Planarians and Sponges!

What a fun week we had at school last week. My Zoology class started their Planaria Regeneration Lab to wrap up our chapter about Animal Reproduction and begin our study of the different animal Phyla. The students had many reactions to the planaria. Some said they were bigger than they thought they would be, others thought they were smaller. Some thought the smelled and were gross, others were super intrigued. Almost all were amazed they could survive being cut in half, or in some cases into thirds. I loved that they were making observations, asking questions, and talking about science! Each group got 4 worms. First they took measurements and recorded their observations, then made the cuts. They had to re-do any partial cuts each day to make sure they wouldn't heal back together. I am very excited for the upcoming weeks to see students' reactions as they regenerate. This was my first time doing this lab too, so definitely a fun experience for me as well. I took a lot of photos and videos, here are just a few...

Tomorrow we start sponges. I stayed after school on Friday for some meetings and decided to decorate my chalkboard as well. I love drawing on my chalkboard to make it linked to our content. Not only is the creative outlet stress-relieving for me, but it also helps draw students attention to the daily tasks, learning targets, and homework assignments posted on the board. Also, how many times as day do teachers get asked "What is today's date?". Yep, most common question ever! Having a fancy date design each day prevents students from having to ask this... or at least asking as much :)

As you can see with the chalkboard design... tomorrow my zoology class is starting sponges. So this weekend I edited all of my Sponge (Phylum Porifera) materials and uploaded them to my TPT store. Feel free to check them out! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Miss-Abrams

Well, that is all for now. Have a great week at school. Happy Teaching!!

Free Teacher-themed Desktop Wallpapers

I love editing and creating graphics to use in my classroom- on signs, in PowerPoint presentations, etc. This week I was feeling extra creative and decided to make some desktop wallpapers to fancy up my computer at work and home. They turned out so nice that I decided to share them.

If you want to use a wallpaper, just click on the image to expand it, then right click on it, and 'Set as Background'. Don't worry about the link at the bottom, that won't show up. It should be hidden under your taskbar so you won't see it, I just figured since I would be posting these for free I'd use it to help promote my TPT store in the process. :)

The desktop wallpapers are 1600 x 900... because that is what my screen is set at, but if there is enough interest I can make them in other sizes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: My inspiration for most of these was Pinterest and I'm hoping none of the images are copyrighted. If so, just let me know and I will gladly take them down!

If you are addicted to Pinterest as I am, feel free to Follow Me :) http://www.pinterest.com/lightpinklily/

Lastly, here is a link to my TPT store, feel free to Follow Me there too. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Miss-Abrams

Happy Teaching! Take care!