Tales from the science classroom

 It's been so long since I posted here.  This semester has not been good. I started out with such high hopes and grand visions and it all fell to sh*t by November. For the last few weeks I have been in a foul mood and have not been wanting to even go to school. I have made huge mistakes that affected everyone's grades and it's all because my heart just has not been in it.  After a whole lot of reflection, I realized that while I had all these grandious plans and expectations, the students did not. I thought that I if I did X,Y, and Z all the students would fall in line and class would be amazing. It didn't happen. So much of my foul mood was due to the fact that I was working my butt off to try and make things work and the students were hardly working. That is going to change. I've already decided that I'm going to move a little bit away from the modeling structure. A little bit. I'm going to do more lecture and just explain things to them. I'm going to

 Week 12: Chemistry We started Unit 2 by setting up the notebook and doing a phenomenon.  Then there was a demo on thermal expansion and finally we watched a series of  Eureka! videos about solids, liquids, gases, and temperature. That took 2 full days. I'm not super thrilled with how this unit starts and I think I may try to revamp it for next year. It's just kind of slow and boring.  AP Chemistry:   Believe we started Unit 3 this week, not even sure I remember. Oh, I remember now. We finished up the test on Tuesday and then started Unit 3 on Thursday. Nothing exciting, just some lecturing and note taking.  Week 13: Chemistry This week was the gas laws labs. We started the week with a short lecture on pressure. Then proceeded to the first of the gas laws labs - Pressure v. Volume. Then, next class, we moved on to Pressure v. number of particles after whiteboarding the first lab.  AP Chemistry:  I had a meeting on Tuesday so they were given a worksheet to practice some of the A

 Since I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, time for a catch up.  Week 10:  This was the week before break and we were all done. Completely. Totally. Done.  Chemistry:  Week 10:  Started dimensional analysis (maybe that is why I was so done - teaching this is far harder than it should be). Did a little work on dimensional analysis. Then, on Wednesday/Thursday, I gave them a catch up day. They could work on their summative task, retake any thing they did poorly on, whatever. I did not feel like jumping into something on the day before break. I honestly didn't feel like working on the day before break.  Over the fall break, I watched a webinar about mathematical reasoning. It really struck home because I realized that these kids had no concept of numbers or what they mean exactly or even really how to use them well. They know the algorithms but they don't really understand what they are doing. So over the break I created a lecture and some notes for them on this topic. I th

 It was a week.  Chemistry:  Monday/Tuesday:  We whiteboarded worksheet #3 and then did worksheet #4. Worksheet #4 was turned in for a grade.  Wednesday/Thursday: We took some notes on density and then did Big Idea #3. The Summative Task was distributed and work began on it.  AP Chemistry:  Tuesday: Lecture on periodic trends and a little practice Thursday: Lecture on PES and then a little practice.  I was very low energy this week and it was reflected in my classes. Also, we are approaching fall break and that is just kind of making things drag a bit. Next week is the week before break and I'm truly looking forward to break. We are going to New Mexico for a few days and I'm super excited about it.  That was it. Not a lot to say. As I said, low energy week and so nothing exciting happened. 

 Last week I didn't get to blog so it's time to catch up here.  Week 7:  Chemistry:  Monday/Tuesday: We whiteboarded worksheet 2 which was all on measuring and reading scales. Then we had a lecture on SI units. I discovered that whiteboarding takes far, far longer than I anticipate.  Wednesday/Thursday: We had an assessment on reading measurements and estimating the last number. Then we began a lab exploring mass v. volume. This was a little difficult as I had to explain, repeatedly, how to use a caliper. But we struggled through.  AP Chemistry:  Tuesday: Lecture on electron configuration, Hund's Rule, Aufbau principle, and Pauli exclusion principle. Went through those in some detail.  Thursday: We did some worksheets on the above and got ready to start a lab.  Week 8:  Chemistry:  Monday/Tuesday: We completed the mass v. volume lab and they had to graph out the data. We used two things to do this lab, some density cylinders and density blocks. The cylinders worked fantasti

