Category Archives: technology

Tips and Resources for Teaching Biology Online

Transitioning to Teaching Biology Online

Many teachers are now engaging in online instruction, below are some strategies and resources that will help you cope.

Tips for Transitioning to Online Teaching

First and foremost, you need to keep perspective. This is a unique time that has in many ways changed the way we are living. You need to keep the health (physical and mental) of you and your student the top priority.

Next, you need to understand that many of your students have taken on new roles in their household. The availability of resources and time ot do school work vary greatly between families.

Be sure you take these things into consideration prior to establishing your online learning expectations and determining what the workload will be. You know your students.

My thoughts on online assessments. Right now my school has put a moratorium on  summative assessments.   Although, it is possible to use them to get a feel for how students understand content it is not possible to ensure the assessments are completely valid.

How you treat assessments that are traditionally used in the classroom will definitely vary from teacher to teacher. It is important to keep in mind that they should no longer represent a large portion of their grade. Again, this will depend on your school’s newly adapted policies for assessment.

I am sure my students are celebrating this moratorium.

To assess students, I am grading more small items for accuracy after ensuring I have provided them with the necessary guidance.  I am also relying heavily on the resources listed below to grade everything automatically! I have three kids too!

Need to give a make up test or are required to do an assessment? I have had a few students that needed to make up a test and I just couldn’t excuse them from it in fairness to the other students. Here is how I did it.

I am created an answer sheet for the students to fill in as I show the test using screen share via zoom. I slowly scrolled through the test and moved through it at their pace.

Is it perfect? No. But it still allows me the best opportunity to get the test to the students, maintain a fair and consistent grade book and protect my assessment. If you have a better way (without recreating an entire assessment to a digital version) let me know so I can share it. 

Office Hours- I am making myself available to all of my students every Tuesday and Thursday via zoom for at least 30 minutes so they can come to the meeting and ask any questions they may have.

A Quick How to Video for Zoom

Deadlines

Many of you are probably struggling with this adjustment (I know I am) and so are your students. I am making sure that my students have an opportunity to work ahead so they can plan for anything they may have going on.

Considerations

As mentioned, many of your students have likely taken on new roles within the household. With that consideration, I have also reduced the work load for my students. This is a unique time and it requires compassion and understanding. When I polled my audience the weekly workload varied greatly by school. You will have to figure out what works best for you and your students.

Seven Online Teaching Resources You Must See

There are countless resources out there. If you are looking for something specific join our facebook group Biology Teachers and request a resource and our community will help you find what you need.

The list I am providing is intended to be more general website resources that provide more than just one activity. Feel free to add comments about your favorites.

1. USBiologyTeaching.Com -A Full Biology Curriculum with the following resources integrated and aligned!

Of course I have to start with the site that I think will save you the most time! Right here we offer a ton of free resources by search our blog or Click here to subscribe

2. HHMI- https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources -High Quality

HHMI offers some really amazing resources for teaching Biology and includes supporting resources like videos and worksheets. Some people do complain that the answer keys are readily available but I am not worried about it. I can assess their understanding in a variety of ways.

Collaborate with More Than 3,400 Biology Teacher in Our Facebook Group: Biology Teachers

3. Edpuzzle.com- This site is Amazing!

This website allows teachers to use videos and integrate questions within the videos that students must answer to move on.  The best part is that there are already tons of video done by other teachers with the question check points already integrated.

4. Quizizz.com-Quizzes in seconds!

Teachers can access pre-made quizzes or make their own using the question banks and their own questions.  You can customize how many times students can take the quiz, how long it lasts and what types of feedback they get. We have linked quizzes that align with each unit.

5. Socrative- Immediate Feedback, Quick Checks

Socrative allow users to create quizzes, play a space race game or do quick exit quizzes/polls. You can create a free account and copy the quizzes that have already been made. In our Full Biology Curriculum you will have access to five to ten questions mini quizzes (checks for understanding) for each unit.

Join More Than 19,000 Facebook Follower Here

6. Quizlet

Quizlet is one of my all time favorites. I like Quizlet because it offers flexibility with a variety of options for students to learn. Students can do flashcards, learn, write out answers, spell, test and play games like Gravity, Matching and one of my favorites, Quizlet Live. Though this platform is designed as a learning tool and not an assessment tool you can print quizzes and tests that use the content from the flash cards. Check out my post and video on how to do this: "Why I Love Quizlet"

7. GoFormative-Easily Convert Your Current Paper Tests to Digital Test with Retyping!

I was turned onto this website when I received email from one of my followers. I am so grateful. I heard of it before but did not explore it until now. I am so grateful. GoFormative can help you convert your .doc or .pdf file into an online test that automatically grades your student's responses. I am still learning this one but I am happy with it so far. The best part is not having to retype everything into yet another platform. Simply upload your documents and start clicking and checking off the correct answers.

