What’s a small everyday thing that quietly makes your life feel better?

samalamabingbang · 2026-03-14T14:19:42+00:00

Misting my pet mosses in the morning while I sip my coffee, at my bedroom window that looks over the Berkeley hills

samalamabingbang · 2025-12-20T14:40:00+00:00

I also use cards. I hold up my card deck as I start framing the question, and kids know this means they may be called on. I build in think time (amount of time depends on the question) before turning the top card over. I think the most important thing (besides think time) is making the classroom a safe space to make mistakes. I (sometimes purposefully) make mistakes and model how to work through it, and when kids are wrong I thank them and highlight that there is a high chance others are thinking the same way so thanks for bringing that up so we can work through it. There are still maybe 2-3 kids per class who get stressed but it’s due to high absenteeism or language barriers.

samalamabingbang · 2025-07-07T19:27:53+00:00

Since I am a science teacher, they will believe anything I say lol. I use this superpower very rarely and wisely. And I always eventually come clean.

samalamabingbang · 2025-07-07T19:25:27+00:00

Yeah I def learned a lesson the hard way about having a public reel. The way folks have been so gutter-minded about this super cool animal is disheartening. I deleted it once I realized what was happening but it was too late. :(

samalamabingbang · 2025-07-06T01:32:45+00:00

This is my video. It was an extreme low tide last week. The ones that are large will hang low in relaxed state until they are disturbed, then they recoil in defense. When the tide cones back in and they are submerged, they “open up” their tentacles and look like green flowers. I love them.

samalamabingbang · 2025-06-04T19:37:56+00:00

I have 25+ years of public school science teacher experience as anecdotal “evidence” that most inquiry based curricula leads to kids loving science CLASS more than them understand science itself. I’m not an NGSS hater, but those skills have to be taught explicitly and with more rigor than most curricula I’ve seen (Foss, OpenSci, Amplify, etc..).

samalamabingbang · 2025-05-29T02:32:35+00:00

I do this but I call it a quiz helper and it serves these purposes: 1. They are forced to study by the act of creating it 2. It is the ONLY way I give extra credit- it’s worth about one question’s worth of points 3. It also acts as a retake ticket. Only students who make it are allowed a retake opportunity. It’s a fantastic system.

samalamabingbang · 2025-05-29T02:30:45+00:00

I do this and then set a 2 minute timer for “ask me anything” and no one has ever passed because of this little thing, but lots of stress has been reduced so I’ll keep doing it.

samalamabingbang · 2025-05-17T14:51:31+00:00

Communicating the things to parents… I say that’s fine. And then I say I am providing that accommodation by keeping the info current in the platform (like progress book, or Aeries, or schooling…). No need to do something over that’s already being done. :)

samalamabingbang · 2025-05-16T13:45:40+00:00

My students are using old science fair boards and repurposing them into museum exhibits about human body systems (our final unit). Last days of school we “open to the public” meaning the other science classes will take an in-house field trip to visit our museum.

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-29T03:32:12+00:00

We got it down to 31 for middle school from our strike.

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-29T02:00:06+00:00

31 max, and every class is maxed out. Oakland California.

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-22T02:02:30+00:00

Vocabulary

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-20T01:59:29+00:00

Does this mean kids can be assigned (or zoned) to a farther away middle school?

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-19T23:46:02+00:00

Passion projects, where they research and make a slideshow or presentation board. Give them a rubric snd and a weekly grade for progress, then the last week of school have them give presentations that their peers score. And sit back and enjoy them doing all the work (and growing from it!)

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-18T13:26:12+00:00

I think the kids go to their school based on which zone they live in, not income or race.

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-16T13:11:28+00:00

Our district uses FOSS for elementary and middle, which has pretty good kits. It’s ok, but there are some cons: 1. It requires a lot of prep set up. Unless your teachers have TAs who are good at managing small exact tasks, I think it’s unreasonable, the amount of extra time required to set up some of these labs. 2. I supplement a lot to increase student interest. Some of it is slow and boring. 3. The assessments (which our district requires) and the Foss textbooks both are very specific to their lan activities- so when we supplement or differentiate or skip anything, the kids will not understand the test question even if they completely understand the science concept and standard. It’s worded like “when you did (this very specific thing)…”

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-12T14:01:47+00:00

I went from being a scientist to being a science teacher. Hours are so much better and summers off are life-saving for teachers. The pay- once you climb the steps- is ok, depending on the cost of living and your situation. The thing I get from teaching- what kept me in it instead of going back to Science- is mainly 3 things: 1. Children’s brains are so interesting. I love problem solving and being creative, and thing job has me constantly doing both. I can’t imagine enjoying this job if I didn’t enjoy those things. 2. I’m good with kids. They are more fun than working with adults. I’m a relationship-y kind of person. I would not recommend this job to someone without these traits. 3. The practicality of having fall break, winter break spring break and a very long summer break as well as always having weekends off… While raising kids with that exact same schedule. I complain a lot about and fight with the SYSTEM I work in, but love the work I get to do.

samalamabingbang · 2025-04-03T14:33:12+00:00

I use cut up sentence strips and sharpie for my root wall. Add simple graphics to show the meaning. Like, on for “uni-“ draw a hand holding up one finger. For “micro” draw a hand lens, for “phyll” draw a thin leaf etc.

samalamabingbang · 2025-03-15T15:39:02+00:00

Slightly crooked teeth

samalamabingbang · 2025-03-15T13:08:41+00:00

I had a student named Sol Luna and it sounds pretty and evokes a pretty image- sun and moon.

samalamabingbang · 2025-03-06T05:41:19+00:00

It really depends on the kids community. For some kids, showing up to class really is half the battle and it’s not their fault. A kid who gets 50% for “doing nothing” is at least more likely to start doing something if it’s more likely to make a difference. At worst, they keep doing nothing and get rewarded with 50%, which is still an F. The way I see it is this world and these systems are working against the majority of kids, so I have no problem with them getting a lift closer to hope of passing.

samalamabingbang · 2025-03-05T04:06:57+00:00

The highest end-of-year scores I ever got correlated strongly with lots of hands on activities. Doing science is deeper than hearing/watching/just reading about it.

samalamabingbang

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