 So this week was a 2 day week due to the 5 day weekend. And it was brutal. Getting back into the swing of things after 5 days off takes more than 1 day. But we survived and the week is now over.  Chemistry this week: Over the 5 day weekend, I graded the worksheets they did and was so disappointed in the grades. So I decided, since we only had 1 day this week, to revisit those worksheets. I gave them back with all the red  marks on them. Each group was given a part of a problem and they had to do it up on the white board. I circulated and made corrections or clarifications where necessary. Then everyone got to 'copy' the whiteboards onto a new worksheet and submit that for a grade. I also did the first notebook check. It was worth 10 points and while most students did well, I clearly have to remind them of some things. So I am going to start reminding them of some things daily.  AP Chemistry this week:  We finished up the test that they started last week. It took them about 1/2

 Yes!!! So the year is off and running. We are already nearing the end of our first unit and I  need to start thinking of the summative task. I believe I have something in mind, I just need to flesh it out. I also need to get the Big Ideas in order and ready to do. So that's what I'm going to work on over the 5 day weekend. I want the entire rest of the first unit laid out and the summative task complete so that I can just deliver the content. Okay, let's get to this week:  Chemistry Monday/Tuesday:  We took our first minor assessment. It was a review of the mass & change lab. I still have to grade it, so I will see how they did this weekend.  After the assessment, we did the cm3 vs mL lab. What a freaking mess. And honestly, I don't think they understood what was going on. They are sometimes so clueless and will just go through the motions rather than try to figure out what is really happening.  Chemistry Wednesday/Thursday:  Today we reviewed the lab from Mon/Tues

 So after my brain dump on Thursday things went a whole lot smoother. Let's recap.  Chemistry:  Monday and Tuesday we did our first big lab. I set up the board with the way they were to set up their notebooks - that was their bellwork, setting up their notebooks. Many didn't do that. That means when we started the lab they weren't ready to go. There were 5 things they had to do and collect data on and it took most of the class. As I wrote about on Thursday, some groups didn't finish it because they were goofing off. Others did pretty crappy jobs at it. The bottom line is that I was majorly disappointed in these students as a whole. But all is not lost. I just need to take a step back and keep going step by step until they can do these things on their own. Not a problem. After I lost it on my first class on Wednesday, I had that class write a page on what they found in the lab. But as they were writing I realized that I could give a short lecture as to what I wanted them

Yesterday I lost it on a class. Completely. Totally. Lost it. I had to make a new seating chart for this class because 2 groups didn't finish their labs on Monday - only class where that happened. Then I went to do a notebook check and a bunch of students didn't have theirs done. One student said he was absent so he didn't have it - even though I post it on Google Classroom at the end of every day. Another took up 5 pages for his lab and did not follow my template at all. I just completely lost it on them. I take time out of my life to make sure all this stuff is updated so they can access it from home and then they do this nonsense. Boom - I blew!!! I  feel bad about it for a couple of reasons:    a. I let it get to me b. I took it so personally I know they did not do that specifically because of me, but that is not how I reacted. So things are changing a little.  First, if they are absent I will email them and remind them to check on the Google Classroom.  Second, I'm

 This year I did something very, very different. I decided exactly the kinds of things I wanted in my classroom and I set things up so that I got those things. For example, nothing makes me crazier than to be in the middle of a lecture and someone ask to go to the bathroom. So I had a poster made that is a flowchart of when they can and cannot ask. It is working out great. I have decided to do my notebooks a certain way and I am sticking to that. I have had a couple of students fill in the wrong pages and I have made them change it. This will be done my way or not at all. So I basically got pretty firm in what I will and will not accept and there is no gray area, it's pretty black and white. The reason that is important is because it plays into not only the planning but the lack of cognitive dissonance. By planning things out I know exactly what I want to accomplish and how to get there. That takes a huge burden off me because it is all laid out. Also, by knowing exactly what I wil

