I have started using ActivVotes in both my chemistry and biology classes and I absolutely love them! They are a great tool to get students to participate in class practice problems. They can be made anonymous or linked to a specific person, so students do not have to be afraid of being singled out with the incorrect answer. You can save the results of the quiz directly into your flipchart (ActivStudio or ActivInspire technology, which is linked with a SmartBoard) or power point so that you can keep the results, as a bar graph, for yourself or as a motivator for your students. I think the students really like to use them, even though they are completing the same types of problems that they would be if I had them complete the practice problems on paper. In addition, you can export the flipchart with the saved results to a jpg or pdf or a word doc. They show up as pictures, so it is necessary to adjust you formatting if you want to see the original question beneath your saved results graph. Below I linked some examples of questions I asked (and the students’ responses):
Tag Archive: Student reponsibility
In this module, I learned that education is moving towards the active student, rather than the passive student. The passive student “sits in his or her seat [and] listens to what the teacher has to say, who follows the prescribed curriculum, who turns in the assignments, takes the exams, receives the grade, and moves on to the next level”(Ellis). This classroom would have mostly direct instruction, and little constructivism or inquiry. In classrooms with active students, there is more student-student questioning and hands-on work in which the students are working together to figure something out. I learned that this idea of the active student increases the amount of knowledge the student gains by discovery, rather than by receiving it from someone else. Students internalize knowledge gained by discovery, and the idea of the active student puts the pressure on the student to learn, rather than the teacher to force the information into the student.
- What education is
I believe that education is teaches children about the world around them. Parents can teach their children the basics, but eventually children need to be taught by those who are experts in those subjects to be learned. Not everyone is an expert in the subjects we have deemed important for students to understand, which is why we have teachers for specific subjects in secondary school. Our goal in education is to give the next generation enough knowledge so that they can be competent citizens, who understand how the world works and why we live the way we do. Especially right now, with the debate about climate change in the government, students must be able to understand the science behind the theories so that they can make an informed decision about what they believe.
I believe that education can excite students about the world around them. Engaging student curiosity is important because students will be more willing to learn, and may learn more completely. The more young people we can engage with the world around them, the more involved those students will be in the world as the mature and move in to their later careers. The more involved people are, the more they participate in important events, such as elections. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2009), in 2008, of the total population 18 and over, only 71.0 percent registered to vote and 58.2 percent actually voted. It is important that all citizens have a say in how our government is run, as it is our right to do so. 63.6 percent is a far cry from all citizens, and I think the more we engage students in the classroom, the higher this number will go. The number of people who actually voted is five percent higher than the number of people who voted in the 2004 election (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Educating students about the election and the bills to be passed helps these numbers to keep rising.
I believe that education fosters skills in group work and collaboration in students. In their later skills, students will most likely need to be able to work with other people, whether in a single partnership or in a large group. Education is one way to help the students gain the ability to successfully work with their peers, whether at the same achievement level or not. When working in a group or pair with a peer (or peers) at the same achievement level, a student can learn how to effectively bounce ideas off someone else, or look at a problem from a different perspective. When working in a group or pair with a peer (or peers) with different strengths and weaknesses, a student could learn how to improve their weaknesses by seeing another student’s example, or help another student with their weaknesses. In some cases, this strategy helps both (all) students with their weaknesses, and they learn much more than they would have on their own (Toward Inclusive Classrooms, 1994, p. 47).
I believe that education teaches students how to be leaders. Leadership skills are important for most careers, and the classroom is a safe place that students can use to gain these essential skills. Education can provide a model for leadership skills as well, giving many examples of leaders both in history and in present day. Leadership skills include those necessary to manage group tasks, to take initiative and plan out an agenda, to collaborate with others on a single project, and many others. All of these tasks are inherently tasks that require one to solve a problem, and students will need to have many strategies at hand when asked to solve any problem in their later careers (Sue Law, 2000, p. 175).
