Electronic Exit Tickets

Many of us use exit tickets in our classes.  Exit tickets can give us valuable information about students understanding of the topic and how we can adjust our instruction to help students.  While paper based exit tickets are a simple and easy way, they can be time consuming to correct.  Electronic exit tickets can be a great alternative.  There are a number of different ways you can go about this and here are few of my favorites.



1. Google Forms
I would say that Google Forms is the simplest way to collect exit ticket data, but depending on how link will give you more information on creating a Google Form quiz.
you use it, it may not be any easier to grade than a paper exit ticket (although easier to collect).  If you construct a quiz that consists of multiple choice, checkbook ro drop-down questions Google Forms can automatically grade it.  This

2. Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is a great tool if you are looking for something simple.  You can create multiple choice questions, true/false and short answer questions.  What's unique about Poll Everywhere that your students can answer via text if they don't have internet access.  You can even put your polls right into your slideshow so polling students is even easier.  If you decide to project the results you will see them update in real time.



3. Socrative
Socrative is fun way to collect feedback (as well as do a review).  They have four different options to choose from and one of them is called exit ticket.  For this purpose, I would suggest that one.  If you are looking to use it for other purposes, the space race is a fun one and quick questions are good when you want to do an assessment on the fly.
You can learn more about using Socrative by checking out this post and this post.


4. Plickers
If you love the idea of student response systems, but your students don't have individual devices to use plckers is for you! To use Plickers in your classroom you only need one device (apple or here.
android). Students each get a card (that you can print) that looks like a QR code. Depending on the orientation that students hold the card they are presenting a different answer. All it takes is a quick pan across the room with your device and you'll get all of the students responses.  Read my full blog post about plickers

This post is cross-posted on my technology blog The Tech Savvy Science Teacher

Free Online Lab Safety Course

If you are in a school like I was in you, you know that you are not being provided with the lab safety training that is required.  I did some research to find something and I came across the Flinn Online Laboratory Safety Course.  There are two courses: one for middle school and one for high school.  I took both of them (even though there is a lot of overlap) and learned so much!

You might be thinking, "I'm not a Chemistry teacher so this doesn't really apply to me!"  I have found that non-chemistry teachers almost need this more because they have less experience with chemicals and don't always deal with them safely when they do use them.

I'm sure there are no school schools who have perfect lab safety procedures and everyone can learn something from this course.  I also think it's a good refresher for teachers.  I don't recall being taught lab safety techniques when I was in college (either in my science class or my science methods classes).  Hopefully things have changed, but in case they haven't this is a must watch for all science teacher.

Comment below with what training you have had on lab safety.  I'm interested to hear what happen in other schools. 

Opportunity to Pilot a Biology Lesson (stipend offered)

The Life Sciences Learning Center has developed a series of Big Data and Health Science lessons. These lessons are designed to help students understand what “big data” is, and how “big data” might be used in health research studies.

We are seeking grade 9-12 teachers who are willing to pilot test one or more of the Big Data and Health Science lessons with their students. Below are brief summaries of the lessons:

A Case of Osteoporosis

Use models, information cards, and a poster to explore associations among osteoporosis, bone density, and bone fracture risk. 1 class period

A Small Research Study

Does taking calcium supplements increase bone density and reduce the risk for osteoporosis? Analyze data from a small research study that collected bone density test data (T-Scores) from women who took or did not take calcium supplements. Calculate means and create box and whiskers plots to summarize the data. 3 class periods

Large Research Studies

Does data from large research studies support the claim that taking calcium supplements increases bone density? Analyze data from a large-scale health study involving data from hundreds of women. Then, select well-designed small research studies to include a meta-analysis study. Interpret the results of a meta-analysis study. 2 class periods

Big Data: A Different Kind of Science

How is big data science different from traditional scientific research? Use information from five stories to answer questions about big data in health science. 1 class period

Collecting Big Data

What are some possible sources of information for big data sets? Brainstorm the kinds of information available from sources such as health records, computer files, apps on digital devices, online purchases, credit card bills, and wearable health and wellness devices. 1 class period