 Before I go any further, I want to lay out our school schedule so that it is clear going forward. We work on an A/B block schedule and only have a 4 day school week. So Monday and Wednesdays are A days and there are 4 - 90 minute classes. Tuesday and Thursdays are B days and there are 4 - 90 minute classes. Fridays we have off. Normally we would have 6 classes over 2 days with 2 prep periods. But, because of the sheer numbers this year, I agreed to take on a 7th class so I only have 1 prep period every 2 days. But I really only have to plan for 2 classes, twice a week. For the first year in forever, I have 2 classes that I know and have taught numerous times; chemistry and AP chemistry. And I think this is what is allowing me to really focus in on the lesson planning. I've been at this for 14 years but I seem to always be scrambling a little with lessons. But this year I have decided to focus solely on that and so far it is working out well. Of course we just finished our second w

 The students returned to school on Wednesday. So we had classes Wednesday and Thursday for the first week.  I dislike starting the year with boring stuff like the syllabus and safety and all that nonsense. Also, the first week or so there is a lot of shuffling of students and so I hate to dive in, only to have them shift classes and then I have to move information... yeah, no. So I generally start the year with some activities that help promote what they will be doing throughout the year. This year it was Save Fred and Inquiry Cubes.  Can you save Fred? In this activity, the students were given a tray that had a gummy Life Saver under an upside down plastic cup and a gummy worm on top. They also had 4 paperclips. Their job was to save Fred, the gummy worm. Fred was out in his boat when a rogue wave came along and capsized it. Fred can't swim and he didn't have his life jacket on. They needed to turn the boat over, get Fred in the boat and then get Fred's life jacket on him

 This year I'm thinking of tracking my modeling journey. I first took the modeling course in the summer of 2019 to qualify to teach dual enrollment chemistry.  I then started teaching using modeling the 2019-2020 school year. Well, we all know how that ended. Then the 2020-2021 year wasn't a whole lot better as we were in and out in the beginning of the year like crazy. We started the year out, then went back, then had to go out, then went back again. OMG, it was super ugly and I honestly don't know what the hell I taught that year. Then there was last year, 2021-2022, while we remained in school all year, the kids were in and out due to exposure to Covid and all kinds of other nonsense. Also, we had a lot of students who basically hadn't been in school for almost 2 years and they had no idea how to do school. It was a very, very ugly year. It was a year I was happy to see end.   But, I am ever the optimist and I'm really looking forward to next year. I've been

 I feel like maybe I've fallen into a trap. I have spent so much time getting 'things' ready for my classroom that I'm behind on getting the curriculum ready. I return to school on Monday and I am just not ready. I have done a lot but I don't have things like my syllabus ready, or my actual first days lessons. So I'm a little frazzled today. Went in yesterday to put my classroom back in order and ran into a wall and just stopped. So today I am devoting to curriculum. I'm going to get both syllabi done. I'm going to get the first days ppt ready for both classes and then I'm going to make sure the binders for each class are set up and ready to go. I want to flip the AP chemistry class, but I'm holding off on the videos for now. If I can get everything else done, I will consider them.  But today will be spent at my desk working on getting the curriculum ready and organized. I want to use SBG in chemistry, so I need to prep that. What assessments wil

 So I'm working on my AP chem stuff. I have not taught this in about 3 years so I have a lot to set up. I have found a roadmap that I like and plan on using. Prior to finding this roadmap, I had things all set up for the 9 units that the College Board recommends. I had also set up for some standards based grading. Which I just realized, I had decided not to do - don't want to tackle chemistry and AP the same year. So the SBG is on the back burner. That means I can start from scratch with the units. Okay, just literally worked through it as I was typing this. Sometimes that is all it takes. So rather than trying to mesh the two, the units I like and the SBG LO's that someone else did, I'm going to kind of start from scratch and just use the units I like. I will save the SBG stuff and maybe tackle that another year. But not this year.  In other news, we have one more week and then the teachers report back. I have spent a bit too much time on the classroom and now I need t

