Monday Musings: The First Day of School

Today was the first day of school in my district.  I was nervous, excited, overwhelmed, and exhausted.  Last week we had five days of pre-planning which simultaneously managed to feel like both too much and not enough time.  Too much time sitting in meetings, and yet not enough time to get my classroom ready.  Too much time to stress about getting everything perfect, and not enough time to make perfection happen.

This year as part of my blogging project, I am planning to keep track of how much time I actually work.  Last week was supposed to be 8:30 - 4:30, at least on paper.  After seeing how much time I had in my classroom, I chose to work the week before for about 4 hours to get a head start.  Usually by the time the summer ends, I'm eager to get back in my classroom, and the peace of mind that getting a head start provides is worth it.  I was not alone, either! Many teachers were there, in their rooms, getting a head start.

Most days I did arrive at about 8:30 - I'm not a morning person, so that's the best I can do.  I did arrive 30 minutes early for our staff development day - not only was I presenting, but we were warned that parking would be bad - I didn't need that stress prior to presenting to my peers (the presentation was on games and gamification - you can check out some of the resources HERE).

Most days I managed to leave at 4:30 - even though I probably could've stayed another hour or two.  Tuesday I worked for about an hour at home, and Friday I stayed til 5:30.  I planned on working a little over the weekend to get ready for the week, but I left a folder on my desk with some of the things I wanted to work on! Worst part was that I left it after putting it together to take it home...I blame exhaustion!  I did spend about an hour putting the final touches on my introductory PowerPoint (I was actually having fun finding funny school-related memes to put a humorous spin on my class rules).

All in all I worked about 46 - 47 hours...minus lunch, which is a glorious hour to hour and fifteen minutes during pre-planning - a luxury when compared to our 25 minutes of lunch WITH the students during the year.

So the big day came, and we had a good time, getting to know each other, drawing crazy pictures of scientists, and laughing at my school memes.  My husband always remarks about how odd it must be, going from 0 to 60 as teachers do.  It is a strange way to work, to be sure, but I'm not sure how you would do something different.

What's New Wednesday - July 6, 2016

What's new this Wednesday? I have two new products in my Teachers Pay Teachers store (click HERE).

First, I have an activity for students learning about the path light takes as it passes through the eye to make an image in the brain.  It has two parts, a Cloze paragraph and a scramble activity.  I love Cloze paragraphs because the students really have to read and use their context clues to complete the activity.  The scrambled activity has the steps that light takes out of order.  Students can either cut them out, order them correctly, and paste into their notebooks, or teachers can laminate and use over and over.  It's create for interactive notebooks! See it HERE.

The second activity is a set of worksheets to accompany the movie Apollo 13.  I love showing that movie to my science classes, but my school requires that any movies are part of a developed lesson plan.  In addition to the worksheet to accompany the movie, there is a warm-up, exit ticket, and a Cloze paragraph (I told you I love those, haha).  See it HERE.

I also have a couple of FREE products - Heat Transfer and Crafting a Scientific Argument - Density.  The Heat Transfer activity will only be free until the end of July - get it now!  The Crafting a Scientific Argument activity is designed to helped scaffold the use of the "claim/evidence/reason" framework for developing a scientific argument.

I hope you enjoy the new products!

Tuesday Tech Tool - July 5, 2016

In an attempt to get my blog back up and running, I thought about the different things I could share from my classroom.  One of my areas of interest (which can act as both a blessing and a curse) is my interest in educational technology.  I say it's a blessing, because I always score high marks on evaluations when it comes to incorporating technology, and students enjoy the amount of tech we use in class.  However, it's a curse in that I am always drawn to new apps and websites like a moth to the flame.  I'm always on the look-out for the Goldilocks app - the one that's "just right."

I figured I could put that interest to work, and I came up with the idea of "Tuesday Tech Tool" - a weekly (fingers crossed) feature of my blog where I talk about a tech tool that I have used in class. This week, for my inaugural launch of this, I am going to be talking about Remind (formerly Remind 101).

Remind is a messaging service that allows you to text your students and parents safely and privately - everyone's phone numbers are kept private. It is free to use for teachers, parents, and students.  It can work through the app (Apple and Android friendly), through text messaging, or through email, which makes it very versatile for teachers, parents, and students.

