Let the Light In 2022-2023 FREE OneNote Teacher Planner

31/08/202231/08/2022 Mrs. Wilson No Comments

With school in England starting back soon, I am finally releasing this year’s OneNote Teacher Planner, which I’ve called Let the Light In.

This year’s planner is a bit different. I’ve made it specifically for me and my school calendar. I’ve decided to try a vertical layout this year as it matches my Outlook calendar. I’ve also broken down the sections by term instead of by month.

I found I rarely used the monthly overviews, so those have been deleted this year. I also tended to not use the stickers, so I have not included any stickers this year.

I have however provided the artwork files so that you can customise and create your own planner based on the artwork that would work for you best. I used Affinity Designer on my iPad, but I’ve provided some alternative files that should work in Photoshop or vector based programs.

Downloading the Planner

I am only providing the OneNote Package file this year.

You will need OneNote 2016 on your computer to import and open this file. If you do not have OneNote2016, you can download it for free here.

Download the Let the Light In 2022-2023 Teacher Planner.
Open OneNote 2016 desktop app.
Find the location of the planner package file and click to open it.
When prompted in OneNote 2016, make sure you save the planner file to your OneDrive and not your local hard drive. This is what will allow it to sync across all of your devices
Save the planner, and it will start loading. You should be good to go.

Unfortunately from what I have read, OneNote package files don’t play well with Macs. If you are using a Mac, you might not be able to open the file initially. You might try the steps above on a PC. Once you have your planner saved to your OneDrive, you will then be able to open it on any device, including your Mac.

Feedback or Questions?

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to offer feedback about the planner. You can post a comment here or me an email. I hope you love this year’s planner and enjoy using it!

Astronomy in April and Drops on a Penny Video

07/04/202107/04/2021 Mrs. Wilson 1 Comment

About, Teaching

Astronomy in April

Join me tomorrow at noon as I work with UK Astronomy as part of Astronomy in April.

Grab your Oreos and join us for a talk about the phases of the Moon using Oreos.

You can click here to join the event at Noon, BST on April 8th, 2021!

What you will need:
• 8 Oreo cookies per person
• A white paper plate or plain sheet of paper per person
• A spoon per person
You will also need to print out the NASA Moon phase journal found here https://www.ukastronomy.org/guides_activities.shtml
So that you are ready to also record your daily observations. Remember, you can record your observations even if it is cloudy. I will explain all in my talk.

If you miss the live talk, you will be able to find the replay on the U.K. Astronomy YouTube channel.

Drops on a Penny Video

The latest Mrs Wilson Science video is here. This time, we look at a simple experiment that is great for investigating changes to the independent variable as well as observing some of the special properties of water like adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension.

I hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to subscribe and share!

#HackEd14 and My First Day at #ISTE2014

27/06/201426/10/2020 Mrs. Wilson No Comments

About

It’s finally here – ISTE2014! I am so excited to finally be able to attend this conference. It’s been on my wish list for a long time. Today was ISTE Unplugged known this year as Hack Education 2014. This was a true unconference. Participants did not need to be registered for ISTE to attend.

Don't miss your King of Pops welcome treat! — Don’t miss your King of Pops welcome treat!

Since ISTE registration was already open, I decided to check in first and pick up my badge. This was handy to have throughout the day because it made sharing info easier. The check-in info included coupons and raffle tickets. I highly recommend the coupon for the welcome treat from King of Pops – a peach pop. I’ve had King of Pops before, and they are amazing!

We began the morning with putting ideas for conversations on large pieces of paper and getting to know each other. Then, we voted on the sessions we were most interested in using dot stickers. The next step was to compile the votes and post the schedule on the wiki. Our first “session” started at 10 am, and we walked to the appointed areas and started forming groups. The idea was not to have more than 20 people in a group so that conversations were easily fostered.