I believe that education teaches students about diversity. In our society, we tend to focus on how people are alike, and we cling to those things that make us the same, or that help us fit in with the crowd. Education can help students realize that differences should be celebrated, and can help our society grow. Education can show students that everyone can reach their goals when motivated enough, even if the student is reaching for the sky. Especially for marginalized and “at-risk” youth, it is important to show that everyone can be successful, no matter what their background is (Sheri C. Hardee, 2009, p. 38).
I believe education can teach students about morality and ethics, to help them see right and wrong. Morality is something that affects students daily lives on a constant basis, and education should teach them how to deal with the issues. Students are faced with issues as small as copying homework, to as big as stealing and education should give them the tools to make good decisions. I think education provides an environment in which moral issues can be discussed, and moral issues can be experienced and viewed. Although it is difficult to tell students what is right and what is wrong in all cases, there are issues that can be discussed, and examples given, but students have to gain their own sense of right and wrong for their own beliefs (Standish, 1997, p. 96-97).
- How teaching supports
I believe that teaching supports student learning about the world because teacher can use his or her own enthusiasm for the subject material to excite the students. Teachers can be the key to student engagement. If a teacher is excited about the subject material, it is more likely to be interesting to the student (Medina, 2008, p. 76).
I believe that teachers can support collaborative learning by modeling collaboration with other teachers. Teachers can do collaborative projects with other classes, or talk about other teachers in their classes. In addition, teachers can encourage group collaboration on certain assignments or projects, even encourage the higher achieving students to help the lower achieving students understand the concepts. As students work with others more often, they will improve their collaborative skills very quickly.
I believe that teachers can model good leadership skills in the classroom, showing students a good example of a wide variety of skills. Teachers can encourage development of leadership skills by putting students in the position to use those skills often, giving them a chance to try, fail and try again. Practice will help students hone these skills, and if each student is given an equal opportunity to plan a project, or mediate discussion in a group, or give a presentation on a particular concept or idea, they will be able to fully develop problem solving and communication skills needed by leaders.
I believe that teachers can show students how differences can enhance our society rather than devastate it. Teachers can provide a model by making a point to notice students’ strengths, individually or in front of the class, whether by complimenting their work, or going to an event. Small reminders to students in class, such as, “nice job in the game on Saturday, Suzanne!” will help the students see that a teacher cares about each student enough to notice each students’ strengths and celebrate the different activities that each student excels in. Students will see this, and begin to celebrate their own differences from their peers, and maybe start to celebrate the differences in others (Noddings, 2005, 18).
I believe that teachers can show students the difference between right and wrong through example and discussion. Using real examples will give students real situations to think about, and will force them to think about situations they could be in. Teachers can give their students good class discussions, and complex situations to think about so that students can develop their own sense of morality. Teachers should not tell students what to think, but give them time and issues to think about. Teachers can get students to develop a great sense of right and wrong if they simply give the students time to think and reflect.
I believe that teaching adds the personal connection between educational content and student learning. The teacher can be the spark that gets the students excited about the material and engaged in the school community. When teachers take in to account the situations their students are in, the environment they grew up in, and the state their brains are in, as teenagers, they can alter the way they teach to accommodate for the issues most teenagers have. We can use research on the brain and knowledge of our students to coordinate our lesson plans to help them learn the best they can. We can help the students by previewing material, priming the students for the material, and repeating the material with the students, because this is the way their brains learn best (Jensen, 2005, p. 39). As teachers, we are trying to educate our students, and help them succeed in school. The more we can do to help them succeed, the better teacher each of us will be.
References
Dalheim, M. (1994). Toward inclusive classrooms. National Education Association of the United States.
Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind (2nd ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Medina, J. (2008). Brain Rules. Seattle: Pear Press.
Noddings, N. (2005). The challenge to care in schools: an alternative approach to education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sheri C. Hardee, A. R. (2009). Women’s well-being initiative: creating, practicing, and sharing a border pedagogy for youth. Perspectives on Urban Education , 6 (2), 29-40.
