We can all agree this emergency remote learning situation isn't ideal. It's not ideal in a typical science classroom, and it certainly is making three dimensional, NGSS-aligned instruction particularly challenging.…
One of the challenges of teaching science at the middle and high school level is the increasingly abstract nature of the content. Students are diving into much smaller and…
One goal of NGSS-aligned instruction is to teach in three dimensions - seamlessly incorporating Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and content (Disciplinary Core Ideas). That is, admittedly, easier…
Have you ever had that class that was just stacked with the “worst” students? (I use quotation marks here because I really enjoyed these students as people. However, they really…
Let’s do a quick experiment. Raise your (digital) hand if you’ve ever seen or experienced, in some form or another, an administrator, parent, or another teacher valuing English/Language Arts class…
This is our last post in our series on creating engaging assessments! (Don’t forget to check out those from the last two weeks on Performance Tasks and Instructionally Embedded Assessments!)…
Last week, we talked about transforming traditional performance tasks to up the ante in terms of fun and engagement. This week, we’re going to look at instructional-embedded assessments as a…
Test days typically aren’t considered fun days. They’re typically not your most engaging tasks. For the most part, we approach assessment as a necessary (maybe a little) evil that we…
Modeling is a HUGE part of the NGSS classroom. (Check out this post on NGSS modeling for more info!) I have students modeling… probably daily! Those models aren’t always big…
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out last week’s post - Why You Need To Stop Front-Loading Vocabulary. First of all, we need to understand exactly what we…