Last Updated: December 2023 So you know that we have a biology learning playlist on YouTube! BUT, did you know we also have some creations designed to help review the major biology concepts we cover? Check out resources we specifically have on REVIEWING below! 1. Before the Bell Biology
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Free Video: Wanting to review monohybrids, dihybrids, multiple alleles, codominance, incomplete dominance, sex-linked traits, and pedigrees all in one FREE video? We've got it here! | TpT Resource: We released a video companion that goes with the "Mega Genetics Review" video available on TpT! |
6. Background Study Flow Videos
Free Video:
Need some serious study time? Silence your device and phone notifications, and join Petunia, Pinky, and Gus in their study flow videos.
Need some serious study time? Silence your device and phone notifications, and join Petunia, Pinky, and Gus in their study flow videos.
A few additional things to know:
- You can find a list with our videos and resources HERE.
- If looking for tips for using YouTube videos in edu such as how to change subtitle language, access transcripts, and see video chapters - see our tips here!
- A reminder: our illustrations cannot be used by others in products that are sold (for example: they cannot be used in an educational resource that is sold on Teachers Pay Teachers). While you can embed our videos on platforms using the YouTube embed code, our videos cannot be uploaded onto platforms to be hosted off of YouTube. You can learn more about our terms of use here.
Happy Reviewing!
Study tips? Along with the graphic below, check out our short study tips video for students!
Education is changing, and the way that we reach our students may need some transformation. When we were kids, the way we did our research consisted of going to the school library to read through the alphabetized encyclopedias. Now everything is often just a "Google" away. You can learn how to change a tire or master a video game on YouTube. There are a lot of ways to consume information now; it makes sense that we're all looking for ways to transform learning for our kids to use the information to create, solve problems, and ask their own questions.
But the absolute statements in education---those generalized statements that tend to classify everything in one category ---make us wary. They are not the answer. Absolute statements tend to be used to attack all lectures, all textbooks, all worksheets, etc. These statements tend to get a lot of attention; some come with their own Twitter hashtag and maybe even a book. The trouble with these statements is that they tend to classify everything in the category it attacks as the same. "You should never use lectures." "You should never use textbooks." "You should always avoid all worksheets." Edu videos are not in these statements (yet), but they could be soon. Because just like all tools---it matters how edu videos are being used too. We find these absolute statements are just attacking a tool without asking, "How is it being used?"
Simply adding technology does not make something innovative; we all know this. But we also shouldn't innovate for the sake of innovation. We should innovate when the way something is being used no longer serves our kids as effectively. There should be a reason for transforming something besides the fact that the "something" may be an older tool or strategy.
We aren't big fans of lengthy, traditional lecture and notes. We find them time consuming, and I've found my students tune out of them after about fifteen minutes. Plus, I have a lot less time for the other things I want to do such as labs and discussions! We made our Unlectured Series with the intention of transforming traditional lecture. But you will never hear us make an absolute statement about lectures, because we know they cannot all be generalized like mine. What about storytelling? This can be such a memorable way to connect with students! Or the TED Talks we love so much? These are all ways that lecture can be used in a way that can reach students.
A paper-based or online textbook can be used in a monotonous task of having students copy vocabulary words with definitions straight from the book. Not very effective. But you know what else textbooks can be? A paper-based or online textbook could also be used as a reference tool----a peer-reviewed reference tool---that students can find useful to cite when developing their own creations such as a blog entry, story, or comic. Peer-reviewed information in science is important.
A worksheet can be used as a sheet of paper where students restate facts that involves very little learning. Such things are easily copied online or from a peer. Worksheets can be meaningless busywork. It doesn't matter if it's on paper or behind glass on a computer screen---if it's being used that same way, its potential is the same. But you know what else worksheets can be? They can be full of open ended questions. They can serve as quick exit tickets, where they can let the teacher see where his/her students may be confused. They can provide an opportunity for feedback as a formative assessment with no grade required! They can be used collaboratively: have students pair up to come up with their answers and justify with the class. P.S. On the topic of worksheets, check out these other great points on this blog post by The Nerdy Teacher!
