall into the comfortable trap of worksheets and textbook problems, and sometimes that really is the best way to teach. Especially in the holiday season, it is so much easier for teachers to just find a worksheet and leave it at that.

But we all know better. We know our kids need more than that. So, as I was glancing over my state standards, I found this one:

"Describe macromolecules and network solids: water (ice), graphite/diamond, polymers (PVC, nylon), proteins (hair, DNA) intermolecular structure as a class of molecules with unique properties. " (NC chem 1.2.5)

It hit me -- what a perfect opportunity for a project! I quickly came up with some guidelines. (I took what the state says students should know and incorporated it into this standard.) I put together a rubric. I also decided to provide my students with some links to help them when researching.

Because I have so many advanced students, I purposely made this project vague. I gave the students specific items to research, but I did not tell them how to write it or how to present it. My only guidelines were that their final product had to include technology, an oral presentation, and a visual presentation. They could do it all in one (like in a video), or they could break it up.

A lot of my students too this project and ran with it. I got some awesome green screen videos with animations! I think they appreciated the opportunity to work on something more creative than a worksheet.


Find this product here in my TpT store:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Molecule-Research-Project-1551296


I hate to ramble on for too long, but if you have questions about this project, please ask!

Cheers!
- S :)

"Sockase" enzyme activity

Hello everyone! :)

I would like to share an activity that I did in my classes for the last few years. It's called "sockase", and it only requires a few materials.

Students often have a hard time understanding enzymes. They are impossible to see in real life. Enzyme activities, like that one lab where students use peroxide and liver, fall short with many students. They are unable to think abstractly, and they cannot understand what is really happening.

In "sockase", students role play as enzymes. Their job is to assemble a "molecule" -- two beads on a pipe cleaner. This activity takes the students through five trials:

1. A fully functioning, single enzyme (one student assembling products)
2. Many fully functioning enzymes (whole group assembling products) 
3. One "socked" enzyme (denatured)
4. Many "socked" enzymes
5. No enzymes at all (the enzyme is completely absent)

Click here to get the activity from my TpT store.

What do students learn?

They find that a denatured enzyme cannot work. It is nearly impossible to string beads with socks on your hands! They find that many enzymes work better than just one enzyme. And, they learn that having no enzymes means that no product gets made. 

This activity is student approved! They always love it (especially the boys, since it is a small competition to them) and they have learned a lot about enzymes. I think this activity really drives the point home, in a way that is concrete and fun. 

I hope you will give this activity a try in your classes. If you do, let me know how it goes!

Cheers!

- S

Beginning of the year hello!

Hi all :)

I haven't fallen off of the earth. I have been super busy since school started (pshh, haven't we all?!) and I have had medical issues that have pushed it all back farther. I will be back online to post more soon. So far my classes are going great! It's the grading and the phone calls that have me down. I have some great classroom management techniques that I have discovered, interactive notebook tips, technology uses, and TpT products to share....... as soon as I have the time! Ha!

How is your school year going so far?

Cheers!
- S

Meme rules!

Like most of you, I have been hard at work getting my classroom ready. I am moving into a new room and at the same time the previous teacher is moving out, so I'm still all over the place. I haven't even picked up my technologies (projector and all that) yet.

What I did today is something I have wanted to do for a while - made a meme rules wall.

By the time kids get to high school, they know the rules. They've been over it. Doing the same old rules taught with the same old activities won't phase them. That does not mean that we should abandon the idea. Instead, we just need to do it a bit differently. Some high school teachers make this very severe and serious. I used to be one of them. Rules are important for teenagers, after all. I have found that approach didn't really help me. It just made for a boring first day.

I have 3 rules - Respect yourself, respect others, and respect our school. That is both specific and vague, which high school kids can handle. There are obviously a ton of other rules and procedures that fit in those categories. To try to write that all out would be boring, and every teenager alive would outright ignore it.

Enter the memes. (I found them all on pinterest. If you've been on the internet - which, obviously, you have - you've probably seen these.)

Disclaimer - I'm not sure who made these memes. You know how things spread on the internet. They belong to whomever it was that created them. If you are that person, please let me know so that I can give you credit.

I think the memes serve two purposes:

1. The rules and procedures for my class are explained. Students have an idea of what things are acceptable. For example, my school allows students to have cell phones, but they cannot have them out in class. Teachers are allowed to take phones if we see them. Under the "respect our school" rule, I have the Darth Vader meme - "Your teacher took your phone? Mine took my legs." 

2. I incorporate all of these rules and procedures with humor in a way that engages my students. Would any average teenager stop and read a list of rules? (I mean really read them, not just glance at them and pretend.) No way! Would an average teenager stop and look at a wall of internet memes? You bet!

I'll be interested to see how this works out for my students. I have seen it work with success in other classrooms. I will update you later!

Cheers!

- S

TpT Blast Off Back to School Sale!!!

On August 4 and 5, Teachers Pay Teachers is having a site wide sale! Make sure to log on and get all of your supplies ready.

My store (Happy Cat Science) will be having a 20% off sale, in addition to the TpT sale! Don't miss it! Click the button below to find out more.