Standish, R. S. (1997). Teaching right and wrong: moral education in the balance. Staffordshire: Trentham Books Limited.
Sue Law, D. G. (2000). Educational leadership and learning: practice, policy and research. Buckingham: Open University Press.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2009, October 20). Voting and Registration. Retrieved February 21, 2010, from U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2004/tables.html
I feel that I have continued to learn and gather evidence to fulfill this standard this quarter. In taking over both chemistry and both biology classes, I have learned so much about my students and how I can help them succeed in my classes. Coming into student teaching, I knew dealing with high school students was going to be a completely new experience. From fall quarter, I saw the huge difference in maturity between sophomores and juniors and seniors. I also saw a difference in maturity between my two sophomore biology classes, probably because of the difference in the other classes the students are taking (those in IB math or block and those who are not). I have learned that different techniques are needed to handle the different classes, and I must keep in mind how much I can expect each class to be able to do without guided instruction.
My biology classes, for example, have a hard time with a lecture when it lasts all period, no matter how many attention grabbers, or stories I insert into the lecture. Therefore, I try not to lecture all period, rather lecture for half the period, and then do an activity or worksheet for the second half. Even if this means splitting up a lecture, I think the students will learn more if they are focused throughout the lecture, rather than spacing out or getting bored. When I do need to lecture for an entire period, I try to give the students a break in the middle of class. The break is usually to do yoga with the students, or to talk about an upcoming event (such as HSPE testing, or a track meet). I find this helps keep them on task while giving their brain a break. If I give them a chat break, I find that it is really hard to bring them back in to the material.
In my chemistry classes, the students can handle a little more lecture during the period. Of course I still use practice problems, stories, demonstrations and video clips to break up the lecture, to hold the students’ attention. I try to begin a unit with a lecture that begins with a somewhat relevant video clip (see power point links below) from a TV show that the students recognize and possibly watch. I feel that this helps relate the material to their lives outside of school. In addition, I try to present a chemistry cartoon that relates to the material I am presenting that week, every Friday. I also put pictures, animations and cool backgrounds into my power points (1, 2), with not so much text, so that the students can focus without getting bored with tons of text.
This quarter, both my chemistry and biology classes had a design lab project (biology experiment). This means that they were given a research question, and they needed to work with a partner to develop a procedure to answer the research question. All periods were given in-class time and needed to get checked off before they could start the experiment. During the experiment, the students needed to work together in order to come up with a procedure and then work together to complete the experiment. This project required the students to collaborate with their peers and work well with their assigned partner. At the end of the chemistry experiment, the students had to individually write a letter to a ceramic company, recommending the glaze that the students found during the experiment. It was meant to show students how to appropriately communicate with members of the community in a business setting, and from a peer’s perspective, rather than from a student’s perspective. In addition, the letter helped the students explain in their own words why they designed their experiment the way they did. The students could explain how they came to the conclusion that they did, as these students did (1, 2, 3).
I have had many parent conferences this quarter, in e-mail, on the phone and in person. I have learned a lot about how to talk to parents. It is always good to show them that you care about their student’s success by giving ways to help their student succeed in your class. It is also good to start off with something positive about their student, so that they can feel that their student is doing something right in your class, and that you have not written them off as a bad egg. I like to encourage parents to help their child with homework, especially with labs and studying for exams (flash cards are very helpful to students and parents can quiz their child with them!)
In my biology class, my mentor has a set of activities to help the students learn the structure of DNA, and how the molecule replicates. The students work in pairs to first make a model of one DNA molecule out of string, two different types of pasta, and four different colored pipe cleaners. They have to answer given questions, study the different parts of the molecule and how it is put together. After they feel they are ready (they know the molecule backwards and forwards), they come up to me and must pass an oral quiz. The students must get every question correct, or they must go study and come back up again. Each time they are sent back to their seat, they lose one out of five points. This encourages the students to learn and master the material quickly, so that they only have to get quizzed once. I try to change up the questions each time because nothing prevents the students from telling their friends all the questions I asked them. I also do not want the students memorizing the questions I asked them in their first try so that I know that they are actually learning the material, rather than memorizing the minimum material. We go through the same routine for replication of DNA, with another oral quiz.
