Engaging Students, Serving ELLs, and Teaching Earth Science With Becca of Science Lessons That Rock [Episode 191]

Rebecca Joyner [00:00:01]:
Welcome back for week two in our month long series where I’m getting the chance this summer to interview a variety of different full time high school science teachers. And I am so excited to introduce you all to Becca of Science Lessons that Rock Today because she teaches earth science and so many of you are always asking me for earth science recs and I have absolutely none other than redirecting you to Becca. So I am tickled to get to introduce you to her here today on the podcast. Becca is a secondary science teacher in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. She has been teaching for over 15 years and has a passion for biology and earth science. When she transitioned from biology to earth science, she struggled finding hands on labs and activities. She loves the challenge of thinking outside the box and creating ways to make earth and space science both engaging and relevant. In this episode, Becca shares so many practical tips we cover how to make earth science more hands on, how to keep students engaged in your class, tips for serving your ells and her recs for teaching in a title one school among so many other things.

Rebecca Joyner [00:01:15]:
She is a wealth of knowledge and experience and someone I’ve known on the Internet for the last decade and so I’m excited for you to now know her too. So here’s my conversation with Becca of Science Lessons that Rock. This is Secondary Science Simplified, a podcast for secondary science teachers who want to engage their students and simplify their lives. I’m Rebecca Joyner from It’s Not Rocket Science. As a high school science teacher turned curriculum writer, I am passionate about helping other science teachers, love their jobs, serve their students, and do it all in only 40 hours a week. Are you ready to rock the time you spend in your classroom and actually have a life outside of it? You are in the right place, teacher, friend. Let’s get to today’s episode. Hey Becca, how are you?

Becca [00:02:08]:
I’m doing great. How are you?

Rebecca Joyner [00:02:09]:
Good. Happy summer.

Becca [00:02:11]:
Yes.

Rebecca Joyner [00:02:12]:
I’m so excited to talk to you and I’m just really grateful you decided to join me for this series because I feel like I know you’re a biology teacher too, but everyone’s always asking me earth science stuff and I’m like, I know nothing. Like, I cannot tell you how many people I’ve been like, check out my friend Becca from science lessons that rock. Or when people ask me for astronomy, I’m like, check out my friend Michelle and Ms. Brasso’s binder. Like, I’m like, I cannot support you. So I’m just so glad you’re here.

Becca [00:02:39]:
Thank you. I love it.

Rebecca Joyner [00:02:40]:
Okay, so I know you love teaching it, and I know you love teaching biology too. But I would love to know just for context. And I know you’ve kind of hopped around schools, but what’s your general background of like student population? What’s the vibe when you’ve been teaching earth science before? Has it been an elective or is it a required course? What’s kind of the context with which you’ve taught that course?

Becca [00:03:00]:
Sure. So Earth science in the district where I am teaching it in is generally going to be your kids that don’t want the math component of chemistry or physics. And so it’s a kid that needs. In Arizona, you need three years of science to graduate, which is, I think is the case most places. So they’ll usually take like an integrated or a physical science, a biology, and then either environmental science or science if they don’t want like the math pathway. So a lot of, a lot of juniors usually, and there’s still really good kids, but not, you know, on that like AP honors track. Like, you don’t offer really the even AP or honors of those courses because.

Rebecca Joyner [00:03:45]:
It’S just an on grade level course.

Becca [00:03:47]:
Yep.

Rebecca Joyner [00:03:47]:
Okay. And it’s a whole. Is it traditionally a whole year of Earth science or is it typically like half? When I was in high school, we did like half Earth, half space. But is that not how it goes anymore?

Becca [00:03:56]:
Yeah, we do half of astronomy and then the other half semester of Earth, which the astronomy was a learning curve for me because I’ve always loved Earth science. But then when I was like, oh, I have to teach astronomy now and like, good enough to really understand it and be able to teach it, it was like a year of same thing going to Michelle. Like, Michelle, can you help me with this topic?

