Happy New Year!

Wow!  The 1st part of the 2013-2014 school year flew by...it's hard to believe I will be ringing in the New Year tonight.
I am fast at work preparing for back-to-school on January 7th.  My students will be ringing in the 2014 semester with a new portfolio and more independent control.  I have reworked several turn in pages and missing assignment explanations for each portfolio.  I have already sent my warm-up packets for "misconceptions in science" to print shop and I should be receiving the packets when I return to school.
My students have been very successful this year.  We have had great results with the goal setting per 6 weeks, technology integration and test scores.  The "Writing in Science" has made a huge difference in retention.  Completing labs and writing excellent conclusions has proven to up retention.  I am still spiraling from the 1st 6 weeks on tests.
Next, I plan to develop application quizzes.  When I taught 6th grade application tests showed what students really could and could not do with lab equipment and quantitative measurements.  I have some concerns about a dozen or so students and their laboratory measurement skills.  I think application quizzes will benefit all of my students.
So many ideas - so little time!

Classroom is student ready

I have finished setting up my classroom.  I have printed the ISN "how to set it up" pages for students and now I am excited for my students to arrive.
Monday all teachers return to campus and we start collaborating for the 1st day on Monday August 26th.  I am going to be using many different new strategies to continue to improve student retention.  I plan to make some POGIL like junior high lessons, continue working with the Marzano vocabulary cards, keep up th writing in science, and begin a metric moment (where the students will be asked a related metric measurement as a warm-up), and my favorite...the verbiage of science exit ticket.
The verbiage of science exit ticket, requires students to write down the scientific words they used during group discussion on a post it note throughout the class period.  At the end of class they post their note (with name on the back) on the scientific language meter on the board.  The minimum requirement is 5 words a day during the 1st six weeks of school.  I have a word wall, and each table has pre and suffixes to look at if they need help with a word or are ESL or SPED students - who may need additional support.
Tomorrow I will post pictures of my completed classroom.  Happy Friday evening!

My brain is back in school mode

I realize it has been a few days since my last post...but I am in school mode.

I made my bulletin board folders for missing work, my days of the week magnets for my schedule board, and the pennants for "I made an A".    Middle school teachers I have found that my students will work for a pennant and a sticker for every A on a major grade (test, quiz, or project).  I hang the pennants up in the classroom (you get a pennant with your 1st A on a major grade). Once they get their pennant they write their name and something about how great they are...which is the whole point.  Celebrate your success.

This year I decide to make a goal setting/reflection for every 6 weeks.  I know that in middle school we don't spend a lot of time one-on-one with our students but that's one of my goals.  3 goals, and 4 reflection questions.  This will go into their portfolio...NOT the ISN.  The reason?  This is part of the overall reflection for their progress throughout the year, including their favorite pieces and why each student picks the works that go into the portfolio.  I have reserved the ISN for the course itself.  The reflection pieces (student output or left side) is reflective of an individual lesson, project, or lab.  This is just my preferences.  Of course, they do make a sticker of their goals and put it into their ISN at the beginning of the unit.  I will attach pictures later.

By the way I think Pinterest is one of my favorite resources for teaching!!!  Teach on!

ISN Daily Assessments

I have a great friend who really likes POGIL.  She has even begun to make POGIL lessons for her 6th grade science class.  I am looking into incorporating POGIL in my classroom but what I am really interested in is the daily assessment.

Is anyone using daily assessments in middle school science?  Basically I would be using 5 questions about the work we did the day before.  I would have them write their answers in their ISN...left side.

I would appreciate feedback, if anyone is already doing daily assessments.  Thanks.

Tomorrow, I will be posting more information about my classroom.  Including pictures of my decor direction.

School Supplies

Even as a kid I would get excited to go school supply shopping.  Today's students have HUGE lists!  Why?  What are your opinions on supply lists?  Why do we need so much stuff?

Differentiation

I spent today in differentiation training for Pre/AP science.  We tried different strategies and discussed best practices for science.  I am excited about trying several in my classroom.

I like differentiation.  I use it in my classroom as much as possible, but I tire of the same old practices.  I am not a lecturer.  I try to maintain a student-centered classroom as much as possible.

New Year...New Ideas!

Innovators Lab

I have spent most of June and July preparing for the upcoming school year.  I spend a lot of time talking to secondary educators from all over North America.  I like trying new ways of teaching in my classroom.

This year I am setting up my classroom to reflect the real world.  I have dedicated space for investigation, meetings, research and lounging.  We teachers spend a lot of our own money on our classrooms.  I found a site where I can ask for donations for projects.  My Innovators Lab project is up and running through October.  I am trying to raise funds for big ticket items that I can't buy on a personal budget.

If you are a teacher lacking funds, stop my donorschoose.org and set up a project for your classroom.

Rutherford Rollers

Our 1st 3 days of school are designed as high-engagement days.  We do NOT go over expectations and supply lists...instead we start off immediately doing science!

This year I plan to start with Rutherford Rollers.  In my district we start with atoms.  Why not investigate identifying matter that you can't see with indirect inference...

http://www.exo.net/~emuller/activities/Rutherford%20Roller.pdf

Check it out!  I had so much fun doing this at a training.

Welcome!  I am excited to get started this fall.    I have so many new ideas I want to apply to my classroom this year.  I am continuing with the "Writing in Science" program we started in 6th grade last year.

Helping students learn to think critically about what they are writing in science is crucial.  I attended a Betsy Ruper Fulweiler training in early 2012.  I was blown away!  Before you reply with, "But Stacy, that program was designed for elementary school" let me stop you....I know - but it works!  I have the data to back it up. My students retention over the course of the entire year increased over 30%!!!  You read that right - 30% improvement in retention.   Are you excited?  Do you want to know what we did?

We wrote conclusions.  We took the day after completing a laboratory investigation to write.  We used sentence stems, word walls...

Our common assessments improved dramatically!