Once you create an account, then from either the app or the website, you set up your classes, and this creates your class code.  I have a separate code for each subject I teach, however you could have a code for each class period if you wanted.  It's very easy to combine classes to send out messages to all your students at once.  You can also send a message to a single student or small group.  I found this feature very useful when individual students needed to return something such as a book or permission slip.

Originally the messages went one way, from me to my students.  However, they now have a chat feature which allows two way communication.  Everything is recorded for safety purposes, and this feature can be shut off or the hours limited (no midnight messages). This turned out to be a great way for students to ask questions if something came up while they were home doing their homework or studying for a test.

One of my favorite features that Remind offers is the ability to schedule messages ahead of time.  I schedule my week's messages when I write my weekly lesson plans.  I am also able to embed this feed into my blog so my students can check it.

I also teach at a very diverse school, and many of my parents have a first language other than English.  If you use Remind through the app on a phone set in another language, it will offer to translate messages for you.

I have been using Remind for about 3 years now, and the design team is always working to improve the app and add new features.  You can now send pictures, PDFs, files, and even voice clips with the messages.

Remind is one of my go-to apps, and one I happily recommend.  If you are interested, you can check out their website HERE or read their teacher's overview HERE.

The Blog is Back!!

So here's the story: About 10 years ago (!!!) I started a blog for my advanced science class. I was one of the first teachers in my school to use the blog as part of my teaching. At the time, I mostly used it for current events - I would post articles for the students to read and discuss. Occasionally I would use it to group a collection of web links that I wanted the students to use in class or for homework.


Fast forward ten years, and now blogs are a requirement at my school (you can check out my current blog HERE). However the purpose has changed - most teachers use the blog as a home-school communication tool, posting homework, class events, etc. When I started, I chose BlogSpot as a host - my options were rather limited at the time. Now, my district has provided us with a blogging platform...ah, how times change!


So this blog lay idle for quite some time (an embarrassingly long time, especially considering that I've had this linked to my Twitter account for years). This year however, I've decided to blog again, but this time for myself. The new purpose isn't to write for my students, but rather to share strategies I've tried in class, promote my (NEW!) Teacher Pay Teachers store, and discuss trends in education.


I hope you'll join me on this journey!

Risen Warrior & Winston - Kentucky Derby Museum

Salvador, Bahia, Day 1

Salvador is a very large metropolitan city located about 13 degrees south of the equator. It is on a pennisula, with one side being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the other side bordered by Baía de Todos os Santos, or the All Saint's Bay. Salvador was founded in 1549, and was the original capital of Brazil - it's still the capital of the state of Bahia.

This was my second time in Salvador - the last time I stayed for about three weeks, living with a family, and attending language school. This time I'm in the same neighborhood, but a lot closer to the school that before. I am staying with a very nice woman named Norma who works in tourism. My room is very nice, and it even has a double bed which is a treat.

We went on the city tour yesterday (see pictures), and we went to some places I had been last time as well as some some new places. We went to the park Dique do Tororó, with the Orixas - African god/desses - represented by statues in the lake. We also went to the Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim - one of the oldest churches and one with a custom of tying colored ribbons on the fence to represent prayers - when the ribbon falls off, your prayer is answered. I went there before but this time the church was open - it was very pretty inside (I don't like taking pictures in the churches - it seems sacreligious). There were a lot of peddlers selling their wares - I was prepared this time. We also went to Forte Mont Serrat, an old fort. I got some cool shots there - there were some horse just roaming free, eating the grass! Finally, we went and had some sorvete - ice cream - yum!

Iguaçu Falls - The Highlight of My Trip

Other pictures of the falls

Going to Iguaçu Falls was the highlight of the trip for me. The falls were amazing. If you've seen the movie The Mission or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, then you have seen parts of the falls. In real life, the view was absolutely stunning. The falls separate Brazil from Argentina - most of the falls are on the Argentinian side, but you get a great view from the Brazilian side. As you travel along the walkway, you see more of the falls and larger cascades. Finally you end up in the Garganta do Diabo, the Devil's Throat (see the rainbow picture below).



Legend has that the river god split the river with his tail - he was angered that a young girl to be sacrificed to him was rescued and taken away by the boy that loved her. In revenge, the river god split the river and turned the girl and boy into a rock and a tree - at least that's what I got from the film at the Visitor's Center - it was in Portuguese, after all!

