I first ran across the terms “unobservable scales” and “unobservable mechanisms” early in my NGSS journey. I had no idea what these were. Unfortunately, a Google search didn’t provide any answers. Read this post to find out what the terms…
Exit tickets are one of my favorite types of formative assessments to use in an NGSS aligned classroom. My exit tickets used to be made of low-level knowledge-based questions, but since making the shift to NGSS I have had to…
I get so many questions asking about the relationship between NGSS storylines and phenomena, but I am rarely asked about student questions. In an ideal scenario, student questions would be at the heart of your storyline. How do student questions…
In my last post, I wrote about how I create cohesive storylines for a bundle. Unfortunately, that isn’t the end of the planning process. Building your initial storyline is an outline that helps you get an idea of where you…
One major shift in an NGSS aligned classroom is that students no longer do confirmation style labs. During confirmation style labs, the teacher has already taught students what they need to know and then students perform a lab to confirm…
One of the biggest changes that have occured in the shift to meet the intent of the NGSS is the role that students play in their own learning. Students are no longer allowed to be passive participants in their own…
When I started teaching to meet the intent of the NGSS, my students struggled with creating models. Over time, I have learned how to help my students make better models. Here are five ways to improve your student’s NGSS models….
It’s summer break and my daughter and I love spending our free time reading. While she prefers mysteries, the science teacher in me loves to steer her in the direction of STEM books. Here are some of our all-time favorites…
Last Summer I got so many questions about digital interactive notebooks. I’d never used them before so I decided to play around with them this year in my classroom. I have been using a paper composition notebook with my students…
When I first began teaching, I was required to list the objectives of my whiteboard every day. In the last couple of years, I have almost given up this practice entirely in my classroom. In my classroom, students work to…
