Summer update

Does anyone else feel like summer goes by way too quickly?

I had a busy June. I took two weeks of Educational Technology classes, which just so happened to be enough to bump me up to the next step on the pay scale this year- yippee! Then I went on a one week vacation with my family to Hocking Hills. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed hiking at the state parks!

July has been a blur, filled with small outings and get-togethers with friends, and all of the doctor and dentist appointments I avoid during the school year. However, I recently realized I only have 4 weeks of summer left! I am teaching Biology again this year (this makes year 13 for me). I am also teaching a full year of Zoology this year; I taught it once before but only as a semester course. Anyways, I need to create a lot of new materials for it since we have zero books or resources to go along with it at school. I did apply for a grant, I will find out in August if I got it *crossing my fingers*. In the meantime, my summer fun has ended and work has started. I posted my new Cnidaria unit on TPT yesterday if there are any Biology or Zoology teachings wanting to check it out: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Miss-Abrams

I also posted two new projects on Donors Choose in hopes of getting some new lab materials for my students. If you can spare even a dollar, I would really appreciate any size donation (donations are tax-deductible too). http://www.donorschoose.org/MissAbrams

Well, that is all for now! I hope all of my teacher friends are having a great summer! See you in August!

NSTA Conference Re-cap and Resources

It's summer break, which means I finally have time to sit down and post!

Back in March I went to the National Science Teacher Association Convention in Chicago with my coworkers. Here I am with our Chemistry/Physics teacher on Pi Day, I'm in red :)

As expected, the conference was great. I was able to attend the following sessions:

• Autopsy: Forensic Dissection
• Solving the Mystery of STEM using Forensics
• Extinctions: Past and Present
• Bullet Holes: Using STEM
• Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Dissections
• Dissections Done Differently
• Body of Evidence: Forensic Science Mystery
• Forensic Entomology
• Zoo Genetics
• Going Viral: From Proteins to Pandemics
• Forensic DNA Activities with K'NEX
• Evolving Curiosity in the Animal Kingdom

From that list, there were a few awesome presentations and a few duds. A few of my favorites...

Autopsy: Forensic Dissection was really neat. We got to do a quick version of a fetal pig dissection, but instead of cutting it normally, we went through the process of everything from the Y-shaped incision, removing the organ block, then stitching it back up after. I was so impressed by this I came home, ordered the Caroline Kit, and did this activity with my Forensic Science students. They loved it! It took a while, over a week of class time, but they learned so much. That chapter test had the highest test scores of the whole year!

In fact, all of the dissections courses were interesting. I loved seeing how teachers link dissections together. I made baby steps toward that in my Biology classes by having students make Venn Diagrams comparing our invertebrate dissection (grasshopper) with the vertebrate dissection (perch). I gave them no prompting to this, it was just assigned after both dissections, and they did a really good job comparing and contrasting! Something so simple I never would have thought to have done before. Next year I am teaching Zoology and I can't wait to make more connections between animal groups.

Zoo Genetics was also SUPER awesome! If you teach genetics at all, I highly suggest going to http://www.xy-zoo.com/index.html and downloading the entire curriculum. There are great lesson plans, with real-life data collected in zoos, that will peak student interest!

Lastly, Evolving Curiosity in the Animal Kingdom was another great presentation. It was exactly what I needed to get me inspired for teaching Zoology next year. The staff from http://shapeoflife.org/ presented a lot of their free online materials and brought in a teacher to show us how he uses their tools. We did a great lab with classification of shells, so now I am on the hunt for some unique shells so I can do something like it with my zoology classes this upcoming school year. I take donations if you have some shells you are looking to get rid of ;)

There were also a lot of great booths at the conferences. I came home with all kinds of free materials, including a hornworm insect caterpillar! It was so neat seeing him grow! I'm hoping to order some for my zoology students next year to have them track their growth and metamorphosis.

Speaking of, I applied for a big grant to get supplies and virtual dissection computer programs for Zoology. I am crossing my fingers, praying, and hoping so badly that it gets selected to be funded. Without it, I'm not sure what I will do. Please think positive thoughts for me that it gets approved!