For my Standards-based Assessment class, we had to complete a project that involved assessing what the students have learned up to a point, re-teaching, and then giving another assessment. I gave the students a formative assessment (pop quiz) on new material right after I lectured and gave examples on the material. Then, I helped them practice the material over the course of the week, with homework problems, warm up problems, having students answer orally in class, and partner work. At the end of the week we had another quiz. In my project, I attached the work of five students, showing their improvement over the week. I had students answer reflection questions, including any strategies they used to solve the problems, or learn the material. It was interesting to compare student performance to whether or not they had a strategy for solving the problems. The students who had strategies for learning the material, and actually understood how they learned were the most successful.
Students all learn differently, and it is important for a teacher to understand that when he or she is planning lessons. It is also important for students to understand their own learning, both what they have learned and how they have learned. It is really important to put learning in context for the students in terms of the community, get them involved in the classroom, and get their parents involve in their learning. Students have individual needs when it comes to learning a good teacher knows how to meet those needs.
Now I have fully taken over both of my mentors chemistry classes, and the students are quickly noticing a difference in our teaching styles. Apparently, we do a lot more in my classes, and I give them MUCH more homework than my mentor gives his other classes. They got really upset with me today when I had them grade their labs for correctness, instead of completion (as they thought was normal). I tell them that I am trying to help them do better on their exams, and the more work they do, the better they will learn the material. We will see how they feel after the large quiz tomorrow.
My mentor also wants our classes to be on the same schedule, and I have been going a little quicker than he has. Today we spent time grading their lab reports, to give them extra practice at drawing shapes of molecules, a HUGE portion of the quiz tomorrow. I am trying to be flexible with my schedule, so that we can stay on the same page.
Lesson Plan: Formal Lab Reports
- Instructional Strategy-Referenced Reflection
In this lesson, two different strategies were implemented in different parts of the lesson. For homework the class before, students were given a set of fake data collected by a student. They were to write a formal lab report, using their lab grading rubric, assuming they had completed the lab themselves (Homework and practice). In the lesson provided, students were given another student’s lab report to evaluate according to a given rubric (with the same criteria as the lab grading rubric). They gave feedback on the report they were given, and gave the report back to the student author (Setting objectives and providing feedback). The students were then asked to take home the evaluated report to fix for homework and turn in the next day (Homework and practice).
I thought this lesson went very well. Students definitely benefitted from looking at another student’s lab report. They saw what other students did, and thought about what they could do to make their reports better. One student even commented, “This data table is much better than mine! I totally forgot to include an average column.” I think it is wonderful that students can see their own mistakes by looking at others work. Often times, students respond better to criticism from their peers rather than from me.
One problem I saw was that some students did not put as much effort into their reports, so students evaluating those reports did not get as much out of the task as others did. I wish all students had put forth more effort so that everyone could benefit equally from looking at another student’s report. Another exercise could be to look at previous year’s reports, or even made up reports so students could look for errors and parts to fix in the reports.
- Standard S Criterion-References Reflection
In this lesson, students were assigned homework practice for completing formal lab reports. They were given a very specific lab grading rubric to follow in order to complete the lab report successfully. The students used their time at home to practice writing their report so that they know what is expected of them when we have our first formal lab report assigned. As they practice writing full reports more often, they will understand exactly what I expect in terms of their formal lab reports.
During the peer evaluation, I walked around to check how well students were doing on the lab reports. Most students did a pretty good job following the given lab grading rubric, understanding that those were the criteria on which they would be graded. Students worked hard to complete a draft for class, not knowing they would get to fix problems in their labs before officially submitting them. Students were thoughtful in their evaluations of their peer’s reports and provided good feedback to help their peers get a better grade. This feedback helped the students see the parts of the lab report that they needed to improve or missed. The lab reports were alright for a first attempt. I hope that my feedback will help them improve their reports even more, so that their first formal lab report will be the best that they can produce.