Rebecca Joyner [00:04:17]:
Yes. So how do you feel about it now that you’ve done it for a little bit?

Becca [00:04:20]:
I feel good. I still don’t feel like as passionate about. I don’t get super excited about some of the astronomy, but it’s, it’s kind of cool to like piece stuff together as far as like Earth science. I have this later in one of the questions, but like, there’s this concept of time that isn’t as applicable to biology. So like, you know, instead of talking about things on a scale of days or months with like, you know, cell division and stuff, now we’re talking millions or billions of years. And so just being able to like grasp that and teach that and try and wrap your brain around it has been kind of fun.

Rebecca Joyner [00:04:57]:
Yeah, that’s awesome. Okay, so I know One of the biggest struggles for Earth science teachers, you have told me this, and teachers have told me this in their inbox when they’re looking for help and I’m directing them to you, is that it’s just hard to make it like hands on. So what recommendations do you have? Why is it hard to make it hands on and what are your kind of recommendations for that?

Becca [00:05:16]:
Yeah, it’s just biology has been so much easier to do labs because it’s stuff you can see. Like I can see cells, I can see predator, prey relationships, things like that. And then when I’m teaching, you know, star life cycle, like I can’t see that. Right. And so it feels more out of touch for them. And then again, we’re talking about big spans of time. So it’s just, it’s harder to find labs and develop labs. And so usually my go to is how can I model this process? So we do a lot of modeling.

Becca [00:05:47]:
How can I model seasons? How can I model distance between planets? How can I model continental drift? Just finding ways to make it more fun. So turning it into a stop motion video or turning it into a scaled model outside my classroom with sidewalk chalk, like just things like that to try and just make it a little bit more engaging. But yeah, it’s just you don’t have as much at your fingertips as you do teaching biology, that’s for sure.

Rebecca Joyner [00:06:14]:
Well, and I love that you said that about models because I think oftentimes we feel like we’re not doing a ton of labs. We’re like failing as a science teacher. But when you look at the SCPs of the NGSS, like the science engineering practices, like one of them is plan and carry out investigations. But that’s like one of, I think there’s seven or eight. So it’s like, you know, there’s developing these models. Like you said, you can still analyze and interpret data. Like there’s still so many other things you can do that is still hands on. It’s still doing science without it being like a traditional lab.

Rebecca Joyner [00:06:41]:
So I love that you said that about models. Do you have any, like must do wrecks? Like you can even shamelessly plug yourself here?

Becca [00:06:49]:
Since I taught biology for so long, I like had a classroom full of microscopes and I’m like, how can I use microscopes in Earth science? So I’ve just tried to like pull in different things. So like, for example, I asked the custodian one time because I learned that you can find micrometeorites like all around and that one good place Is like on the roof of a building where there’s not disturbed. So I was like, can I go up on the roof? And he was like, no. And I was like, can you pull up on the roof and, like, just scoop up a bunch of sediment? And so, like, we would go searching for micrometeorites or we did a lab for, like, rock cycle where you take salal. I don’t know the actual name of it, that’s like the common chemical name, but you can see it crystallizing under the microscope and talk about. I would, like, take a microscope slide and have a hot one that was warmed up and then a cold one from the fridge. And then you drop it on and see the crystal formation and the rate.

Rebecca Joyner [00:07:42]:
Wow.

Becca [00:07:42]:
And so why do igneous rocks that have big crystals, do they cool faster or slower and things like that? And then just other things that I’ve done, which sounds silly, but if you have kids, I was like, I have tons of kinetic sand at my house. Like, how can I use this? Oh, we’re learning landforms. So let’s make stop motion videos on. And I gave each kid, like, you’re doing a delta, you’re doing a meander, you’re doing a cave and like, model it and create me a stop motion video.

Rebecca Joyner [00:08:10]:
That’s so fun. And kinetic sand is so fun.

