Floating teacher? Helpful tips to keep your sanity when teaching in more than one classroom.

Hi again!

If you are back to school already, I sure hope you started the year off on a great foot.  For those of us who head back after Labor Day, I hope you are enjoying these last days of summer.

Three summers ago, I made the decision to change jobs and begin teaching chemistry at another high school.  Looking back, it was very scary to leave my tenured position, but in the end it was the best professional decision I ever made.  Deciding to leave was easy, but it was hard making my decision of which school to go to because I was offered two positions; one where I would have my own classroom and one where I would be moving from room to room.  I went with my gut, and chose the school that I felt would nurture my talents and help me grow as a teacher.   Today I am far more competent with student-centered learning and have grown to be very well versed in the Next Generation Science Standards.

So for those of you who are starting the school year at a new school, without having your own classroom - this post is for you.

Yes, moving a cart from classroom to classroom can be a complete drag (get it?), but here are some positives that come with being a "floating teacher":

#1 - You don't have to set up a classroom for the first day of school.  I remember spending weeks in the summer unpacking my room to make sure I was ready for the year.  One day of professional development simply wasn't enough to put everything back where it was in June.  (Same is true for packing up your room for summer vacay!)

#2 - Collaboration is so much easier when you go into your colleagues' classrooms.  I love being on a cart for the simple fact that I get to collaborate with my colleagues more.  I get to see in action what they are doing in their classrooms and share materials.  It truly has helped me keep better pace and has cut my planning time significantly.

#3 - Teacher clutter is at a minimum.  Every year I spend so much money on supplies.  Between my Expo markers, whiteboards, cleaners, post-its, etc. it's no wonder my former classroom was so filled with stuff.  Not only does being on a cart force you to be selective as far as what you bring with you from class to class, but it also causes you to stop buying that cutesy stuff from Target.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you stay organized on the go:

First and foremost, you will need a great cart with at least two shelves.  I absolutely adore this cart I purchased from Amazon.  It's so sturdy and the wheels move in all directions making for easy
transport.  Truthfully, I loved it so much I got a second one last year so I could transport my large white boards and lab equipment on it.  Totally worth the investment - and if you live in New Jersey it is tax-deductible.

Second, you may wonder what exactly I have on my cart to keep me organized.  The first thing I cannot stress enough is getting a file sized plastic bin capable of holding file folders.  I organized my hanging folders by the classes I am teaching.  So this year I have both college prep and honors chemistry.  I put a set of file folders in each hanging folder for each day of the week.  I instruct my students to get the work that was missed from the file folder for that particular day.  If possible, I put any materials I copy in advance in the subsequent folders.  This strategy works for me, but I have seen other teachers use accordion folders instead.  I don't find those as sturdy though, so I don't use them.

A third tip to keep you organized is to have a bin on your cart where the daily warm up will go.  I call my warm ups do nows.  I use a letter-sized stack able bin (shown in the picture above, on the bottom shelf) and I made a sign that says "Do Now Assignment."  The kids always know to get their assignment from there at the start of each class period.  It also helps give me a few extra minutes to get my activity set up for the day.

You may be wondering if I allow my students to use the materials on my cart - and yes I do.  I tell them that they are encouraged to use my stapler, hole punch, or my awesome USB powered pencil sharpener.  I also place a cup filled with miscellaneous pens or pencils for students to use.  Another thing I find helpful is to use little containers for things like rubber bands, stickers, and paperclips.  The rubber bands are especially helpful when students forget their hair ties during labs (pictured on the right side).

To give my cart some more pizzazz I purchased that "DO YOUR BEST" light box.  I actually like this one a bit better because you can change what you want it to say.  I'll be putting that on my Christmas list!

Here are some items that are not pictured that I have recently added to my cart:

• Bathroom sign out sheet
• USB pencil sharpener
• Clipboard for checking homework (usually placed in the back of the big plastic bin)
• A pair of safety goggles
• Document camera (this thing is amazing - it's so teeny tiny!)
• Tissues
• My classroom information binder

I'm also thinking about adding some growth mindset quotes to my cart since that is one thing I am trying to focus on this year.

