1) We are approaching the winter solstice (for the northern hemisphere). Perfect timing in light of the Energy/Insolation exam that my students will be taking tomorrow. We completed a higher-than-average number of hands-on lab activities during this unit, and we used a lot of "old school technologies": heat lamps, ring stands, thermometers, insulated cups, protractors, etc. All students seemed to understand the concepts. It will be interesting to see how that translates on the test. I also set up a practice test on-line at www.castlelearning.com. It consists of 33 practice questsions that deal with energy/insolation from past Regents exams. I brought six students to the library during 5th block to work on the assignment. In general, they seemed frustrated at first, but then after realizing that a) the questions were just reworkings of activities/concepts that they confronted in lab, and b) they have two chances to answer each question, I observed increased confidence and the students flowed through the assignment.
2. The ESF class and the Earth Science classes all worked on poster projects to present information from their textbooks this week. Some students used powerpoint to present the information. The results were pretty good. I discussed this activity with some other teachers. We generally agreed that it a) requires students to think more about the content when they will have to present it to the class and b) helps the students to hear information from other students and get a break from the teacher talking. I required that students take notes during their classmates' presentations to ensure that everyone was getting the most from the experience.
3. For future presentations, I will review the rubric the day before the project begins, and again on the day of the poster project. Some students are still just reading from their posters, or just using ideas directly from the book. The objective of the rubric is to show students that they will lose points if they cannot verbally demonstrate that they understand their topic. That means they can discuss the concepts without looking at what they wrote on their poster. I really need them to understand my expectation that they take 'ownership' of the information.
The Earth Science students also completed a lab on 'angle of insolation'. The results and the graphs turned out really well. However, the temperatures peaked at about 7 minutes, and then flattened out. I am going to shorten the experiment length from 15 to 7.5 minutes, and have students take temperature readings every 30 seconds (instead of every minute). This should provide a more dramatic illustration of how a 90 degree angle of insolation will heat up more quickly than lower angles (angled away from the sun). I also taped thermometers to a globe to show how the angle decreases as latitude increases. I am going to revisit that model again today and before the exam tomorrow.
4. Some students lit off a few firecrackers in the cafeteria on Thursday (and some copycat students popped a plastic bag on Friday). This is a serious offence, and the students deserved their punishment, however the local media blew the incident way out of proportion. I can't tell you how many people from the greater Syracuse area (and beyond) have contaced me this weekend to ask about the fireworks display that had been detonated in my school.
Well...tis the season. I am looking forward to hanging with family and friends this week. Some friends and I are going to the YMCA on Friday morning for some Christmas Eve hoops. My dad's side of the family got together yesteday, and treated me to a meal 5 times larger and more buttery than what I would typically eat (delicious). Happy holidays everyone!
5. "This is a good school...this school should not be on an improvement list" -- Jim Violla, Joint Intervention Team officer for the New York State Department of Education
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Reflection 7 (12/12/10)
1) We had a monthly meeting at Fowler, where I had my second round of Castlelearning Training. I created an energy/insolation review assignment (33 multiple choice regents questions), and will assign it to students as a review homework assignment on Monday. It will be due by next Tuesday (the day before the test), so that I cannot determine which concepts (if any) should be reviewed before the exam. The classmarker quiz was a double-edged sword. The good news is that the class average was an 85%. The bad news is that less than 50% of students took the quiz despite constant reminders. The snow days may have had something to do with the lack of quiz takers.
ESF students went to the computer lab and created population pyramids (using excel and powerpoint) and emailed me their projects. Students did well with this assignment, and it was good practice for compiling and organizing data for their independent research projects.
2) The hands-on lab activities worked very well for my Earth Science students this week. Students really seemed to grasp the concepts after having hands-on experiences. Students also created graphs using their own data, and made meaningful interpretations of the data when answering the lab questions.
3) Because of the snow days and half day, Block 1 has fallen 2 classes behind Blocks 3 and 4. I will need to establish a class period this week to catch up block 1, and they need to finish graphs from 2 labs. The directions for the ESF lab (population pyramids) were based on microsoft office's word program from 2003. I need to redesign them based on office '07, to match the computers in the computer lab.
