My new spin on notes

Every year I struggle with how to give notes to my students.  I have tired giving students cloze notes, cornell notes, no guides, key word keys and full copies of the notes.  I try to think about the grade level I'm teaching and focus my note plan on that.  Especially with my high school students I really want to teach them the skill of note taking, but then I think back to college and remembered that many of my teachers posted their slides.  I know that was almost 10 years ago, but I'm sure that things have progressed since then and most professors are posting their notes.  So this year, I am trying something new with my 10th and 11th grade chemistry students.  I plan on giving them the slides, but not the full set.  Some slides I include for emphasis or illustrative purposes.  I don't feel that I need to print those slides, but I will encourage students to take additional notes if they would like.  In addition, I will often have problems worked out on my slides to give the solution to a problem.  The student version on the notes don't have the answers filled in so that they can solve the problems themselves.

Click here for an example of what I'm going to try.  You can see my teacher copy with the full notes and the student copy.  I am going to print out the slides for them in the notes format so that students have room to take some notes.  I also made sure to label each packet with the unit name.  I keep it simple; so for this measurement unit I will call each packet Measurement 1, Measurement 2......  I know that students don't always keep things organized, so if their papers get out of order at least they will know which papers are from which unit.

What are you methods for giving notes?

Freebie for my Fashion Forward Teaching Friends

Hey teacher friends! I know I usually share science classroom tips with you, but this something that I've fallen love with and wanted to share it with you! While teacher manicures might not be traditional teaching tips, I feel anything that makes you feel better about yourself, looks professional, and won't break the budget on a teacher's salary is a great tip. :)

Plus, you have a stressful job! The simple step of taking care of you can not only make you feel better about yourself, but will also translate when working with others and even teaching in the classroom.

In case you haven't heard about Jamberry Nails, they are the newest trend in DIY manicures!

They are special adhesive-backed vinyl that "shrink wraps" to your nails when heat and pressure are applied - and that part is super easy too!

You only need a few items that you probably already have sitting at home!

I wasn't sure about them, but when another teacher blogger offered a free sample (get yours here) I figured I had nothing to loose. After trying them I knew I loved them.  I love having my nails done, but hate dealing with chipped nail polish. I actually HATE painting my nails most of the time because I hate the smell, the dry time, and they tend to last for about 2.3 seconds until they chip on my hands.

But Jamberry was different!  I had a gorgeous manicure that lasted about 10 days on my hands (although some people are able to get up to 2 weeks of wear). When I tried them on my toes they lasted well over a month.

There is no dry time, no smell (they aren't made of polish like other nail strips), and there are over 300 different designs!

I know that you are wondering about getting a sample for yourself.  Click this link and request one right away!

I know living on a teacher's salary can tough, so if I come across a product or opportunity to help - I honestly want to help. It might not be for you, but you can always try a sample to see if you are addicted as much as me. lol!

Have a wonderful school year and stay stylish!

Powtoon $10 Million Dollars of Classroom Accounts Giveaway

I have mentioned PowToon before, but in case you missed it PowToon is a way to create short animated videos. It's a really simple way to introduce things to your students or at a presentation. Well PowToon is Giving Away $10 Million Dollars of Classroom Accounts for The New School Year. All you have to do is go this link and create an account.

This won't last for long, so hurry up and sign up today!

This post also appears of my Educational Technology Blog - The Tech Savvy Science Teacher

Density of Pennies

This past week my chemistry students completed the Density of Pennies lab.  The one that I used in very similar to this one found here.  We have been working on our first unit which was measurement.  This lab was to help students with the calculations and measurements involved in density.  In addition, I added in a significant figures component as my students struggle with this every year.  If you are looking for a good lab to start the year off with I think that this is a good one.  The hardest part if finding enough pennies (especially the ones pre 1982).

What are some your favorites Chemistry labs? 

Looking for some new science teaching resources? (Giveaway alert!)

Although I am already back in school, I know that some of you are just going back next week.  I am always filled with great enthusiasm at the begining of the year and love having new ideas to try with my students.  I am hoping that one of my products will help you out.  I am giving away a product from my store.  You can check out my stores here (I have a few). Teacher Pay Teachers, Teacher's Notebook, Syllabuy
The giveaway ends on Tuesday, so enter now! :-)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to School Resources on Sale

If you are someone who is looking for new resources for school I wanted to share with you the Teachers Pay Teachers Sale.

The sale is 20% off and many people put their stores on sale in addition to this so you can get up to 28% off your purchase.  Of course, there are plenty of free stuff as well. I'm all about a bargain, so I wanted to share.

Do you have a go to site for free or paid resources for your classroom? 

Organizing your day

As I'm on the topic of organization, I wanted to share with you what I've been doing.  I am not very good with time management and tend to get sucked into the TV.  This is especially bad during the summer as I have no real structure in my day.  I have been reading a lot of blogs and watching a lot of YouTube videos about planning.  Who knew there was a whole planning community out there?!  It seems like a very expensive hobby as these people decorate each page with about 20 stickers.  That is a little too much for me!  It make the page look too busy. 

In my searches I came across the Erin Condren planner.  People seem to love them, but they are so expensive.  They do look great though!  If you do want one, this link will give you $10 off your order.  I had a small 3x5 planner from several years ago, so I took all of the old pages out of it and put in some new ones.  I want something where I can plan my time for one day at a time. Below is what I came up with.

I set it up so that I could do time blocking.  I don't need a planner to tell me when events and appointments are; I have my phone for that.  I want something where I can get into the nitty gritty of my day and plan things out hour by hour.  That is pretty much the concept behind time blocking.  I don't have a lot of lines, because I am just going to time block my time when I get home from school  During the school day, things are already pretty outlined for me.

I am hopping that if I plan out things for when I get home, such as time for blogging, time for cleaning, dinner and things like that I won't get sucked into the tv trap as much.  To help me out with that I'm actually trying to cancel my TV service as we speak.  I say trying because it's always a run around.

Are you a fairly organized person?  What are your strategies to stay organized and not waste time?