Overall, lumping all things into a tool and calling the tool "bad" without considering how it's being used doesn't seem to make much sense to us. Any tool that is being used to help kids with the best part of science---the whole "doing" part of science including hands-on labs, discussions, creating, etc---is a win in our minds.
But the absolute statements in education---those generalized statements that tend to classify everything in one category ---make us wary. They are not the answer. Absolute statements tend to be used to attack all lectures, all textbooks, all worksheets, etc. These statements tend to get a lot of attention; some come with their own Twitter hashtag and maybe even a book. The trouble with these statements is that they tend to classify everything in the category it attacks as the same. "You should never use lectures." "You should never use textbooks." "You should always avoid all worksheets." Edu videos are not in these statements (yet), but they could be soon. Because just like all tools---it matters how edu videos are being used too. We find these absolute statements are just attacking a tool without asking, "How is it being used?"
Simply adding technology does not make something innovative; we all know this. But we also shouldn't innovate for the sake of innovation. We should innovate when the way something is being used no longer serves our kids as effectively. There should be a reason for transforming something besides the fact that the "something" may be an older tool or strategy.
We aren't big fans of lengthy, traditional lecture and notes. We find them time consuming, and I've found my students tune out of them after about fifteen minutes. Plus, I have a lot less time for the other things I want to do such as labs and discussions! We made our Unlectured Series with the intention of transforming traditional lecture. But you will never hear us make an absolute statement about lectures, because we know they cannot all be generalized like mine. What about storytelling? This can be such a memorable way to connect with students! Or the TED Talks we love so much? These are all ways that lecture can be used in a way that can reach students.
A paper-based or online textbook can be used in a monotonous task of having students copy vocabulary words with definitions straight from the book. Not very effective. But you know what else textbooks can be? A paper-based or online textbook could also be used as a reference tool----a peer-reviewed reference tool---that students can find useful to cite when developing their own creations such as a blog entry, story, or comic. Peer-reviewed information in science is important.
A worksheet can be used as a sheet of paper where students restate facts that involves very little learning. Such things are easily copied online or from a peer. Worksheets can be meaningless busywork. It doesn't matter if it's on paper or behind glass on a computer screen---if it's being used that same way, its potential is the same. But you know what else worksheets can be? They can be full of open ended questions. They can serve as quick exit tickets, where they can let the teacher see where his/her students may be confused. They can provide an opportunity for feedback as a formative assessment with no grade required! They can be used collaboratively: have students pair up to come up with their answers and justify with the class. P.S. On the topic of worksheets, check out these other great points on this blog post by The Nerdy Teacher!
Overall, lumping all things into a tool and calling the tool "bad" without considering how it's being used doesn't seem to make much sense to us. Any tool that is being used to help kids with the best part of science---the whole "doing" part of science including hands-on labs, discussions, creating, etc---is a win in our minds.
One of us was at an awesome training today on Google Classroom, and the presenter mentioned a Chrome app for annotating on PDFs. Our immediate thought: this would also be fantastic in regard to our handouts! If you use our PDF handouts and want students to be able to annotate on them digitally, you need to try out Doc Hub.
Doc Hub is a free Chrome app that allows students to sign in with their Google account and easily annotate on a PDF! It's awesome.
Here's a quick silent screenshot video showing how it works here (on our Twitter):
https://twitter.com/AmoebaSisters/status/797801539574317056
Doc Hub is a free Chrome app that allows students to sign in with their Google account and easily annotate on a PDF! It's awesome.
Here's a quick silent screenshot video showing how it works here (on our Twitter):
https://twitter.com/AmoebaSisters/status/797801539574317056
If you are a teacher, you may want to consider this $20-40 item for your holiday wish list: A wireless keyboard with a built in touchpad!
A wireless keyboard with a built in touchpad allows you be anywhere in the classroom and control your computer---plus you can pass it to students so they can participate in leading.
