{"id":793,"date":"2018-04-01T19:13:19","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T23:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=793"},"modified":"2018-04-01T19:13:37","modified_gmt":"2018-04-01T23:13:37","slug":"the-value-of-dollar-store-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2018\/04\/the-value-of-dollar-store-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing the Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

School is\u00a0expensive.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ideally, we as teachers come in with grand ideas for the experiments and projects we have planned for our students, all involving inquiry and margin-based learning that fosters creativity.\u00a0 We want students out of the textbook and engaging with the science in front of them, and everything is going according to plan until…<\/p>\n

The Budget.<\/p>\n

(dun dun dunnnn)<\/p>\n

One thing that I’ve realized is that I can come up with as many ideas as I want for my classroom, but if I don’t have the funds to pull it off, I tend to scrap the whole concept.\u00a0 Especially being a broke college student making plans for demos and lesson plans, the whole concept of a “budget” is touchy for me, and I’ve learned something extremely valuable that will carry on to my career–just because we’re short on funds doesn’t mean we have to teach straight-forward, lecture and textbook based lessons.\u00a0 We just have to get a little creative, and use the tools set in front of us.<\/p>\n

Here are a few I’ve found, for example:<\/p>\n

1. Kids Discover Online<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/online.kidsdiscover.com\/discover\/life-science?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=Ad&utm_campaign=LifeSciencePN&pp=0&epik=0ieM4E_IW39V3<\/p>\n

Kids Discover Online is a great, affordable resource for educators and students alike.\u00a0 It has resources both for science and social studies teachers, but I focused in on the science aspects it offered.\u00a0 I currently have the free account (again, broke college student), but they have a $4\/month option for teachers (very, very cheap) so they can set up classrooms right on the site.\u00a0 Essentially, they give access to hundreds of science-based articles that students can explore right at their fingertips, over all different subjects of science.\u00a0 Check out the website above if you’re interested!<\/p>\n

2. Labster<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.labster.com\/<\/p>\n

Labster is an affordable resource available for teachers delving into biotechnology or microbiology.\u00a0 While it’s more expensive than the other resources I found ($29.99\/student\/year, or $7.99 per lab), the goal of this app is to provide virtual labs for experiments that would be too expensive or dangerous to physically do in the high school classroom.\u00a0 So yes, the price seems higher than other apps listed, but when you look at what the app is actually offering this cost is extremely cheap and can be great for students studying more advanced biology subjects.<\/p>\n

3. Seek by iNaturalist<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A Shazam for Nature: A New Free App Helps You Identify Plants, Animals & Other Denizens of the Natural World https:\/\/t.co\/xtIZT3uog8<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Pjn1uviRq4<\/a><\/p>\n

— Open Culture (@openculture) April 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n