Category Archive for: Videos

Ep49 – Can Students Fail in Standards Based Assessment?

Handouts are available below   Big Idea   I was giving a workshop on Standards Based Grading last week, and one question that came up – which comes up a lot – was whether we’re allowed to fail students when we use standards based assessment because some of my colleagues have heard from their administrators…

Read More →

Ep48 – Write Better Unit Plans by Visualizing What Happened

Handouts are available below   Big Idea   Are you happy with your unit plans – or, do you go through them and, afterwards, wonder if you really hit everything you’re supposed to? And, did I do it as well as I had hoped? And, was there a better way? To be honest, I fall…

Read More →

Ep47 – How to Mark a Graph More Efficiently Using a One Column Rubric

Handouts are available below   Big Idea   As science teachers, we have students produce graphs all the time – but how do we mark them without spending too much time on it while still maintaining a high standard? In this post, I’m sharing how I use proficiency scales – specifically, a 1-column rubric –…

Read More →

Ep46 – Have Fun Learning Organelles by Doing the Cell Soundtrack Project

Handouts are available below   Big Idea Are you looking for a super creative project that has students learn about cell organelles? In this episode, I share one with you – one that my colleagues have said, on one hand, that it’s creative and innovative. But, those same colleagues have also said that it’s me…

Read More →

Ep45 – Have Fun Teaching Graph Analysis Using WGOITG from NYT

Handouts are available below   Big Idea Can students look at a graph and understand what’s going on? I explain to kids that this is an important skill to have because graphs aren’t just the boring ones we see in textbooks with the x and y axis. Graphs have become more visual, more sophisticated, especially…

Read More →

Ep44 – How to Get Students Curious about Sound Waves with Singing Bowls

Handouts are available below   Big Idea Looking for a high impact but low set up activity on sound? Here’s something I’ve done with all my students last year – from Grade 8 to 12 – that had all of them curious (even the ones who are too cool to care about school). I’ve done…

Read More →

Ep43 – STEAM Activity: Make a Machine Think Like a Raccoon!

Handouts are available below   Big Idea I’m focusing more on using STEAM (that’s Science, Tech, Engineering, Art, and Math) with my classes this half of the year. And, here’s an assignment I did with my Grade 8 students recently where they had fun using STEAM to learn the characteristics of living things and predator/prey…

Read More →

Ep42 – Is this a Sandwich? A Fun CER Ice Breaker

Handouts are available below   Big Idea Here’s a bellringer or ice breaker and takes between 5 and 15 minutes while getting 3 tasks done: gets people talking, gets people to formulate an argument, and gets people to consider bias. So, whether this is something you want to do on the 1st day after a…

Read More →

Ep41 – The Best Pro-D on Assessment I had in 2022

Handouts are available below   Big Idea What’s the best pro-d you had in 2022? Today, I want to share the best pro-d I’ve had this year regarding assessment – specifically, standards based assessment. And, this was all done without hiring an expert or speaker or quietly sitting through another workshop. However, you will need…

Read More →

Ep40 – 3 Ideas to Assess Work Habits Better

Handouts are available below   Big Idea How do you assess work habits? It sounds like a simple thing to do – we think we know good work habits when we see it – but what does it look like? Today, I’m sharing some things my colleagues have shared on how I can improve assessing…

Read More →

Back to Top