4) We had the annual Corcoran Christmas party at Ms. Root's house on Friday. It was fun to hang out with colleagues outside of work. The State Education Department will be conducting a JIT review at Corcoran this week in order to provide suggestions for how our school can be re-designed and improved. I was selected to be interviewed by the reviewers. I look forward to participating in this constructive process, but still find it nerve-racking and discouraging that the general trend seems to be placing "blame" on teachers for all educational problems. Other than that, we have been enjoying the record-setting wintery weather. Syracuse was hammered by more than 3 feet of lake effect snow last week.
5) "I like your sweatshop" - comment from student, taken as a compliment on my sweater
ESF students went to the computer lab and created population pyramids (using excel and powerpoint) and emailed me their projects. Students did well with this assignment, and it was good practice for compiling and organizing data for their independent research projects.
2) The hands-on lab activities worked very well for my Earth Science students this week. Students really seemed to grasp the concepts after having hands-on experiences. Students also created graphs using their own data, and made meaningful interpretations of the data when answering the lab questions.
3) Because of the snow days and half day, Block 1 has fallen 2 classes behind Blocks 3 and 4. I will need to establish a class period this week to catch up block 1, and they need to finish graphs from 2 labs. The directions for the ESF lab (population pyramids) were based on microsoft office's word program from 2003. I need to redesign them based on office '07, to match the computers in the computer lab.
4) We had the annual Corcoran Christmas party at Ms. Root's house on Friday. It was fun to hang out with colleagues outside of work. The State Education Department will be conducting a JIT review at Corcoran this week in order to provide suggestions for how our school can be re-designed and improved. I was selected to be interviewed by the reviewers. I look forward to participating in this constructive process, but still find it nerve-racking and discouraging that the general trend seems to be placing "blame" on teachers for all educational problems. Other than that, we have been enjoying the record-setting wintery weather. Syracuse was hammered by more than 3 feet of lake effect snow last week.
5) "I like your sweatshop" - comment from student, taken as a compliment on my sweater
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Reflection 6 (12/05/10)
1) I brought all three Earth Science classes to the computer lab this week. Each student created a Gmail account and emailed me their answer to the question of the day (5 things that can happen to electromagnetic energy: absorbed, scattered, reflected, transmitted, refracted). The procedures for creating a Gmail account have changed a little since I made the instructions. I need to edit the instructions for next year.
After creating email accounts, I had all students 'friend' me on facebook (or create facebook accounts). Students were then given their login names for classmarker, and shown how to login and view the vocab for the quiz via my facebook page. Students have until next Wednesday to take the quiz as an open notes quiz. So far, 3 students have taken the quiz (all 3 received 100's). I will update you on the status of the quiz in my next reflection.
Finally, students collected annual climate data and latitude for 12 different cities (www.wunderground.com).
The ESF students also went to the library this week and worked on a moduel dealing with world population data (www.geographyiq.com). It was a very effective activity for providing students with some experience dealing with extensive on-line data. It should prove useful for the students' research projects.
2. Students seemed to really enjoy working with the computers, and also the hands-on conduction lab. All students present successfully completed the conduction lab with an 85 or higher (including the higher level thinking questions that required them to interpret the graphs of their temperature data).
3. Earth Science students worked on a conduction lab. Students had to take temperature readings every 1 minute. I wanted the class to be on the same schedule, so I used a timer and told the students when it was time to take readings. A passing teacher suggested that I place the stopwatch under the document camera and allow students to take readings independently. I am going to use this method again for the radiation and angle of insolation labs next week.
Also, students did not have time to construct the graph illustrating the relationship between climate and latitude (www.wunderground.com). Students will revisit the graphing portion of that virtual lab on Monday. Extending that lab into a second class period may help to reinforce the content for the students (i.e. re-teaching).
Two of my Earth Science classes took the Meteorology exam the day that we returned from Thanksgiving. The class that took the test the day before Thanksgiving scored an average of 8 points higher on the exam. I will do everything in my power to schedule exams before 'breaks' in the future. This may require me to shuffle some labs around.
4. My oldest son, Evan, is loving the snow (pronounced "no"). We are getting ready to go out and get a Christmas tree right now. 'Tis the season. Marty is starting to sleep through the night, and he seems to almost always be in a good mood. It makes my job as a Dad pretty easy - and provides me with more times to work on projects around the house and focus on my lesson plans.
Evaluators from NYS are coming in next week to review our school and provide suggestions for improvement. I think in general, teachers are feeling like there is a lot of accountability (and even blame) for all of the school's shortfalls. I have heard only very minimal discussion of the role of communities, families, and students in taking some responsibility for the educational process. Teachers cannot do it ALL.