For my first session, I chose to go to the Maker Spaces/Girls in STEM conversation. We had a very large group, so we broke out into a smaller group and had a fabulous conversation about girls in STEM and how to engage girls through making. One of the coolest things that was shared in our conversation was a blog called KikiMaker, the making journey of a 10-year-old girl who started making when she was seven.

The second session I joined in a conversation about project based learning. Since I’ve been on the PBL journey for over a year now, I really wanted to hear what other people are doing. Again, we started as a very large group and then broke off into smaller groups to have conversations. We all shared what are experiences have been including ideas for overcoming struggles. A few more participants joined us, and Ginger Lewman also chimed in with her expertise. It was awesome to have her join and share with us.

HackEd group thanks to Padlet — HackEd group (@Padlet)

We then had our group photo. Ironically, Steve Hargadon, our organizer had shared with us earlier in the day that we would not retake the photo if anyone was late or missed it, and he was late to the photo. It was still fun having our group photographed together.

Lunch was followed by the smack down session. I was very glad to find out that all of the great apps were compiled for later reference. I’ll admit, the smack down was very fast moving, so it was hard to keep up.

The last session I attended was about setting up maker spaces in schools. It was awesome to hear first hand from other educators who have already implemented making into their classrooms and clubs. Hearing stories of students making to help them learn were inspiring. I am going to have some pretty cool tools to play with this fall, and I look forward to setting up our own maker space.

The final round of sessions I didn’t see anything I wanted to attend, so my colleague and I decided to go explore ISTE Central. We hadn’t really stopped in at the welcome center, and we saw many people wearing multiple ribbons on their badges. Being nerdy, we wanted lots of ribbons as well. We came away from there with several ribbons, so if you’re looking to ribbon up, be sure to stop by. There are other places as well to find ribbons over the next few days. We also checked out the ISTE bookstore and stopped to make new friends.

The last stop of the day was for a maker event hosted by Bird Brain Technologies. They make the Hummingbird Robotics Kit, and we had a chance to build our own robot, program it, and watch it work. It was a lot of fun, and I made “new” friends while we built our robot together: @slmteched, @SuzanBrandt, and @ezigbo_. It’s funny when you meet someone, exchange Twitter handles and realize you already follow each other.

It’s hard to believe the official activities haven’t even started yet! I can only imagine what amazing experiences the next few days will bring. I am so excited to be a part of ISTE 2014!

Beautiful Questions

11/04/201426/10/2020 Mrs. Wilson No Comments

About

I don’t normally expect to find inspiration in the seat back pocket on an airplane, but last week while flying to Boston for the National Science Teachers Association’s national conference, I found just that.An article in Southwest/Airtran’s Spirit magazine about asking beautiful questions (“Chasing Beautiful Questions” by Warren Berger) started me thinking about just that: asking questions. The basic idea of the article as that questions – the right questions – lead to innovation and change. It’s not about finding answers but about asking the right questions.

Isn’t this what science is all about? Asking questions, and the journey those questions then take us. In the article, Berger outlines three beautiful questions:

Why?
What if?
How?

Not only do these questions lead us to scientific discovery but engineering change as well. As I plan to incorporate more engineering into my classroom with science, I wonder how I can incorporate the idea of these beautiful questions. Teaching students how to ask good questions is a goal of mine. Now, I realize it’s also about asking the beautiful questions that lead to a life of passion. Berger also has a book about beautiful questions: A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas that is now on my reading list.

The idea of beautiful questions also started me thinking (and questioning) more about education in general. While at the NSTA conference, I spoke with many teachers. There was a common theme. We’re all in difficult places. The focus has been shifted from learning to scoring well on tests. There is so much talk about data and numbers; I often feel we have forgotten that we teach children. Many (most) teachers feel powerless to affect change, yet there are so many of us! Surely all of us together could change the face of education. Why not? What if we did band together? What would that look like? How could we do it?

I encourage you to check out the article on beautiful questions and to start asking your own beautiful questions.

