-

 Thank you for coming to my blog. I started this blog years ago as an online portfolio of my teaching and anything else in my life that uplifts and motivates me. I wish I had more time to blog but I hope what I have put on here is useful to you and helps generate some excellent ideas of your own. Please comment on my posts to let me know what stuck with you.

Location: Williamsville, NY 14221, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Modeling Mitosis with Oreo Cookies 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction

-
Image
Oreo Cookie Mitosis The problem was: What do I do with the students the day before Winter Recess? We were about to finish the Reproduction and Development Unit but needed one or two days of review before the test.  I know a lot of teachers like to show a video but the way I see it you are essentially telling the students that "today isn't an important day, you aren't important to me, let's just take it easy." I was looking for a fun activity that would help the students review and would entertain them and keep them out of trouble for 40 minutes.  For whatever reason I ended up googling: Mitosis Cookies and found resources and ideas on the following websites: www.paec.org www.alopategui.com www.teacherweb.com www.amphi.com I then took parts from each site and created this handout for my 9th grade Biology students:  Click here for the handout oreo cookies provided by students They brought in plenty of c...
Read more

Ugly Sweaters and Vocabulary Review

-
Image
So I was reading this blog yesterday http://www.meandmyinklings.com/index.php/2014/11/24/ugly-sweater-garland-with-free-printable/ and saw this cute holiday decoration where you cut out and color paper decorations of ugly sweaters (like the ugly Christmas sweaters that my mom used to wear in the 1980's) and thought it would be fun to do with my students..with a twist.          ​ So each student gets a handout that asks them to design and color an ugly sweater that is based on a vocabulary term that we have used in class this year. Can you guess the Vocabulary word I used for the example?       yep...photosynthesis. You can get the FREE handout at my Teachers Pay Teachers page... https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Amy-Balling/Order:Most-Recently-Posted#seller_details_tabs Enjoy! and Happy Holidays!
Read more

Interactive Notebook in the high school biology classroom

-
Image
I know it's summer "vacation" but teachers never stop working or thinking about their classrooms. Every school year is a fresh start and a chance to revamp the way you have done things in the past. I love that I have that opportunity every year. For the past couple years we have used some "Brain Breaks" interactive notebook activities that I had created. They worked really well to help the students review what they were learning in class and I've wanted to expand on that this year. Back in the spring I came across Lee Ferguson and I was inspired by the Interactive notebooks that her AP Bio students create. I highly recommend that at some point this summer you go to her website and check it out. There are some amazing resources and ideas on her site . Lee Ferguson interactive notebooks in AP Bio Before you go to her site, let me show you what I have been doing. I have a belief that as a teacher if I am going to expect my students to do something...
Read more