5. "Oh, I didn't know it was going to conduct like that" -student responding in surprise to the hot temperature of the aluminum bar between the hot and cold cup.
After creating email accounts, I had all students 'friend' me on facebook (or create facebook accounts). Students were then given their login names for classmarker, and shown how to login and view the vocab for the quiz via my facebook page. Students have until next Wednesday to take the quiz as an open notes quiz. So far, 3 students have taken the quiz (all 3 received 100's). I will update you on the status of the quiz in my next reflection.
Finally, students collected annual climate data and latitude for 12 different cities (www.wunderground.com).
The ESF students also went to the library this week and worked on a moduel dealing with world population data (www.geographyiq.com). It was a very effective activity for providing students with some experience dealing with extensive on-line data. It should prove useful for the students' research projects.
2. Students seemed to really enjoy working with the computers, and also the hands-on conduction lab. All students present successfully completed the conduction lab with an 85 or higher (including the higher level thinking questions that required them to interpret the graphs of their temperature data).
3. Earth Science students worked on a conduction lab. Students had to take temperature readings every 1 minute. I wanted the class to be on the same schedule, so I used a timer and told the students when it was time to take readings. A passing teacher suggested that I place the stopwatch under the document camera and allow students to take readings independently. I am going to use this method again for the radiation and angle of insolation labs next week.
Also, students did not have time to construct the graph illustrating the relationship between climate and latitude (www.wunderground.com). Students will revisit the graphing portion of that virtual lab on Monday. Extending that lab into a second class period may help to reinforce the content for the students (i.e. re-teaching).
Two of my Earth Science classes took the Meteorology exam the day that we returned from Thanksgiving. The class that took the test the day before Thanksgiving scored an average of 8 points higher on the exam. I will do everything in my power to schedule exams before 'breaks' in the future. This may require me to shuffle some labs around.
4. My oldest son, Evan, is loving the snow (pronounced "no"). We are getting ready to go out and get a Christmas tree right now. 'Tis the season. Marty is starting to sleep through the night, and he seems to almost always be in a good mood. It makes my job as a Dad pretty easy - and provides me with more times to work on projects around the house and focus on my lesson plans.
Evaluators from NYS are coming in next week to review our school and provide suggestions for improvement. I think in general, teachers are feeling like there is a lot of accountability (and even blame) for all of the school's shortfalls. I have heard only very minimal discussion of the role of communities, families, and students in taking some responsibility for the educational process. Teachers cannot do it ALL.
5. "Oh, I didn't know it was going to conduct like that" -student responding in surprise to the hot temperature of the aluminum bar between the hot and cold cup.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Reflection 5 (11/22/10)
1) I used the LCD projector to show some clips from Rick Beal's lectures at ESF about Hunters/Gatherers. I think that if I prepare notes and present them, it is usually more effective. I think that the students respond better to live powerpoint notes, than to a video lecture. Still, I think that it is useful for students to experience some college-style lecturing. Earth Science students watched a video clip of a quick experiment involving compressed and exanding air. They use their own breath to illustrated how expanding air has a cooling effect, while compressing air has a warming effect. This was used to illustrate the principle of adiabatic cooling/warming. Students also viewed a map of the Cascade mountains between Seattle and Spokane, WA, and it was used to complete a lab illustrating the orographic effect. Also, my demo that uses high pressure to levitate a ping-pong ball was big hit with students.
I turned in my "individual growth plan" today, and made specific reference to this reflective blog. Hopefully some people check it out. I also met with the ARRA EET coordinators. They were very encouraging, and suggested that I had students read and comment on this blog as a way to introduce them to reflective practices. I am going to get that going ASAP so that students will be able to look back and gauge their growth as learners. Also, I am going to use Classmarker as a vocab quiz during the energy unit. Students will have 1 week to complete the quiz. I think that it should work pretty well. It will essentially be an open-book quiz, but I think that it will be a good way to ensure that ALL students work with the vocabulary terms. I will also use test scores to evaluate if there was a measurable difference in learning. I plan on also using classmarker as review later in the year.
