First Day

The first day of school went off without any complications....said no teacher, ever.

Of course, that is just the nature of the first day of school. From a last minute schedule change for our class periods, to students showing up the morning of the first day to register, to lunches being held late and going into our team planning time, the first day was full of challenges for a first-year teacher. I started out energetic and hopeful that things would go smoothly. I quickly realized that this was not what the first day had in store for me. While the day was not bad by any means, it was simply chaotic and somewhat exhausting. I enjoyed getting to know my students and the quick faculty meeting after school with our new principal to "debrief", but I was overjoyed when it was time to go home.

I got home, crashed on the couch, asked my husband if we could do take out for dinner, and watched our wedding ceremony video to celebrate our anniversary.

Too little sleep and not enough coffee later, I'm back at my desk, ready to roll with another day, surprisingly actually excited to see my kiddos again!

Fun with Graphing

Someone recently shared with me a very neat website of a graphing activity for students. There is a handout on the website that you print and give to students. Then you play one of their 15 second "stories" and the students graph what happens in the story. The items range from time, air pressure, height, balloon length, ponies in the frame, and even more! This is a great way to engage students because it is a real life connection to what they know. You can let them choose videos that interest them too. The activity makes graphing more fun than telling students "Graph the coordinates (1, 3) and (6,4)." Click HERE to navigate to the website.

Rock Candy Experiment

www.sciencebob.com

I recently came across a really cool experiment that students will LOVE
(Thanks to www.sciencebob.com!)

The experiment is making your own Rock Candy and can be accessed here! This is a fun experiment for students because who doesn't love some candy?? The experiment can be tied into a lesson on solutions or reactions that take place during heating and cooling.

This is probably better done as a small group experiment or a demonstration because it does require hot liquids. If you are in a high school, depending on your students, this may be an experiment that they could handle on their own.

Good vs. Good Enough

This is an interesting outlook to have on your students and their work....

I found this on Flickr. The website credit is below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shareski/7019211317/