Knowledge of teaching
Teacher candidates positively impact student learning that is:
1. Informed by standards-based assessment. All students benefit from learning that is systematically analyzed using multiple formative, summative, and self-assessment strategies.
2. Intentionally planned. All students benefit from standards-based planning that is personalized.
3. Influenced by multiple instructional strategies. All students benefit from personalized instruction that addresses their ability levels and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
4. Informed by technology. All students benefit from instruction that utilizes effective technologies and is designed to create technologically proficient learners.
My Understanding
It is every teacher’s duty to ensure that their students are learning. They should be collecting evidence of their students’ progress to ensure that they are teaching effectively, and re-teach concepts that the students did not grasp the first time it was taught. Again, the curriculum must incorporate several teaching strategies and any available technologies to increase the student participation and learning. In addition, each teacher should try to collaborate with their peers, whether it is to align exams, get ideas for lessons, or incorporate other subjects into lessons or projects. It is important to gain more feeback than only quizzes and tests. There should be many formative assessments, even if it is just speaking with students about the way the material was presented. Teachers should always be trying to incorporate new strategies into their teaching to improve their effectiveness.
Meta-Reflection
I have seen many lessons built into our biology curriculum that are informed by standards based assessment, intentionally planned and influenced by multiple strategies. Our lessons in biology and chemistry start with a warm up, which is either a formative assessment to gauge what students know about a specific concept before we teach, or see how well they learned the material from the day before. We intentionally organize our lessons in a sequence that makes sense, and make small changes to accommodate all of our students and their needs. We use many strategies, including individual, pair and group work, written and oral work, and using sentences and pictures to convey a concept. The biggest change this year however, has been the amount I’ve learned about how to implement technology into the classroom from my educational technology class.
In our classrooms as Skyline, I have access to smart boards, document cameras, and computers, all of which we (my mentors and I) use in our lessons on a daily basis. Students are given the opportunity to see these technologies in use, as well as use them individually for presentations. We also have access to ActiVotes (multiple choice remotes to check student understanding using multiple choice questions). I love to use the ActiVotes in class, and so do the students. Through the ActiVotes, I am asking the same questions as I would in an oral question or on a worksheet. However, the students have the novelty of using technology, and each student has the opportunity to test themselves and receive immediate feedback. They do not have to be afraid of being singled out for having the wrong answer because the ActiVotes can be made anonymous, which is how I have used them. The number of voters that have answered can be tracked, so you know if everyone answers, and the results come up automatically once the voting session is over, as a bar graph. During our meiosis unit, we studied karyotypes. After discussing how different karyotypes are complied and what they are used for, I asked them to identify the chromosomal issue in different karyotypes. From the results (1, 2, 3, 4), it was obvious that the students understood how karyotypes were supposed to look and how to find the diseases in them. A few weeks later I quizzed them on karyotypes. Many students did really well, which tells me that this activity helped them understand how karyotypes are meant to look and how problems can be recognized (1, 2, 3).
In biology, we have a DNA unit, in which the students learn the structure of DNA, and how each molecule is replicated. This subject matter is aligned with standard 9-11 LS1E, and part of the district scope and sequence. After I gave a lecture on DNA structure, on which the students took notes on their note-blanks. Then, the students completed a worksheet to help reinforce the different parts of DNA structure. The next day, the students worked on a modeling activity, where they worked in pairs to build a model of a DNA molecule with two types of pasta, four different colors of pipe cleaners and string. After the students built their model and answered the questions within the assignment sheet (see modeling activity above), they came up to me for an oral quiz on DNA structure, in which I asked each student specific questions. They got points depending how many times it took them to answer every single question correctly. Once I named a student, their partner could not help them. Many students did not answer all the questions correctly the first time, and they were sent back to their desks to study again. This activity gave partners a chance to help each other understand the material and teach each other when their partner needed help understand an idea. By testing each other, the students learned the material much better than if they just had to fill out a worksheet. I had students telling me that the activity was much more helpful to their learning than another kind of activity. When the students took the exam about a week and a half later, many of them did very well (1, 2, 3), showing that they retained the material they learned in the activity.
In science, an important aspect of learning is the ability to formulate lab reports. In Biology, I gave a lesson on formulating a formal lab report, so that students could understand the ideas behind what I was asking them to do. We have a detailed grading rubric that we use to grade ALL lab reports in the department, and it is very similar to the rubric used by IB Biology. We do a couple practice lab reports in which students receive extensive feedback on how to improve their reports so they can turn in quality lab reports (1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c). Students benefit from this feedback and usually do not need a second reminder to fix issues they had in the first lab report.
In order to present the material in a way that the students can understand most easily, I like to use power points with images, video clips, cartoons, anything to grab student attention and get them interested in the subject. I provide note-blanks, to make note-taking easier for the students and provide them with example problems for them to solve. I have even used different computer games to help reinforce the current material.
