Rachel Carson's Bday and how to embed a fb post

"I can't hear you, It's too dark" K.B.

Wanda Diaz Merced studies the light emitted by gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic events in the universe. When she lost her sight and was left without a way to do her science, she had a revelatory insight: the light curves she could no longer see could be translated into sound. Through sonification, she regained mastery over her work, and now she's advocating for a more inclusive scientific community. "Science is for everyone," she says. "It has to be available to everyone, because we are all natural explorers.

...FIND A WAY to learn and do what interests you.

I learned so much about differentiation, equity vs equality, and levels of learning from this school year from two completely unique ways.  The blind girl (Wanda) and AP students.  Massacered by the first year I tried to teach an AP class, environmental science (not biology), I was obsessed with the labs and the lab pros with computers and with ti=85 calculators, the district field trip, a new school.  St. bio.  no ac.  (honestly the AC presence has directly correlated with my school year success.  If I am hot - i am hot tempered honry and unable to explain myself.


Terrified I was going to get on TBG Wanda's bad side I really did have to fight with her about being able to take notes by following our class along with the page numbers in the Interactive Notebooks.  I think I was frustrated with them as well because they really were not writing any original thoughts or connecting the creative activities and drawings and cutting and pasting.  I still love the packets from ypp, so 4 drill/vocab, 10 notes, 10 boxes/to do notes, like wildlifebio cornell notes

It was my best year teaching ever personally and difficult to demonstrate growth or accountability for the students.  The best part was that I noticed that the more I felt forced to make a student do something my way, they were very capable of demonstrating their understanding in like a zillion other ways and love to try in different ways to do that.  For some reason this culminated in TBG Wanda braving taking classes at the Tech School and other science teachers to study robotics and coding next year.  The Iraqi speaking special ed student gave answers to cheerleaders and the football team.  The english language learner that recited a clearly practiced speech, the first words he uttered all school year, at the end of our last class stood before me and said, "Thank you for teaching me with such a fun way and using so many different ways to show me.  Thank you very much."  And.  Hayden came back to visit the first weeks of school second semester, I was all, hi! you here to meet some friends or something? he's all, no, I'm here to thank you for always giving me a chance and being the best teacher I ever had.  I wanted to come back here and tell you that.  - failed the kid every quarter for two years.  First period class.  Each day I would give him a paper and a pencil and he would stare straight ahead and not move for the entire class period.  He didn't speak, didn't write a word, never returned the pencil.  But he returned something bigger than I would have never known, that it is the relationships they only remember.  And the relationships can show learning.

So= I'm way student centered.  But this also has to mean that I have boundaries, focus, respect, and expectations that allow them to demonstrate understanding.  The lessons from our choir director in that area has been extreme.  It is one thing to explain it, but to have them demonstrate it and appreciate you so much for helping them is so defined by our school departments especially choir.  She and have different high roads to be trailblazers for and I need to be like T.  The best way to implement student centered learning using technology include problem based learning.

Check with the other people at school, how do they implement technology, major grades, minor grades, late work, excused absences, latenesses, discipline chains, PBIS, AVID Cs, FOOTBALL Cs, Performance/Sports make up assignments.  The fact our kids learn differently and cannot sit in class for 1.5 hours a day but can take a pre test, finish a packet, and post test in 3 hours reduced our job to a kinkos and a daycare without recess.

I didn't help the deaf kid.  The white stoner that sat in my class between lunches.  The curly haired kid.

The Extraordinary Genius of Albert Einstein - Full Documentary HD

This movie demonstrates the scientific method with Einstein's theory of space time.   He asks due to his prediction, for evidence of bent light during a total eclipse on August 21, 1914.  First day of school 2017 let's teach our scientific method with this story and on August 21, 2017

Terra Cotta Warriors

I'm home sick with a lung infection. boo. But it is the last day of school so I have a lot to do. Fascinating piece on the warriors. Probably going down a Ted Ed Hole stuck at home.

 The most groundbreaking scientist you've never heard of - Addison Anderson 

 Steno's methods for evidence. uniformitariansim hutton and lyell


Questions No One Knoew the Answers to

Teach in May... Memes

Surviving on Memes and Videos of teacher life in MAY.  My eyes done be stuck rolled (if marylanders say that?)   I have formed some great student relationships this year with some lax rules that I will need to rectify.  What should I do?  What can I do?   Well, I have spent hours organizing lesson plans and notebooks to see the most critical places I need to improve.

