First Few Weeks Are Planned!

I have Alsworking on my lesson plans sporadically over the last few weeks.  My first unit pretty much planned itself.  Once I got started with it, it went pretty smoothly.  I am sure that I will make some changes as I go along, but I have the majority done.

I am starting the first three days (we start back on a Wednesday) going over procedures and expectations.  In between some of that, I will be making introductions, having the students take a multiple intelligence survey, and helping students figure out how they learn best.  If I have time, I will also fit in how what they want to be when they grow up connects to what they will be learning this year.

The second week (first full week), I will have the students set up their interactive science notebooks and introducing them to concept maps.  The other science teacher in seventh grade introduced me to concept maps last year, and I love them.  Each unit has its own concept map, and each unit is divided into three sections.  Each sections has its essential questions and vocabulary.  At the end of each week during the unit, a section is due.  Students are to answer the essential questions and define the vocabulary.  It helps with pacing and students knowing what is going on and where we are going.  

This link will take you to my concept map page on my school website. Concept Map

Also during the second week, students will take the pre-test that we are required to give at the beginning of each year.  (I actually have a doctor's appointment scheduled for that day and was thrilled when I realized that I had planned the pre-test for that day.  Makes it so easy for a sub!)  The next day, I have students working on team work.  As a whole class, they will do the human knot activity.  Then, in their groups of four, my students will be working as a group to complete this activity:  Group Activity.  I found this blog through Pinterest, and it is great!  I have already bookmarked several things that she does that I can convert into middle school lessons.

The next day, I am getting started into the science of things.  With science, there is something I have to teach before we can do anything else:  SAFETY!  Safety is crazy important because it can get you into a lot of trouble.  I am planning on using this picture to talk about what is wrong and what is right in the lab.  Then, I will jump into safety notes (bleh...).  Students will then work on their safety poster.  I have them write a safety rule at the top of the page, draw the INCORRECT procedure on the left, and draw the CORRECT procedure on the right.  Last  year, I just posted pictures around the room, but this year, I am going to have the students present their posters.

The third week, I am going to begin with science tools.  Last year, I did not talk about tools to use in science until we needed to use them.  This year, however, I am going to spend a day talking about the tools and what they are used for.  I am going to introduce the tools, and then, use stations so that the students can get used to using them.

The next day, students will take notes on the parts of the microscope.  After that, students will practice using the microscopes with pre-made slides.  I end the week with a short quiz on safety and microscopes.

After the quiz, I will start observations and inferences.  I will save all of that for another post!

Last year, I did not spend a lot of time on the first unit.  This year, I am changing that.  It is important for students to understand safety, how to use tools, and about the scientific method.  I am hoping that spending the time at the beginning of the year going over these things will help with everything else moving forward.

Next week, I can get back into my classroom and start setting up for the year.  Once I have things looking more put together, I will post some pictures!

Planning

As I am going into my third year of teaching, I am rethinking how I do my lessons.  My first year, my lesson plans changed almost daily.  I came in and figured out what I was doing.  Needless to say, it was a very stressful year.  Last year, my second year, I planned for the whole week.  I typically started the Thursday before and finished on Sunday.  I reviewed my plans as the week went on to see if there needed to be changes.  (Still stressful but less than my first year.)

Now, I am using this summer to get as many lessons done as I can.  I have already gotten through my first unit (Scientific Inquiry, which I pretty much teach the scientific method), and I am not sure where to go from there.  My first two years, after the first standard/unit, I went on to Cells.  However, I am still on my Chemistry high from the T. I. P. S. Inquiry Institute and really want to start Chemistry after the first unit.

I will probably be taking a leave of absence at the end of February/beginning of March.  If I do Chemistry last, my students will be learning it with a substitute.  That makes me extremely nervous because Chemistry is the hardest unit for the students to learn.  If I do Chemistry as the second unit, then my students are left with Ecology with a sub.  Ecology is pretty easy, and I would not be so concerned.  And let's face it, I went to a two week professional development on teaching Chemistry, and I will be so disappointed to not even get to teach it!

After my first doctor's appointment, I will be meeting with the other science teacher in seventh grade and seeing if I can convince her to move Chemistry to the beginning.  As I await that meeting, I am starting to make my Chemistry unit in preparation.

I am hoping that my preemptive strike on planning will put a lot less stress on me this year.  I am hesitant to do too much because I know that plans can always change. 

Why is Learning Science Important?

As I am sure many teachers do, I hear my students ask all the time why they need to know what I am teaching.  They do not like the foundation analogy:  Just like when building a house, the foundation must be stable.  If it is a good foundation, then other things can be built on top and it will hold.  If the foundation is cracked or incomplete, when other things attempt to be built on top, they will fall.

What I am thinking about doing at the beginning of the year is having the students make a poster for what they want to be when they grow up.  Then, they will identify why they will need what they are learning in my class for the year in their future careers.  I am hoping that this will help with questions about why they need to learn what I am teaching.

What is Inquiry?

Before I went to a two week professional development on inquiry in the science classroom, I thought of inquiry as using the scientific method.  Now, I understand inquiry to be something completely different and very exciting.

In science, we are often teaching students concepts and words that they had never heard before (or have misconceptions of).  Inquiry is all about the phenomena first, giving the student an experience with the concepts that they will be learning.  Instead of giving students words to memorize and hoping for the best, students are given the experience before being given the word.  This gives them an experience to associate the word with.

One inquiry lesson that I am excited to use is a plant in a jar.  You present students with a plant in a jar.  Weigh it on a balance.  Have the students write down the starting weight.  Ask the students to write down if they think after so many days (5, 10, 15) the mass will be the same, higher, or lower.  They should also write down why they think this.  After the certain amount of days, present the plant again and weigh it.  Have your students discuss why they think the mass is what it is.

This is before teaching photosynthesis, respiration, or the conservation of mass.  The students will be astonished to see that the plant continues to stay alive and the mass is the same as it started.

What else to include:  drawing in the science classroom.  Have the students draw what the plant in the jar looks like initially.  Then, have the students draw what they think the plant will look like so many days after.  After introducing photosynthesis and respiration, have the students draw what is happening on a particulate level in the jar.

I am pretty excited to start inquiry in my classroom, and I will document my journey here.

Getting Started

Hi!  I am a seventh grade science teacher in South Carolina, and I am about to begin my third year of teaching.

I am starting this blog to share my ideas on inquiry in the science classroom.  I am also starting science notebooks this year and will be sharing ideas about those as well.

A little background:

• I graduated from the University of South Carolina Upstate in 2011.
• My husband and I will be celebrating our first year anniversary later this month.
• I have the cutest little kitten, Cubbie, who is named for the Chicago Cubs.
• My husband and I are HUGE Chicago sports fans (Cubs, Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks) and Notre Dame fans.

I am currently planning for the beginning of next school year, and after spending two weeks at an Inquiry Institute through USC, I am very eager to incorporate all that I have learned.

In South Carolina, seventh grade students learn about cells, cellular processes, microbes, heredity, human body systems, ecology, and chemistry.  The T. I. P. S. Inquiry Institute was for chemistry, and at my school, we do not teach chemistry until the end of the year.  I am determined to include inquiry in the majority, if not all, of my lessons.  I know that starting off will be difficult, but I am confident that by the end of the year, my students and I will have learned a lot.