During the genetics unit in biology, I covered complete dominance, incomplete dominance and co-dominance. Blood type in humans is a great example of both complete dominance and co-dominance. We discussed blood typing, inheritance of blood type and how to determine which types of blood different people can receive. After taking notes, the students completed a worksheet to reinforce the material. The next day, I had the students complete a worksheet based off of the Nobel Prize website. The students answered five questions on reading material on the site, and then had to complete the game while answering questions about the steps they took to save each patient. The students had to identify what blood type the patient had by mixing the blood with different antibodies and looking for clotting, then choose which blood in the blood bank to give the patient. My students were very engaged in the activity, which really reinforced the ideas involved in blood typing. I had the students write I learned statements, which showed how effective the computer game was (1, 2, 3). They all seemed to learn a lot, and the game reinforced many ideas we discussed in class.
When learning about limiting reactants in chemistry, I used a computer simulation to help the students understand the idea of limiting reactants. The simulation has three sections: making sandwiches, real reactions, and the game, which contains many real reactions and has the students determine the amount of reactants given certain products. The simulation helped them get the general idea when we discussed how the idea of only having one piece of cheese limits the amount of sandwiches you can make, no matter how many pieces of bread or meat you have.
Usually, a unit starts with introductory notes, such as the linked power point above. We talk briefly about a topic, such as types of chemical reactions. I give a lecture, and the students take notes on their provided note-blanks. We will usually complete an introductory activity to see how much information the students retained. During the chemical reactions unit (see power point and note-blank above), I gave a mini quiz, which assessed how well the students could recognize the different types of reactions and balanced equations. We did this using a power point, and students wrote their answers on binder paper. This is the same idea as a quiz, but the novelty makes the assessment seem more interesting and less like a quiz. We then graded the quiz in class so that the students could see what the correct answers were and we could discuss why those answers were correct. From this activity, I could see what misconceptions the students had from what questions they answered incorrectly, paying special attention to which incorrect multiple choice answer they chose. For example, student C did very well on the quiz; only missed two problems. This student made the same mistake on both problems, and many students had the same issue as her. We discussed how this question showed that coefficients in chemical reactions must be whole numbers. After more practice problems, we took a second quiz, on which student C did much better, along with the rest of her classmates.
I find that once students have a good introduction to material, they work well in groups completing practice problems, explaining the concepts to each other, and helping each other with problems they do not understand. When I talked about Le Chatelier’s principle (lesson plan), we discussed how a system in equilibrium is affected by changes in concentration, pressure and temperature. We talked about how a giant see-saw with several people walking around on it is a system in equilibrium. I had students visualize the system, and then draw a picture of what they visualized (1, 2, 3). Finally, I asked what might happen if we added more people to one side; how the system would shift to reach equilibrium again. Students had to think about the new concept and how it might affect the picture in their head. The lesson continued with a lecture on the particulars of each stressor (concentration, pressure, temperature) and how each affects a system in equilibrium. Then, the students got into groups of two or three and completed a worksheet to test their knowledge of the effect of any given stressor.
Once I give a quiz in a unit, I can gauge how much material I need to review with the students, and possibly how quickly I can move on to new material. My first quiz in the stoichiometry unit covered conversions between moles and other units, such as liters, grams, molecules, formula units, atoms and ions. The students performed well, with only a few concept issues (1, 2). I had my students participate in a jigsaw of solving different problems in my stoichiometry unit. There were eight groups of four students; each group solved one problem set (two problems). Once the students figured out how to solve their problem set, I switched up the groups so each group had one student who knew how to complete each of the four sets of problems. The students taught each other so that each student had learned how to complete four different sets of problems (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b). After this activity, I gave a quiz on how convert from amounts of reactants in a chemical reaction. From the results (1, 2), I could tell that most of the students understood the idea, and the math. We spent the rest of the day practicing different kinds of stoichiometry problems in partners. Students received stamps for every two problems they completed correctly. They were expected to receive three stamps, meaning that they completed every problem correctly (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b). About one week later I gave the unit exam. My students did extremely well, even students who normally perform well below normal (1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c). I had more A’s on this exam than I have had on any other exam.
This year has been a huge learning experience. I have figured out a few different ways to engage the students in the current material, and make sure they understand the concepts that they are supposed to be learning. I find that a mix of group work, lecture and individual work help the students get different perspectives on the material, and give them a chance to figure out the material on their own and with their peers. I also find that different activities, including computer games or simulations, worksheets, group practice problems, competitions doing problems, and lecture with many visual aids and think time for students, are all beneficial to learning, especially when combined in different ways. The students need to be challenged because it causes them to think. The more thinking they have to do, the more connections are being made in their brains and the more learning is happening. I feel that I have learned many effective strategies this year and I am excited to learn more as my teaching career takes off.
Teacher-based evidence:
Example power point with images
Classifying reactions practice mini quiz
Classifying reactions practice problems
Le Chatelier’s Principle lesson plan
Le Chatelier’s Principle worksheet
Practice stoichiometry problems
Student-based evidence:
Karyotype ActiVote results (1, 2, 3, 4)
Cell Cycle Quizzes (1, 2, 3)
Practice lab reports (1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c)
“I Learned” statements (1, 2, 3)
See-saw visualizations (1, 2, 3)
Classifying reactions quiz-student C
Jigsaw stoichiometry problems (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b)