Well, my dog has a vet appointment soon so I better get ready for that! Have a great summer!!

Snow Day #7

Wow, my last post was back in November when we had our first snow day. Today we had snow day #7. I feel like it is still early to have so many- we have a lot of winter left, according to Punxsutawney Phil at least ;) BTW- Happy Groundhog Day!

Despite being behind on my content this year, my school year continues to go well. I'm really enjoying the group of students I have this year!

We just did a great lab in Biology about Mitosis and Cancer, thanks to some new supplies from a recent DonorsChoose Project! I feel like my students learned a lot! We also made a mural in the hall to honor loved ones who have fought cancer. This was the first time I let students do this and it was a great success. I learned a lot about my students and some really opened up. I will definitely do this again in the future.

My Forensics class also got to do a lab to practice building DNA models, use micropipets, and then extracted DNA from their cheek cells. It went really well! Many of these supplies were paid for through another DonorsChoose Project. I am so thankful for the website and generous donors!

My students were extra excited about this project because Grant Imahara from the TV show Mythbusters helped to fund the project! My students couldn't believe he knew about and wanted to support them! I'm excited to use these supplies with my Biology students soon too.

I've also been busy trying to upload resources to TeachersPayTeachers as well since I get a lot of requests. Here are some of my newly uploaded Forensic Science products:

Forensic Toxicology Learning Targets and Review Questions

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Forensic-Toxicology-Learning-Targets-and-Review-Questions-1671939

Forensic Toxicology PowerPoint Presentation
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Toxicology-PowerPoint-Presentation-Forensic-Science-1351499

Forensic Toxicology Notes Handout and Key
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Forensic-Toxicology-Notes-Handout-and-Key-1685599

Forensic Toxicology Review Worksheet
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Forensic-Science-Toxicology-Review-Worksheet-1685370

CSI Online Virtual Activities
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Forensic-Science-CSI-Online-Virtual-Activities-1684270

Well, that is all for now! Expect another post in March since I will be attending the NSTA Conference in Chicago! I can't wait to share what I learn!

Snow Day!

It isn't even Thanksgiving Break yet and we're already got our first snow day, this is sure to be another crazy winter!

I do love winter though, just look at how pretty the trees look today!

My dog is enjoying the snow day today as well.

Also wanted to share some photos from class. My students have had a great year so far! Here is a forensic student practicing how to dust for fingerprints.

Once students mastered fingerprinting, they had a crime scene lab which including both latent and visible prints. It was set up like a Halloween party gone wrong. They had to figure out who was at the party, who the victims are, and who is the suspect... all based on fingerprint evidence!

Our last crime scene lab was about documenting the crime scene and looking for trace evidence.

I also started using Learning Targets with my Forensic Science classes this year. It is something I have done for many years with my Biology classes and they seem to really help students so I decided to design forensic ones as well. So far I have posted the first five chapters of them to TPT. Here are the fingerprint learning targets if you are interested, others are posted in my TPT store too. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Forensic-Science-Fingerprints-Learning-Targets-and-Review-Questions-1559712

Well, I have some more files that need typed and a driveway to shovel before my appointment later so I better get back to work! Happy Teaching!

Hello again

It has been several weeks since I last posted, which was not my intention. Shortly after my last post, we had two students get into a car accident very close to the school. One of the students died at the scene, another held on and fought but eventually passed away as well. It was a rough start to the school year and we had crisis counselors present on the first day of school. I had both of these girls in class in previous years, and they had just graduated as seniors. They both have siblings that still attend our school and one is in my class this year. The families have been so strong through all of this. While the entire community was devastated by their loss it was also amazing to see everyone come together and support the families.

Anyways, for some reason dealing with that, on top of the stresses of a new school year, just took away any desire I had to blog, but today I figured I would try to post something and thought I should start out by remembering our two students and explaining my absence. I still think of these girls often and I know from losing other students in the past it is not something you ever forget. In this particular case, I drive past the site of the accident daily on my way to work and see these crosses to represent them. I hope that students also see their crosses and not just remember their friends, but remember that life is precious and they need to drive safe.

