Kristy Shearer
Middle School Science
I am embarking on my 13th year of teaching and my 5th year in 8th grade science. I previously taught 7th grade for 2 years. A prior administrator, Steve, once told me that you can tell if an educator is going to be excellent in that position by looking at their 2nd and 3rd year in that position. I am a firm believer in that statement. I have held 3 different positions in addition to my middle school positions. My first 3 years were spent teaching math intervention groups to at-risk students. Let me tell you...that first year was a disaster. I am embarrassed to look back and think about some of my thought processes that first year. I did learn a lot, and my 2nd and 3rd years there were amazing. (I had the same students every year, with the exception of the 6th graders moving to middle school and the little ones moving up to me.) I noticed tremendous growth in those students after getting that first year out of the way. My methods were improving and my creativity was on the rise.
Well, once I got comfortable in that position, funding was cut and I was moved to another position. For the next 3 years, I taught 5th grade math and science. Once again, the first year as a classroom teacher was rough, but I learned from many mistakes and saw improvement in my students and standardized scores in that 2nd and 3rd year. This position also taught me about my love of science and my amazing co-teacher, Jen, introduced me to lapbooking and foldable notes. My first lapbook was a Nutrition Unit that we completed in May after finishing the 5th grade science textbook. The kids fell in love with this method of learning. They loved cutting and pasting, but coloring and personalizing were by far the favorite. Students could make their notes fit them and that in itself made them more useful. I was in LOVE! Lapbooking and foldables were amazing. I liked making them, the kids liked making them, and parents were telling me that they were also learning from them!
Well, at the end of that 3rd year in 5th grade, I knew my heart was in science education. A position became available at our middle school. Upon applying for this position, I was given an interview the very next week. I took my teaching portfolio, a couple of interactive activities I had done, and my Nutrition Lapbook. When asked to share how I teach, I was more than enthusiastic to share. The interview team loved the lapbook. My current principal, Matt, even commented that he would like to borrow the Nutrition lapbook for his own nutrition benefits. I was selected for this position and have not regretted the change at all. My students and I created lapbooks for every unit last year and kept them in binders.
Since then, we have converted the lapbooks to interactive notebooks. I have also earned my Master's degree and am using the Learning Cycle model on a daily basis for super effective science instruction. I have taught both 7th and 8th grade science and have abundant labs and activities that I am more than appy to share. Please follow my blog and follow me on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with my latest ideas.
Well, once I got comfortable in that position, funding was cut and I was moved to another position. For the next 3 years, I taught 5th grade math and science. Once again, the first year as a classroom teacher was rough, but I learned from many mistakes and saw improvement in my students and standardized scores in that 2nd and 3rd year. This position also taught me about my love of science and my amazing co-teacher, Jen, introduced me to lapbooking and foldable notes. My first lapbook was a Nutrition Unit that we completed in May after finishing the 5th grade science textbook. The kids fell in love with this method of learning. They loved cutting and pasting, but coloring and personalizing were by far the favorite. Students could make their notes fit them and that in itself made them more useful. I was in LOVE! Lapbooking and foldables were amazing. I liked making them, the kids liked making them, and parents were telling me that they were also learning from them!
Well, at the end of that 3rd year in 5th grade, I knew my heart was in science education. A position became available at our middle school. Upon applying for this position, I was given an interview the very next week. I took my teaching portfolio, a couple of interactive activities I had done, and my Nutrition Lapbook. When asked to share how I teach, I was more than enthusiastic to share. The interview team loved the lapbook. My current principal, Matt, even commented that he would like to borrow the Nutrition lapbook for his own nutrition benefits. I was selected for this position and have not regretted the change at all. My students and I created lapbooks for every unit last year and kept them in binders.
Since then, we have converted the lapbooks to interactive notebooks. I have also earned my Master's degree and am using the Learning Cycle model on a daily basis for super effective science instruction. I have taught both 7th and 8th grade science and have abundant labs and activities that I am more than appy to share. Please follow my blog and follow me on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with my latest ideas.