 This may sound a little strange, but I think that meditating has helped with my planning. Let me explain. I used to be the type of person that would spend hours planning something, anything really. Then, almost the minute I walked away it left my head. So I could spend hours and hours planning my curriculum, only to forget about it and not do it. Then I would be left scrambling thinking I had nothing prepared when in reality I did. Also, when I was planning, I felt like I had to finish it at that time or I would forget what I was thinking and basically have to start over. Yeah, this did not make life fun, let me tell you. But I've been planning this summer and it is very different. I can do something, walk away and come back days later and know exactly what I was thinking and pick up exactly where I left off. It is awesome. I can also keep from going off on tangents - though not entirely. I did get caught up in a tangent a few weeks ago about which curriculum I should use. But onc

 I've heard a lot about batch planning the last few weeks. Isn't that the way it always happens? You hear something that is somewhat new to you and then suddenly it is everywhere and people have been doing it for years.  While I don't actually know exactly what batch planning is, I have developed my own take on it.  I was trying to plan an entire unit all at once. When doing that, I would get sidetracked by the details and that would derail me from the big picture. So I sat the other day and broke things down into steps and have been working on that for each unit. So rather than working on one unit at a time, I'm working on one task at a time. Here's what it looks like:  Create a 'roadmap' of the unit with each activity listed.  Develop the Big Ideas from the roadmap and the learning objectives for each unit From the Big Ideas, develop a driving question for the whole unit Confirm the anchor phenomenon Create a summative task Then go back to the roadmap and

 25 days until I return to work. Yikes. It is definitely time to get serious about my planning. Since I wrote the last post, 7 days ago, I have literally switched back and forth between the three curriculum, iHub, Patterns, and Modeling, at least 3 times. My last post I was leaning towards the modeling. Then I decided that the Patterns would work better, but in going through that I discovered that the last couple of units aren't complete. I'm not writing whole curriculum, I'm just not. So I switched over the the iHub, but there is something about that one that just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe it's because it was developed for distance learning so everything is online I would need to recreate a lot of things. I don't know, but I keep steering away from that one.  So here's what I want to do this year:  Keep up the notebooks Big ideas Summative Tasks Standard Based Grading Honestly, the modeling curriculum lends itself the best to all of these. Another mo

 So I think I finally figured out how to organize my stuff so that I can keep track of it. I'll be using that guide that I showed in the last post. I have altered it slightly so it looks like this:  This way I have a kind of running list of what I'm doing and be ready to keep moving if I have time. Also, I have a place to make notes so that I remember key things and don't forget what I had in mind. I also have color coded it with highlighter. Yellow means that assignment will be graded. Green is something that I have to do. Red is something that I need to post in the classroom. I have included the links to all the resources I will need so I can easily print them or load them. I think this will work because I can print it out and have it on my table and just keep going. It will allow me to prep things in advance that way I can keep going and I'm not stuck if something doesn't take as long as I thought it would. I can just keep going. I can also write notes on this ab

Let me start this by saying I have no idea how to plan lessons. Okay, that's not completely true, but sort of. I was never taught how to lesson plan in my teacher education program. We had to write lesson plans and were instructed that they were what you planned on doing during a class, but that was really about it. Not a lot of information on how to actually go about doing it. Side note, I was in a webinar and the lady said that chemistry teachers have to have detailed instructions with specific examples for their subject. That's true, how exactly do I do this for chemistry.  Another problem I have is that in 13 years of teaching, I have not hit on a good method for writing lesson plans that work for me. I know that I need a physical copy to look at but I just haven't found a good way to have that copy that actually works for me and it's driving me crazy. I came across this in my files  Apparently I made this last year but then never followed through on it. I like this

 So first, I can't believe that 2 weeks has already passed. WTF????? I started seriously working on next year yesterday and I think I'm just in my own way. I want to use a new curriculum, but I have the choice of 2 and I don't know which to use. Both are storyline driven, which is good. The first unit for one is about global warming, always a good topic, and the other one is about alien life, one of my favorite topics. I can't decide what to use and I want to have the curriculum basically laid out for when I return to school. I hate when I get this paralyzing feeling over planning. It's ridiculous. I know how to do this, I've been doing it for 13 years. But still I tend to panic just a little. I once again wonder if I'm trying to do too much. I want to do the notebooks that I attempted last year and a new curriculum. Too much? I don't think so. I worked on the notebooks all year and have a pretty good idea of how to get them going. Also, starting right a

