CyberMonday (and Tuesday) Sale

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because, honestly, I am really enjoying the long weekend and finding it very hard to get focused back on work.

If you are feeling the same way, I have a plan for you!  Did you know Teachers Pay Teachers is having a site-wide Cyber Monday and Tuesday sale?!  

So......let's say you are like me and don't want to plan ahead this week.  Use the sale to save 28% on all items in my store on Monday and Tuesday.  Save yourself some time and stress during the holiday season. I'm sure you have better things to do than write lesson plans! 

Here are a few of my best ideas on what I would purchase

And if you are looking for more great science products at a discount, check out these stores: 

An InLinkz Link-up

Outstanding tailwind feature you may not know

I have just recently started using tailwind and am still learning my way around, but I am impressed. Here are he increase in stats that I have seen since I started about two weeks ago. I wanted to share with you an easy way to find and save pinterest content.

However, as I have talked to more people, I wanted to share what my workflow, or my plan looks like, at least at this early stage, because it seems I am using a feature that not a lot of people are talking about yet.

Throughout the week, maybe when I'm sitting waiting somewhere, I look on pinterest on my phone. When I find new content that I want to pin I use the method below to save a draft.

If you are logged into tailwind, and go to settings and then mobile scheduling. Tailwind will give you a strange looking email address. You can send that pin as a message, from within pinterest, to that email address. You only need to type it in or set it up once and then it will be there when you hit send pin.


Then, when you log in to tailwind, all those pins are sitting here as drafts. I can change he descriptions, check them, select which boards I want them to go to. At that time I also add any product or blog post pins, select intervals, and schedule. I can schedule a lot of more successful pins in a short time.

I will keep this post brief, and in the future I hope to stick to more education oriented pins, but I I am really loving that effortless way to build up drafts and haven't seen much mention of it so I wanted to share.

Please leave you favorite pinterest or tailwind tips in the comments.

How to Use Pinterest in Education: A Powerful Tool

Most of you are probably familiar with using Pinterest to look for gift ideas, clothing, home improvement ideas, and craft projects, but did you know it can also be a great place to look for classroom inspiration, or to solve problems in your teaching? 





Keep your ideas organized? 

If you are anything like me, I frequently see an idea that I want to use later in the year "when we get to that topic."  But then by the time we get to that unit I have lost or forgotten that pieces of paper.  With Pinterest, I made a board for each unit that I teach, along with a general teaching board, a classroom organization board, and a technology board.  As other things come up, I can add them as well.  When I see a great idea for genetics, I can pin in there.  When I go back to teach genetics, I just quickly scan through the images on that board for ideas.  Even if I didn't pin it correctly I can search and find it.  Technology is so much easier to find things than paper. 

Click on the image above for a link to my boards.  

Looking for visual inspiration?
Its true, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Pinterest is visual so you can easily type in a topic or search and get videos, images of lesson plans, and resources that you can assess at a glance.  Sometimes you can quickly see how to use a resource, or find an image that will grab your students attention.  Of course you can search for lesson plans, as well as many other things. 

I even have a board for amazing science images.  These are great warmups, or engagement tools or readings for increased literacy. 

Other collaborators in your subject area? 
There is no question that it is immensely helpful to collaborate with other educators in your subject area.  If you can do that within your school or department, but sometimes you can't.  Pinterest offers a great way to collaborate with other educators in your subject area all around the world.  You can search and click and see what they are doing in their classrooms, or build up collaborative boards with other educators. 

News articles or inspiration for your subject? 
Did you know you can also just browse by topic on pinterest? Of course, you can browse education, but you can also browse for popular pins, or those related to your content. 

What are you favorite pinterest boards? 
I teach high school science, so not surprisingly, my favorite pinterest board is called "High School Science," but I also like the general board "HighSchoolHerd" and some of my general teaching and science teaching boards shown above. 

What are your favorite pinterest boards?  Please comment below and share your favorites. 

A big thank you.  This post is part of the  

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Secondary Science Teacher Resource Giveaway! 8/9-8/14

Winners have been chosen!  Congratulations to Cherish Eagan and Emily Roesngren

Who: Science Teachers 
What: Back to School Science Giveaway -- Enter here to win $15 store credit to my store, and follow the links below to win many more great science products from other teachers for use in your classroom!  Update!  There are so many entries I will be picking more than one winner.  
Where: Right here, with links to many other science teachers below
When: August 9th to 14th
How: Use the rafflecopter below, and the links to enter at other stores. 

