What I need to do right now is choose a teaching routine and stick with it. I am still exploring different ways to teach to my students, therefore I don't have a routine to guide my lesson planning. Each chapter is taught a bit differently. Ideally, my students would be more active in their learning and I would be more of a guide. I really do want that, but I don't know how to do it. I know that once I have a routine down (like last year it was read the chapter, lecture, do review questions, lab, review, test) my life will be easier, 'cuz then I'd know what I was doing. Now that class time is only 45 minutes long, I don't feel like I can get anything done. And, these kids don't handle lectures well like the high school kids. Also, they don't have a lot of background knowledge for me to build upon.

Anyway, my day went well. No one seems to know what the big deal is about evolution. My 8th graders just took a test on Newton's Laws of Motion. There were a lot of good grades and a lot of bad grades and very few in-between grades. Hmmmm.....don't know what that means. Anyhooo, today they are putting together alka seltzer rockets. Yes, a nice, messy two or three days. bleh! But it should be fun, and that is alright.