2) The Earth Science students are really getting the meteorology unit. My co-teacher gave me the idea to develop a worksheet with a blown-up version of the temperature and pressure conversion charts from the Earth Science reference tables. I expanded the images, and had students number each individual line. This really helped students to understand the scales. The students are understanding the big ideas of air masses and high vs. low pressure. I am excited to see how they do on the unit exam. They were also successfull with the hurricane lab (latitude/longituded re-teach), and the graphing lab with mountains vs. precipitation. I also used ten laminated sheets of practice regents questions as review for the exam. The ESF students created their planets, and are experimenting with the concept of ecological imperialism. I think they are really enjoying it, and will enjoy the reading assignment by Crosby.
3) I feel that the classwork assignments and class readings may have been mis-staggered for the ESF class this week. I feel like I would teach the concepts, and then the students would read the content. I will reverse that sequence in the future. I think it is better when students read content as an intro, and then elaborate upon it in class. The Earth Science students reworded regents questions as an instructional structure. Then students came up to the front of the room and shared their re-worded questions with the class (projected using the document camera). Two students became involved in a confrontation while transitioning between presentations. In the future I will project answers from the document camera and have students share from their seats in order to avoid such a transition.
4) We became members of the MoST (museum of science and technology) this weekend. I cannot tell you how cool this place is, and how worth it it is to become a member. I cannot wait to go again. Over winter break, it is my goal to write a lesson that accompanies a field trip to the MoST. I would like to bring my top 20 Earth Science students as a reward. Marty is finally sleeping (only waking up twice a night). Maybe I can now start staying awake past 8:00PM on a regular basis. Syracuse basketball is undefeated, but they have had some close calls. Hopefully they can pull it together before the bulk of the season gets underway. I broke out the telescope to check out the moon this week. I couldn't believe the resolution of the craters. Also, I was able to distinguish atmopsheric banding on Jupiter. I also discovered that I have Google Sky on my school computer, and cannot wait to use it during my Astronomy unit.
5) "We have medicine for depression" - ESF student during a hotseat debate on the merits of hunter-gatherer society vs. modern civilization.
I turned in my "individual growth plan" today, and made specific reference to this reflective blog. Hopefully some people check it out. I also met with the ARRA EET coordinators. They were very encouraging, and suggested that I had students read and comment on this blog as a way to introduce them to reflective practices. I am going to get that going ASAP so that students will be able to look back and gauge their growth as learners. Also, I am going to use Classmarker as a vocab quiz during the energy unit. Students will have 1 week to complete the quiz. I think that it should work pretty well. It will essentially be an open-book quiz, but I think that it will be a good way to ensure that ALL students work with the vocabulary terms. I will also use test scores to evaluate if there was a measurable difference in learning. I plan on also using classmarker as review later in the year.
2) The Earth Science students are really getting the meteorology unit. My co-teacher gave me the idea to develop a worksheet with a blown-up version of the temperature and pressure conversion charts from the Earth Science reference tables. I expanded the images, and had students number each individual line. This really helped students to understand the scales. The students are understanding the big ideas of air masses and high vs. low pressure. I am excited to see how they do on the unit exam. They were also successfull with the hurricane lab (latitude/longituded re-teach), and the graphing lab with mountains vs. precipitation. I also used ten laminated sheets of practice regents questions as review for the exam. The ESF students created their planets, and are experimenting with the concept of ecological imperialism. I think they are really enjoying it, and will enjoy the reading assignment by Crosby.
3) I feel that the classwork assignments and class readings may have been mis-staggered for the ESF class this week. I feel like I would teach the concepts, and then the students would read the content. I will reverse that sequence in the future. I think it is better when students read content as an intro, and then elaborate upon it in class. The Earth Science students reworded regents questions as an instructional structure. Then students came up to the front of the room and shared their re-worded questions with the class (projected using the document camera). Two students became involved in a confrontation while transitioning between presentations. In the future I will project answers from the document camera and have students share from their seats in order to avoid such a transition.
4) We became members of the MoST (museum of science and technology) this weekend. I cannot tell you how cool this place is, and how worth it it is to become a member. I cannot wait to go again. Over winter break, it is my goal to write a lesson that accompanies a field trip to the MoST. I would like to bring my top 20 Earth Science students as a reward. Marty is finally sleeping (only waking up twice a night). Maybe I can now start staying awake past 8:00PM on a regular basis. Syracuse basketball is undefeated, but they have had some close calls. Hopefully they can pull it together before the bulk of the season gets underway. I broke out the telescope to check out the moon this week. I couldn't believe the resolution of the craters. Also, I was able to distinguish atmopsheric banding on Jupiter. I also discovered that I have Google Sky on my school computer, and cannot wait to use it during my Astronomy unit.
