Classroom Cuteness

Along with getting a new classroom, I wanted to revamp my classroom decor. I didn't really have a theme last year and this year, I wanted to add a little cuteness to my classroom. I'm very excited to use my new decorations! I'm still sticking to the basics since I teach solely science, but I'm using lots of bright colors - especially green since I associate the color green with science. For whatever reason.

I put my decor pack on TpT, though I'm not sure how many other teachers teach only science. Here's a peek:

I love it and I can't wait to get it all up in my room, along with a few other things I'm thinking about. I am venturing to the good ole' neighborhood Old Time Pottery to get a few summertime lanterns, since they'll be going on summer clearance soon. I have several succulents that will look really cute in those lanterns. I'm also thinking about making a few poms for the ceiling and I've also purchased a hanging mobile. I saw on Pinterest where lots of teachers are gettin frames from Dollar Tree and spray painting them. Genius. And duh. Why couldn't I think of that myself?! Anyway, I'm getting some of those and will be putting classroom odds and ends in them. Hopefully, that'll spruce the place up a little.

I can't get in my room until the first of August because my school is getting a new roof, but as soon as I can get in, I'll be working hard getting it cute and then I'll share some pics.

Getting closer! Are you ready? 

Science Fridays

Hello out there! I'm still here, taking care of my little one - and starting to do a little more thinking about heading back to school! Only 6 more weeks until we go back. Yikes!

I'm major struggling with not really reaching - and exceeding - my goal from last year of trying to incorporate more technology into the classroom. I want to rollover this goal into next year, because I think it's really important, especially in science. I've been doing some Twittering (not really tweeting, just looking at different science-related tweets and tweeters. Tweeters? Huh.) I've decided to do something called Science Friday, or SciFri for short. {Turns out, there's a radio show called ScienceFriday, which I found through my Twitter "research". Guess it's not that original, but I like it.}

I wanted to do something different, something fun on Fridays, to give the kids something to look forward to every week. In my classroom, I share math responsibilities with my fellow math teacher friend and the kids take their DOM Quizzes in my room every Friday. This eats up about 30 minutes of my class time, which is no big deal, but just makes it a little difficult to start any new material. I just got back from a two-week vacay visiting friends and fam in Louisville and on my way home, I thought about how I could make this SciFri fun and engaging, yet still relevant to the curriculum AND while tying in technology somehow. Each SciFri might look different, but will basically have the same structure. We will start with a quick writing prompt or discussion, followed by a class activity, and then end with a recap. Here's what I've come up with for the different activities I may use:

- Every other week, or when appropriate, begin SciFri with a writing prompt: 

 {This week, I learned......     I'm still perplexed about.....    I'm really curious to learn more about.....}

This will be beneficial to me for obvious reasons.

- TwitterTime! This will be a time where students will break into groups and search our class Twitter feed to find something worth sharing. The possibilities are endless with this one, because you never know what will be discovered. 

- Science Pictionary. I'm thinking about creating a Pictionary game for some of my units of study. We could use this as a study tool to prepare as a class for upcoming tests.

- Science Trivia/Zap Game. Self-explanatory.

I'm just thinking outloud about how to make my Fridays a little more peppy and exciting. What do you do on Fridays? Does your Friday look different than any other day of the week?