Becca [00:08:13]:
And it never dries out. So it’s not like play doh where you have to rebuy it. You’ll be good forever.

Rebecca Joyner [00:08:19]:
That’s such a good idea. I love the bringing in of kids stuff. My friends always laugh when they come to my house because all of our Duplo blocks have stickers on them and they’re labeled with ions for, like this molecular modeling thing I have for ionic bonds. They’re always like, why is my kid playing with the chlorine ion? Except for they don’t know that CL minus 1 is that. But it was just like, I was like, well, this is how the toys work in our house, guys. Okay. Multipurpose.

Becca [00:08:42]:
Yes.

Rebecca Joyner [00:08:43]:
Okay. So I know you said you don’t do as many labs in Earth science, but obviously you teach biology stuff too. Just in general. Do you have any just lab prep and execution tips? Because I do feel like, especially for any new teachers listening this month as they’re prepping to go in their classroom, like, labs can feel super overwhelming. So do you have any tips for that?

Becca [00:09:02]:
I think just some little things I’ve learned along the way. Like, obviously, do the lab yourself before you do it with kids.

Rebecca Joyner [00:09:09]:
I know, but you say Obviously. And we run out of time and then it’s like you’re really winging it. So it really does make such a difference to, like, force yourself to do it.

Becca [00:09:17]:
Yes. And then twofold, not only making sure it works, but also collect that data and have that data. Because we all know that the absent kids, like, having them come in and do a makeup lab, like, nine times out of ten, just doesn’t work. So sometimes I’ll just be like, here’s the data for this lab when you were absent. Now go do the CER chart or answer the post lab questions or whatever. So having that data is helpful.

Rebecca Joyner [00:09:41]:
And it’s so helpful. Like, I mean, you don’t get snow in Arizona, but like, we get hurricanes or whatever. Like, it’s just like, why didn’t I just save like one year’s worth of data, you know?

Becca [00:09:51]:
Yes, it’ll come in handy for sure.

Rebecca Joyner [00:09:52]:
At some point. You’ll need that.

Becca [00:09:54]:
Yes. I am a big believer in don’t go home from school until you’re ready for the next day. So because I’m not a morning person, I’m not going to be in line at the copier in the morning. I’m not going to be setting up lab materials in the morning. Like, especially if you have kid drop off in the morning and you’re like running in. So always having the lab set up, I always just go to the dollar store and have like the Tupperwares or bins. So, like, each lab group has been ready to go, just grab it. And then one thing that really helped is I stopped cleaning glassware myself.

Becca [00:10:27]:
There are kids that are in National Junior Honor Society that are National Honor Society juniors for middle school. Like, if they need community service hours, or we have the AVID program kids that need community service hours. Or some kids during our advisory period, which is just like study hall and tutoring, would rather clean glassware than sit there and do a worksheet for math or whatever.

Rebecca Joyner [00:10:50]:
1,000%. I’m like, I’m constantly like, our students are like our greatest free resource that we don’t use. And, like, so many of them need the hours or whatever. Like, even if you don’t have a formal TA system at your school, like, you can be like, do you want to be my assistant? Okay, so let’s talk about direct instruction, too. How much are you doing that? If so, how are you making your lecture engaging? Especially for, like, those older students that are like, just trying to get that third credit, you know, how are you getting them to engage in that Right.

Becca [00:11:19]:
It depends on the topic. I’m never like, I know some like AP teachers will do flipped classroom and stuff and that just doesn’t work for me. But for me, I always ask myself, like, is this a topic that can be first uncovered with like inquiry 5e sort of things? So like for biology that would be like osmosis, right? Like we can absolutely do the lab first. Here’s fresh water and here’s salt water. What happened? And then do the lecture later. If it’s something like protein synthesis, they’re, they’re not gonna figure out protein synthesis unless you teach the lecture first. Right. So lesson first and then follow up with enrichment.

