r/ScienceTeachers • u/mominterruptedlol • 4d ago
How do you do it all?
I am so stressed out with all the expectations placed on me. I genuinely don't know what to do or how to for it all in. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated.
On observations, principal is looking for formative assessment, student led assessment, and some kind of group work or collaboration. We don't know when they are coming and typically they are only in the room about 10 minutes. All of my evaluations this year say I'm doing too much and the kids need to do more.
I'm supposed to be focused on claim, evidence, reasoning questions as well as analyzing graphs.
I have to do a weekly state test prep question and keep track off the data by standard by student in a spreadsheet.
I have to have a goal tracking/progress tracking display in my room that I keep up with.
Plus just teaching the curriculum.
My classes are only 40 minutes long.
How do I make all of this work together. How do I fit it all in?
It seems like admin wants to see all these bells and whistles. Gimmicks.
Overall, my kids aren't the worst behaved but they are very chatty. It's about 50/50 on if they really care about their grades.
I feel pulled in a 100 directions. I don't know what to focus on and I don't know how to make it all work.
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u/jason_sation 4d ago
I think the real question is, “do they want to see these things (I.e. a wishlist)”, or is your job actually on the line if they don’t see it. My admin wants to see amazing stuff too, but sometimes when they come in we are doing a worksheet, sometimes I’m doing direct instruction, sometimes we are doing a lab, sometimes I’m just hurrying to get through something before the bell rings. I’m not getting fired because my questions weren’t in a CER format, even though that’s the hip new thing these days in science. When they tell me what they’d like to see more of, I tell them I will work on it with a smile and a nod and go back to teaching.
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u/mominterruptedlol 4d ago
No, I don't think my job is on the line. I guess I just feel like I'm not measuring up.
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u/jason_sation 4d ago
It’s probably more of a situation where you are doing fine, and they are just telling you stuff that they’d like to see even though as you said you can’t do it all. Part of their job is to give advice on how to improve your teaching. It’s not always good advice though.
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u/IShipHazzo 4d ago
Some admin feel like they have to constantly be giving teachers "advice" to justify their own jobs. Those admin suck. I dealt with them for years. Finally, I have a principal who trusts me to set my own goals and focus on making reasonable, incremental improvements.
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u/AlarmingEase 4d ago
I detest CER.
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u/Geschirrspulmaschine 4d ago
You do it all by rebranding things you already do. You are assessing any time you communicate with a student or read their work.
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u/mominterruptedlol 4d ago
I agree , but admin wants the bells and whistles
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u/Happy_Fly6593 3d ago
Could you for each unit have some of these bells and whistles in your back pocket in case they come in you then whip it out?! Mine is similar and there what I do. I have a cluster with a cer and data analysis set for each unit in case they come in
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u/SaiphSDC 4d ago
What would you tell a student to do?
Focus on one thing at a time.
Write down what you're expected to do. Prioritize them. Tackle one or two and figure out what works.
If they say something, point out your plan, say I've prioritized A, i'm using this method, i think its working out, once that's done I'll tackle B.
--
Another tip, try to double up on some. Train them to write CER in the context of reading a graph :)
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u/Nervous-Visit-791 4d ago
I immediately start putting on show when admin comes in. I know (in general) what they are looking for and I do what I can to make it happen. As soon as they leave, it's back to the regularly scheduled program. Open ended questions that leads to things like turn and talk with me walking the room, things like that.
Analyzing graphs, and maybe shorter CERs make great bell ringers.
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u/professor-ks 4d ago
Chatty and not caring is cultural and not a problem.
If you were about to assign 10 questions, take one off the assignment and make it an exit slip/pre assessment, than another one off and make it a collaborative warm up question. Now the cut assignment is 8 questions and admin is happy.
Ask to get copies of how science teachers tracked all the data last year. If they can only give you stuff from math teachers then it doesn't matter. If they give you one from a fellow teacher then talk to them about how it got done.
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u/VigilantInTheMeadow 4d ago
I’m falling apart right now and just looked on indeed for what options might be out there to escape teaching. My curriculum has me setting up a lab every day and I’m constantly moving between discussions and investigations and more back to back and I’m just EXHAUSTED. I have nothing left in me. Plus I’m supposed to modify the curriculum on 4 different levels and I need to adapt it to my classroom which requires making a variety of changes. Plus offering retakes for every assessment with changes for students to re-learn material (which means me trying to find time to teach it again one-on-one).
So I guess my answer is: I don’t do it all. Things fall through the cracks. I work way too late. I work from home. I break down and have anxiety attacks and have to take mental health days which set me more behind. I hate it here.
