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.

Use Socrative For Colorful and Innovative Analysis and Test Prep

I don't  know if you are in a state that has Regents exams, or if you are in a state that has other state exams instead.

Here in NY, we have Regents exams.  They are exams given at the end of the course, in most high school courses, and passing a certain number of them in each content area is a graduation requirement.

I teach in an urban district, where the passing rates are fairly low.  I am always looking for ways to help students be successful on those tests.  I have tried many other things (which I may write about in other posts).

A colleague and I are trying a new strategy now.  Here is our plan (really, it was my colleague's plan first, and then I have adpated to my class):

 - Analyze the past few years Regents exams, correlate them to the NYS standards, to determine which topics are the most heavily tests, and what those test questions look like.  In other words, which standards are emphasized on the exams, and how are those standards translated into test questions. 

- Starting about now, give students weekly 10 question quizzes.  The quizzes will be made out of the most commonly tested standards.  

- As students get questions right, the quizzes will adapt to include the next most commonly asked questions.

- The quizzes are being done on www.socrative.com.  This allows me to add an explanation to the questions.  Students can take the quiz, know immediately how they did, and as they see their answer, see an explanation of why the correct answer is correct.  I am encouraging them to take  notes, and study those notes.  If they are getting questions wrong, there is a good chance that they will see the same questions next week.

- As I see a question that the class as a whole is not progressing on, I can go back and target that for a quick 'intervention.' 

So far, students are enthusiastic.  One of my top students even said "So we are starting review now?!"  

Me: "Yes, a little bit of review"

Student: "That's a good idea, then when we get to June it won't be so overwhelming!"

That's the idea.  Those students who advance faster through, will get more review, but those who advance slower will still review and hopefully "get" the most commonly tested concepts.

Free Gift for You With Surprising Results

I don't know about you, but I am SOOOO sick of winter, and a little stir crazy.  And my students are too.  If you are tired of hammering on routines and expectations, this might be one way to break up the monotony.

They can help monitor themselves and each other.  I have had really good, honest, team-building responses by using this teamwork checklist

Upcoming Sale!!

In case you didn't hear -- Teachers Pay Teachers is having a giant site-wide sale Thursday and Friday February 27th and 28th.  Everything in my store, and many things site-wide will be up to 28% off!

Get your wishlists ready, and plan ahead. This is your chance to make the upcoming stretch of the school year easier on yourself.

Click on the banner above to go directly to my store.

Teaching with Poverty in Mind Chapter 3

I have shared my previous book circle discussions for Chapter 1 and 2.  Here is my discussion for Chapter 3.

As the book progresses, it gets more specific on suggestions that teachers can implement, or schools as a whole can implement to improve success rates for students.

This chapter was about IQ being fluid, rather than static, which is dramatic if you really think about it.  It also talked about other factors that are critical such as self-discipline, and teaching problem-solving skills and social interaction skills.

I went to a PD recently that dove-tailed with this.  It was actually on classroom management, but the presenter touched on research by John Hattie, as well.  If you have never heard of John Hattie (as I haven't), he is an educational research who did a meta-analysis of thousands of other research studies to look into what practices actually have a positive effect on student achievement.

He found that some of the most important factors are feedback, and student-teacher relationships (rather than many of the other things of which we constantly hear discussion.

If you are interested in more details on his research, look at this link  or simply google John Hattie or Visible Learning.

New Secondary Resource to Share With You

I wanted to share a resource with you!  I am honored to be part of a group of secondary teachers who are creating a group collaborative blog on a variety of secondary topics.

There will be daily (or almost daily) topical posts.  Most will be education related.  There will be monthly themes, such as formative assessment, technology, etc.

I hope you will stop in and check it out! I think you'll like what you find!

Earth Science of the Olympics Freebie

Another Freebie!! 
Similar to last week, but that one was a big success, so hopefully some people will enjoy this.
Last week I posted a "Science of Football and Olympics" in honor of the Superbowl.  It was focused on biology and life science topics.  
Here is one for this week focused on the Olympics, but focused more on Earth Science topics.  I hope you enjoy!  This is a great way to work in Common Core, relevancy, and grab students' interest
Science of the Olympics Hope you are having fun watching the Olympics.
And I promise some posts of more substance coming soon....some things are in the works here!