r/ScienceTeachers

We moved to fully typed lab report submissions at the start of the year and the quality has dropped in ways I didn't expect. Pre-typed submissions had their own problems but they at least showed me what students actually understood about the content. Now I'm getting reports that are shorter, less precise, and harder to assess because the science is buried under the struggle to type it out.

The pattern I keep seeing is that students who are slow typists produce reports that read like they didn't understand the experiment, but when I talk to them verbally they clearly did. The understanding is there. The ability to get it onto a screen in a reasonable amount of time isn't.

I've tried a few workarounds but none of them feel like real solutions. Letting them handwrite and then type doesn't work because it doubles the time. Voice-to-text creates its own mess. I'm starting to think this is really a school-wide keyboarding problem that just shows up most visibly in classes where written output matters. Curious how other teachers in writing-heavy content areas are handling it.

Hi, I am in the hiring process to become a Middle School Science Teacher in Texas. I am trying to determine what I will need to have to set up an engaging classroom. What are some things you've found to enhance and support student learning? What are some things you've found that were helpful with organization? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I hope to begin accumulating supplies this summer for the upcoming school year.

Thank you!! ☺️

Biology teacher here. I tend to give homework that is short YouTube videos and/or reading from an OpenStax Bio text. I am trying to use Gemini (our school has an educator account to include a higher-tier service) to create a doc file template that I then import into Gemini via the Form Builder add-on. There is currently no way I'm aware of to directly create the form without making a doc first. The prompting is to create a set of summative multiple-choice questions along with two formative questions (these last two are the same regardless of the material). It works....Sorta. Gemini can make decent enough questions for this purpose, but it keeps tripping up on which YouTube video/reading URL to use for the questions. I often have to prompt it to start over, but even then, it will often goof this part. Also, the form builder is quite clunky at getting even remotely close to what I want to see, and I have to do a lot of cleanup to get it right after the import. When my tech administrator had looked at doing this, he had a "help" wizard button in G-forms that let him simply copy/paste his doc file contents into the help wizard and it perfectly created the form with correct answers and point values.
Has anyone tried anything like what I'm describing with a more streamlined work flow? This feels like something one of the AIs could absolutely tear through, but I'm not seeing it...

I remember recently seeing a comment from someone about an organization that created a chemistry curriculum around food to make it more relatable to students. I tried finding it again but can't seem to find it. Does anyone have information on this curriculum? Thanks!

Edit: I think I might have found it with some more Googling https://www.bitescized.org/

Please correct me if it's the wrong one or add any additional resources if you have any!

I'm currently teaching life science but am considering adding a chemistry credential to be more competitive (re:job security). If I teach chemistry I would love to teach it in the context of food.

Thank you!!

Has anyone worked in the biotech industry and transitioned to teaching science, specifically middle or high school?

I got my degree in molecular biology and immediately entered the industry. I've worked doing mainly contract research in medical diagnostics for the past 10 years and have since received a masters in biotechnology.

I thought that would be what I wanted, but I've never been happy with my jobs. It's not very fulfilling, I haven't found the career progression I've wanted, and I worry about what I'm going to do as I approach retirement.

So I'm looking for a career change and teaching just seems like something I'd enjoy. I like kids and I like teaching people. I used to participate in my city's carnivorous plant society and would volunteer for the kids' table at events and enjoyed teaching kids about plants

I do worry about money. I make 120k as a senior scientist in Southern California right now, and I know I'd be taking a pay cut. But I'm just so not motivated to go into work now and I just feel like if I had a classroom to instruct and have direct evidence of influence of my work I'd be so much more motivated.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but it feels like a more stable career to me. I've been laid off twice and am always worried about funding cuts and more rounds of layoffs. I know there are budget cuts with schools and contracts don't get renewed, but it seems like once you're a teacher you can find employment. Part of my anxiety is I work in a specialized field and worry about getting laid off and not finding work because of my specialization. The idea of becoming a teacher and making that a career until retirement seems nice.

I also have fond memories of my high school science teachers, and could see myself transitioning into that role, teaching biology or chemistry.

Hello!

I may have to teach STEAM elective next year (middle school), but my district does not provide curriculum. Do you all have any recommended resources I can take a look at?

They didn’t give me any info… just the class title… so that’s all I have to work with. I would have a range of 6th-8th graders all in the same class, with varying science knowledge.

I need some end-of-year classroom management advice.

I’m currently subbing for a 7th grade science teacher who had surgery and will be out for the remainder of the school year. There are only about 3 weeks left, and the students are extremely challenging right now. They argue, bicker, and yell/cuss at each other across the room regardless of seating changes or loss of privileges. I’ve tried multiple strategies, but at times it feels like I’m invisible.

I think part of the issue is that the lesson plans left for me are not filling the entire class period. When students have meaningful work to do, behaviors are noticeably better, but not 100% gone. On Friday, I added a Kahoot and a Blooket, which definitely helped.

I recently saw a post where a teacher had table groups compete for points throughout the class period, with the lowest-scoring team missing out on a small reward or fun activity while the other teams got to participate. I’m considering trying something similar.

For those of you who have experience with middle or high school, what advice would you give someone stepping into a challenging classroom with only 3 weeks left in the school year? Also, if you have any engaging science activities or games that can help fill class time productively, I’d love your ideas.

If there is a worksheet of questions following a text they have to read in class,

is it best to have a double sided sheet, one side all questions in English and the other in Spanish?

