Teachers! I need your attention... If you haven't seen Plickers then you need to go to www.plickers.com right now! (OK, after you read this blog post) What is a Plicker? A free and easy way to evaluate what your students know like you would with a "clicker" but with a card that you print out and the students can keep in their binders. No more handing out clickers, recollecting clickers, dead batteries etc. When you go to the Plickers website you can set up your classes and print out Plicker cards for each student.  Each card has a black box with a pattern on it, the student's number in your class, and the letters A, B, C, and D.  When going over multiple choice questions you can ask the students to hold up the card to represent their answer. The students rotate the card and the letter that they hold up at the top of their card is what they are choosing as their answer. You scan the cards with the plicker app on your smart phone o...

     Last year I was introduced to a fantastic web-based software known as eDoctrina .       If you're a data junkie like me, this program will fill your life with not only hours but days of enjoyment. Since I teach a New York State Regents-level biology class (The Living Environment) I have analyzed the BOCES statistics about every single question on every single exam but I was looking for a way to analyze the different components of the curriculum and my in class assessments. I am also an avid user of technology in my classroom and I want to be able to help every student in my class be the best they can be in the class...so this is how I got hooked on eDoctrina . They like to call people like me "Super-Users" but really I see myself as a "Heavy-User" it is actually more of an addiction than something I am forced to use. It is important for you to know that my district is supporting eDoctrina but is in no way forcing me to use it. ...

     Like any other teacher I am constantly revising my curriculum based on student likes/dislikes, new motivation strategies, incorporating new labs, review games, etc. It is very overwhelming to keep it organized so here is the method I have devised.      I have a folder where I keep all ideas for future units. In that folder there is a separate sheet of paper for each unit. a separate sheet for each unit Any random ideas I generate throughout the year that would apply to that unit are jotted down on a post-it note and stuck onto the sheet of paper. post-it notes with ideas post-it notes with ideas      What did we ever do before paperclips and Post-it Notes? Any labs that I want to rewrite or handouts I have found are paper clipped to that sheet of paper. This way I am more likely to revise the units as I go through the year. labs, handouts for rewrites and modifications paper clipped to it.  This i...