Becca [00:11:57]:
So first I ask myself, what’s the sequence gonna be? Am I gonna do the lab person and lecture or lecture and then lab and then during lecture, like, don’t be a talking head, right? Like you’re pulling in application questions, you’re getting kids to talk. I do card sorts all the time. Like I have a stupid amount of card sorts. So like pause here. Like put these paper strips in order or let’s sort, you know, for whatever the topic is. Throw in video clips. Just like anything to break up. Like you shouldn’t be talking for 45 minutes without getting that thousand percent.

Becca [00:12:32]:
And then I think another thing is as far as like note taking, kids aren’t going to take useful notes if they know they’re not going to be using them again. So how are you going to make sure that they’re referring back to them for bell work questions or letting them use notes on a test? Like if you have well written test questions that aren’t just, you know, recall questions, then they should be able to use their notes and still not just ace your test and assess them in ways other than that. Like create a, not a one pager, but a one pager. Could be an example. But like go refer to your notes. Create me something. Use something else for summative assessment. So anyways, I love that.

Becca [00:13:14]:
Don’t just go in the backpack and don’t see them again.

Rebecca Joyner [00:13:16]:
Totally. I remember like, I mean, years ago, maybe 2017, Chris Kessler of Kessler Science had like a viral blog post about how he always does open note tests. And I was like, that’s crazy. And like you said, it’s like, first of all, even if they had all their notes, like my tests are challenging, they wouldn’t have time to look up every answer. Like, you have to know this stuff well enough. And like you said, if the challenging the questions are like application, that’s not Just something you can like look up. And I definitely think with all of the access students have now, like letting them have information at hand is not the end of the world. So I love that you said that if you don’t even want to do tests like, like you said bell ringers, mine are always open note too.

Rebecca Joyner [00:13:54]:
There’s other ways to get them to use them so that they actually think they’re valuable.

Becca [00:13:57]:
That’s a great point.

Rebecca Joyner [00:13:58]:
Okay, apathy. I know you’ve been in the classroom through pandemic times. Post pandemic times, all the things I feel like everyone’s just talking about the apathy and just students like not being excitable at all anymore. So are you seeing that still? And if so, like, how are you getting them to care? Or do you just not care if they don’t care?

Becca [00:14:19]:
Yeah, it’s. It’s hard post Covid and the era of cell phones, especially if you work at a school like mine where it was like teachers were kind of free to have their own cell phone policy.

Rebecca Joyner [00:14:31]:
I hate that.

Becca [00:14:32]:
So if, if we are not all on the same page where every teacher’s enforcing the same thing, then it’s a nightmare. And so I’ll be honest, there are sometimes with cell phones where I’m like, if you just want to sit on your cell phone and fail, then like I have those days where I’m like, just fail. But like in general, I think if you have a well planned out lesson, you’re prepared, you’re excited yourself about the topic. Kids are going to be excited too. And usually you’ll have your buy in. But one thing that one of our pds which is professional development specialist, she was like, over the new teachers at the school that I was at most recently when I was a new teacher there, I remember she came to evaluate me or just like pop in one day and it was a kid not working and or wasn’t doing anything. And I went to follow up with her later and she’s like. So I noticed this student that was just checked out and I’m like, yeah, he never does work.

Becca [00:15:23]:
You know, like that sort of answer. Which was not the best answer, but that’s what I said. And I remember she looked at me and she said, becca, a kid never wakes up in the morning and says, I want to go to school and fail today. So there’s something going on that you need to figure it out. And like I’ve never forgotten that comment. And so if you have a kid that’s totally checked out, especially if it’s not normal. Like, I used to do sticky notes, but now that we use teams, like, I would usually send them a little teams message that would be like, hey, I noticed you seemed a little off today. Is there something I can help with or do you want to pass to go visit the counselor or whatever? And like nine times out of ten they’ll be like, yeah, this is going on.