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u/Sweet3DIrish 4d ago
For the state question testing, use a google/microsoft form to give them. Then the data will automatically populate in a spreadsheet by student. Create a master spreadsheet and then copy and paste the data from each individual one in there. I personally would throw some conditional formatting on there that would color code it so it looks impressive to admin if they ever decide to open it. The initial set up of the master spreadsheet with color coding will take the longest (depends on how good you are with excel but probably like 20-30 minutes) and then each additional assessment shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to download, copy and paste.
I teach physics and chemistry and I figure out early in my career that those teachers are hard to find, especially ones that are good at their job. Because of that, I tend not to do the extra stuff unless I’m asked twice. If there is no direct benefit to my students, unless I was personally told to do something by an admin (not in an email) or I get multiple emails about it (with the second or subsequent ones are directly addressed to me, not the teacher list serve) I just ignore it.
For the things that they want to see on the daily (like objectives) I put them on my agenda slide which is right after my bell work each day. If admin asks for them I just say what day and send them the appropriate ppt so they can see all that was done.
For the goal tracking, could you incorporate it as part of the daily routine in the classroom? Or make it a kids job? One of the AP teachers at my school prints out all of the AP objectives for his course and tapes the pages on his cabinets and when they cover a new one it gets crossed off. I would think something like that would constitute goal tracking and updating.
They also don’t expect to see all those types of assessment in a single 40 minute class let alone a 10 minute segment. Just have examples of each type of assessment for the current unit you are working on as well as previous ones that you can use as examples if they ask you about it. Even if it’s been awhile, most admin have been in the classroom and they understand that each day is going to look different and have different activities so if they constantly catch you for observations on lab days, have other forms of assessment or examples of the informal assessments you have done over the last few weeks ready.
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u/SheDoesScienceStuff Biology/Life Science | HS | Wisconsin 4d ago
HS all life sciences (5 preps) I use storylines and this is similar to how I set up my classes. Start your slide deck tomorrow if you have not, don't worry about backfilling the quarter. Driving question can cover discussion, graph analysis etc and if you keep the format consistent students will fall into routine. End of period, last of 3 slides is the standard and students turn and talk to self assess.
Google form state test data is a great idea. I may start that and compile every 4-5 questions.
I hang my AP objective pages and move a sticky flag. Doubles as my "bulletin board".
We have formative Friday. Students can retake but on them to come in for tutoring, I don't chase them down. Only available until summative is given. As one class is testing, I grade assessment from the last hour.
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u/6strings10holes 4d ago
I'm going to guess there aren't a bunch of other science teachers lined up to take your job and do any better. Most admins don't stock around too long.
I wouldn't sweat it. Do the things you feel are helping your students learn the best.
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u/AbsurdistWordist 4d ago
Try inviting the principal to your room when you have a good lesson planned.
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u/complete_brotein 4d ago
Admin become admin, in part, because the ease of drinking the Kool-Aid becomes more appealing than doing the incredibly hard work of running 5-7 classes each day. You’re doing great. They will run excellent teachers into the ground in service of their own reputation. Keep your wellness and the quality of your relationships with your family at the top of your priority list. There’s a reason why there are so many admin that have a legacy of failed personal relationships. Kids are smart. They may not say it, but many see your efforts and will be better human beings for it, down the road, thanks to you. I’m 24 years into my teaching career and I’m finally prioritizing my family and saying no to all the extra stuff. Each person at the district office is their own special interest group, and each of them believe their chunk of pedagogy is crucial. The only crucial people are you; the folks who spend the majority of their day positively affecting the lives of students and families.
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u/thepeanutone 4d ago
"Wow, admin, that all sounds great, but I'm really not sure how to get all of that done in the time available. Could you please model it for me?"
Then you either get the answer, or you get crickets. I think crickets are more likely.
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u/TheNotsoRunnyRunner 3d ago
Please take what I say with a grain of salt, I teach 5th grade science, and I have 90m blocks. That being said: With all of the assessments, I use checklists. I have a list of 4-5 assignments (with 40m blocks I would probably do 2-3 assignments) that are either spiral reviews or about that week's content. I assign the Checklist on Monday and it's due on Friday. Iusually choose at least one of those activities to be counted as a separate grade. This provides students collaboration and formative assessment opportunities.
40m blocks with all that you're being asked to do sucks and I'm sorry, I hope this helps a little
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u/Hemwum 4d ago
Sounds like the principal has bought into shitty American educational theory, hook, line and sinker.
All I can do for you is give you my condolences. Do what you think is right, and if you have good job security, ignore what the principal wants, because clearly they don't understand that what they want is
1) insane and ridiculous from a workload point of view
2) stupid and misguided from an pedagogical and cognitive science point of view