The Eleven Meme

05/01/201426/10/2020 Mrs. Wilson No Comments

About, Teaching

I was nominated by Marsha Ratzel to participate in this meme a couple of weeks ago. So, here it goes!

11 “Random” Facts about Me:

My husband is from England and has an an amazing accent still, even though he’s been in the US for almost 15 years. All of his family still lives there. Also, we planned our wedding in three weeks. It was exciting, and I totally recommend doing it that way!
In high school, I was in chorus, band, and drama. I feel sad for kids these days who have to choose just one.
I received the Disney Dreamers and Doers Award when I was in high school It was to recognize students who ”possess the qualities of curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy.”
I love science fair! I went to the Florida Science and Engineering Fair my junior and senior years in high school. It’s so cool that as a teacher I have been able to share science fair with my students and now have taken students to the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair!
I am creative and logical; it’s an interesting but unusual combination. My teammate at school teases me about it because she thinks it’s funny how I can be so scientific and logical and creative. She says it’s not fair. 😉
I love caves and tunnels. I think being underground is really cool, but I grew up in a part of Florida with no caves.
When I stare at a full moon, I dream about visiting there someone day. I am also pretty convinced I’ll make it to space someday, somehow.
I’ve gone to Space Academy, Advanced Space Academy, and flown in microgravity. I watched the final two flights of Atlantis lift off from the press site. I watched the rocket carrying Curiosity lift off from the press site. I’ve visited Mission Control for both the ISS and the shuttle during missions and walked on the floor of the historic Apollo MOCR. Now, we’re getting ready to talk to an astronaut on the space station with the students at my school some time later this year. I love the stars and am only slightly obsessed with space.
I have a golden retriever named Devon (after Devonshire cream due to his creamy golden color) and two cats named Newton (after Sir Isaac) and Halley (of comet fame). What’s really interesting is that after deciding to name my cats after these two scientists, I found out that Edmond Halley helped fund some of Isaac Newton’s research.
I live to draw and paint. Recently, I’ve been learning how to draw phrases with hand drawn typography.
I am a Doctor Who fan. It’s funny because I remember some of my friends talking about Doctor Who when I was in high school, but I never watched it. Then I married a Brit and there was new Who, and the rest is history!

Questions generated by Marsha for me to answer:

If you were going to go out to eat what kind of restaurant would you pick? Chinese, Italian, Mexican or New American I’d probably choose Italian because I love penne alla vodka, but it would reallly depend on my mood.
What non-teaching book has you really excited to read? I’m sure you have a big pile of TO READs so pick just the best one. I love to read. I’m usually searching for the next book to read and don’t really have a pile. I love my Kindle! I’ve been wanting to re-read Contact by Carl Sagan for ages. I have the actual paperback, but I’m wishing it was available for Kindle.
Who has had the biggest impact on your teaching practice? And who has altered the way you think about teaching? I’m not sure there is one person who has had a huge impact. It’s more of lots of little ideas coming together to help me gradually improve.
Share something funny with everyone else. I got kicked off the bus in high school. You’ll never believe why. I was always bringing home science projects and equipment, and I was clumsy and fell down the stairs of the bus a few times, so the bus drive called my mom and asked me not to ride anymore!
If you had one afternoon to “waste” on yourself and totally endulge in doing something that you love, what would it be? I’d go to a science museum with a planetarium – or if I really had enough time, I’d head to the nearest NASA center and investigate!
Why should teachers, in particular, consider blogging? Is it a burden, a pleasure, a responsibility or a privilege? I enjoy blogging because it gives me a chance to reflect and share. I’d love to be the type of blogger that inspires like my friend Krissy at Venspired.
What has made your heart sing the most in the past 6 months within education? Students. The best part of education is being able to spend the days in my classroom being inspired by the amazing things my students do. And when all the other stuff gets in the way, I just remember how awesome my kids are!
I’m stealing this one….if you could give your younger self advice, what would you say? Dare Mighty Things! I am so much more confident these days then I used to be. I used to avoid risks for feel of failing. After learning of Teddy Roosevelt’s Dare Mighty Things quote, I now know “It is far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
How do you find a balance between the professional and personal sides of life? I am terrible at this! I spend way too much time at school and not enough time balancing my home life and things that help me relax. I am working on it, though!
Order, from greatest to least, these Masterpiece classics? Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Sherlock, Upstairs/Downstairs Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Upstairs/Downstairs, Call the Midwife. (I could NOT get into Call the Midwife, and it may be a toss up between Downton and Sherlock.)
What do you wish you’d taken in college in order to better prepare you for life, for being an adult and for being a teacher? Art classes because I wish I had some formal training. I did take a photography course with 35 mm cameras developing the film and the prints. I loved that! I was actually a psychology major with a chemistry minor and went back and took some additional chemistry classes before I even thought about teaching. Then, I went back to school to get my teaching certification. I think this roundabout way has really helped me as a teacher. I do want to get a masters and possibly doctorate one day, but I can’t decide in what, and I don’t want to pay for an education I can teach myself!