Becca [00:16:03]:
Or they don’t want to tell me, but they’ll be like, can I go see so and so at the office? And I think, you know, kids generally, especially in science, we’re lucky. Where I feel like it’s, it’s not math. Like we’re. Our lessons are more fun, right? Come there and be like, God, I don’t want to be here today. So, yes, it’s harder to get them excited, but usually most of those problems go away. That’s so true.

Rebecca Joyner [00:16:27]:
About like, I do think too, like you said at the very beginning, like, if you’re coming prepared, you have the class plan, you set the tone of like, we’re doing stuff. Like, that’s why I feel like I never had a problem with kids leaving for the bathroom. Like, people went to the bathroom, but like they were stressed if they left because we were doing stuff while they were gone, you know, And I was like, you’re not gonna get caught up. And I feel like they saved their like leisurely bathroom strolls for like you said, math class. Like that, you know, it wasn’t going to be quite as exciting.

Becca [00:16:55]:
Yeah.

Rebecca Joyner [00:16:56]:
Okay. A question I just love to ask because I just think it’s fun. Is, is there a concept you feel like you teach really well or you do it in kind of a unique way? And if so, would you share it with us?

Becca [00:17:05]:
One thing that when I was teaching most recently with Earth science, that there’s tie over to biology for sure, is I feel really passionate just in life about climate change and getting people to really understand it. And one thing that’s intimidating, I think as a science teacher is if you just Google like climate change lessons and you look what’s out there, it is like aimed at your AP environmental kids. Like, it is really data heavy. If you look at online simulators, it’s like there’s 15 toggles for fossil fuels, renewables, agriculture, population, transportation and like for your average kid. And even for me, I’m like, I can’t, I can’t use that. Like, it’s too much. And so I really had to ask myself, how can I teach climate change in a way that they can Understand in a way that they’re going to care and just, like, grow up as educated citizens around this topic that’s going to affect all of us. And so, really, especially since I was teaching some astronomy, like, going back to the basics, like, why does climate even change in the first place? Why did we have an ice age? Like, most adults can’t answer that.

Becca [00:18:09]:
And so starting there, and then what are these proxy records that we have? And then I kind of built labs around that. So we would build ice cores out of Pringles cans with the different layers and have them analyze it and then look at actual ice core data and graph it. Or at Christmas, I used to have a fake Christmas tree, but I would go around to Christmas tree lots and ask for all the stumps that they cut off. And then I would, like, have tree cookies, and then they would analyze rings, and you can, like, put little burn marks on them. And like, how do we use tree ring data for climate change? I would get out all my fossils. How do we look at mass extinctions and tie it into climate change? So just kind of making it understandable at a basic level. And then also, one thing that I did most recently is kids are on social media all the time. So I would write, like, five Instagram accounts on the board and be like, go follow these accounts.

Becca [00:19:04]:
Get your phones out right now. And we watched Racing Extinction, the documentary. Like, go follow this guy. He posts every day about, like, climate news. Or there’s even, like, throw in, like, positive. There’s one. She posts, like, weekly, like, positive climate news. So it’s not all just, like, doom and glooms.

Rebecca Joyner [00:19:22]:
Yeah.

Becca [00:19:23]:
But like, fill your. Fill your social media with not just like, TikTok Talk dancing, but things that will educate you, literally.

Rebecca Joyner [00:19:31]:
No. Like Real Housewives. What is it? Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I feel like that’s like, every high schooler babysitter I know right now is, like, obsessed.

Becca [00:19:40]:
Yes.

Rebecca Joyner [00:19:41]:
Oh, man. I always take off social media in the summers, and it’s, like, such a nice break. Yeah, it’s like, half the time, Instagram doesn’t even show me on my feed who I want to see. So that’s smart to be like, don’t let them tell you who to follow. You. You get some good content in there. It’s a great idea. Okay.

Rebecca Joyner [00:19:55]:
Your science class might be more students along the same level, but maybe. So maybe this applies more to biology, but do you have any differentiation tips just for trying to fit or reach all these different students and meet all their different needs?