Scientifically speaking, the science is what makes the falls exciting to me. The water cascades over basalt formed when Pangaea was splitting up. The rock has actually been matched to rock from Africa that is the same age and composition.

Gramado and Canela

Gramado and Canela are two cities in Rio Grande Do Sul, one of the southern-most states in Brazil. They were settled by a lot of German and Italian immigrants, and the cities' architecture reflects that. You feel a little like you're in an Alpine village in Europe, instead of Brazil.

We took a tour of the two towns, and we saw a beautiful valley, waterfalls at the Parque do Caracol, and a chocolate factory. We also saw this strange museum, called Mundo O Vapor (Steam World), that commemorated a famous train wreck in Montparnasse, France - weird!

Other pictures from Gramado and Canela

Flying the Friendly Skies

Pictures from Day 1, Porto Alegre

So, we made it to Miami without a hitch - we were all concerned about our long layover at the Miami airport...well, we shouldn't have worried about too much time - we were kept busy scrambling when our TAM flight was cancelled!

Luckily we got a flight on another airline - unluckily the flight was not as nice: TAM has some great amenities that the other didn't, like complimentary toothbrushes. Those are important on an overnight flight, particularly when your luggage gets LOST! That's right, the luggage didn't make it with us through the change in flights. We also got a bonus selective security screening - apparently when you get rebooked from a cancelled flight, it's SOP to get selectively screened. Yeah for me.

We made it to Sao Paulo, but had to scramble again to catch our connecting flight to Porto Alegre - we had to fill out lost luggage forms. Finally we made it to our hotel - the Blue Tree Towers - very nice.

We spent the afternoon on a ciy tour, which to be honest, I missed most of because I kept falling asleep on the bus. I did learn about the state of Rio Grande Do Sul , which is very much like our state of Texas. Like Texas it has cowboys, called gauchos, and admires independence. There was a civil war to separate in 1835, called the War of Tatters, so now they say that they are Brazilians by choice, not neccessity. The highlight was seeing the medical worker's protest, and having it explained to me - in Portuguese - by a skateboarder I struck up a conversation with.

The day ended on a high note - dinner at a churrascaria - traditional gaucho dishes and traditional gaucho meats - sliced right at the table!

Tomorrow - Grammado and Canela

School's Out For The Summer!

So what are your plans? Are you going anywhere out of town? Out of the state? Out of the country? Are you traveling with friends, relatives, or both?

How about camp? Band camp? Science camp? Sports camp?

I am leaving for Brazil this Thursday - be sure to check back for blogs and pictures! Feel free to share your summer stuff, too!

Enjoy!

A Classic - Diet Coke & Mentos

Some diet Coke...some Mentos...and a lot of time!!!

Ordinary People Doing Ordinary Things

I just liked it...not particularly "science-y" (although there are some people I've mentioned in class) - I guess the message is to keep trying - never give up.

We Didn't Start the Fire...or did we?

A mini-history lesson in an old Billy Joel song from the late 80s - did you catch the science references?

Science Current Events

Some recent articles - feel free to browse and post on as many topics as you like. Each relevant post on a separate topic counts as one effort point.

Oldest Known Human Fossil Found In Europe - placing man there earlier than previously believed

The Science of Baseball Stats - for the hardcore baseball fan out there

Vast Antarctic Ice Shelf About to Collapse - more climate change news

Seeds of Life Found Near Saturn - one of Saturn's moon's is off-shooting water and organic molecules

Tourist Rocket Ship Set to Launch by 2010 - for the low, low price of $200,000 - would you go?

Spring Forward; Fall Back

I hate Daylight Saving Time...I know, I know, it's nice that it is currently 7:15PM and still light - I get it. But tomorrow, when it's 7:15 AM, it will still be dark...and I hate waking up in the dark!

We not saving any daylight at all - the number of hours of daylight has nothing to do with how we humans choose to set our clocks. Having the switch take place before the spring equinox (equinoxes are the two days a year when day and night hours are equal) is sort of silly, in my opinion. The rationale is that it saves energy.

Want to know more? Here's a good site that talks about the history and reasons for the change. You can also reead about it at Wikipedia. Finally, you can ask Bill Nye the Science Guy!

