Coronavirus 2020:
The pandemic really had a huge impact on my teaching. The uncertainty of what was being taught/learned outside of our classrooms meant that I had to try my best to get my teaching into the homes of my students as much as possible. The class I spent the most time planning was Junior High Algebra 1. I devised weekly schedules for students to follow that included a warm up taken from Numeracy Ninja, a foundational skills worksheet, and practice problems from new content. The obstacle I faced was how to help students understand that new content. Thus, my class website was born.
This video will forever have a special place in my heart. This was the second of two very similar sounding phone calls from students in my Physics class. I sent home experiments that students could easily do that dealt with static electricity. In this video, I am helping a student complete the levitating plastic bag experiment. It ended with the much wanted "Aha" moment we all strive for as teachers.

Math Class:

Science Class:

One of my favorite Biology - Argument Drive Inquiry labs is to give students a variety of cells to look at (pictures or microscope slides). The cells I give them will be labeled as prokaryotic or eukaryotic. Then, I provide them an unknown cell and they must use evidence to prove their claim as to whether that cell is a prokaryote, eukaryote or other.
One of the most powerful tools in teaching science is the PEOE (predict, explain, observe, explain) structure. I use this often in demonstrations to challenge student thinking and provide them an anchoring activity to which we can refer to throughout the unit.
New science textbooks could bring students closer to science behind climate change. By Christine Trudeau, KYUK-Bethel
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Click on the picture to be taken to the article!
I always try to find creative ways for students to showcase their understanding of the content. In this case, students were offered a variety of candies and other toppings they could use to decorate cookies to show the stages of mitosis.
PREPARES (Preparing Responsive Educators using Place-based Authentic Research in Earth Systems) developed a curriculum specific to Alaskan students that involves how climate change is affecting our landscape. What was especially unique about participating in this was our ability to compare our experience with climate change with students of Hawaii. Myself and one student were given the opportunity to travel to Hawaii to explore their side of climate change and culture.
The NGSS standards do not necessarily discuss mining, however, this is a very important topic when talking about both the history and the future of Alaska. I spent one week letting students investigate the types of mining and its environmental and economical implications. In this case, students engineered their own sluice boxes as a means of separating "gold" from other materials.