So my last post also promised photos of my classroom pet, we have a handful this year!

At the end of summer I purchased 3 baby turtles- 2 red-ear sliders and 1 yellow belly slider. They are so adorable and my students just love them!

We also have bess beetles (left over from our zoology lab last year), a crayfish, a fish tank with guppies, and another fish tank with a betta fish and snails.

My classes have been going well overall, I have pretty good students this year! I will try to post more about some of our fun labs soon. I hope all of my teacher friends are also having a great school year!

Classroom Photos

So I went to school yesterday to start putting my classroom back together. It isn't 100% ready yet, nor am I, but it is coming along ;)

Here are some pics I took  before I left...

I tend to keep a cluttered desk. I just love school supplies and can't resist buying more every year. I especially love my snail tape dispenser and alligator stapler (I found both at Big Lots).

This is the bookshelf I keep much of my art supplies on. I HATE the color of it and wish I could paint it, but it is school property. I may try to put a border or something on it though if I can find the time.

The next two pics are the view from my desk. I have really large class sizes this year and will have students all the way to the back row! I feel terrible they have to be so far away! I may have to try a new table set-up, but I'm limited with these desks.

I have lots of fans in my classroom. We have no air-conditioning and my classroom doesn't have any windows! It was a pretty mild day yesterday and my classroom was 77 just with me working in there! For the first few weeks of school as well as end of the year, when the students are there, it always jumps to above 80 degrees and is pretty miserable.

This is my FAVORITE new addition to my classroom- a holder for all of my calculators! Last year I used magnetic bins and the students would always knock them down on accident. I'm hoping this will be more sturdy and I already love how cute it looks! Anyone know where I can get a super strong magnetic hook though so I don't have to use up all of my magnetic clips?

Here is the view from the back of the room. Like I said, I have larger class sizes this year and I feel terrible for whoever ends up having to sit way back here! :(

Here is just the end of my counter by the door. There isn't anything in the fish tank yet, but I wanted to set it up to let the water meet room temperature. I'll post again when I take my classroom pets into school :)

I also got my final teaching schedule yesterday, here it is:

I am not excited to have a first period study hall. They assigned me about 50 students, way too many to fit in my classroom, so I have to hold study hall in the cafeteria. This means I don't be able to get work done to set up for the day = huge bummer! Also, I will have to take daily attendance and lunch counts for A LOT of students = also not fun and likely time-consuming. Last reason I don't like 1st period study hall is that it encourages kids to procrastinate and not do their homework at home. I would have hated 1st  period study hall if I were a student! I'm hoping a few will get their schedules changed for that reason.

Well, today I need to finish my Forensic Science Syllabus and work on some other things for school. I can't believe we start on Monday already! Summer flew by!

TeachersPayTeachers (SALE) and Medina County Fair

So I finally finished two more PowerPoint Presentations for my Forensic Science class and posted them on TeachersPayTeachers. I have two more to finish and the series of 12 will be complete! You can find them all in my TPT Store here. Just in time too since I hear there will be a SALE Monday and Tuesday! :) Use the promo code "BTS14" at checkout to receive an additional 10% off all purchases.

I took a break from school work this weekend to go camping. My mom was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease so my family is going to sell our camper. We decided to make the most of these last few times we'll be there. It was a lot of fun. We went kayaking, had a campfire, and set off a sky lantern for the first time. I was terrified we'd set a wildfire but luckily did not!

We also took some time to go to the Medina County Fair. There was a great little animal show and I was able to interact with  a lot of the critters. I LOVE animals so this was a dream come true.

This is going to be another busy week. Tomorrow I need to buckle back down and get some school work done! Tuesday I have meeting at the zoo, Wednesday I am headed to Cleveland to see friends and family, Thursday I am going paddle boarding on Lake Erie, and Friday I leave for a family reunion in PA.

The following week is my last week of summer so I'm going to be VERY BUSY with schoolwork and setting up my classroom. Crazy how fast summer always flies by!