Teacher tip:  If I don't hold the kids accountable for learning, they won't need to be.

Working on curriculum to ensure students gain concepts.  I am proud of them.  Relationships good.  Rigor ok.  Relevance a little over their heads.

Mistakes this year, phones, consequences, interactive notebooks, review books (they didn't write answers)... ... ...

Positives this year, chrome books, stop motion animation, animal encyclopedia presentations, interactive notebooks in my mind.

Let's teach them how to use the chrome books effectively.  Ed. Tech. Endorsement say what!?!

I've been thinking often of one of my first students, A*GHldkfv  #$%man   My second year of teaching I was a first year in a new school, new district, new state, and newly divorced.  It wasn't until Thanksgiving that I even could keep my head afloat of what was going on.  I had moved to Baltimore from my first year 7th grade bio, with 3 weeks before the school year due to a transfer from being surplused to being the new teacher and a new school opened up, and I was to start at Valley Middle School in August.  I moved, got hired, and started teaching two new preps in an entirely new world.  Earth Science and Biology in BCPS.  It was a nightmare of a second year.  I had 2 preps in 4 different classrooms.  I taught Earth Science in room 2 and relo 4, biology in room 1, then in room 3, and back to room 2.  I shared an office with 3 desktop computers with 11 other teachers, with another "cool" office with 6 teachers and the department chair.  We shared 6 science classrooms.  Everyone floated except the men, and those with tenure.  

This #$%gentleman was a smart alec.  He got my goat.  I gave him detention.  And I really didn't know what to do in detention.  So we sat on the curb in the parking lot near the relocatable trailer classroom I had for one class period and talked.  So after he got detention, and showed up to serve it, and realized I had no idea what I was doing. I was doomed.  Not a lesson, sentence, question, activity was I able to implement without him acting out.  On purpose.  With cruelty.  

I hugged him on his graduation day three years later.  I could have known should have done would have said but I did get to high five him out the back door of a relocatable trailer classroom #10 during a cicada cycle.  From the curb of trailer 2 to the back steps of trailer 10, I connected with that kid.  And I am sure, I learned more from him than he from I.  

That year, I did not get half way through the Biology curriculum.  I spent most of the year in Ecology and barely mentioned DNA before the first common summative assessment.  Did the exact same thing this year.  Is it the relationships?  Before rigor and relevance?  Really?  

So proud of my AP biology students!

Hooray!  I am so darned proud of my kids.  They worked so hard with my first attempt at it all, the flipped class - honestly thought they would read.  They like the POGILs and the LABs.  Reading guides are a must but add the blank diagrams (now in onenote)

I literally ran around like my head was cut off.  I probably gave a stranger or two a calculator.

I organized and labeled every cupboard of lab supplies while they took the test.  I was in a trance.
It is now 12 hours since the test began and I may be able to relax.

#Wearetardigradetough

Mom, Wife, Teacher

Really need to focus on this part of my life for the next three months.

Immediately spent three days planning next year AP
I've decided filling in the blank diagrams will help us all and we can demo them with stop animation and etc and spent the time organizing the lab materials and blank diagrams into Microscoft OneNote?

How did I fail so much with the DNA models
Can we model this while or before the test?  Cut and paste?

Draw it?  on Page 18... How it makes a protein.  How it makes a copy.

The Pancake Breakfast AP BIo Tutorial

😀Packed up the family albeit a little rocky start, we arrived at the school for our final review session.  M made tons of pancakes on the griddle and they were amazing.  He made blueberry and plain.  I had hot chocolate ready for the kids and we sat around a long table of desks and did math.  We spent $6 of our last $20 on plastic forks and plates and napkins.  The school was uber strange on a saturday.  It was really strange to also teach in front of my family.  And I believe it to have been a success.  

The kids were adorable!  They asked to do math.  And We DID it!  Kahoot sort of fell apart.  REALLY important to write your own Kahoots.  Make sure and edit ones that you borrow.

The kids take the test on Monday morning.

😀