 We have 5 weeks of school left and I know from previous experience that those 5 weeks will fly by. I have already reached the point where I'm trying to figure what I can squeeze in during the remaining time and the answer is not much.  But more important is that it is graduation season. I am in charge of putting the program together and another teacher and I are in charge of the whole ceremony. I don't mind doing it, I actually kind of like doing it, but there can be stressful moments. Like getting the program together. There is information I need to gather from other people and I literally didn't get that information until yesterday. The program was due on the 11th. UGH!!!! But that's okay, it all worked out.  Just now, during my meditation, all I could think about was how the graduates will move. How they will enter the stage, how they will get to their seats, how they will get their diplomas, etc. I'm trying to meditate and that stuff is all running through my h

 We are nearing that point where there is a real crunch at the end of the year. I still have so much I want to cover and there just is not enough time. So I need to figure out what to cover and what to ignore and what is the best way to do that. I did this to myself, I do every year. You would think after 13 years I would learn, but I haven't. So this weekend, which is an extra day, I will spend it mapping out the end of the year. What do I need to cover. What do I want to cover. And what can I realistically cover in the remaining time. Yeah, that will be a fun planning session. Next year is definitely going to be different. I feel like I finally have a handle on this planning thing, though I'm still not great at it, but I have a bit of a handle. I also don't feel like I have to follow the curriculum so closely anymore. I can make it my own. Plus, next year I have AP chemistry again. That will be interesting and challenging. But I need to focus on this year and get throug

 This happens every single year around this time. I begin to think about next year and I mentally move on from this year. That is a bit of a problem because this year is not over and I have about 5 weeks left. So I can't move on yet. But I'm already doing it. Of course, this year has been a giant dumpster fire and that may have something to do with it. We had kids face to face this year who spent the last 2 years online. Teaching them how to be in school again has been the biggest hurdle all year. Okay, enough of that.  This is the first year I've gotten to teach the modeling curriculum all the way through. The first year we shut down in March. The second year it was in person and virtual back and forth. So this year we have made it all the way through in person and it's the first year I've gotten to follow the curriculum. I'm not loving it. Now this might be due to the fact that I have an AP chemistry class next year and I know what I want them to know before t

 I had an incident of cheating on a test I gave and it's really bugging me. I always make 2 versions of the test or quiz because I have tables and not desks. My tables are set up so they face each other and form a group of 4 seats. I give the two students that are on the same side of the group different tests and the two across from them the opposite tests. So no one has the same test as the person next to or across from them. It has worked out well for 13 years. Well last test two students who sat next to each other ended up with the same tests. Now while I fully realize I could have made an error, I am positive I didn't because one of the students I know is a cheater. So I know for a fact that I was really careful at that table to make sure that everyone got the right tests. Well the cheater and the guy sitting next to him ended up with the same tests. Not only that, their answers were almost identical. I was pissed. My initial reaction was to blast all three involved (becaus

 I am not a fan of tests in any form and this standardized testing is most definitely ridiculous. We test them every morning from 7:30 to 11:00, let them eat lunch, and then expect them to sit in a classroom and learn things. Oh, and the classes are less than half the normal length. Yeah, it's a fun, fun week.  So I'm not liking the chemistry modeling curriculum this year. This is the first year that I've actually got to teach it all the way through and I don't think I'm a fan. Honestly. So much is left out. I'm going rogue now because there are some things I want the folks who are taking AP chemistry to know, so I'm going to cover that. But over the summer I'm going to take a long hard look at the curriculum and decide if I keep it or what. I'm also going to take a real hard look at the notebooks and figure those all out.  Okay, I've written in two blogs this morning so it's a short post. I'm off. 