My Questions:

So, now I am supposed to generate 11 questions for 11 people to answer. I am just going to generate some questions but not nominate 11 people. If you feel like participating, please jump right in! Just leave a link to your post in the comments.

What is your favorite color? Why?
If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would you go?
What made you decide to become an educator?
Coffeehouse or Tearoom?
Are you a Doctor Who fan? If yes, who is your favorite Doctor?
Star Trek or Star Wars?
Who is your favorite author? Why?
What is the weather like today where you live?
What one new thing are you planning to try in your classroom this year?
What inspires you?
If you were not a teacher, what would you be doing?

Okay, so I hope you’ll decide to play along. Have fun, and thanks to Marsha for challenging me!

STEM: Astronomy style for back to school

04/08/201326/10/2020 Mrs. Wilson No Comments

About

My friend Krissy at Venspired posted some great Back to School STEM Style finds. I wanted to share some of my own fun finds with you, too. These are especially for the female STEM teacher who loves space but still needs to put forth a professional image. (I am loving that galaxy style is all the rage right now!)

Blue Flight Suit (jumping and jet not required). I’ll be wearing this tomorrow at open house to greet parents and students. Still need one? I hear there are great buys on Nomex flight suits on eBay.
Galactic Jewel top from Delia’s. I’ll admit I was a little embarrassed walking into Delia’s (where my students shop) to purchase this shirt, but I am so glad I did! Wear your science love loud and proud!
Galactic Top also from Delia’s. Another fun galaxy-esque shirt. I have already gotten a few compliments wearing it.
Galaxy Starry Print Skirt by Romwe. I found this at Amazon and loved the Magellanic Cloud print. It’s an awesome skirt. (The underskirt is a little short, and the main skirt is shear. I fixed it with a longer slip.)
Keep Calm and Dream On wallet by Hot Topic. I was looking for a smaller space-y wallet, and this fit the bill perfectly! Especially in my new purse.
Space Mod-ity dress from Modcloth. Modcloth has amazingly cool, retro clothes – and a large collection of space prints. I was so excited to see this dress 50% off today. I can’t wait to get this dress with rockets printed all over it!
Custom “Dream” purse from Artscow. I love this quote from Van Gogh, “For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” I created the image from a Hubble photo and Photoshopped some text for what is now my favorite accessory ever!
Nebula shoes by me. This is my second pair of space shoes I have made for myself. I wore these during my microgravity adventure, and even got compliments from astronauts. You can make your own, and I am hoping to open an Etsy shop for orders once school gets going. Even though they are technically “tennis shoes”, I am planning to wear them to school in the name of science!

There are lots of other amazing science and space clothes out there. It’s cool that being geeky is going so mainstream! I know I’ll be adding to my collection, and I’d love to hear some of your favorites. The next thing I’d really like to add to my science teacher wardrobe is a cool lab coat.