- Standard T Criterion-Referenced Reflection
In both of these activities, students could take advantage of both summative and self-assessment strategies. As they were writing their reports at home, they could use their lab grading rubrics as a checklist to ensure their report completely contains all the parts. They can also use their rubric as a check list after they have finished writing it.
During the peer evaluation portion, the students use a peer evaluation rubric to grade their peer’s report. The evaluator can use the rubric as a checklist to evaluate the author’s report. They can assess the author’s summative understanding of the scientific method and how it applies to formal lab reports.
On Wednesday, I gave my own lesson/activity in chemistry. I had each student create a poster of a given p-block element (they picked out of a hat) with certain stipulations, including orbital notation (which they had just learned) and a drawing of the element, including the nucleus and the valence electron orbitals (which they had been learning for the past week). I thought it went really well, and the students seemed to have fun while working on school work (they usually see only direct instruction). I did notice that, especially in 2nd period, the students were asking very basic questions, such as “is this right?” They seemed to need a lot of hand holding, even though what we were asking them to do was not super difficult. I feel like the students expect to spend a long time on specific topics, so they can put off learning it. I asked them to apply orbital notation the day after we taught it, and they were not used to that, but I do not think it was over their heads. I had a lot of fun and I think they did too. They worked hard all period, but did not finish, so even though I had planned to have them turn it in at the end of the period, I asked for them to finish by Monday. We will follow up on the poster by having the students line up in the order of their elements and compare the similar elements they listed to see if they can see a pattern.
Aligned with Standard 9-11 PS2A:
- Atoms are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The nucleus of an atom takes up very little of the atom’s volume but makes up almost all of the mass. The nucleus contains protons and neutrons, which are much more massive than the electrons surrounding the nucleus. Protons have a positive charge, electrons are negative in charge, and neutrons have no net charge.
– Describe the relative charges, masses, and locations of the protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom of an element
This week’s readings revolved around new ideas that we must consider in light of new technologies that are now used in today’s world. Most teenagers today (this includes most junior high and all high school students) surf the web on a daily basis. Many of these teenagers are participating in social networking sites, such as facebook.com, twitter.com and myspace.com, and various chat rooms. The internet opens up a whole new way for teenagers to communicate, aside from their constant text messaging. The fear is that if they do not know how to be safe on the internet, they could put themselves into very dangerous situations. Most teenagers do not see the real consequences of giving out personal information on the internet, nor do they see a problem with meeting someone on a social networking site or in a chat room and then proceed to meet them in person. We need to make sure that our students understand that information is not safe on the internet, and the potential dangers of not knowing who one is interacting with online.
One thing I have learned from previous experience was reiterated in one of the article assigned for reading this week. Parents (and teachers) should help students stay safe online, but not overreact when a teen has been exposed to inappropriate content or has not been following the rules (Internet Education Foundation 2008). Teens do not usually respond well to authority figures trying to control what they believe to be something completely safe. I know I got really upset when my dad took away my e-mail in junior high because my friend was sending me inappropriate chain letters. I had already tried asking my friend to stop sending the messages and deleting them as they came into my inbox. My dad blamed me for the e-mails, even though I had tried to get out of the uncomfortable situation. I should have asked for help in preventing the e-mails, but the sender was my friend, so I was not sure what to do. I think I would have responded much more positively to my parents (or teachers) trying to help me deal with the problem rather than get mad at me for something I felt that I could not control.