 Much more tired this week than last. Yesterday I was so low energy it wasn't funny. I have ordered this NoonBrew stuff. It's a tea that is supposed to perk you up during the afternoon. No caffeine, no sugar, just some natural herbs and spices that perk you up. I've order some because I want something that will give me a little pick up but I don't want coffee and I will not drink energy drinks. So I'm going to try it for a couple of months and see if it helps. Hey, it's worth a shot right?  There was a situation at school and a teacher was let go for inappropriate comments to students. It is a little scary that could happen but the blame lies entirely with the teacher for allowing and participating in that kind of behavior. That is not the first time it has happened. We have had a teacher have sex with a student. We have had a teacher swear in class (in all fairness, I've done this but I work with older kids). We had another teacher make some inappropriate c

 Last week was so nice. Getting out 1/2 hour earlier makes all the difference in the world. Even if I had a meeting I got home earlier than I would have with the 3:30 release time. It's awesome.  We are now entering graduation season. Since I'm in charge of graduation that means more things for me to keep track of. It's not bad, it just takes a little extra effort on my part. We have 9 weeks left so it's just a matter of getting through it now.  I honestly don't have a whole lot to say today. Last week was good. Next week will be good. All the weeks until graduation will be good. So I guess I'll call it here and go read for a while. Maybe that what I'll do, alternate  reading and writing depending on how I feel. Hmmm....thoughts. 

 Or should I say the old bell schedule. We went back to our bell schedule from last year yesterday and what  difference it makes. First of all, in one class I rang into the bell. We were working away and I thought the bell rang at 1:40. I was wrong. It rang at 1:22 and we were busy working at that moment. So yeah, there was that. But what a nice day. Dismissal time was 3:00 pm  and I would out the door by 3:30. I was home before 5pm for the first time almost all year. I got in a nice workout. Had dinner and relaxed on the couch for a while. It was really nice. I didn't feel like all I did was work. Under the old bell schedule, I would get home around 5 or  a little after, walk Mavy, eat dinner, and go to bed. Or at least that is what it felt like. I felt like I had no time in the evenings during the week. It was all sleep, work, eat. That's it. Yesterday was much better.  I have one class that I'm just not sure how to deal with. It's the same class I've been whining

 Today we return to school after spring break. I am looking forward to it only because that means we are only 8-9 weeks away from summer. Woot Woot!!!!  Also, we go back to our old bell schedule. That is awesome. Over the summer, the state decided to interpret some law slightly differently, or it was worded ambiguously or something. Anyway, as a result we were 30 minutes short in our instructional day. That means they changed the bell schedule and we were in school until 3:30pm. It was only about 10 minutes per class but that 3:30 release time made for a very long day. The law got changed or reinterpreted or whatever and starting today we are back to 3:00pm release time. It doesn't sound like a lot, I mean it's only 30 minutes, but man that 30 minutes at the end of the day would drag out. I can't count how many times I've just given up by 3:15 and no learning was done after that. Also, having clubs meant we were there until 4:30pm. I wouldn't get home sometimes unti

 already. I've gotten essentially nothing done, bummer. There is a lot I need to get done, I've just been busy. I will admit to being lazy for 2 days. Actually 3 days. On Saturday I was kind of lazy and didn't do much. On Sunday we had some friends over and so sat around all afternoon chatting. Then yesterday. The husband was gone playing golf. I had a bunch of appointments in the morning and by 1 pm found myself laying on the couch watching Netflix. I did that for about 3 hours. It was glorious. This week it has just been go, go, go. Today we have to run to the business Costco to stock up the cart for Science Bowl. Tomorrow is our usual Friday, Costco, lunch, gym, etc. Saturday we are going to the Aloha Festival. Sunday will finally be nothing. I'm relaxing all day which means that I have to work my butt off for the next 3 days.  I have a school to do list that, while not that long, is rather time consuming. I have to finish Unit 5 for biology; anchor phenomenon, drivi

