Tales from the science classroom

So I apparently I only mentioned spring break in passing. It was a quiet, restful break. I did some school work and I relaxed a whole lot. It was great. Last week we returned to school and I was a hot mess. Even though I had planned things out for the rest of the year, I was all over the place in some classes. Doing one thing here, another thing there, it was nuts. Plus my patience was extremely short. So yeah, it was not a good first week. This week was much better though still not as good as I had hoped. The good news is there are only 7 more weeks left in school. Next week is testing, and with 45-minute classes basically, nothing will get done. Then the final week is finals. That boils down to only 5 more weeks of instruction. 10 days each class. Woo Hoo!!!! I just need to survive. I have one class that is literally the bane of my existence. It has a bunch of personalities that, when brought together, are annoying and impossible to deal with. I lose it in that class regularly. I n...

But I think I'm making progress.  I've been playing around with my website this week since it was spring break and I could do it while watching vast quantities of mindless TV. While doing that, working and watching TV, I just kind of did this: And I kind of like it. I have a table at the top with the dates of each part of the unit. I have the notes, handouts, worksheets, all loaded on the page and everyone can see them and get them easily. I'm not expecting this year's class to use this site, but I figure if I set it up as I go, that's just less I have to do next year. So I like this and I've done it on all my pages so far. I think this will work. I can just add things if I want to and edit the table to change the dates. The other problem was my paper. I have a lot of paper. A. Lot. And I've been working hard to figure out how to deal with the paper. A few days ago someone posted a similar question in one of the teacher groups I belong to. Since it i...

Sometimes I think I am because I talk about this topic so often. Maybe that's good. I never really considered it this deeply before and my files are a mess, so maybe it will take a few rounds of trial and error until I get it correct. So, on to today's problem. I purchased my own domain for my classes. I've been using Wikispaces almost since I started teaching and they are shutting down this summer. Therefore, I needed a new platform for my class website. Also, I want to utilize my website more. I want to have it all set up this summer and it be a go-to for all my information. That was the idea this year and it didn't quite pan out, but I'm a little better laid out for next year. I have the vast majority of my curriculum on chalk.com so I have a far better idea of the pacing and units than I did previously. I think I can refine it this year and have a real curriculum I can work with. So the need for a website that houses everything becomes vitally important. ...

Seriously. Something is and I'm not sure exactly what. I'm behind in my curriculum. I'm not getting the information across well. Students are not getting what I'm teaching and they are failing tests left and right. And I don't know what's wrong. It's my 9th year teaching and I'm not sure if it's me or the kids. Or some combination of both. At this point, I'm just holding on to get through the year. Thankfully, next week is spring break. I need it. I plan on getting things laid out until the end of the year and just going for it. I have AP students taking the test and no way will they be ready. I can't get some of the students to do homework. They won't study. Nothing. I just don't know what to do. I do plan on getting everything laid out and if they don't do it, they will fail. I'm really and truly over this. The good news is spring break is next week. I am so looking forward to the break. I have a lot I want to do, but I...