5) "We have medicine for depression" - ESF student during a hotseat debate on the merits of hunter-gatherer society vs. modern civilization.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Reflection 4 (11/14/10)
1) This week, Earth Science students completed a lab that involved weather maps, and drawing isotherms and isobars on the maps. The document camera was an invaluable tool for me to demonstrate for students as guided practice. After grading the lab, I am happy with the work that my students were able to complete as individual practice. I think the examples (and my thought process) that I projected with the document camera gave my students the understanding and the confidence that they needed to complete the lab successfully. I also introduced the concept of weather station models with the document camera, and have been projecting regents questions as DINS (I want to do this for at least 50% of my DINS for the rest of the year).
2) The ESF students did very well on the MP1 exam. It was a 10 question essay-style test that incorporated all the concepts that we have studied so far this year. The class average on the exam was 78%. Earth Science students are understanding isolines, and did well on the meterology VOCAB quiz. They can also use psychrometer data to fine Dew point and relative humidity.
3) I am finding that students are having great difficulty decoding regents questions. They can usually read the words fine, but have no idea what the question is asking them. For example, I wanted students to answer the following question: "Describe two actions that can be taken to prepare for a forecasted severe snow event". Every student would have answered this correctly if it had said "what can you do to get ready for a coming snow storm". This should have been a gimme question, but it wasn't. Some students did not know what the word "severe " meant". I told my students that on exams they can ask me the meaning of adjectives, and I can tell them what it means. I am just not allowed to define any science vocab for them. As a class structure, I am going to pair students by ability to decode regents questions like this. One student will reword the question in his/her own words, and then the partner will try to answer it. This should increase confidence and ability of all students to correctly answer regents question. I am going to strongly focus on 'decoding' practice. My students understand the science that I teach them, I need to make sure that they can apply and demonstrated this knowledge with the framework of a standardized test.
4) Very unseasonably warm weather today. We are bringing Evan to the zoo, which I think he is really going to enjoy. We are going to become members of the zoo and the Museum of Science and Technology. The MoST is an asset for the Syracuse community, and I am happy to support them as a member. Syracuse football beat Rutgers and have secured a bowl game (nice surprise). Also, played basketball yesterday at Onondaga Park with some Corcoran students. My game is not in very good shape, but it feels good to take advantage of this weather while it lasts. Strong winds today, probably some approaching precipitation.
5) I have an Earth Science students (we will call him QP). On Tuesday he showed up wearing thick black-frame eye glasses. He was engaged for the entire class period, and successfully completed the assignment. On Wednesday, he came to class without the glasses, did not complete the assignment, put his head down, and did not participate in class at all. I told him it is the "Tale of two QPs", and asked that he please wear his glasses to class from now on.
2) The ESF students did very well on the MP1 exam. It was a 10 question essay-style test that incorporated all the concepts that we have studied so far this year. The class average on the exam was 78%. Earth Science students are understanding isolines, and did well on the meterology VOCAB quiz. They can also use psychrometer data to fine Dew point and relative humidity.
3) I am finding that students are having great difficulty decoding regents questions. They can usually read the words fine, but have no idea what the question is asking them. For example, I wanted students to answer the following question: "Describe two actions that can be taken to prepare for a forecasted severe snow event". Every student would have answered this correctly if it had said "what can you do to get ready for a coming snow storm". This should have been a gimme question, but it wasn't. Some students did not know what the word "severe " meant". I told my students that on exams they can ask me the meaning of adjectives, and I can tell them what it means. I am just not allowed to define any science vocab for them. As a class structure, I am going to pair students by ability to decode regents questions like this. One student will reword the question in his/her own words, and then the partner will try to answer it. This should increase confidence and ability of all students to correctly answer regents question. I am going to strongly focus on 'decoding' practice. My students understand the science that I teach them, I need to make sure that they can apply and demonstrated this knowledge with the framework of a standardized test.
4) Very unseasonably warm weather today. We are bringing Evan to the zoo, which I think he is really going to enjoy. We are going to become members of the zoo and the Museum of Science and Technology. The MoST is an asset for the Syracuse community, and I am happy to support them as a member. Syracuse football beat Rutgers and have secured a bowl game (nice surprise). Also, played basketball yesterday at Onondaga Park with some Corcoran students. My game is not in very good shape, but it feels good to take advantage of this weather while it lasts. Strong winds today, probably some approaching precipitation.