Is it best to have like, "#1. English question" and then directly below "#1. Spanish question"?

What have you found to be the best format for your English language learners?

EDIT:

The students are middle school science 6-8th grade. The text itself would be differentiated. My school has very basic support for ELL students. Teachers do like, 90% of the heavy lifting. I suppose this is more of a formatting question. Like, if I'm going to have a baseline for making worksheets going forward, which is the most effective way to print the worksheet where the students could compare and contrast sentences?

Quick rundown of my situation: I teach at a VERY small (public) alternative high school. Because of this I have to change subjects every year, and for other reasons I cant teach typical HS classes (Biology, Chemistry, Physics etc.). I'm starting prep for next year and the class is "Human Biology". Essentially a typical biology class sans anything that would relate to an ecology type standard.

My students love being outside, and love hands on, high DoK, high rigor type work. This year we spent half of our class periods at a local beach about 20min away from the school doing water quality tests, sediment analysis, plant identification etc. for "Environmental Chemistry". My school community loves how I get students outside, connected to the community, and public displays of projects (we do a lot of public student work exhibitions).

TLDR/ Main Point: HELP ME BRAINSTORM PLEASE. I'm looking for any labs that could fit within topics like cells, dna to protein, organ systems... I have a huge amount of freedom in what I teach and as long as my students are engaged hands on, and were not straying toooo far from what could be considered "human bio" everyone is happy. I do not have a proper science lab, so nothing that would require a hood/ lab tables. Bonus points if the lab:

• Happens outside (we have beaches, forests, geology, everything)
• Could connect us to our community (small community means everything is close)
• Could easily have a product that students share with the community (lab report, posters, zines, social media campaigns etc.)
• Is cross-curricular (I often join forces with culinary arts, math, Art, and English classes)

Hi!

I finally got hired as a HS science teacher for the next school year! I am obviously anxious and excited to be starting a new job next year but I was wondering if there is anything that is recommended to prepare before next school year?

I'm thinking more of resources I can create for myself now and use for a variety of classes as I will be teaching a couple different science classes next year! I am also curious to hear if there is anything else people recommend for first year teachers to do before the school year starts! (I am also making sure to rest and give myself time to relax!)

Thanks,

LSB teacher! What are we doing during this last month for Regents review? Anyone have review resources they’re willing the share?

Thank you in advance 🙌

Just got told I’m confirmed to teach AP bio next year! I’m excited but nervous. What is your advice for a second year teacher getting ready to teach this class? I have a bachelors in biology but looking at some of the material I’ve seen in here, I’m worried I’m going to be learning/relearning a lot of it along with the kids. What should my first steps be to get ahead for next school year? Any advice would be helpful! I am doing an AP Training in person over the summer

Hi all!

After securing a job, I have found out that I will be teaching Freshman Biology and Anatomy. I am going to be a first year teacher, so I plan to focus a lot on my classroom management skills, and want to highlight student engagement.

What are some fun Anatomy activities that you find to keep students engaged?

I’m curious to know if any upper elementary or middle school science teachers incorporate morphology into their curriculum? I’m thinking about doing this next year with my fifth grade students (this is middle school at my school).

At our school, science teachers are responsible for teaching the Sex Education curriculum at some point during the year. I typically teach it toward the end of the year since families have the option to opt out and the curriculum is not graded. Timing it this way also gives me additional flexibility as I wrap up grades and coursework, while students remain highly engaged because the topics are directly connected to their own health and development.

One of my favorite parts of the curriculum is the anonymous question activity. Students submit cards with questions they would like answered, and I respond to all questions that are appropriate and non-personal. This year, I am teaching 6th grade for the first time in my 30-year career, and their questions have been thoughtful, sincere, and often very funny. My favorite so far is "Why is everything so weird?" Do you have a favorite?

Hello everyone! I was just accepted into the Kern High Teacher Residency program in partnership with CSUB in Bakersfield, CA. I currently have a Biology waiver for the CSET but really want to get credentialed in at least Earth Science as I was previously a Geology Major (but missed the 20 unit minimum to avoid CSET by 6 units) and Chemistry and am open to Physics as well. I am fine teaching any of them but Earth Science is my favorite. I have basically nothing going on this summer while waiting on the program to start as all of my bachelors level courses are completed and was contemplating getting the CSETS out of the way even though I won't have a preliminary credential until later. Has anyone knocked out the CSETs over the summer before doing a program? Additional piece of information, this is the second time I will be doing the classwork portion of a teaching program as I completed everything but the Licensing component last year right before we had to move back to California from Maine. Would getting those subject tests out of the way help me or hurt me at this point? I am worried about waiting until I am done with the program and or teaching a class to take the CSETs as it will be a lot for me in the first couple years.

CSET Science II: Earth Science
CSET Science II: Chemistry
CSET Science II: Physics

CSET Science II: Biology- WAIVER by Degree (includes Foundations level sciences/ CSET: Science I)

If anyone has recommendations on CSET prep materials I have been trying to access the CTC Right Step materials for Earth Science for over a week now and it's saying theres a problem. Are the physical books worth it? The Prep courses? What do you recommend?

AI is here for a while, and problems and risks now start to be very clear in classrooms.

I wonder what you would come up with.

Guidelines, boundaries and/or [places where it is or is-not ok] about Ai. In the classroom, and at school. Long term (10+ years) student, pedagogical and education health as the main premise.

What would you put up as input for an e.g. fictional guideline poster?