Custom grade book freebie

Hello all!

As a secondary teacher, I often find regular grade books frustrating. The blocks are way too small. Imagine trying to write "photosynthesis and cellular respiration lab report" in one of those teeny, tiny little boxes! It never works. Last year I got frustrated and stopped trying to record grades on paper. I recorded them once in our virtual grade book (powerschool), and that was it.

It does make me nervous to put in grades that way. What if the system crashes? What if I forget to hit "save"? Ahhh so many things can go wrong. This year, I've decided to go back to using both. Instead of struggling with those teeny store bought grade books, I made my own.

Here is a screen shot of what the top of the grade book looks like:

And here is the second page:

There are enough rows for 32 students. On the first page, there are 10 grade columns. On the second page, there are 14 grade columns, for a total of 24 assignments. Because I have trouble looking at all of those rows, I grayed out every other column and also the date and points rows on top. I think that will make it easier for me to read.

Those of you who are interested in this might be thinking "gee, I wish I had something like that". Well, it just so happens that I have this custom grade book on my TpT for free! It is completely editable as well, so you can format it for your own classes.

Click here to get this custom grade book on my TpT!

When you go to copy these into your own grade book, make sure to do it front and back. That way each page opens like a book, just like in those store bought grade books.

Happy grading!
- S

Organization!

I have four weeks left until the official start of the new school year. My mind is on so many things, and I know I have a whole lot of planning to do (one old prep and one new prep). Instead, I have decided to whip out my colored pencils and decorate.

Who says that secondary teachers can't have pretty binders too?

[Sorry, I'm not sure why the individual images are showing up sideways.]

I have had many coworkers who have put all of there materials from a year/semester into one big binder. The idea always seemed kind of restricted to me before, but I get it now. I have taught biology a total of 6 times, including twice as a long term sub. Naturally I kept EVERYTHING. I am finding now that I don't ever use half of the really awesome materials that I spent so long trying to save. They are only dust collectors on my bookshelf.

Here's how I plan to change that. As I use materials, I will print them out and/or pull them off of the dusty shelf. They go straight into the big binder, in order. Then, when next summer comes around, I can clean out whatever I didn't use. As a bonus, I'll already have a nice, neat binder ready for the next time I teach these classes. In case you were wondering, I already had the big binders sitting on my shelf (another dust collector). But, sometimes you can find them for cheep at yard sales and such. Don't buy those big binders if you can prevent it - they can be very pricey. The covers I made with some colored pencils, some white card stock, and a lot of free time.

 Well, now that that's done, I suppose I have to go plan...

 Cheers!
- S

Back to school sales - take 2

Alert friends!!!

 Walmart is having a teacher appreciation sale July 25-31. All K-12 teachers can get 10% back on purchases made in the stationary and craft departments! Here's how you do it:

 1. Go to walmart and purchase your materials. Remember this only counts for purchases in stationary and crafts!

 2. Register your receipt at walmart.com/teachers before August 15 (link below).

 3. Receive a 10% gift card via email within 2 weeks.

 *** Please note - I do not know how they will make you prove that you are a teacher. I expect they'll tell us when the sale starts on July 25.

Click here for all of the information on the sale!

Prepping for a new school year

Raise your hand if you're already preparing for the new school year.

Don't lie. I know you are doing it too. This is the only time we really have "vacation", and all we can think about is the next school year. Don't worry; it's completely natural. (I am a biologist and I can confirm this.)

Did you know that back to school sales are happening ALREADY? Dang, back to school is becoming like Black Friday. Every year it just gets earlier and earlier! Here are some of the ads that I've come across. I don't know about you, but I will be taking all the sales I can find!

Please note that I don't work for any of these places. I just like to pass on deals to my fellow educators because I know how much we are all struggling. If you are one of those lucky teachers who does not have to worry about school supplies, pass this information on to a friend, please. 

Click the links below to go to the sale websites (I shortened them to make it easier.) Please note that these sales are for the week of July 13-19, 2014.

• Staples
• Walmart

:) Cheers!

-- S

Welcome to Adventures in Secondary Science!

Hello all!

Welcome to Adventures in Secondary Science! I am excited to begin this new blogging adventure!

I teach high school science. The subjects change from year to year, so I kept my title very generic. As of today I have taught biology, chemistry, anatomy, AP biology, and earth science.

Here's what you can expect from Adventures in Secondary Science:

• Technology - I will profile a technology that I use in my classroom. I will only show technologies that I have personally used, and I will tell you my personal pros and cons of each one. I am considered a "digital native", and I pride myself on my use of technology in my classroom.
  
• Best Lessons - I will post one activity, lesson, or lab that worked very well each week. If nothing else, this is a lesson in being grateful for the things that go well in my class!
  
• Science news - Sometimes things happen in science that I just have to share with the rest of the world. When some awesome science news comes along, I will link it here for you (with permission, of course!).
  
• Thoughts and Feels - I do have strong opinions on teaching and learning. Occasionally they might be typed for your viewing pleasure. 

Thank you for your visit! If there is ever any way that I can help you, please contact me!