5) I have an Earth Science students (we will call him QP). On Tuesday he showed up wearing thick black-frame eye glasses. He was engaged for the entire class period, and successfully completed the assignment. On Wednesday, he came to class without the glasses, did not complete the assignment, put his head down, and did not participate in class at all. I told him it is the "Tale of two QPs", and asked that he please wear his glasses to class from now on.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Reflection 3 (11/8/10)
1) The technology group met together this week for training in "collaborative coaching and learning". We decided that we would observe and critique each others' technology lessons here at Corcoran rather than travelling to other schools to observe other science teachers. We think that it will be easier for us to collaborate with each other at Corcoran, and also that it could help to facilitate the creation of interdisciplinary lessons.
2) The ESF students have been working on their continents. They added biomes, and designed a new intelligent species. I think that these activities really helped my students process the information from the biomes and evolution readings. I am going to use the Create a Continent assignment with my Earth Science students to teach the global heat engine in the context of meteorology. Earth Science students have already learned about air masses. I set up 4 corners in the room, and passed out cards with the names of various air masses, and had students go their respective regions of origin. They seemed to enjoy the activity. The also enjoyed the cloud in a bottle demonstration.
3) I put together a couple pages of recent meteorology regents questions, and had students read through and work on them. They did not do as well as I was hoping. It seems that the vast majority of students understand the concepts, and can read the passages just fine. However, they often misunderstand what the questions are asking them. I am going to spend a large portion of the remaining time this year teaching how to decode the questions and follow "regents-style directions" to understand what is being asked. We have talked about how the exam gives TMI, and will push strategies such as process of elimination.
4) Two of my former students have suffered gunshot wounds this week. This concerns me deeply. I know that both of these young men are good-natured, friendly, peaceful people. They DID NOT deserve to get shot. Thankfully, both are recovering. However, there is a current trend right now for very young children to commit senseless gun crimes. As a society, a community, and as a collection of families, we need to develop means of addressing this dire situation. There needs to be a cultural shift away from violence. The schools are part of the solution, but not the entire equation. Schools should build stronger partnerships with parents/guardians and the community at large. If we work together, we can be a powerful and positive influence on our young people. However, I am calling out the families. You need to take action. You need to be proactive. You need to be involved. Then I can do my part, and together we can ensure that our children succeed.
5) "You can be any age and talk about Spongebob, Spongebob a classic"
"You are too good to be a high school teacher, you should be a college professor"
P.S. I am still getting used to the strange form of grammar that many of my students use on facebook. I am debating whether or not I should correct them or ask them to write in complete sentences.
2) The ESF students have been working on their continents. They added biomes, and designed a new intelligent species. I think that these activities really helped my students process the information from the biomes and evolution readings. I am going to use the Create a Continent assignment with my Earth Science students to teach the global heat engine in the context of meteorology. Earth Science students have already learned about air masses. I set up 4 corners in the room, and passed out cards with the names of various air masses, and had students go their respective regions of origin. They seemed to enjoy the activity. The also enjoyed the cloud in a bottle demonstration.
3) I put together a couple pages of recent meteorology regents questions, and had students read through and work on them. They did not do as well as I was hoping. It seems that the vast majority of students understand the concepts, and can read the passages just fine. However, they often misunderstand what the questions are asking them. I am going to spend a large portion of the remaining time this year teaching how to decode the questions and follow "regents-style directions" to understand what is being asked. We have talked about how the exam gives TMI, and will push strategies such as process of elimination.
4) Two of my former students have suffered gunshot wounds this week. This concerns me deeply. I know that both of these young men are good-natured, friendly, peaceful people. They DID NOT deserve to get shot. Thankfully, both are recovering. However, there is a current trend right now for very young children to commit senseless gun crimes. As a society, a community, and as a collection of families, we need to develop means of addressing this dire situation. There needs to be a cultural shift away from violence. The schools are part of the solution, but not the entire equation. Schools should build stronger partnerships with parents/guardians and the community at large. If we work together, we can be a powerful and positive influence on our young people. However, I am calling out the families. You need to take action. You need to be proactive. You need to be involved. Then I can do my part, and together we can ensure that our children succeed.