I truly hope this post has given you some inspiration as you prepare to teach from a cart this year.  It won't be easy, but staying organized and planning ahead will make your travels from room to room much more bearable.  

Wishing you a wonderful school year with your new scientists!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Back to school, back to (NGSS) lesson planning + GIVEAWAYS!

With the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in full swing in my district, I thought it would most helpful to share how I plan my lessons to coincide with its three-dimensional learning requirements.

DCIs, CCCs, SEPs, oh my! So many acronyms, it is no wonder most teachers do not know where to start. But my hope is that this blog post will help you to not only make sense of the meaning of these, but also give you some idea of the process I use to devise an NGSS-aligned lesson.

The DCIs are most similar to the science content that your students need to know, therefore this is the first place I begin my lesson planning. I start here because if you do not know what science content to teach, it is impossible to plan for the science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts the students will use to learn this content. Here is an example of a DCI that I teach to in my atomic structure unit:

“PS 1.A - Each atom has a charged substructure consisting of a nucleus, which is made of protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons.”

 
Some DCIs may need to be broken down into smaller lesson objectives, for example the previous DCI could include lesson objectives for both learning about the history of the atom, ions, isotopes, and atomic mass. However, it is important to note that the NGSS now focuses on depth and not breadth. While it is important to paint an accurate picture of atomic structure, that can be done without necessarily teaching every single concept that the DCI may describe. Ideally, the students would be engaging in their own research and Q/A to uncover these concepts.

Which brings me to the second step in my lesson planning: selecting the crosscutting concepts. When you look at the DCI you must ask yourself, “what theme present in all of science can be used by your students to make sense of this content?” For example, if you are teaching about isotopes – patterns, structure and function, even stability and change are appropriate CCCs.

The final step in my lesson planning for an NGSS-aligned lesson causes me to ask myself, “how can my students act like scientists while learning this content?” Whenever possible I try to introduce a new unit by using some sort of phenomenon. For example, to teach about atomic structure I introduced the unit by using static electricity. Students constructed models, analyzed data they gathered from a simulation, and evaluated and revised their models based on observing the models constructed by their peers. When I am unsure what SEPs to include, I always try to plan my lesson around data – either data that I construct for the students, or data that the students compile. I have found this is the easiest way to ensure my lesson incorporates some sort of SEP and CCC.

Thanks so much for reading! I wish you the best of luck as we head into our second year of NGSS implementation. Please be on the lookout for more NGSS aligned lessons in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

To celebrate back to school time enter to win one of three $25.00 shopping sprees in my store:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet my friends and enter their personal giveaways!
Here are my secret words #5&6 “a person”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Secondary Science BTS Giveaway 2016!

Today is your lucky day!

Me and some of my friends who happen to be THE TOP secondary science sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers are having a HUGE giveaway!   The first giveaway is a Rafflecopter to MY store.  You can win 25$ worth of products of your choosing.  I will email the winner their choices directly.

Maybe you're looking for a more fun way to review - try my color by number bundle!  Need some help establishing your classroom policies and procedures?  This First Days of School bundle is completely editable to fit your classroom needs.  Or you could try one of my completely print ready unit bundles - bell ringers, power points, student note sheets, homework assignments, AND answer keys are all included!

 

  

Click below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After you enter my rafflecopter, check out each blog at the bottom of this post to go to each blog and enter their individual rafflecopter giveaways.

In addition to our individual giveaways, we put together one HUGE blog hop giveaway, just for science teachers teaching grades 6-12 science: Four $100 Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards!  Each blog post has a secret code word and a number.  My clue word is 16. TYSON.  The number tells you where the word falls in the secret sentence.  Collect the words from each blog, write them down in number order, and copy the secret sentence into joint the rafflecopter giveaway.  This rafflecopter form is the same on every blog, so you only need to enter once from any one of our blogs!  To enter the final sentence click below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet my friends (and enter their personal giveaways!):

An InLinkz Link-up

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

TPT Cyber Sale - Monday - Tuesday

Great news!  The Teachers Pay Teachers Cyber Sale is coming up!  Get ready for 28% off ALL of the products I have in my store when you use the code "SMILE" at checkout.  It's a great time to stock up on all the lesson plans you will need to keep you fully planned and prepped through the holidays!