FAQ's:


Why store credit? Good question.....I have a variety of science products and general products in my store, and what if I am giving away middle school products, but you teach high school?  Or giving away Earth Science products, but you teach Biology?  I want this giveaway to result in a prize that is valuable to you.  So, store credit it is. 

What do I have to do to enter? Follow the steps on the rafflecopter below to enter.  The more entries, the better chance of winning.

What can I use my store credit for? Anything in the the Science in the City store.  When the giveaway ends and rafflecopter helps choose the winner, I will contact you.  You look through my store and let me know which items you would like that total $15.  I will email them directly to you.

What would you recommend as best buys? 

Depends on what you teach, but here are some suggestions....

• General classroom products I would look at the following $15 package

         

This set would be good for any class (not just science) and includes many types of exit tickets, classroom organization tools, and a puzzle template set that can be edited to review or reinforce any set of vocabulary.

• Biology...I might pick

      

• Earth Science....I might pick

    

If none of those strike your fancy, feel free to browse my store and choose your own prize package. 

Where else can I enter? At the bottom of this post is a link up to many other science teachers who are participating.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Back to School Sale

Did you know the back to school sale starts tomorrow?!  Most stores (including mine) are 28% off.  If there are certain items that you have been looking at buying, but put off because of cost, or were debating purchasing, this is your chance!  

If I were purchasing from my store on sale, here are some of my best buys.  

For general classroom use I would buy this pack of exit tickets, or the back to school pack.  This will be tools you will utilize all year long for classroom organization, seating charts, keeping organized yourself, etc.  The formative assessment can be used in any subject area as tickets out, or assessment within a lesson, or even as a jumping off point. 

 

If you teach Earth Science, you may be interested in the curriculum guide, list of "I Can Statements and Vocabulary Lists."  Also, there is always Buy My Store for Earth Science, which entitles you to every Earth Science product, and any that I add in the future.  This would be HUGE discount if you purchase it on sale.  

I also feature a curriculum and resource guide for AP Environmental Science, and many biology items.  Some of my most popular are the Buy my Store for Biology (again, every biology item now and in the future, already discounted, available at a further discount for the BTS sale), or the human body pack, which includes many of the most popular human body items grouped together.  Again, these are already discounted, and available at a further discount.  

Even if you choose smaller items just to explore, or whatever you choose, make sure to get your cart ready, and use code BTS15.  

Contact me with any questions about my products (sciinthecity@gmail.com). 

Saturday Nerd Libs Link up -- last one for 2014

Join me one more time for a "Dear Santa" teacher letter.....I know there are things we all want.  Here is my letter to Santa (well.......a version of it!).

12 Days of Nerd Libs

Once again I am linking up with Mel and Gerdy's 12 days of Nerd Libs.  They are so creative with these.  I filled it out in true nerd libs style, where I looked at the prompts first.  I hope you will be entertained and please visit some of the other blogs as well for even more!

Hope you enjoy, and have a great holiday!! 

Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy Link Up

I am taking part this week in the first Saturday nerd libs, by Mel and Gerdy.  It is a great chance to 'meet' other bloggers and get to know each other a little better.  They are so creative!  I am glad to be able to take part in their fun ideas!  Please click on the button to the left to head over to their blog and see some of the other bloggers.  

Here my my response.  I did it true mad libs style and had my kids fill out the terms (based on what was underneath).   I have two boys, ages 5 and 8, and they love to be involved in what I'm doing.  Now that they are both in school (my little guy started kindergarten this year), it has given me new perspective on teachers and school, although I have taught myself for about 10 years, now. 

 I wish I slept until 7!  I am actually at work at 7, or a little before.   Otherwise, I do love pasta (but not for breakfast).  I do usually go first to my desk and get to work.  

Sale Time - If You Haven't Heard!!

If you haven't heard, there is a TpT sitewide sale Monday and Tuesday.  This means that my store will be 20% off, and the site is 10%, so you will get a total of 28% off the original prices.

This is the time to stock up and purchase items that you have been considering, but held off because of cost, or items that you know are versatile and will be used later in the year.

I know for me there are items that I look at, but wait to purchase....now is your chance.

Do your window shopping, and then get your cart ready so you can take advantage of the discounts on Monday and Tuesday.

If I were shopping my own store, some of the items that fit into those categories are:

Buy My Store Products -- a great deal, at an even bigger discount!

