Raise-a-Grade Certificates = Easy Reward

In my last post I told you about the Science Super Star system that I'm using this year in my classroom to recognize students who are doing well.  One of the rewards they receive when they earn a Super Star award is a Raise-a-Grade certificate.  I promised in that post that I would elaborate in a follow-up post, so here it is! :)

Early in my teaching career I was trying to come up with a way to reward students without having to spend a lot of money.  I remembered receiving Free Homework Passes when I was in school, but I'm not a fan of those because I don't assign much homework, but the homework I do assign has a purpose and so I want it to be completed.  I don't give many extra credit opportunities in my class, either (I know, harsh...right? LOL), but extra credit as a reward seemed like a great idea.  So I came up with the idea of a Raise-a-Grade certificate.  

Basically, a student can use one of these to raise his/her grade on any assignment of his/her choosing by 10%.  Most of my students have gotten smart about it and wait to use them on tests since tests are worth more points than homework or other assignments.  I only make it valid for a nine-week grading period, that way students can't save them and use them all on a test at the end of the year and receive 30-40% extra credit!  (I just know someone would try it!)

So there it is... a great, EASY, **FREE** classroom reward!

Rachel

Science Super Stars

Update 1.21.16 - Thank you SO much for the interest in this idea!  I'm in awe at how many times this post has been pinned on Pinterest. It really reaffirms for me the idea that so many of us teachers really do want to accentuate the positive in our classrooms!

I've recently opened my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and I've decided to include the Science Super Star template as a FREE DOWNLOAD!  Just go to my TPT store and you'll see it featured on the right side of the page.


And now for the original post:  :) ...

I'm at home today with my 8yo daughter who's not feeling well, so I thought I would take the opportunity and write a new post since it's been a couple of weeks! (A couple of crazy weeks, let me tell you!)

This year I've started a new reward system in my classroom.  I found myself over the past couple of years focusing so much on the negatives (the kids who don't do their homework, the ones who don't put forth any effort even though they're very bright, you know... those negatives).  So I decided that I needed a way to help myself - and my students - see and focus on the many GREAT things that go on in my classroom each week!

Our school found ourselves in a similar situation about 9 years ago, and I was part of a small committee that helped start the Student of the Week program that we still use.  I needed to create a similar program for my classroom, and so...Science Super Stars was born!

Each Friday I choose one or two students from each class period to receive the Science Super Star award for the week.  (A couple of times I've actually had three or four students from the same period because I've rewarded an entire lab group, but typically I try to not choose more than two.)  Choosing students is simple. I just look for the student(s) who has/have done something exceptional during the week!  Some of the awards I've given this year have been for improving test or quiz scores, earning a 100% on a test or quiz, doing great left-side work in their ISN (Interactive Science Notebook), asking thoughtful questions during class, cleaning up trash in the room that wasn't theirs, etc.  I look for anything that set a student apart from the others during the week.

The reward? It's a 3-part deal...

1) They earn a star to add to the bulletin board in the room.  The star has their name as well as the reason they earned the award.  I keep the stars up all quarter, then take them down at the end of the quarter and start over.  Here's what my bulletin board looked like at the end of quarter 1:

2) They earn a Raise-a-Grade certificate.  Basically this is a certificate that I made which a student can turn in with an assignment to raise their grade on that assignment by 10%.  

3) Of course, no reward would be a good reward without candy!  So, they are allowed to choose a piece of candy from my candy bucket. :)

This system has been so great, for me and for my students.  We're all focusing on the positives a lot more.  My students can't wait for Super Star Fridays!!  That's the first thing they say when they walk in each Friday..."Hey! It's Super Star Friday!"  (And heaven help us if I'm actually not at school on a Friday!  I missed one Friday about a month ago and they practically bombarded me on Monday wondering where I was and if we would do super stars that day!! LOL)

**Update 8.10.14 - Here is a post that shows the Super Star in more detail in case you're wondering what it says!

Does anyone else have a similar program in their middle school/ high school classroom? What rewards to you use?

Rachel

If Wegener Could Tweet

My 8th graders have been working their way through a chapter on plate tectonics.  Over the summer I saw an idea on Pinterest that has students write tweets about the subject they're studying - just another way of getting students to summarize what they've learned.  I decided last week to take a slightly different approach.. :) ...

So the day after we talked about Alfred Wegener's continental drift hypothesis, my students' bellwork as they entered the classroom was:

If Wegener had had access to Twitter, what do you think he might have tweeted?  Pick up a Post-It note from one of the tables around the room and write down your idea.  (For example, The continents are moving! #imnotcrazy)

I have a few 8th graders who it turns out are unfamiliar with Twitter, but most of them were pretty excited about this challenge!  Here are a few of their responses:

The land used to all be one piece. #true#don'tjudgeme

Nobody believes my hypothesis. #yolo

The continents all fit together. #nojoke

The land is like a puzzle.  You try to connect them! #puzzle#trythechallenge

I didn't have all of the students share with the whole class.  Rather, I broke them up into small groups of 3-4 students, and asked them to pick their favorite tweet out of the group to share with the class.  This is a great way to not take up the whole period, yet still be able to hear several students' ideas.

I can see myself working this in one or two more times during the year, but it's also something that I don't want to overuse at the risk of losing the excitement. (But I guess that's really true of any activity, right?!)

Rachel

Safety First! (And now my kids believe me!)