Looking to spice up how you review some of the basic scientific concepts?  Try my color by numbers - I'm sure your students will love them just as much as mine do!

Midterms will be here before you know it!  Do you have your review packet AND answer key ready?  Lord knows the copy machine will break down without fail the week you need to make those copies.  Why not save yourself the stress and use mine - and actually copy it weeks before you are scheduled to review?

Want more sale updates and FREEBIE surprises?  *Hint, hint - there's one coming VERY SOON* Follow me here or on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MsRazzChemClass

An InLinkz Link-up

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Happy Mole Day!

To celebrate, enjoy 20% off my Teachers Pay Teachers store (MsRazz ChemClass) for the entire day on October 23rd!  That's 20% EVERYTHING in my store!  Certainly, there is no better way to honor Amedeo Avogadro than to pack your TpT cart with quality science resources.

Major shout out to Bethany Lau for this awesome graphic she's sharing with all the secondary science sellers involved in this sale!  Be sure to click on the link to stop by her blog to see all the sellers involved in this sale.

Best wishes for a totally awesome Mole Day with your little chemists!

Karen (MsRazz ChemClass)

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Neapod: A Fabulous Tool for the Science Classroom

Hello  again!

I hope you are settling into your school year nicely and you are ready to add some exciting technology into your daily drills!

Currently I work in a 1:1 district - all students have chromebooks.  In the past, I've had to work hard to incorporate a technology component into each chemistry lesson.  However, with Nearpod - it has truly made planning and assessing my classes so much easier.

Most of the time, my students' days start out with a 5-10 question quiz.  Usually these assessments are formative in nature, but after a couple of days reviewing the content, I do convert the grade earned into points.  Nearpod has been an absolutely amazing tool for assessing my students and assessing them often!  When the students enter my classroom I post an access link on the overhead.  The students immediately get their Chromebooks out (or cell phones if they forget their Chromebook) and plug in the code.  I can see how many students are logged on in real time.  Students can record their answers in the form of multiple choice, short answer, or even draw a diagram!  You can even see which questions they are answering incorrectly.  But that's not all - Nearpod can even grade your multiple choice assessments for you, and once everyone has completed the questions, you can share the results with each individual student!  Immediate feedback!  My students love it because it really helps them gauge if they understand the material or not.  I love it because it takes minimal effort to make a quiz and it does the grading for you!

An actual printout of my student's assessment data.  The subsequent pages are not included - but they display the answer choices for each multiple choice question for each student.

I've also been exploring the use of Nearpod for flipping my classroom.  Any Nearpod presentation can be converted into a homework assignment for students to do before they come to class the next day.  It is so easy to create a presentation!  You can directly import any Power Point into Nearpod!  Then to "Nearpod-ize it" I place little check point quizzes throughout the presentation for the students to answer.  It really holds them accountable.  And of course the opposite is true, you could broadcast your Nearpod in real time with your students, instead of assigning it as homework.  I haven't used that feature too much, because I am focusing on flipping my classroom.  Want to see the most recent homework I assigned to my students?

Follow these steps:

1. Go to www.nearpod.com
2. Click "I'm a student"
3. Type in the access code: GOCPV
4. Click the arrows on the left and right to scroll through the presentation.  Feel free to even take my quizzes!  :)

Getting ready to implement NGSS?  The drawing feature can address any model building standards or even arriving to a consensus.  You can anonymously share student models and discuss the inaccuracies in each model.   I recently had the students draw heating curves for water.  We were able to address the components of a good graph and alleviate any misconceptions or inaccuracies.  It was perfect!

Now for some really good news:  You can use Nearpod for FREE!  You have most of the features available in the free version.  I'm telling you though, once you start, you won't be able to stop!  Even your students will keep asking for more!

If you have any questions about how to use Nearpod or suggestions for use, never hesitate to reach out to me.

Happy Teaching!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Part III - Fundamental 5 - Recognize and Reinforce and Writing Critically

Welcome back!

