Throughout the year we have had our students use modeling to help see and learn various concepts. During the Earthquake unit the students used their bodies to model the movement of P and S waves as they moved through the Earth. Currently in our space unit the students have had the opportunity to do quite a bit of modeling. The planets and stars are fascinating topics, but we can’t bring them into our classrooms and we can’t see them moving enough in one day to for it to be effective for a lesson. We can, however, model the movements of the planets and stars. That is what we have been working on for the past few lessons. After a brief intro reviewing the movements of the Earth and moon through space we gave the students these two task cards: task card 1 and task card 2. The students then worked in their groups to come up with a way to model the answers to the task card questions. Each groups needed to model the answer for me in order to get credit for the activity. I know I enjoyed the activity and I believe the students enjoyed it also. The modeling required students to apply higher level learning in understanding, applying, and then creating the modeling scenario. Students had some props to work with but I highly encouraged them to get out of their seats and use their bodies as the models. Several groups took me up on that offer. The questions on the task cards required some deeper thought than just how the moon and Earth move in relation to each other. Especially task card one which asked if the same side of the moon always face the Earth, does the moon rotate on it’s axis. Towards the end of class I asked each student to write and draw what they learned that day during the modeling activity on a sheet of paper and turn it in for me to look at. I believe a lesson like this is so much better than a simple lecture or video. This got the students up and moving. It got them working on answering questions rather than simply listening and taking notes.
Long Term Projects May 2, 2010
Our science students were assigned long term science experiments around mid February. This year the projects had to be science experiments, not just science projects as in the past. This was decided due to the requirements of students to know and identify experimental components on the MSP.
This week has been presentations of those experiments. Those who were on top of things and prepared volunteered to present early in the week. Those less prepared tried to put their presentations off till later in the week. This has led to a distinct downward trend in presentation quality. We have had several well done projects including a home made calorimeter and the effectiveness of different types of detergents on stains.
Many students are learning that theses were more than just assignments that were due in 2 months. After the presentations are finished this week I think it will be a god opportunity to look back on their progress reports and allow the students to evaluate how honest they were on the progress reports. In addition I think it will be a good opportunity to reinforce the idea that the projects are not only about science but about personal responsibility and accountability. In most cases the quality of the experiments were directly proportional to the amount of effort put into them. As these eighth graders go to high school next year they should be held to higher and higher standards in regards to quality of work and responsibility. For many it could be a rude awakening. I have seen some of the students change and mature over the course of the year while others have changed little. It makes me feel good to see those who have matured while I worry a little for those who have made little progress in their maturity and responsibility.
Power of the Poster April 19, 2010
Never underestimate the power of a poster. I have come to be a fan of the constructivist method of instruction. I like the idea of students doing activities that allow them to discover the learning objectives on their own. With science, like many other subjects, there are times when students simply need to memorize. Parts of the cell in biology, important dates in history, and in my case features of volcanoes. In this case we decided to have the students make posters of volcanoes with a given list of vocabulary words. We gave the students free reign of any materials in the classroom from which to get their information and set them free. The students were free to design and draw the poster however they wanted as long as they had the required information. It was great to see and hear the amount of work and discussion the groups engaged in. I don’t think the students would have been that engaged and active had the material been delivered through lecture or readings. Giving the students the control of how to gather and display their information I think gave them more of a stake in their work and learning.
Teaching ELL: Teaching Strategies April 15, 2010
Chapters 4, 5, and 6 in the Curtin book dealt with teaching strategies for ELL students. An important aspect of the strategies covered is that the variety of strategies suggested are no different than those recommended in well run classrooms without ELL students. Visual aids, demonstrations, graphic organizers, interactive and cooperative learning, are all strategies and tools that should be present in every successful classroom. I have been trying to integrate as many of these strategies and tools into my classroom as possible. In both science and math the students spend a majority of their time engaged in cooperative group work. I feel like it has been successful for the most part. With the exception of a couple of students, the levels of student discussion on topic has been good. A recent activity had the students acting out the motions of the Earth-moon-Sun system with certain questions in mind. It was great to hear students planning their demonstrations and to hear some “ohhhs” when someone saw something they didn’t before.
The reading provided some useful resources that I think could help me in the future. The planning chart on pages 74-75 (Curtin 2009) provides a good outline to think about. Often time my plans are simply written out in a way that I think may work. The book says I should expect to plan 2-3 times the amount of time the lesson will take. (Curtin 2009) this is a daunting task. In this case I am glad to be a middle school teacher with only 2 subjects to plan for. I know I need to work on my planning. I have learned that just understanding the content I am trying to teach doesn’t automatically allow me to make my students understand it. I am really trying to work on guiding the students to understanding rather than simply telling them the information, which is not learning at all.