I think teens have heard many internet safety talks over the course of their childhood, so another information session would probably not do very much. Students could review the FEMA Online Safety Rules, discuss why certain safety precautions might be important on the internet and then give a few examples of what might happen if students are not careful (real-life examples, not fabricated examples). Students could also go through the PBS Web License site, which is formatted much like an online quiz through ten categories of web access. Another activity could be showing students how easy it is to create a fake profile on a social networking site. It would be easy to incorporate lessons about technological safety into the classroom, especially if the class will be using the internet frequently in the class. By requiring students to use the technologies listed above, including academic research on the internet, it is also a teacher’s responsibility to teach students how to safely and effectively use these technologies. It would be silly to allow a child to play with fire before teaching him, or her, the dangers and safety precautions to use around fire. This is essentially what we would be doing if we asked students to use the technologies provided through the internet without first teaching the students how to use the technologies safely.
References:
Federal Emergency Management Association. (2009). Online Safety Rules for Kids. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/kids/on_safety.htm.
Internet Education Foundation. (2008). Online Safety Guide. Retrieved from http://kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/.
Public Broadcasting Services. (2007). Get your web license. Retrieved from http://pbskids.org/license/result.html?a1=n&a2=n&a3=n&a4=n&a5=n&a6=n&a7=n&a8=n&a9=n&a0=n&name=Steven&x=0&y=0.
This week has been so much better than last week. The behavior issues I was having in my 6th period class have been decreased immensely because one student moved into my 5th period class. I have resolved many of my other stress issues, so I am not as overwhelmed as last week. This one student has been having a lot of trouble in class (he has an IEP and many behavior issues). I do not think that he has done any work for the last month (two of the weeks he was out of school for medical reasons) and he has been slow in making it up. I know the counselors and his special ed teacher are trying to help him get in all of his make-up work. This change I had hoped would help him concentrate better in class because he is genuinely interested in the material (he paid attention and participated in class fairly well before he left school). It has been an immense change for him. He is back to the behviors I saw before he left school. I made sure to positively reinforce his behavior on Monday, and again before class on Tuesday. I am hoping that this change will stick for him so I can help him succeed in my class. However, he needs to be the one to choose to succeed, and I am trying to help him make that choice.
As I read through this week’s articles, I saw many new suggestions for ways to use blogging in the classroom. Terry Freeman’s article, “Coming of Age,” discusses many teachers who were strictly against using blogging in the classroom, who then completely changed their minds. One teacher even uses a blog for the students to create their own “textbook” for the pre-calculus class they are taking (Freeman 2006). I think these ideas are very creative and the students would like them very much. I would very much like to incorporate some of these ideas into my own teaching methods.
However, I am afraid of some of the same things the teachers in the article were afraid of. I am worried that my students would not take the assignment seriously and would not be mature enough to comment appropriately on other students’ posts. I agree with Anne Davis (Freeman 2006) that teenagers can easily use blogs inappropriately and should be taught the proper way to use blogs. However, I struggle with the idea that I may have to teach one more concept in a high school science class, in which I already feel stressed and short on time. It may be a good idea for students to have a class on blogging alone, or at least use a very restricted version in a classroom so teachers would not have to teach blogging and their curriculum.
I do think making the textbook was a very cool way to use technology to learn specific material. This was one idea I thought I might be able to use in my classroom, maybe for a specific unit. If I start teaching an IB class, this project may be a good idea for a year-long project. I especially liked a student blog, connected to Darren Kuropatwa’s blog that was a peer tutoring aid, explaining different concepts discussed in the class. I like the idea of students helping each other, especially using technology (Freeman 2006). This student uses fun examples in the blog and explains how different concepts fit together and work off each other.
After reading all this material about technology that can be used in the classroom, I have found many similarities in the time it takes to implement the strategies. All the different strategies have very good intentions for the students, but I think there is a little too much work for the teacher. For example, if weekly blogging was graded, it would take way too long to grade 150+ students’ blogs, even if they only wrote a single paragraph. If blogging were used occasionally, and maybe mixed with other types of technologies, I think it could be doable. I am excited to try to integrate blogging into at least one of my projects this year and I hope that the students will be able to handle it.
Reference
1. Freedman, Terry. (2006). Coming of age: An introduction to the new world wide web. Great Britain: Terry Freedman Ltd.