     
Exit Tickets -- useful all year, even if you aren't quite sure what you will need later on.

Great deal!!

Just a quick update to let you know of a great deal you may want to take advantage of.

CAST  2014 is this week in Dallas, TX. 9 of us science teachers from Teachers Pay Teachers got together and created an awesome bundle of products for the event. Even if you are not at the conference you can take a look at the activities online and purchase. http://www.4mulafun.com/product/science-teachers-of-tpt-volume-1/ This is a limited run product and 80% off retail value. Enjoy.

This bundled CD includes a great selection of products at a huge discount!

A Useful Gift For You: Exit Tickets and Much More

I was lucky to be part of a cooperative effort spearheaded by Brain Waves Instruction, Literary Sherri, and Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy. Each page gives a chance to 'meet' a secondary seller, and a printable, ready to teach freebie.  My page includes 4 immediately usable exit tickets.  These are part of a larger e-book with TONS of resources, across subject areas (see below for details).

They have compiled 3 FREE Meet and Teach e-books profiling SECONDARY teacher-authors and sharing print-and-teach resources from 25 TpT stores in each e-book.  The e-books center around ELA, Math & Science, and Humanities (Social Studies, Art, Foreign Language, and more ELA).  In them you'll find a 'meet' page completed by each seller that includes responses to 5 prompts.  You'll get to learn a bit about each seller like their favorite book or things that make them happy.  Then, each seller provided you with a 1-page resource that you can use in your classroom.  These e-books are filled with awesome teachers, little insights into each sellers' life, and resources that are easy to implement in your classroom.  They're pretty amazing.  Of course, you don't have to take my word for it, you can find them here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Meet-and-Teach-eBook-ELA-Grades-6-12-Free-1468027

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Meet-and-Teach-eBook-Math-Science-Grades-6-12-Free-1466695

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Meet-and-Teach-eBook-Humanities-Grades-6-12-Free-1466589


Download each free e-book and you'll get a chance to meet and teach resources from these teacher-authors: 

An InLinkz Link-up

>

Great Deal - Don't Miss It!

As you may know, TpT is having the annual Back To School Sale today and tomorrow.  My store is also on sale.  These discounts combine for a 28% discount.

I have taken advantage of this opportunity to create two new bundles in my store.  One is for all Biology items, and the other is for all the Earth Science items.  I have taken all of the related items, created one bundle, and am offering them to you at a discounted price.  As I add more items under each category, I will update the bundle, and the price will slowly go up. However, if you purchase the bundle, you will be able to continue to download the updated bundle (with any and all new products) for free. 

My biology items now value $45, the bundle is listed for $30.  However, during this sale, the bundle is $21.60.  That means today and tomorrow you can purchase any biology items that I create now or in the future for $21.60.

Similarly, my Earth Science items individually would retail for $65, but the package is listed for $40.  With the sale this package would be $28.80.  Any Earth Science items that I have created now or in the future (and I have some great ones in progress) for $28.80.

Looking For Free Clip Art? Here's An Outstanding Free Clip Art Site

Hi all!

If you are like me you are always looking for new clip art to add to either class activities, or products for teacherspayteachers.

In many cases there are great artists on teachers pay teachers, but there are also some cases where I don't want to spend the money, or just want something small.

My favorite new soure for clipart is www.openclipart.org  (Note: As of March 2019 Open Clip Art has been down and it is unclear if it's coming back).  This site has been working to replace it, and it is also a great resource ClipSafari

There are tons of designs, and some are pretty technical (appropriate for science for example).

Here are the terms of use, and some examples, and they are pretty permissive!   

https://www.clipsafari.com/terms 

Upcoming sale!!

If you haven't heard, now is the time to do you teachers pay teachers shopping!!

There is a sitewide sale going on May 6th and 7th, and my store is on sale on top of that.  You will get 28% off 

If you have resources you are thinking about purchasing to wrap up this year, review, do a summer program, or get a head start on next year, this is the time.  Get organized, and get them at a discount!

Update

You may be wondering why I haven't been posting much here.  I still hope and plan to get back to posting regularly, but I got invited to be part of a collaborative secondary blog, and have been posting there.  Its a bit too much right now to do both.  But once things settle down, I promise I will be back to posting regularly here!

In the meantime, check out the collaborative blog.  I am really excited about it.  We have an excellent group of secondary teachers, in diverse subject areas that are posting about strategies and projects useful across many subject areas.