Becca [00:20:07]:
Yeah. One thing that I was thinking about, when I was thinking about that question. I mean, I’m in Arizona and so a lot of the kids are Spanish speakers. And so I have over time, like just tried to really hone in on those ELL kids and how can I help them? My strength is definitely like the scaffolding and the lower kids. Like, I’m not the one that like, oh, we have an AP opening. Let’s plug Becca in there. Like, I just know, like they’re gonna put me with the lower kids and that’s totally fine because that’s my strength. So I’ve just looked for a lot of tools that will help those kids.

Becca [00:20:44]:
I usually will print the PowerPoint for them because them taking notes, translating from things English to Spanish in their head. Like they can’t do that at the rate I’m giving them the information. So just print the notes and give them like fill in the blank if you have time to make it. Lots of vocabulary practice. So we do bingo a lot and if you get a bingo, I’m not giving you your Jolly Rancher until you’ve said all those words out loud to me. Like lots of verbal practice because especially those kids are sometimes shy to speak out loud because they have an accent or they’re nervous on how to pronounce something. Vocaroo. I don’t know if you’ve seen that website.

Becca [00:21:19]:
It’s V O C A R-O-O dot com. It’s a super easy voice recorder. So if you have a kid that doesn’t want to talk in front of the class but you have like some sort of oral assignment, it’s so easy. It’s like click of a button, it voice records and it like sends you the link. They can email it to you or just drop the link in teams or.

Rebecca Joyner [00:21:39]:
That’s awesome.

Becca [00:21:40]:
That’s one thing. Changing Lexile for those kids. Newsela does that automatically. Rewordify.com will do it for you for free. Just plug in a text. It’ll lower the Lexile providing sentence frames for those kids. Like CER charts are hard for all kids, but especially those kids. So give them sentence frames.

Becca [00:21:59]:
Like fill in these blanks on your claim and it makes it easier for them.

Rebecca Joyner [00:22:04]:
I love that those are great suggestions and I love that you just are like, I, I like working with the lower level students. I think that’s awesome. I, I, I, I feel that after I taught AP biology like one year, I mean, I like liked the kids because they were kids. I’d had like for a couple years before, like, I liked them, but the content I was, like, not as obsessed with. I’d much rather, like, fire up an apathetic student than, yeah, well, and sometimes.

Becca [00:22:30]:
Like, you kids are smarter than me. Like, yes, I learned no more some of this content than you, but, like, you are smarter than me, so.

Rebecca Joyner [00:22:39]:
So go off. Yeah, you do your thing. Okay. What about classroom management? Do you have any good tips or hacks?

Becca [00:22:46]:
Yes, I. I feel like, again, when you have a well planned, prepared lesson, at least 50% of your management problems are solved.

Rebecca Joyner [00:22:54]:
Yep.

Becca [00:22:55]:
But just things like being consistent. So, you know, if I’m gonna call out one kid on their phone, but on another kid, like, you know, but then also not singling kids out. Kids. One thing that sometimes I’m guilty of, especially if I’m getting tired and cranky, like, stop doing that. And like calling it out. But it goes a long way when a kid doesn’t feel singled out. So sometimes I’ll even use other kids. Like, I know who’s talking, right? Like, yeah, but if I say, like, hey, if your neighbor’s talking right now, could you, like, give them a little nudge? And when it comes from a student, that would help.

Becca [00:23:32]:
Or like, pulling the kid into the hallway to chat if I need to, so I can chat with them, not in front of everyone. One thing that I remember when I was a college kid and in education classes and our professor was like, I want you to go observe a teacher of your choice. And it just so happened I was in driving distance from my high school biology teacher who I loved. And I was like, can I come observe you? I was watching her. She was teaching chemistry at the time, and there was a kid who had a tennis ball and he was like, just tapping it on the desk or bouncing it over and over. And I would have been like, dude, stop with the tennis ball. He’s teaching. And like mid sentence, she’s just like, whoever’s bouncing the tennis ball, could you stop? And then she just kept on teaching.