5) "You can be any age and talk about Spongebob, Spongebob a classic"
"You are too good to be a high school teacher, you should be a college professor"
P.S. I am still getting used to the strange form of grammar that many of my students use on facebook. I am debating whether or not I should correct them or ask them to write in complete sentences.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Reflection 2 (10/31/10)
1) Youtube upgraded its requirements this weekend. Now you need the latest version of firefox to view videos. I tend to supplement my lessons with videos. You can find a lot of great demos, and other ways of enriching your content with videos. I placed a helpdesk ticket, and IT installed Adobe Shockwave, and the latest version of Flashplayer. So I now have access to videos again (and probably Prezi as well). I want to try out som Prezis as soon as I can. If you have never heard of Prezi, google it.
We started our unit on weather this week. I used the document camera to project an image of a household sponge. As a class, students discussed how much water they thought the sponge could hold before leaking out the sides. After the discussion died down, I slowly poured water from a graduated cylinder. It turned out that the sponge could hold approximately 50 mL of water. I then framed the demonstration in the context of relative humidity and saturation. We had used the sponge as metaphor for the air and the amount of water vapor that the air can hold. This activity was definitely influenced by the Suchman model that we learned about during the inquiry lesson at the MOST.
2) Students did relatively well on the mapping/density exam. I think that I need to revisit isolines (which we will during the meteorology unit), and also contour intervals (I am going to re-teach these, and include them again on the next exam.
3) I am going to start focusing on using formative assessment during my lessons. This is basically using informal methods of checking for understanding periodically throughout a lesson. I already use some formative assessment in my lessons. For example, when I transition from the teacher-guided to the student practice steps in my lessons, I call for all students who still don't understand to meet me at the back table, and I re-teach to these students.
My goal is for some of the formative assessment to become the responsibility of the students. I want them to check themselves for understanding. I am currently working on developing leading questions and group structures that will provide opportunitities for formative assessment, differentiated instruction, and cooperative learning elements. For example, students will be doing poster presentations on various pages from the textbooks (meteorology section) on Tuesday. They will be working in pairs. This will be a new structure for the students, but I want to revisit it consistently throughout the year. I have already implemented this structure with my IB class.
4) Today is Halloween. Laura made chilli, and we are gearing up to hand out some serious quantities of sugar this evening. I am excited to see Evan's response to the costumes/mayhem that are associated with this holiday. He will be dressing up and growling like a lion. Marty will be a dinosaur, back from extinction.
5) Quote with no context: "I'm not black, I'm Bosnian".
We started our unit on weather this week. I used the document camera to project an image of a household sponge. As a class, students discussed how much water they thought the sponge could hold before leaking out the sides. After the discussion died down, I slowly poured water from a graduated cylinder. It turned out that the sponge could hold approximately 50 mL of water. I then framed the demonstration in the context of relative humidity and saturation. We had used the sponge as metaphor for the air and the amount of water vapor that the air can hold. This activity was definitely influenced by the Suchman model that we learned about during the inquiry lesson at the MOST.
2) Students did relatively well on the mapping/density exam. I think that I need to revisit isolines (which we will during the meteorology unit), and also contour intervals (I am going to re-teach these, and include them again on the next exam.
3) I am going to start focusing on using formative assessment during my lessons. This is basically using informal methods of checking for understanding periodically throughout a lesson. I already use some formative assessment in my lessons. For example, when I transition from the teacher-guided to the student practice steps in my lessons, I call for all students who still don't understand to meet me at the back table, and I re-teach to these students.
My goal is for some of the formative assessment to become the responsibility of the students. I want them to check themselves for understanding. I am currently working on developing leading questions and group structures that will provide opportunitities for formative assessment, differentiated instruction, and cooperative learning elements. For example, students will be doing poster presentations on various pages from the textbooks (meteorology section) on Tuesday. They will be working in pairs. This will be a new structure for the students, but I want to revisit it consistently throughout the year. I have already implemented this structure with my IB class.
4) Today is Halloween. Laura made chilli, and we are gearing up to hand out some serious quantities of sugar this evening. I am excited to see Evan's response to the costumes/mayhem that are associated with this holiday. He will be dressing up and growling like a lion. Marty will be a dinosaur, back from extinction.
5) Quote with no context: "I'm not black, I'm Bosnian".
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Reflection 1 (10/22/10)
Note: As the first reflection post of the year, this entry may run longer than typical posts in the future.
