Voice Thread - The Boredum Flood (week 5)

Well here it goes. Something new for an old dog to learn. It seems interesting and could be fun to explore. But still not fully comfortable.

My "problem" or situation this year is "boredum". The blank stare and faces of disinterest feels like a flood surging at me from the back of the room as I try to engage, entertain and educate.

http://voicethread.com/share/661737/

Science is All About the Hypothesis (week 4)

I am a project –based teacher. I consider reading a chapter in a text book to be part of the scientific method, Step 2: Collect Information / Do Research. I start with reading a textbook then quickly move to the internet then return to my paper or laptop to start creating my project. I do not find simply answering questions on a worksheet to be challenging or truly educational. This is probably why science is my favorite subject. We are always testing a problem or question. We are not trying to answer twenty questions at once, we are working on one theory, then another, and then one more until we find the solution we are looking for or proof the hypothesis is invalid.

To me science to mostly constructivist and very cognitive, we have to create, design and build each experiment from scratch. Yet even when repeating another scientists experiment, we have to work from a how to list and still construct the experiment, model, or project through our eyes and interpretation. At the beginning of each school year, I spend a solid two weeks on the scientific method and another two weeks on scientific measurement. Then throughout the school year, we use the scientific method to work though different concepts, theories and lessons.

The method by which I teach is to help guide students to eventually do it on their own. We start with templates and step by step instructions. By the middle of the second quarter students are only provided a template and general outlines of the experiment. By the second semester, students are let freer to create and design their own experiments with general parameters. I have them check in with me and I may help with shape their focus or limit their scope but I rarely change their mind or hypothesis, even if they are going to fail for that I know the hypothesis is invalid. I want them to problem solve for themselves. I want them to think it through.

Organizing Thoughts & Ideas (week 3)

I am usually a very organized and “on top of it” person. Thing are marked, labeled and assigned a home. When things are “out of place”, it eeks me to the point that I have to stop and put things back. The only place allowed to be slightly cluttered is my desk. But that clutter only lasts for a short time, such as 3 days. By each Friday, my desk is cleaned, cleared and organized. It is just how my mind works. Even when the physical labels are not on the drawer or cabinet, as my best friend puts it, there are mental labels in my mind. I teach this way too. Organization is a very big part of my teaching as well as a part of science.

I frequently use concept mapping and mind maps to help my kids sort out the cluster of ideas that they have compiled from a unit, chapter or conversation. Cognitively I feel that mind maps help students with logical order and categorizing their thoughts. Similarly to how we teach them to use their binder and planners to track work, organize papers and keep track of their assignments. With today’s technology, my team is striving to use OneNote and Inspiration to help teach our students how to organize their notes and sort ideas.
OneNote works similar to a 3-Ring binder but allows for not only the obvious use of computer but also make it easy to insert new notes or reorganize the points. With traditional paper notes, when you want to add something new or expand an idea you need to have allocated space in advance. With OneNote, you can just pop up to the space your old notes are and simply add the additional thoughts. When you need to “reorder” or sort though random ideas, it is a simple click and drag to the right location. Another added bonus is that OneNote also instantly saves their work, like a classic notebook once you write it down it is there.

The program Inspiration is one of my favorite technology mind map programs. Although I do use Smart Notebook to provide my students with predesigned graphic organizers and other mind maps, I often instruct them to use Inspiration to create their own from scratch. All too often my students are familiar with the most common bubble maps, vinn diagrams and pro-con charts. What they are still learning to do it start with a simple concept, thought or idea and build a concept map from scratch. I think cognitively they could do it if they could let go of their concern for “doing it wrong”. I am working on this.

To Homework or Not to Be - that is the question. (week 2)

It is a hard call – to assign homework or not to assign homework. Very seldom do students say “thank you” for assigning homework. Most student’s grimace when they hear the mention of homework. But I truly think that when they are successful on a test or a project that their homework help build the foundation, that they are quietly thankful for the assignments. Just last week, over 85% of my students failed to pass their first vocabulary quiz of the year. Even with an extra week of time to study and hints to make sure to learn the words, there was very little success. In year’s past, I would typically provide students with nightly homework based on that week’s vocabulary words. In those years, I would see much better results on their weekly quiz as well as unit tests. As the kids funneled out the class, I heard plenty grumbling about how they needed to study more.

When I was a student, teacher assigned daily homework that would take an hour or more each night. I typically do not assign that much but I believe my 15 to 30 minutes a night of vocabulary review truly makes a difference. Most 7th and 8th graders are not naturally inclined to say “Hey, I ought study my vocabulary tonight rather than play a video game or watch TV.”