Becca [00:24:14]:
And the kid was like, sorry, missed. And she’s like, it’s okay. It wasn’t annoying me that bad, just a little bit. And she just kept on teaching. And I’m like, what grace? Like.

Rebecca Joyner [00:24:24]:
What grace?

Becca [00:24:26]:
I just lived, like, tried to do that because I have had kids call me out before and being like, why are you going to put me on blast like that in front of everyone? And it really does hurt them when you do that. So I try and be conscious of that.

Rebecca Joyner [00:24:40]:
It’s so true. I’m. That was hard for me because I’m kind of sassy. So like, if they’re going to dish the tude, I’m going to dish it right back. And that’s not the most mature thing, you know, I, yeah, I just remember being one of my supervisors and like my first year out of college was like, remember you’re the adult in the room. And I’m like, okay, like you’re with.

Becca [00:25:02]:
High schoolers especially like there.

Rebecca Joyner [00:25:04]:
He’s like, well, yeah, especially like, yeah. And when I was like a 22 year old teaching like juniors in high school, we’re four or five years apart. Like, that’s insane. But I, yeah, it’s hard for me to not engage like. And like you said, be the most mature, most calm person in the room. Okay. You have a lot of experience teaching at a Title 1 school. So any tips for that sort of demographic for anyone who’s walking into that environment?

Becca [00:25:28]:
Yeah, I think just really getting to know those kids and where they’re coming from. Especially if that’s not the environment that you grew up in. I grew up in a very white, middle class neighborhood and so it took years of like really getting to know these kids and understanding them and having that empathy for where they’re coming from. Those kids really, at the end of the day, want to feel respected. Respect is something that’s very important to them. Whenever I would send home a questionnaire at the beginning of the year, like the about me questions, right? Yeah, I wouldn’t even prompt stuff. And every year there’s a handful of kids that on the question that’s just like, tell me one thing that I want to know about you. It would be like, if you respect me, I’ll respect you.

Becca [00:26:16]:
And so being respectful and then like showing them what opportunities are out there for them because a lot of those kids are. I even had a kid one time where we were going on a field trip and he’s like, I can’t go. And I said, why? And he said, because I, my mom always says I have to be within running distance to the house in case like, you know, police or ice or whatever shows up. Right. And so they have this small little bubble that they live in and so showing those kids there’s many, so so many opportunities with, you know, free college tuition and all these scholarships and opportunities that are out there for them and like building up that growth mindset. Like you can go to college and have free tuition, you can go to this trade school, like there are summer internships I can get you into. And yes, it Is a lot of work on the teacher’s part sometimes because they’re not getting that from their parents at home. But it’s super, super rewarding when it does work out well.

Rebecca Joyner [00:27:15]:
And I think even what you said at the beginning doesn’t take much effort to show respect. And even just how you said, even not like calling students out individually. That’s respectful. To not do it.

Becca [00:27:24]:
Yeah.

Rebecca Joyner [00:27:25]:
To not, you know, put them on blast, like you said. Or. I always remember, too, just being like, hey, I will at the beginning here being like, I never want you to have homework ever, because I know you have so many responsibilities outside this classroom. So I’m gonna respect your time outside of school. If you can respect mine here. And, like, if you are with me for all 50 minutes or all 90 minutes or whatever it was, then, like, you, I will make sure you’re successful and you won’t have to do anything outside of school. You know, I think that’s a really, like, mutually respective relationship you can have, which I love. Okay.

Rebecca Joyner [00:27:55]:
In Arizona, does your biology have an ese?

Becca [00:27:57]:
We do not.

Rebecca Joyner [00:27:59]:
So you have no standardized tests?

Becca [00:28:00]:
There is a state science test, but it is not required to pass to graduate.

Rebecca Joyner [00:28:05]:
Okay, is it more like an ACT type thing or general science?