Today is the last day before spring break. Yes, yes yes!!!! I cannot wait for this day to be over. One of the best things is that when we return we go back to our old schedule, 7:30 - 3:00. For this entire year we have been running until 3:30 because of the way a law was interpreted by some regulator somewhere. The powers that be have been working to get that wording changed so that it was unambiguous. It finally happened!!! So that is going to be good. It's only half an hour, approximately 10ish minutes per class, but man that makes the day long. It really does. So much can happen between 3-4 that just doesn't get done after 3:30. No one wants to stay at school until 4:30 or 5 getting things done. You can stay until 4 or 4:30, somehow that is much easier. Anyway, when we return we will be back to normal. Yay!!!!! I've been giving biology a test yesterday and today and chemistry is doing a lab. Things that make my life easier. I do have to grade the tests, but that's ok

 Just 2 days after today. Woot Woot!!!!!  Meanwhile, things are going crazy in school. My biology classes are prepping for a test and yesterday there were a number of scholars goofing off. One was playing with a bottle of whiteboard cleaner and dropped it and broke it. I lost it completely. Thankfully I did recover rather quickly by writing him a log entry. I'm so done with this particular group of students. Well, test day - which is Wednesday and Thursday - they will have assigned seats for the test and when we come back from break they will have assigned seats. Assigned seats are a challenge because then it becomes an issue of how do I distribute the students among the class to cause the least amount of trouble or do I group them in a corner and let them sink on their own? I have done that with individual students, sat them in the back in the corner and basically left them to their own devices. Interesting that I just got an email about that very topic. Weird, must be on everyone

 4 days. Until spring break. Woot Woot!!!!! That is so nice. We don't have any plans for the break but it will be nice to have an entire 10 days off. Yes, I know, we just had a 5 day weekend but I need another, extended break.  I need to spend some time today working on biology. We are having a review and a test this week and I need to clean up the test and make sure that I have stuff ready for their notebooks and the review game. Shouldn't be too hard, just need to do it.  Otherwise that is about it. I have been phoning in the lessons lately because my heart just has not been in it. The weekends, all 3 days of them, are too short and honestly, I want this year to be over. I'm ready to start an almost completely normal year next year with students who haven't been out of school for damn near 2 years. I'm over it.  So that's it. That's all I have to say and my tree hasn't grown yet. bummer. And I have to go........ See ya!!

 Well, I didn't do anything over the 5 day break. Not that I'm unhappy about that. I took time to rest, relax, binge a show, and just generally not use my brain much. It was awesome. However, today I return to school and I have no idea what is happening. That's okay, it's not like it's the first time I've done this. And truthfully, I do know what is happening, I just didn't look at it over the 5 days. When I get to school, I will figure everything out. I'm not too worried.  I am going to start March Mammal Madness with my classes, both biology and chemistry. I do need to figure out how I want to set it up, but I have a few days. The information dropped yesterday but I think the tournament starts next week or the week after. So I have some time to play around with it.  In other news, I got absolutely nothing. Think I'll end early today. 

  For reference, we run on an A/B block schedule. Monday/Wednesday we have the same 4 classes and Tuesday/Thursday we have the same 4 classes. We have no school on Fridays. Normally, holidays will throw things off. For example, Monday is President's day and we would miss an A day. But we would go back on Tuesday and have the B day. Since I have the same subjects on A and B days, that means that the A day classes will be out of sync with the B day classes. I try hard to keep everyone on the same page, it just makes life easier for me. Well, this year they decided to add holidays on the day after a holiday so that we miss both A and B day. For example, Monday is President's Day so we have Monday and Tuesday off. That means with our normal Friday off, we have a 5 day weekend. Initially I wasn't a fan of this. 5 days is a long time. But I have come to the realization that it is kind of amazing. So we have a 5 days weekend coming up. Then, in 2 weeks is Spring Break. I like this