I think the concept of learning English by learning subject content is an excellent one. For myself, and perhaps anyone who has tried to learn some of a language for a foreign trip, sitting at home and trying to memorize vocabulary and random sentences doesn’t really work. The words and phrases that are learned without context have only so much use. ELL students learning the language in pull out classes don’t develop the scientific or mathematical vocabulary needed to be successful in normal classrooms. So even when they reach a point where their language skills are good, they are starting for behind other students in scientific or mathematical knowledge and skills.
As for my teaching, I am luck to have an ELL co-teacher in my math class for support. We try to use several of the strategies covered in the the Curtin book. Lots of group work with think-pair-shares and mini jig-sawing. We have gotten them up on several occasions to act out graphs or geometric shapes. I try to read directions or introductions aloud as students follow along and I try to keep the word wall up to date. Even with our efforts, some of the ELL students are having trouble keeping up. We have to keep the pace of the class up because we have many high level students also. This is an issue in many classes and not just with ELL students and one I have a lot more to learn about.
Curtin, Ellen M. (2009) Practical Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
Reflection for week of Oct 5th-9th Teacher observations October 17, 2009
As of now I have been able to observe several different teachers. These teachers were recommended by my mentor teacher as good people to observe. Sixth and seventh grade science teachers, an 8th grade math teacher, 6th and 7th grade history teachers, and an 8th grade language arts teacher. I will just talk about some highlights of each teachers classroom.
The first science teacher I observed was Ms. Levine’s sixth grade science. This was very early in the year, I believe in the first week. Her lesson was focused on following directions, visualizing, and brainstorming. The day before, the students had started the lesson with some measuring and then a drawing of what they thought a scientist looked like. On the day i was observing they talked about their drawings and what they thought scientists looked like. This task was meant to help students understand that scientists aren’t just old white guys in lab coats, but that anyone could be a scientist if they wanted to. It was good to hear the students thoughts about what a scientist looks like and see their stereotypes. It was also good to see that several students were already thinking outside of the stereotype. This was followed by the direction following, brainstorming, and visualizing activity in which the students had to make a border for their picture with two loops of paper and making only two cuts. Ms. Levine led the students through the activity and solicited input from the students on how to proceed at different times. I thought this was a fun activity in which the students got to be creative, and active, and had to use some visualizing to try to see what an action would do before they took that action.
The second science teacher was Mrs. Mosco. She also teaches 6th grade science. Her activity on that day was focused on careful observations and detailed drawings. The students were split into groups of 2 or three and each group was given a leaf from a tree. Their task was to draw and describe their leaf in as much detail as possible. After they were finished with their descriptions, the leaves were collected and the descriptions and drawing were shuffled around to different groups. The groups had to then try to identify the leaves using the drawing and descriptions of other groups. This was a good exercise in being detailed with observations. If a group couldn’t identify which leaf another group was trying to describe then their observations aren’t good enough for scientific research. Scientific observations are meant to allow scientists and lay-persons alike to understand the research they are attached to.
Mr. Ohashi is a math teacher and is highly regarded by everyone. My observation of his class was a study in organization. His handouts were beautiful and perfect. His quiz was neat and efficient with an activity included for students who finished early. His lesson was well organized and he made sure as many students were included as possible. In his 9th year he seems to have his system down pretty good.
Mrs. Aleverti is a history teacher. Her lesson that day was a continuation of a lesson on early man started earlier in the week. The students used clue cards with facts about different time periods and readings in their texts to connect the different varieties of early man to their time period and identifying characteristics. This activity had the students working in groups so they could cooperate and share their ideas of which species of man belonged to which time.
Mrs. Clark’s 8th grade Language arts class was working on identifying and recognizing characteristics of literary works. The first half hour was the teacher reading aloud with pauses for questions regarding setting, character traits, character interactions, and inferences about possible story directions. Most students stayed attentive during the reading, with a few squirmy ones in the back of the group. Who doesn’t like being read to. The book they were reading was “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, a story I found engaging when I read it in high school. For the second half of the class students went back to their desks to read their individual books looking for the same things they were discussing in the first half of class.
Mr. Miller 7th grade history.
Class started with a discussion of the previous days readings about a historic Chinese ruler. The class began with the students sorting themselves in a continuum based on whether or not they thought the ruler was a good ruler or a bad ruler. The students then discussed their reasoning as to why they are where they are in the continuum. This was a great activity for getting students standing and helped with keeping them focused. It also allowed students to voice their ideas and show what they learned about the ruler and his deeds. For the second part of the class the students were assigned a reading and the task of creating a journal as if they were Marco Polo traveling east through Asia. They were then assigned the task of creating a travel brochure to teach others about what they saw on the journey.
I like creative lessons like these. When the students do creative projects they learn without really thinking about it. It is almost like tricking them into learning and hopefully they have some fun along the way. Students are also constantly looking for excuses to get out of their seat so activities like these that get them out of their seats and learn at the same time can be a win-win situation.
A common theme in most classes was the use of group work. Students were able to talk to their partners and work together to complete a task. We use a lot of group work in our classroom so the students are able to help each other and share knowledge.