Do you have one you love that isn't lsited? Drop it in the Comments!

#biologyteaching #elearning #biologyresources #virtuallabs

Relate Post - 5 Easy Ways to Integrate Technology Into your Biology Classroom

Click here to download the lab report rubric and template


5 Easy Ways to Integrate Technology Into Your Biology Classroom

How to Integrate Technology in a Biology Classroom

I recently surveyed my audience and researched some of the most effective uses of technology for the Biology classroom. Below is a list of some of the easiest and best ways to integrate technology to help enhance your instruction.

Five Easy Ways to Integrate Technology into your Biology Classroom

1. Virtual Field Trip

Technology today is amazing! For only a $15 you can purchase Google Cardboard and instantly have the ability to host virtual field trips and 3D tours of things like the cell or the human body. If you cannot afford to purchase a class set just get enough for a few students and set up stations that your students can rotate through. A great source for Virtual Field Trips is Youtube! Another source is the Expiditions App by Google.

For Youtube, all you need to do is type in your the topic followed by 360 VR . Here is a Human Body 360 VR video!

2. Skype a Scientist

Skype a scientist matches scientists with classrooms of students from around the world. This is a great opportunity for your students to learn about daily life as a scientist. Students sometimes have a hard time seeing themselves in certain careers. This is a great way to get students exposure to some really awesome career and to learn more about what the scientist are doing.

With a quick search you can find a bunch of Biologists, Geneticists, Plant Scientists, Microbiologist, Medical Doctors and so much more!

A quick search result for the term “biology” (https://www.skypeascientist.com/

3. Podcast

Podcasts can introduce a unique way of learning for your students. This is a great way for those auditory learners to engage with meaningful content. Students can listen to podcasts and complete activities like sketch notes, a concept maps, story lines and more.

Some great podcasts for Biology are:

  • Radiolab-Great story telling that includes documentaries, interviews from scientists and authors.
  • The Life Scientific– Host professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientist about their work and their life.
  • 60 second science– Great for introducing content or even a quick exit. This show gives a short snip of the news and commentary for the day. A great way to start class
  • Brains ON!– kids co-hosts each episode to explore fun science concepts through songs, interviews and mini plays.

Click here to subscribe

4. Harness Quizzing Apps

Socrative

There are a variety of online program and apps that you can use to enhance student learning that can also save you time. For example, I like to use socrative.com for administering short quizzes about homework, as exit tickets or even warm ups to pre-assess student knowledge.

socrative behind the scenes data collection

Quizlet (My Favorite!)

Quizlet is definitely one of my favorites. I like it so much that I created a Quizlet for every single unit in the High School Biology Curriculum here at USBiologyTeaching.Com

Why do I like it so much?

First, it serves as a vocabulary learning platform for students through a wide variety of activities that they can choose. It also offers quizlet.live where student compete against other groups using vocabulary terms. But that isn’t all. You can also generate quizzes automatically based off the flash cards that you or students created.

Our members love it. If you want to become a member and have access to a Full Biology Curriculum with all of the Quizlets done and become part of the community check it out here: Full Biology Curriculum.

Quizlet live

5. Collaboration

It wasn’t long ago when we had to email a paper or hand a paper back and forth just to add our touches and read each other’s work. Those days are gone. Harness the power of Office 365, Google Docs/Slides so your students can work collaboratively to build reports or conduct research.

I love watching my students create their first lab report collaboratively using Google Docs. It is amazing to see them work through the process together. Check out the lab report rubric and tem1plate is use.

Share your ideas below!

If you think I missed an important easy way to integrate technology share yours ideas in the comments below!

#biologyteaching #teachingwithtechnology

Collaboration with the Span System

Today’s class involved my students collaborating to identify areas in the community that were environmental issues and then proposing solutions. Students worked together to categorize their solutions on the spam wall. The Nureva Span system at our school covers about 20feet and allows 20 touchpoints at a time.This system is incredible  and the students love it. We are lucky to be one of the few schools to have one. This is definitely something I would put on your school leaders radar!!