 While I did get enough done to get through the week, I really wanted to get more done. Oh well. That's life. I did kind of lose it on my kids yesterday for not turning something in on time. It counted towards their test and they didn't do it. Ugh!!! The only reason it bothers me so much is that it makes more work for me. I now have to come up with some way to handle this, unfortunately I can't fail half the class, and then grade that and that makes a burden on me. In many ways I wish I would just let them fail and be done with it. But in spite of the fact that I'm a meany and apparently scary, I just can't do that.  This Thursday we have an open house, which means a late night. I did Sadie Hawkins dance last Thursday, now open house this Thursday. Lots of late Thursday nights. The good news is that it is a long, long weekend - 5 days. Woot Woot!!!!  I will definitely get some planning and prepping done over that time.  I placed some orders last week and they all ca

 That is what today will be. I have a lot to do today and I want to get it done before Super Bowl tomorrow.  I've been working over the problem in the previous post, the anchor phenomenon for the next unit. I'm still not any closer to having one. That is definitely on my list today. The activity I talked about last post, counting candies, I think I will save for the summative task. They will have to put all their knowledge from the unit into figuring out what kind and how many candies are in the container I give them. I think that will be a great summative task so that leaves me hunting for an anchor phenomenon still. I guess it's going to be a lot of internet searching today.  I do want to get the next unit completely laid out so that I don't have to reinvent the wheel every single week. So I'm going to draw up a unit plan that lays out the day by day.  I also need to finish up the biology unit. Figure out how much longer we have and work in the Big Ideas for the u

 This is a buzz word lately especially in science. You start each unit with an anchor phenomenon and then as you go through the unit you try to explain what happened. It's a great idea. It's also a tiny bit difficult to incorporate into daily teaching, at least for me. I tend to lose track of it and forget to go back to it during the unit. So that is something I need to build into my lessons so that it becomes a natural thing.  For my next chemistry unit, counting things, I'm really having a hard time coming up with an anchor phenomenon for the unit. It's learning to count atoms and so I thought of having a jar filled with a candy and we try to figure out how to count it during the unit. But the very first activity we do will answer that question, so that doesn't seem like it will work. So I'm kind of stuck with this one and not sure what I'm going to do. I even thought about it right before falling asleep hoping that my subconscious would come up with somet

 If I spend a couple of hours on the weekend planning and a couple of hours on Monday getting things ready, life is good. I don't have to plan in super detail, unless I'm doing something special, I just have to have a concrete idea of what is happening.  Monday/Tuesday in biology we did an activity that I'm not sure about. We did a timeline of whale fossils, then had to 'guess' what the intermediate animal might have looked like. Then we did a DNA comparison to see who the whale is most closely related to. It's a good way to show really briefly how they piece together timelines for evolution and how they determine relatedness, but it's  a little boring. If I teach biology again next year, and that's a big if, I may revamp this whole thing.  Which leads to thoughts of next year. I probably won't be teaching biology next year. All these biology students will now be in chemistry and it looks like we have enough students for an AP chemistry class. So I m

 Couple of things that I really need to remember  1. planning and having it written down is critical to my mental health. When I have things all planned out and ready, I'm a much happier and a better teacher.  2. I have to give them time. I can't rush them. Especially the biology students. Give them time to work it out and they usually do. And they usually do a good job of it. So I need to slow down and give them a little bit of time.  That's all. Just a couple of very simple things that I have a tendency to forget. 

 Like a wildfire. Covid is rolling through the state and the country like a wild fire and it amazes me the people who are still denying it or refusing to get the vaccine. We had a teacher tell us last week that she refuses to get the vaccine since she's had Covid. Sunday she sent out an email that she had tested positive and wouldn't be in this week. It seems so clear and obvious to me and it just amazes me when people don't understand. We've had teachers requesting coverage for weeks now. Our subs are stretched to the max and other teachers are having to cover classes. It's crazy. And so much of it is preventable and avoidable with a little vaccine.  Other than that life goes on at school. Sitting a planning out what I'm going to do is so completely worth it. I did that this weekend and yesterday was smooth sailing. I did add a chemistry quiz at the last minute and I'll probably add a biology quiz on Wednesday, but that's all good. When I have everythin