It takes me about a week to adjust - and I spend that week pretty grumpy, to boot! How about you - do you like the switch? Do you hate it? Do you even notice?

It's Gettin' Hot in Here!

No, this is not another global warming article -well, not the current global warming, anyway, but the ultimate global warming: the end of our sun, and life on Earth as we know it!

You may remember learning about the lifecycle of a star in 6th grade Earth Science. You also may have been subsequently disappointed to learn that our sun, as magnificient and life-giving as it is, is doomed to end in a less-than-dramatic fashion - instead of an amzing supernova explosion, it will become a red giant, burn off the bulk of its mass in a last-gasp effort of nuclear fusion, and finally fade away from a white dwarf to a black dwarf - a celestial whisper instead of a bang.

Scientists have long estimated that the sun (and solar sytem) were roughly 5 billion years old, and the sun middel-aged, giving roughly 5 billion years before it dies out. Now scientists Robert Smith, from Britain's University of Sussex, and astronomer Klaus-Peter Schroeder of the University of Guanajuato in Mexico have made new calculations prediciting the end of the Sun 7.6 billions years from now.

"After a billion years or so [when the Sun begins it's expansion to a red giant] you've got an Earth with no atmosphere, no water and a surface temperature of hundreds of degrees, way above the boiling point of water," Smith told Space.com. "The Earth will become dry basically. It will become completely impossible for life of any kind to exist. It's a pretty gloomy forecast."

Read the original MSNBC article here. To see another article about an extrasolar planet currently undergoing this scenario, read here. To refresh your memories about the lifecycle of a star with interactive activities, click here.

Onlie Quizzes - Repost

Click here or here to access some online quizzes. Want some CRCT practice? Try here. After submitting your answers, you can e-mail the results to me for credit. Need some math practice? Try these.

Although these quizzes are form a different textbook, most of the chapters correspond to our book.

Good luck!

Did You Know? Shift Happens.

Watch the video - note what facts surprise you the most. You might want to watch it more than once. What do you think this means for you and the class of 2012? Your kids? Does this change the question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

I love the stat that most people are training for jobs that don't even exist yet. I look at my daughter, who is 20 and a college junior. She is majoring in English, yet many of her classes have been in web design and writing for the web. She is an artist, yet lately she has been working with computer manipulations. She could someday work for a web designer or game company writing story lines or designing graphics - there is no college major for that...yet.

Read this article in the Marietta Daily Journal about the Wheeler Robotic team - note how it talks about Southern Poly Tech adding a new major - Mechatronics. That would've sounded like science fiction when I was in the 8th grade.

Charged Up About Electricity!

Batteries. Lightbulbs. Things we use everyday that we don't even think about. If you lived 150 years ago, you wouldn't think about them either - they didn't exist!

Have you ever wondered how they worked?

Energizer has a great Learning Center and Duracell has some FAQs. A great source for information is HowStuffWorks. Find out about batteries, lightbulbs, capacitors, and solar cells.

Read a little about these and try to summarize it in your own words. Could you explain it to your folks? Could you explain to to a little brother or sister? Any new knowledge gained? Any surprises?

Find another topic that interests you - tell us what you learned!

Experiment: Make Your Own Battery

Some Websites to Get You Started!

You are certainly not limited to these, but it will save you some searching time! Feel free to post questions about the project on the "Comments Page" (No, AC, that won't count for effort points).

Cool Cosmos - lots of links to other sites about the electromagnetic spectrum

Waves of Energy (at Discovery School) - scroll down and click on The Electromagnetic Spectrum Tutorial

The Electromagnetic Spectrum (at Windows on the Universe) - you can change the level to beginner or advanced and even change the language to Spanish. Check out the Explora Tour, too

The Electromagnetic Spectrum (at NASA) - more information

How the Eye Sees Light (at Neuroscience for Kids) - good for projects on visible light and the eye

Electricity Links - lots of links for magnets and electricity

Light and Optic Links - lots of links for light, color, and optics

Sound Links - lots of links for sound and acoustics

Remember: when citing websites, use the URL for the page you actually find the information, not the page from which you followed a link! Google, Yahoo, & Ask are not sources - they are search engines. Wikipedia is an OK place to start (they often have great links at the bottom of their articles), but it can never be considered a definitive or final source.