This is my final book review post on the Fundamental 5.  If you would like to read the two previous blog posts, please click here for Part 1, and here for Part 2.  So, I've had a little less than three weeks to get to know my classes this year, and I can tell you that the Fundamental 5 has truly transformed me as a teacher.  Today, I will discuss the last two components for implementation in your classrooms.

So often, only the highest achieving students are recognized for their academic successes.  The chapter "Recognize and Reinforce" not only emphasizes the importance of recognizing the journey to success, but also how to keep these positive  behaviors occurring on a regular basis.  The authors of the Fundamental 5 cite research conducted by Marzano on the integral part of recognizing effort and the impact it has on student achievement.  On a more personal note in my classroom, I often emphasize the importance of "grit."  I love this TED talk by Angela Lee Duckworth to help understand the power of grit.

Not only should we praise our students for their efforts, it is important to have the praise be both personal and specific.  For example, just yesterday I was trying to roll a cart full of lab materials out of my classroom and into the hallway.  Two students could see I was struggling to open the door and push the cart at the same time.  One of the students held the door for me.  It was a very kind gesture, and even though I didn't know the student's name, I was sure to turn to him and thank him for holding the door.  Instead of simply just saying "good job,"  or "thanks" I praised the behavior by name (specificity) and looked directly at the student (personalization).  This simple act of acknowledgement not only will promote this positive behavior from occurring again, but his friend that was walking with him would also be more likely to repeat the same behavior in the future.

The final chapter in the Fundamental 5 entitled, "Write Critically" takes us through the importance of writing as an integral part of the classroom culture.  Through writing, students can construct meaning and purpose to the content learned.  Writing critically can occur in a variety of ways including: lists, comparisons, mind maps, exit tickets, etc.  No longer does writing critically simply encompass essay writing.  According to the authors, the critical writing that takes place in your classroom must have the intent of creating abstract thoughts into concrete understandings.  The very act of students writing critically about a concept can quickly transform a typical "chalk and talk" lesson into student-centered learning.  Furthermore, the rigor of the lesson is immediately raised due to student reflection and it allows for a great formative assessment if the writing pieces are collected and reviewed by the teacher.

It is my hope you have truly enjoyed my book review of the Fundamental 5.  In the last three weeks I have been working hard to implement all practices on a daily basis.  Not only have I seen quite an increase in student respect, but it has allowed my students to feel empowered to do well.  It has truly made me think about how to transform my teaching and to make my classroom a fantastic learning environment for all students.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it!

Happy teaching!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Part II - Fundamental 5 (FSGPT)...

Hi again!

Last time I posted, I spent most of the time talking about one of the fantastic books I read this summer.  Specifically, I described how to implement two very important pieces of the Fundamental 5.  To read the previous blog post, click here.  

Today I will focus my energies on explaining the third component of the Fundamental 5: Frequent, Small-Group, Purposeful Talk about the Learning, or FSGPT.  So, I'll be honest, I am a task master in my classroom. I like to fill my students' brains up with as much knowledge as I possibly can while they are with me.   Since I do check for understanding in a variety of ways and because I like to spend more time explaining the content, it often leaves little time for anything else.  Well, the Fundamental 5 has helped me change my ways.  Teachers should take advantage of this strategy after they have taught an important concept or after 10-15 minutes of direct instruction.  

The strategy goes something like this: A teacher provides a "seed question" related to the instruction.  So for example, a seed question could be, "Compare the criteria used to distinguish a physical change from a chemical change."  Students discuss the answer to this question in groups of 2-4.  It's never a long conversation - 30 seconds to 3 minutes, tops.  This aspect of the Fundamental 5 allows students to focus on the learning as well as bring higher levels of understanding on Bloom's.  Of course, during the discussions the teacher must remain in the "Power Zone" to monitor insights or misunderstandings.

For years, one thing I always talked about with new teachers is how students have a type of "kid speak" that maybe adults are not so in tune with.  Allotting class time for your students to discuss concepts allows for increased learning because a student's peers can serve as a "translator" for a student who maybe does not understand "adult speak" as well.

