Secondary Science Simplified™

Happy December, y’all! The one word that describes my life right now, which might describe yours as well, is frantic. So, I thought for the rest of the month, we’d revisit episodes from this past year that can either be good reminders for you during this last month of school or ideas you need to think about or reinforce when you return from break in January. In today’s episode, we’re listening to...

You all know that I want to bring you as much information and perspectives on a topic as possible. With last week’s episode on standards-based grading being a new idea and way of grading for some of you, I wanted to bring on another teacher who has years of experience implementing this in her classroom. Boni Hamilton, a friend and experienced teacher, is sharing how to integrate NGSS and standards...

I love talking about science content, curriculum, engaging activities, and practical strategies you can implement in your own classroom. But when my audience inquires about topics I’m not so sure about, I bring in experts who can share their knowledge. That’s exactly what I did when it came to discussing standards-based grading. My guest on today’s episode, Jennica Harrison, shares her perspective...

As science teachers, or teachers in general, we tend to have the mindset of doing things in our classroom the way we were taught, the way our department runs things, or what our colleague down the hall does. But if you really think about the reason behind what you’re doing, what you normally do might change. That’s exactly what happened with formal lab reports in my classroom. In this episode, I’m...

After we teach a unit, what typically comes immediately after are summative assessments, and there are a lot of different types. Last week, I talked about authentic assessments, which still assess student learning but in a non-traditional way. And even though I value that type of assessment, I still believe in taking traditional tests. In today’s episode, I’m sharing how to use your unit test to p...

If you ask any student what they didn’t like about school, I bet assessments would be toward the top of their list. But what if you could create assessments that students actually enjoyed and liked? Okay, well, maybe that’s going too far, but you can definitely create assessments that are the best representation of their knowledge. I call those authentic assessments. In today’s episode, I’m going...

All month long, I’ve been diving into the most difficult topics to teach in each of the science disciplines, and we have finally made it to the last discipline - physics. I love all things science, but physics is not a discipline I have a lot of experience in. So instead, I decided to bring on a listener of the podcast who is knowledgeable and has experience teaching physics. Laura Preiser is my g...

When I decided to do this series, I knew exactly what I was going to discuss when it came to the difficulties of teaching chemistry. Students get overwhelmed by all the math and more intense content that comes with this science discipline, particularly teaching stoichiometry. However, there are several things you can do to ease their stress and make this unit fun for your students. So, in today’s...

I’m doing a happy dance because it’s my 100th episode! Y’all, I can’t believe I’ve been supporting and sharing my thoughts, ideas, and resources with you for almost two years. Just like when I celebrated 50 episodes, I’m doing another special “Ask me anything” episode.  I constantly get questions ranging from work, personal, curriculum, management, and more. And since I love connecting and support...

We are starting week two of our difficult topics to teach with the different science disciplines. Last week’s episode, Episode 98, focused on biology and biochemical reactions. But this week, I’m focusing on anatomy! Since there’s a lot of content to cover in this subject and each teacher differs in what they choose to teach, that makes it difficult to decide what the most difficult topic to teach...

Welcome to fall, y’all! We just wrapped up our Summer of Podcast PD , where we tackled curriculum design, classroom management, grading strategies, and so much more. But with a new season comes a new series. With so many of our recent topics involving general classroom tips, I decided it was time to focus on more content-specific topics for each science discipline. So, biology teachers, this one’s...

Over this past month, I’ve been sharing my thoughts, practices, and strategies surrounding the topic of grading. You’ve probably realized how passionate I am about this topic because it’s something that I believe will give you more balance in your life between school and your personal life. And who doesn’t want that?! To wrap up this series, I’m sharing my own personal grading strategy and tips to...

Remember the days when you were in school and thought, When I’m a teacher, I’m NEVER going to do this! But then you become a teacher and do exactly what you said you weren’t going to do. Don’t worry, I’m guilty of this too. As soon as I became a teacher, I followed suit with the cycle of assigning homework in my class. However, I had a mindset shift to where now I’m a huge advocate for not assigni...

As teachers, we know that our time is valuable and we try to create that perfect work-life balance. However, time dedicated to instruction, engaging activities, and other teaching-related tasks can consume our time in and outside the classroom. But you can decrease the amount of time you spend on one task that will save you more time and energy, which is grading! Now, I know that grading is a mand...

To wrap up our Summer of Podcast PD, we’re ending with a series on grading practices. And one of the hot topics that’s particularly relevant in secondary classrooms is the act of cheating. This is a topic that I feel very passionate about, so I’ve invested in my own research to find the best strategies and solutions. In today’s episode, I’m sharing what you can do to best prevent it, how to respon...

I loved talking all about classroom management this month, and we have finally made it to the last episode of the series! The biggest takeaway I wanted to convey was the importance of being proactive rather than reactive, and a way to do that is through simple strategies implemented in your classroom. In this last episode, I’m sharing my final five strategies for effective classroom management thi...

My message in last week’s episode was all about how to be proactive rather than reactive using routines and procedures. Continuing with the classroom management series, I believe another way to be proactive in your classroom is through the pace of your class and how you handle transitions. In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing 5 practical tips to keep your class moving with efficiency. In my experie...

Dealing with behaviors and problems in the classroom is inevitable, but our goal is to prevent as many as we can before they even happen. A simple way to achieve this is by implementing routines and procedures! In last week’s episode, I challenged you to reflect on your own classroom management philosophies and come up with 3-5 refrains that define your management style. Keeping those in mind, in...

The new school year is upon us, and to help you prepare, I am spending the whole month of August covering all things classroom management. Now, I know classroom management looks different for every teacher, but I hope that sharing my personal philosophy and tried and true strategies will help you develop your own. Classroom management is incredibly personal, and in order for it to be effective, it...

Tomorrow is August, which means that many of you are gearing up to head back to school. What better way to get back into the school mindset than to talk about classroom management? We know classroom management is so important to have a successful class, but these post-pandemic times are making things TOUGH! I have not personally been in the classroom since before the pandemic, so I invited Casey O...

YOU DID IT!! It is the last episode of our Curriculum Design mini-series and we are wrapping it up with a little extra support with what I think is the most challenging assessment to write, the end-of-unit tests. Now, let’s be clear, no assessment is easy to write, and writing tests is NOT for the faint of heart. Of course, I want to give you as many helpful tips as I can, so in today's episo...

Huge CONGRATULATIONS, teacher friend! You made it to the final part of our curriculum design mini-series! I am so incredibly proud of you! Even if you only completed part 1, you still made progress, and small progress is better than no progress! We have spent the last few weeks walking through the first four parts of curriculum design, but today, we are diving into how to align your assessments. W...

Ready for more help with building out the backbone of your curriculum? I’m ready to help! I know that this part might feel hard, and that is totally okay! Although it is one of my favorite parts of designing curriculum, I know that is not the case for everyone. Coming up with instructional activities and resources is not necessarily an easy thing to do, but I will gladly share the behind-the-scene...

We have made it to part 4 of the Curriculum Design mini-series! The first three parts weren’t exactly “fun,” I get it! But this is the point in the design process where we get to start being creative, and the process becomes a bit more interesting! BUT, if you have not done steps 1 through 3, it is crucial that you complete them before moving on to part 4 - building out the backbone of your curric...

Lecture is the foundation when designing a curriculum. Now I know that may make some of you not very happy, but it’s true. However, when I say lecture is the foundation, I do not mean that it’s my top priority or what I spend most of my time doing in the classroom. When we talk about foundation, I mean the baseline of which I build my curriculum on. To give you a better understanding of how I buil...