Mining Big Data: Osteoporosis

How do factors such as UV light, exercise, caffeinated beverages, or sleep affect teens’ risks for developing osteoporosis later in life? “Mine” variables in a big data set that could be used to test hypotheses. Propose additional variables that might be potentially useful. 1 class period

Big Data and Human Health

What are some examples of ways that big data could be used to improve medical care related to prevention, treatment, and cures for human health problems? “Surf the web” to finding interesting ways that big data is being used to solve human health problems or to improve healthcare. 1 class period


Pilot test teachers will be asked to:

· Make copies of the student handouts for the lesson

· Use the lesson

· Complete an evaluation survey

· Provide detailed, written feedback with suggestions for improving the lesson

· Send us several samples of student work


A stipend of $75 per lesson will be provided for teachers who return the evaluation survey and written feedback by June 30, 2017.

Here is a link to the pilot testing application: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/big_data_pilot

Please complete the online application by March 4 to indicate which lesson(s) you would be willing to pilot test. Pilot test teachers will be selected by March 7.

CDC Science Ambassador Fellowship

When I find opportunities for science teacher I like to share them with you.  This opportunity is with the CDC.  Applications are open for the 2017 CDC Science Ambassador Fellowship!

The CDC Science Ambassador Fellowship is for teachers and educational leaders interested in bringing public health into middle and high school classrooms. It includes a 5-day summer course (July 10-14, 2017) at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, GA and a 1-year distance-based professional development opportunity. Applications are due February 15, 2017.

Peer leaders play an integral role in the fellowship. Not only do peer leaders have the opportunity to lead Science Ambassador teachers in lesson plan development, they attend more advanced sessions, lead case studies, present their work during a Teacher Talk (similar to a TED talk), and act as a liaison between CDC staff and Science Ambassador teachers.

For more information, please watch their video and visit their website.  You can also e-mail them at scienceambassador@cdc.gov if you have any questions.

Identifying Chemistry Lab Equipment Activity

It's a snow day for me, so I'm uploading some new products.  My products are available on Teachers Pay Teachers and TES.

For this activity, you will set up a selection of lab equipment around your classroom and then students will walk around the room identifying what it is and what it does as well as drawing a quick sketch of what it looks like.  This is great to do at the beginning of the year to introduce students to lab equipment or at the end of the year as a review to ensure that they know what all of the tools are that they used during this past year. 

How do you expose students to the lab equipment they will be using in the classroom? 

Teacher Advisor Opportunity! Assist WGBH with a digital media science education project

Teacher Advisor Opportunity! Assist WGBH with a digital media science education project Applications are due February 8, 2017 WGBH, America's premier producer of science content for public media, is on a five-year mission to develop media-rich digital learning resources that will increase students' engagement with science phenomena and practices in the classroom. In collaboration with NASA, WGBH's The Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms* initiative will distribute resources and professional development experiences that have the potential to impact millions of students and teachers nationally. Because teacher voices are a critical part of our design and production efforts, we developed a teacher advisor program. This is an opportunity for K-12 educators to become teacher advisors in the design and implementation of digital media tools for STEM classrooms. Produced by WGBH, these resources will feature WGBH and NASA content, and will be distributed free of charge through the PBS LearningMedia™ platform. We're looking for 50 teacher advisors across the grades to help us in Year 2 of this mission. If you will be a full-time educator in the 2017-18 school year and expect to teach Earth science topics of weather, land and water (K-5) or weather and climate and geoscience processes (6-12), we invite you to complete this application. The application deadline is February 8, 2017 at 11:59pm EDT. Applicants will be notified of selection by March 2, 2017.    Please be sure to see our information site for further details. Questions? Contact carolyn_jacobs@wgbh.org. Thank you! *This activity is funded by NASA under cooperative agreement award No. NNX16AD71A.  Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

All 2.3 Million Species Mapped into a Single Circle of Life

Over the past three years, researchers from a dozen of institutions combined tens of thousands of tree into one giant circle that represent all 2.3 millions species.  While only about 5 of all species have been genetically sequenced, biologists are working on increasing that number.  As they do, the relationships between species may change and this map may look different.

Anyone can propose updates to the database (OpenTreeOfLife.org). Greater detail could improve understanding of evolution and help scientists invent drugs, make crops more productive and better control infectious diseases.