So this is one practice that I plan to implement a lot more this coming school year.  Recently, my district has purchased a wonderful web application called Nearpod that can help.  My school is 1:1 - every high school student has a Chromebook.  It is my plan to implement this component of the Fundamental 5 by taking control of the students' screens and having them answer questions as a group in real time.  Nearpod allows students to diagram, answer multiple choice questions, and provide short answers to questions.  It even allows me to display student work anonymously on the overhead.  Truly, this is an incredibly engaging tool, and combined with my new knowledge of the Fundamental 5, I know my students will benefit immensely.

Next time I'll be finishing up this book review with the last two components of the Fundamental 5: Recognize and Reinforce and Writing Critically.  Until then... happy teaching!  :)

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Teacher summers: Rest, Relaxation, and READING

Hello again!

If you have already started your school year, I hope it is going well so far.  If your year hasn't started yet, I hope you are enjoying your last few weeks of freedom.

Naturally, when summer rolls around teachers establish some high hopes for their summer breaks: Rest, relaxation,  and of course READING. This summer I indulged in quite a few books including:

Your Atomic Self: The Invisible Elements that Connect you to Everything in the Universe
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements from Arsenic to Zinc
The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction

I thoroughly enjoyed each of these, but by far, I believe my teaching practices will benefit significantly from the implementation of The Fundamental 5.  While I include many of these practices already, there are definitely some things I hope to incorporate this year.

The whole premise of the book is that high quality lessons have five major components:

1. Frame the Lesson
2. Work in the Power Zone
3. Frequent, Small-Group, Purposeful Talk about the Learning
4. Recognize and Reinforce
5. Write Critically

My plan over the next few blog posts is to discuss my implementation of these five aspects of quality instruction in my classroom.

1. The beginning and the end: "Framing the Lesson"
What knowledge and skills do you want your students to acquire out of your lesson?  How might your students demonstrate they have learned these skills?  Framing the lesson begins with stating the objective of your lesson in student friendly verbiage.  For example, objectives can be posted on power points and student note sheets in a "We will..." statement.

• "We will identify and provide examples for the steps in the scientific method."
• "We will identify matter as pure substances or mixtures."

When ending your lesson, your students will need to demonstrate they have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge.  To do this, the second part of framing the lesson uses a task-based objective in the form of an "I will..." statement.

• "I will create an an experiment using the scientific method."
• "I will complete an exit ticket that classifies matter as pure substances or mixtures."

Notice that the beginning lesson objective is low on Bloom's taxonomy ("identify") but as the lesson progresses to the ending objective moves to higher order skill sets ("create, classify").

Personally, since I teach older students, I prefer to list my objectives under the following heading: "After today you will be able to..."  I just feel it gives my lesson a little more of a young-adult-like feel to it.

2. Where you teach matters: "Work in the Power Zone"
Do you teach from your desk?  Most likely - no.  Why?  Because you know that when you are too far from your students, the less likely they are engaged in your lesson and classroom management issues will arise.  Positioning yourself right in the middle of all the action in your classroom will not only decrease poor student behavior, but will also allow you to instantaneously address misconceptions and increase student performance.  Furthermore, positioning yourself in this manner allows you to take a continual assessment of your students' understanding of the content.  It's a small change, bit it can yield some BIG results.

In my classroom I like to spend time in the center and the two furthest corners of the room.  Students in these areas are often inadvertently overlooked during lecture-based teaching.  During small group guided inquiry, I tend to move about the room from the perimeter to observe student interactions.

Try implementing these easy changes into your lessons and you will certainly be amazed with the outcome!  And if you haven't already done so, pick up The Fundamental 5 and read about #3 in preparation for my next blog post.

Until next time...

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

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

Hello! Today I have some exciting news!

Myself and some of THE TOP secondary science teachers are teaming up for some fun giveaways! Enter mine for a chance to win a $30.00 shopping spree in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Have you been eyeing up my new set of nuclear chemistry power points? Or how about my First Days of School bundle?

Maybe, the Next Generation Science Standards are on your mind. My design your own experiment is sure to cover the science and engineering practices.