Something I won't budge on in my science classroom is the issue of safety.  My kids wear goggles more often than not, and we regularly discuss applicable safety rules before almost every lab that we do.  My middle school students don't like to follow the "Always wear safety goggles" rule.  (They'll mess up my hair! Are these leaving lines on my face? Do I look weird in these? yada, yada, yada...)  After what happened today during 8th period, though, I don't think they'll question me on it anymore! ...

I set up a convection demonstration on one of the front lab tables.  It was simple, and one that I've used twice a year for probably 6 years or so.  I brought in a large 10x13 Pyrex baking dish from home, filled it with water, and then set it up so that one half of the dish was on a hot plate, and the other half was just resting on some books that I had stacked up.  Once the water gets heated up enough, I can add red food coloring to the hot side, and blue coloring to the cooler side, and we can watch convection in action!  However, as the water was heating up (the students were still in their seats working on making a foldable) suddenly the entire Pyrex baking dish EXPLODED!  Literally... exploded.... !!!!  We all jumped a mile, and I'm pretty sure a couple of the students screamed, simply because it took us all off guard!  There was glass everywhere.  I found glass in about a 7 foot radius around the hot plate!  And I'm not talking big chunks of glass; I mean the itsy-bitsy tiny shards of glass that are nearly impossible to see.

I took the opportunity to explain to my students who witnessed the event why it is always so important to wear safety goggles when working with hot plates, even if it's just water in the beaker.  I make them wear goggles because I want them to stay safe for the 40 minutes that they're with me every day!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am that no one was injured as we were not observing the demonstration at the time of the explosion.  Aside from a good amount of time spent cleaning the tables and floor, and now needing to buy a new baking dish for home :), all is well. 

Rachel

Foldables in Science

I absolutely LOVE teaching with foldables.  I was introduced to them about 5 years ago when I was classroom neighbors with a former elementary teacher.  Once she showed me a foldable and I saw how great it was, I took the idea and ran with it.  Now I use them in almost every chapter!

If you've never used foldables, or don't use them very often, here are some reasons why I frequently use this teaching strategy with my students:

1 - Foldables are great for both my visual and my kinesthetic learners.  Visual because I usually require some sort of drawing/picture/diagram to be on the foldable, and kinesthetic because the students must manipulate the paper as they're writing notes and studying.

2 - Foldables are notes and study tools, all in one!  My students write their class notes right in their foldable, and when it's finished they have a great way to quiz themselves when studying for the chapter test!

3 - Foldables are more interesting and interactive than regular notes.  Just writing notes on a page is prety boring to the majority of students, but when they have to decide which section of a foldable to put the notes in, and when they have to include pictures/diagrams of the concept, suddenly the content is much more engaging!

4 - Foldables help students organize information. Let's face it, many middle school students cannot organize information on a page.  But when they create a foldable to put their information in, it's much easier to organize information by topic.

5 - Foldables can still be used with Interactive Science Notebooks.  This is my first year using ISN's and my students love the fact that we can glue foldables right into the ISN's.  It adds a whole new element to their notebook!

Here's a picture of a foldable that I made with my 7th grade students today.

This one is what we will use to record information about each of the layers of the atmosphere.  As you can see, foldables to me are so much more than just folding a piece of paper!  After we write down information about each of the layers, I give the students a chance to process that information by decorating the front.  The pictures that they use must correlate to what is actually in the atmospheric layer.  So for instance, weather happens in the troposphere (bottom layer) so I drew a cloud in the troposphere.  On the right side of the foldable I have them draw "air particles" to show that air pressure decreases as altitude increases.  So ultimately, even if a student is not much of a reader or studier, just looking at the front of the foldable will give them a lot of the information that they need to know!

Even though my students may sometimes feel like they're in an art or origami class rather than science, and even though I may have convinced my classes last year that I have a degree in paper folding ;), I'd definitely say that this is one of my favorite teaching strategies, and one that I definitely feel yields results!

Rachel

Clip Converter

In my last post I told you about Mr. Parr's great YouTube channel where he posts science songs that he writes for his students.  I thought that for those of you who have to deal with YouTube being blocked by your web filter at school I should fill you in on how to actually use those songs - and other great YouTube videos - in your classroom.

I attended a class in June where I learned about the Clip Converter website, and I must say, it's amazing! It allows you to convert YouTube videos to just about any other format. I convert the videos to Windows Media Player, save them to my flash drive, and then save them from the drive onto my computer in my classroom.  It's totally FREE, which makes it right in my price range. ;)  The file conversion is pretty quick, but then to actually download the file to my computer usually takes about 5-6 minutes.  (Of course, I have a pretty old computer so if you have something newer you may find it takes a lot less time.)

I've used Clip Converter for several files and have not had a single issue with it, so I would definitely recommend that you try it!

Rachel

Sing a Song of Science

I always try to incorporate a variety of learning styles into my lessons.  Walk into my room on any given day and you could see my 7th and 8th grade students creating foldables, drawing pictures, conducting experiments, writing poems and stories, and even singing.  Yes, I said singing.  Well, mostly just listening to songs.  I don't require that they sing, but they do need to listen and follow along with the lyrics.

What do we sing you ask?  Last year I happened across a most fabulous YouTube channel by a teacher named Mr. Parr.  He takes current songs and changes the lyrics to make them science-related.  His songs are amazing!  My students love listening to them, and several students have told me that they really help and have begged me to use more of them!  My 7th graders are currently working their way through their astronomy unit, so this week I used his Moon Phases song (set to the tune of Forget You by Cee Lo Green) and also the Tides song (set to the tune of The Other Side by Jason Derulo).

If you have trouble finding ways to teach to the musical learning style, I would highly recommend checking out Mr. Parr's YouTube channel!

Rachel