Science PowerPoints are super helpful when it comes to teaching. They explicitly teach students in small chunks while providing excellent visual aids. They can also be used on a tablet, computer, or interactive whiteboard.
When I first began teaching third grade, I didn’t realize how stressful taking grades would become. It consumed many hours of my day, and I began struggling with my mental health.
While we checked all the work in second grade, we didn’t have a grading scale in science. We made observations and did many hands-on activities like this States of Matter STEM challenge pictured below.
If you’re like me, you stay late after school and bring home student work to grade. Then, you get home and feel guilty because you can’t spend time with your family. No, you have work to do. This cycle is unhealthy and needs to stop!
Here’s how you can use Science PowerPoints to save your sanity.
Here’s how Science PowerPoints saved my sanity!
They raised my cool-teacher factor!
For the first time, my students feel responsible for doing computer work on their own! I loaded the PowerPoints into Microsoft Teams, and you can do the same on Teams or in Google Drive!
The expectations of my class are simple. They have one lesson and quiz per week. They submit their work on Friday. This gives them a choice on when to complete the assignment. That’s it.
They helped me to be more efficient in the classroom!
I began experiencing moderate depression in 2017. Much of this was due to lack of sleep. I stayed late at school grading things, and then I’d end up taking student work home to check.
I knew I needed to spend more time with my family and go to sleep at a decent hour, so I decided to create short quizzes that I could grade in a flash. It literally took me five minutes to grade 22 papers.
However, to me, that still wasn’t good enough. I didn’t want to grade a thing! Seriously. So, I created Google Forms. I love Google Forms because it grades everything automatically for you. Then, it puts all the data on one spreadsheet so you can print and place it in your grade binder.
BOOM! Data is done!
I didn’t have to stress squeezing in a lesson!
Do you ever feel guilty when you don’t get everything in? I know when I miss a lesson, there’s a little liar in my head that says, “You sent them home with gaps.” I hate that guy.
The flexibility this allowed me and my students to have was incredible. Our schedule is crazy! Some days we have enrichment for half of the day, which means we only teach literacy and math. Other days, I pray there’s no line in the bathroom at the end of the day.
The versatility of these slides allowed my students to practice science every day! Plus, it gave them the background knowledge necessary to complete the fun hands-on activities!
Now with COVID-19, you can use this no matter what your schedule looks like. If a student cannot use a computer for home learning, print out the science PowerPoints and staple a quiz to it. Now you have a home learning packet.
Oh, did I mention that there are 36 science PowerPoints and quizzes? This is enough to last the entire year!
They provided a structure for our routine!
If you’re wondering what we do during the rest of the week, we do a lot! We start with the PowerPoints on Monday. On Tuesday, we complete a science experiment if applicable. Wednesday, we read and write about what we’ve learned. On Thursdays or Fridays, we complete a STEM challenge or task cards.
These science PowerPoints are so helpful for me. It helped me find a balance in my teaching, family, and blogging. I know it can be helpful for you too. You can purchase these PowerPoints from my Teachers Pay Teachers shop by clicking here.
What are some ways that you have cut time from grading? Share with me below!
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