Handouts are available below   Big Idea In my last post, I spoke about how I’m using Standards Based Assessment (or SBA) with my classes. Thanks to Kirstin Laird-Osterhout on Facebook, who posted “Thanks! Any tips for a district that still uses letter grades and percentages?” Today, I’m sharing how I’m using SBA with my…

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Handouts are available below Big Idea I’ve been doing standards based assessment – also known as standards based grading – with my classes for the past 4 years. Today, I want to share a few things I’ve learned in doing Standards Based Assessment (or SBA, for short). Long story short, SBA has changed my practice…

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Handouts are available below   Big Idea Here’s another lab I’ve done with my students for the past few years that not only has them practice a useful lab skill – in this case, finding volume using water displacement – it also gets students to practice CER, which stands for Claim Evidence and Reasoning. This…

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Handouts are available below   Big Idea A great question will get students to connect and apply science in creative ways. I get a lot of positive feedback on my test questions, and since many teachers are having difficulty finding good extended response questions to use, in this post, I’m sharing 4 types of extended…

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Handouts are available below   Big Idea Building and testing paper airplanes is one of those simple activities I know many science teachers do to teach scientific method and that students of all ages can do. Today, I want to share what I’m doing with the paper airplane project with my students to get MORE…

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Handouts are available below   Big Idea Today, I want to share this resource with you – an activity I’ve been using every year for the past 18 years of teaching. It’s an activity that teaches students about Mendeleev’s Periodic table. If you’re looking for an activity that teaches students that elements on the periodic…

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Handouts are available below Big Idea How many science teachers are guilty of asking this question: what is science at some point – probably at the beginning – of the school year? I know I am. There’s nothing wrong with that question. But, what if we could ask the same question in a different way…

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Handouts are available below Big Idea Today, I’m talking about the one thing we don’t talk about as teachers – the one thing we should be talking about. And, I’m sharing what I did with my department to get us started talking about this one thing. This is all inspired by a book I am…

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Handouts are available at the bottom of this post in the Resources section.   Big Idea A REAL Science Challenge Question is a quick and fun way to have students practice problem solving and apply science and engineering practices (SEPs) and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs). I like REAL Science Challenge Questions because they… are not based…

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Handouts are available at the bottom of this post in the Resources section.   Big Idea Can we do something with coffee grounds besides composting it?   When I first started brewing everyday at school, I dumped the coffee grounds into a beaker. I didn’t think much of it.   But then, as the beaker…

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