I submitted an idea for CAST this week - Literally Outside the Box. My plan is to present all of my outdoor lessons. I LOVE taking my kids outside for awesome learning. I have gotten so much better over the years at making the outside experience an impactful learning adventure. Kids love it and I love making science real. When kids can make connections from the real world to the science I have to teach, we have won!
I am also going to include games that I have adapted and created. Here is my version of Oh Deer! from Project Wild.
OH DEER
More is coming!
One of my colleagues said that I love NEW. I love new ideas. I love a new format of my class. I love a new seating arrangement. I love new warm-ups. At first I thought it was because I wasn't focused. I've come to embrace my creativity. I am always looking for something NEW. A new way. My warm ups change every two or three weeks. My students are never bored. They also embrace creativity and my fresh little classroom.
Here is my PREZI that I have presented at NSTA and CAST.
Science Coloring Book
Last year I chalk painted some doodling canvases of some of my hardest concepts to teach. They hung in my classroom on the side wall. I was going for the coffee shop chalk doodling. When the subjects come up and I am teaching away with some lab or activity, inevitably one of my kiddos says, "Oh, I already knew this from your picture." Or they will have a huge aha moment, "So this is like your painting!" I thought it was so funny (interesting, poignant) that pictures could teach so much.
I sat down over the winter break and doodled my whole curriculum. My kids saw some of my drafts and have been begging for their own coloring book. 
I used my Coloring Book for homework this year. With a bunch of printing and three staples, each kiddo had their own book. The homework assignment was to color (or highlight) one page of their choice. When they arrived to class the next day, they traded their book with another student. The 'in class' assignment was to look over their friend's coloring page and write a summary.
I submitted an idea for CAST this week - Literally Outside the Box. My plan is to present all of my outdoor lessons. I LOVE taking my kids outside for awesome learning. I have gotten so much better over the years at making the outside experience an impactful learning adventure. Kids love it and I love making science real. When kids can make connections from the real world to the science I have to teach, we have won! 