Becca [00:28:10]:
And then they have a separate one called Arizona Merit that they test for science. The only one they have to pass or graduate is a civics test, which is like history, state government sort of stuff.

Rebecca Joyner [00:28:22]:
So interesting. What y’ all are always. What y’ all are doing over there in Arizona. You know, I always. I’m always curious when I engage with Arizona teachers. And the other state is Florida. I don’t know if you spend a lot of time reading Florida standards, Becca, but they are unhinged. Like, I can’t.

Rebecca Joyner [00:28:37]:
They are expected to cover so much content in one course. It’s every time I’m like, are you sure this is all just for one course? Okay, so we don’t need to worry about EOC Prep then for you? Okay. Well, then I would love to know, since our time is coming to an end, what is one way that you’ve simplified your life recently?

Becca [00:28:54]:
I. As far as teaching, I grade so much less than I used to. As a new teacher, I graded almost everything. We had, like a school policy where you had to have at least two grades per week. And I would probably do way more than that. And then I was just going crazy grading all the time, so I grade a lot less if it’s. You know, especially if you’re. We aren’t at standards Based grading yet.

Becca [00:29:19]:
But as schools are starting to transition that way. Like if you’ve already mastered, you know, food chains and I do another assignment on food chains, why am I going to put two grades in the grade book for that topic? Right. So grading less using self grading tools. So when I is a multiple choice test, put it in something. Self grading. No more by hand for things that are taking longer. Like handwritten stuff like lab reports or CER charts. Having peer feedback around of that before it comes to me.

Becca [00:29:48]:
So this is what I’m looking for. Here’s a rubric. Go have someone else give you feedback before it comes to me. It makes my job a lot easier. And then I’m going to say this but like spot checking stuff is okay. Like grading for completion. Especially on stations. If there’s like 10 stations, I am not grading them.

Becca [00:30:05]:
I will pick two to 10 and I will grade those and everything else is completion a thousand percent.

Rebecca Joyner [00:30:10]:
I could not agree more. I’m a huge fan of that. I also agree that I think like 90% of teachers are grading way more than they need to. But it’s hard to like relinquish that. And we all. It’s hard to also think like they’re going to work for me if I don’t grade it. It’s like you can change that culture. You know, I hear that a lot.

Becca [00:30:27]:
Like why the kids won’t do it if they know it’s not for a grade. Well, first off, don’t advertise it. Like when we’re doing stations, I’m not like I’m only grading station one. Right.

Rebecca Joyner [00:30:36]:
That they don’t need to know. That’s need to know information and you do not need to know.

Becca [00:30:43]:
Yes. But also if there’s value in the assignment that’s not just for the grade, like make it valuable in other ways, then they’re going to do it.

Rebecca Joyner [00:30:52]:
Totally. I love that. Well, how. What’s the best way for listeners to get connected with you?

Becca [00:30:57]:
I am on Instagram and Facebook at Science Lessons that Rock. And then my website is the same sciencelessons that rock dot com. I have tons of blog posts there. I that’s one thing I enjoy doing is blogging about science teaching stuff. So there is well probably close to 200 blog posts there.

Rebecca Joyner [00:31:15]:
Awesome. Well, seriously, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Becca [00:31:18]:
Thank you for having me.

Rebecca Joyner [00:31:21]:
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode and my interview with Becca. You can find all links mentioned in the show notes at. It’s not rocketscienceclassroom.com Episode 191 and if you are listening and you teach Earth and space science, it is your turn to leave a review for the podcast. I would love to hear from you. All right, Teacher friends, that wraps up today’s episode. If you’re looking for an easy way to start simplifying your life as a secondary science teacher, head to itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com challenge to grab your classroom Reset Challenge. And guess what? It’s totally free. Thanks so much for tuning in and I’ll see you here next week.

Rebecca Joyner [00:32:00]:
Until then, I’ll be rooting for you, teacher friend.