Let YouTube help you teach Science #9

Today I would like to recommend an outstanding YouTube channel called Freesciencelessons. It features a fantastic selection of videos linked directly to the exam papers. Here´s an example of one of their videos:

The channel offers a number of playlists for all sciences. The videos are short and use easy to understand language and good visuals.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

KS3 Science Club - Scheme of Work

I have been running after school clubs since I started working as a teacher. I really enjoy the freedom a science club can give you to try experiments that you wouldn't normally have time to do in a lesson. One of the restrains that I had to face, however, was the issue of money to buy the resources I needed. This I managed to overcome by applying for grants and getting free resources (I mentioned some of the places here). After testing a wide range of experiments and getting feedback from my students, I put together this KS3 Science Club Scheme of Work, which I hope is going to be useful for your students too.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Mystery Boxes

I recently came across an interesting hands-on activity which will help the students learn how scientists work and how they come up with different theories.

As you can see from the video it's very easy to set up and extremely engaging. I can't wait to try it soon.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina

Student engagement through SeeSaw

Student engagement plays a huge role in teaching. As teachers we think about it every single time while planning our lessons. EdTech brings a lot of interesting options which help us further engage the pupils. One of the apps that really worked for me is SeeSaw. Here are some of the ways I used them in my practice.

1. Digital portfolio for the form class

I first came across SeeSaw when I started teaching in an international school in Shanghai. I soon learnt that in that environment students often leave in the middle of the school year. As a form tutor I decided to start building a digital portfolio of all the activities my pupils were involved in. This allowed me to have a place where both myself and students were able to share interesting activities they were doing and give those who left a chance to stay in touch. It also allowed me to increase parental engagement as I easily generated on my account letters which informed parents how to join.

An important aspect of this digital portfolio is that once you leave the job, the person who takes over can continue the work easily.

2. Portfolio of experimental results

This was by far my favourite way of using SeeSaw. I often asked my students to post the results of the experiments we were doing. Students would always be asked to comment on their findings and I would frequently tell them to think about and write the way/s they could improve the practical.

My KS4 students enjoyed collecting photographs on how core experiments are set up which they later used for revision.


3. Exit ticket

This is perfect for a quick plenary. SeeSaw allows you to create "an exit ticket" - a short task to check any aspect of the learning. Here's one I've done at the end of a revision lesson and some of my students' answers.

SeeSaw is constantly growing and introduces new features and improvements. There are plenty of other ways you can use it in your practice.

I wish you great lessons!

Karolina