The Logitech one {not associated} below is what we have. It is awesome as neither bluetooth nor software needed. It connects with just a USB drive just as a PowerPoint remote or wireless remote would, and it has an excellent range.
A wireless keyboard with a built in touchpad allows you be anywhere in the classroom and control your computer---plus you can pass it to students so they can participate in leading.
The Logitech one {not associated} below is what we have. It is awesome as neither bluetooth nor software needed. It connects with just a USB drive just as a PowerPoint remote or wireless remote would, and it has an excellent range.
I have a confession to make...
I used to not be into Twitter. Petunia is. Pinky...not so much.
I knew though that I had to get over my first impression of it and at least give it a try. So I made a small Twitter account separate from the Amoeba Sisters account. I started following intriguing educators and educational organizations first on Twitter. That was nice. Still, it was rare for me to log in. Petunia handles our Amoeba Sisters Twitter account after all.
Then I discovered TweetDeck, which is pretty amazing. It organizes Tweets so that you can see it by favorite people/organizations/hashtags/etc.
TweetDeck truly helped me find that Twitter chats are AMAZING. I love them. You can be in your pajamas and view some amazing ideas and you can reply (if you want) to all kinds of people all over the globe. You can find more intriguing people to follow and you may gain some followers too to grow your network.
There are SO many specific education Twitter chats. In fact, here is a schedule of amazing education related chats going on worldwide during the week! The key is that all twitter chats use a hashtag so that it organizes the chat. If you use TweetDeck, you can make it so that one of the columns in your TweetDeck only shows Tweets that have that hashtag and are part of the convo.
Here is a great resource to learn all about TweetDeck and how Twitter chats work: http://www.theedublogger.com/2014/06/25/twitter-chats/
I used to not be into Twitter. Petunia is. Pinky...not so much.
I knew though that I had to get over my first impression of it and at least give it a try. So I made a small Twitter account separate from the Amoeba Sisters account. I started following intriguing educators and educational organizations first on Twitter. That was nice. Still, it was rare for me to log in. Petunia handles our Amoeba Sisters Twitter account after all.
Then I discovered TweetDeck, which is pretty amazing. It organizes Tweets so that you can see it by favorite people/organizations/hashtags/etc.
TweetDeck truly helped me find that Twitter chats are AMAZING. I love them. You can be in your pajamas and view some amazing ideas and you can reply (if you want) to all kinds of people all over the globe. You can find more intriguing people to follow and you may gain some followers too to grow your network.
There are SO many specific education Twitter chats. In fact, here is a schedule of amazing education related chats going on worldwide during the week! The key is that all twitter chats use a hashtag so that it organizes the chat. If you use TweetDeck, you can make it so that one of the columns in your TweetDeck only shows Tweets that have that hashtag and are part of the convo.
Here is a great resource to learn all about TweetDeck and how Twitter chats work: http://www.theedublogger.com/2014/06/25/twitter-chats/
About This Page
This page features some of Pinky's favorite instructional technology websites, apps, online resources, response systems, and other tools. Please always read the terms and privacy policy of any technology tool that you plan to use in the classroom.
Disclosure? If we share a tool or website on this page, it's because we like it and find it useful. We don't have affiliate links on this blog. If we use affiliate links at any point on this blog, we will announce on the individual post.
Disclosure? If we share a tool or website on this page, it's because we like it and find it useful. We don't have affiliate links on this blog. If we use affiliate links at any point on this blog, we will announce on the individual post.
Topics
All
BrainRush
Chromebook
Chrome Extensions/apps
Collaboration
DocHub
Formative Assessment
GIFs
GoFormative
Google
ITunes U
Kahoot
Kami
Linoit
OneNote
Padlet
PDF
Pinterest
Plickers
Poll Everywhere
Quizizz
Response Systems
Review
Science Resources
Student Creators
Student Feedback
Symbaloo
Teacher Productivity
TodaysMeet
Translations
Twitter
Videos/YouTube
Vocabulary