OR MAYBE you're focused on making this year's Mole Day your most memorable one yet!  My mole day celebration bundle is sure to please!  These products and many more could be yours by participating! Click the box below to enter the giveaway. The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, August 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to know what my friends are raffling off? Make sure you "blog hop" to enter their giveaways too! Good luck!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

"Happy New Year!"

Today's blog post is about these three little words.  To most, these words are used at the stroke of midnight on January 1st.  Heck, even my own students look at the title on their bellwork the first few days of school and question, "Happy new year?"  As if to say I got the date wrong or something.  For myself and my colleagues of course, it means the start of a new school year.

I really think these two times of year have so much in common.  Think about it.  There is such a sense of renewal for me when I meet my new little chemists each September.  I'm simply a ball of excitement and nerves as I walk into my classroom and anticipate the upcoming year.  Not only that, but my resolutions are always the same: "Eat lunch every day," "go to the bathroom during your prep," and "exercise at least three times a week."  And of course, you can't forget about the science teacher related resolutions: "I will do at least one guided inquiry activity per week," "incorporate more engineering activities," oh, and the good old: "I'll never take longer than a week to grade lab reports."  Like the resolutions I make in January, it's not so easy sticking to these but I do the best I can.  Depending on what is going on in my personal/professional life at the time can really dictate how well I hold up my end of the bargain.

I really loved this article that Edutopia published:  Excellent Habits of an Excellent Educator.  If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend reading it now.  In short, the article asks you to examine your habits and reflect on things that you can improve upon both in and out of the classroom.

It is my hope that as you begin your new school year, you are filled with much of the same excitement, anticipation, and dedication to not only your students, but to yourself.

Happy new year!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

It's that time again...

...the Teachers Pay Teachers back to school sale is here! I have been hard at work all summer adding even more creative, professionally done, and engaging lessons to my store. So while you fill your days with sun and fun, I've been hard at work posting many of those products I've had a few requests for.


Take at look at the newest addition to my store: Nuclear Chemistry Lesson Plan Bundle  (Click on the picture for more details!)

I've organized the lessons into 45-minute intervals for easier teacher-prep and student understanding.  Bellwork, power points, student note sheets, exit tickets, a quiz, and test are ALL included.  Help your students differentiate between nuclear and chemical reactions, balance nuclear reactions, study transmutations, and relate the uses of radiation to every day life with this AWESOME lesson plan bundle!

Or how about some help implementing the NGSS?  Try my Design Your Own Experiment Lab using Magic Capsules! (Click on the picture for more details!)

Students will pick from three variables to study.  The activities is highly organized with sections for students to record their hypothesis, experimental variables, data tables, procedures, and conclusion.  You'll love it because it's a cinch to grade!  Perfect for reviewing experimental design in high school or reinforcing experimental variables in middle school.  My students had a blast with this experiment last year and I know yours will too!

Maybe you don't teach chemistry, but need some help with classroom management?  My First Days of School BUNDLE is sure to please!  (Click on the picture for more details!)

Perfect for anyone who is looking to tidy up their transitions in between activities, ideas for rules, policies, and procedures, or any new teacher who really has no idea where to start with their classroom management plan.  Many of my policies are adopted from Wong's book, The First Days of School.  If you haven't read it yet, I HIGHLY recommend you pick it up asap and read through the sections on classroom management.  But hey, if you really don't have time to read the book, this bundle will at least summarize how to start you school year off on the right foot!

No matter what you're looking for, I firmly believe my store has something for everyone.  Best wishes on a wonderful back to school season and sale!

Happy Teaching!

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.

Teachers Pay Teachers Milestone Achievement!

Hello all!

2014 was an exciting year for me: I got married, bought my first home, moved to a new school, and reached a TpT Milestone! You can see my milestone intro here.

I knew that I was approaching my milestone mark, but was unsure if I would make it in 2014.  To celebrate, I am offering 20% off my entire stock of TpT lessons from January 4th-7th.  So if that lesson plan bundle is still in your cart or on your wishlist, now is great time to purchase!

I wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and wonderfully educational New Year.

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Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey.  She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry.  After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.