1) This year I was fortunate to be selected for participation in a grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Enhancing Education through Technology (ARRA-EET: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Fiscal/Appropriation%20Reports/2009AppropriationsReports/4ARRA.pdf). All of the grant participants met at the Syracuse Teacher Center on Tuesday to update each other about progress in our classrooms. Some of the sixth grade teachers have already set up eportfolios for their students - pretty impressive start. It was helpful for me to see some of the sample student eportfolios. Laurie also pointed out the importance of the reflection piece: "without the reflection component, its not a portfolio, its just a folder". I also began to think about my own students' portfolios. My global environment students will create portfolios, but I also want to create portfolios with at least one of my earth science sections. I also want to be sure that the students include work that they are proud of from other classes (i.e. english, social studies, art).
At the meeting, we were given scanners, digitial cameras, and document cameras. These will be important tools for helping my students to convert their work into digital formats that can be included in their eportfolios. This equipment is in addition to the digital camcorders and remote mouse that we have already received. I look forward to implementing these tools in my classroom.
I inherited GPS units from the Environmental Science Teacher before me. I set up a course outside, and students recorded changes in latitude, longitude, and elevation as they moved through the course. Students also used a map of Corcoran's campus.
2) Earth Science students have been working with topographic maps. Students created cardboard cutouts to represent models of specific topographic maps. I think this activity helped them to better understand the maps, and the students seemed to enjoy creating the models. The vocabulary and mapping quiz was successful. When making the unit test for Earth Science last week, I had an epiphany. The Regents exam is obviously cumulative. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to give 'compartmentalized' tests throughout the school year. Each test that I give from now on will be cumulative (include questions from every topic that has been covered so far). This format will provided a more accurate simulation of the Regents exam, and will help to ensure that my students do not forget content that was covered early in the school year.
The Global Environment students have been studying the global heat engine (the mechanisms that transfer heat from the equators to the poles. They created imaginary continents, and have mapped out wind directions and humidity in the various regions of their continent. They had a lot of fun doing this, and I will also try this activity with my Earth Science students during the unit on meteorology. The Global Environment are in the proposal phase of their personal science projects. I have seen a lot of good ideas, but some other students are still struggling for inspiration. The director of the MOST (Museum of Science and Technology) visited as a guest speaker on Friday to help motivate students to enter their projects in the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair in March.
The ESF students are using my website on a near daily basis. The pilot study was successful. I now plan to gear up the use of my website with all Earth Science classes.
3) Topographic profiles are side views of land features (kind of like surface versions of geologic cross sections). Some of the Earth Science students are having a hard time converting contour line data (i.e. mapview) into profiles. Some are also still struggling with isolines and calculating gradient. I am going to review these three concepts in depth on Monday in preparation for the upcoming unit test.
I still don't have enough textbooks for all of my Global Environment students. So far I have been able to find meaningful supplemental readings on the web for students to read as homework (I think the reading on El Nino and La Nina was too involved, and I will use a more focused assignment next year). But students have their first presentations next week, and some had to sign out textbooks in order to work at home on their posters/powerpoints. I am looking forward to having a class set of textbooks. A few students unfortunately seem to have lost interest in the course, and will probably be dropping. They are extremely vague when I ask why they have lost interest.
4) On Wednesday, we had a Superintendent's Conference Day. All the science teachers met at the Museum of Science and Technology. We met with the district director of science, saw two planetarium presentations, and learned about really cool free software called Stellarium (www.stellarium.org). Then all the Earth Science Teachers met to discuss our favorite labs. It took some time, but I think the meeting was very productive. We put together a pretty good pile of labs that we will send to the science director. He is going to post them as links on the district website so that we all have digital access to them. Finally, we had a meeting about open inquiry in the science classroom. The meeting was facilitated by a professor from Syracuse University, and I think he will be visiting Corcoran to help us find ways to implement the Suchman method in our classroom. I stayed for a very cool IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope (I would like to read a book about Hubble the Astronomer).
I also sat down for my exchange conference with my administrator. I chose Student Development (diversified instruction) and Reflection (nice!) as my areas of focus. We mainly talked about aligning grades with standardized test performance. He also mentioned that the main finding of our recent site review is that expectations are kept high for IB students, but dropped down for non-IB students. I think that this is a pervasive problem that should be addressed in our school as a priority, and I intend to address this personally in my classroom immediately. I now explicitly keep this notion in my mind while planning lessons.
My family is going to take a tour of the YMCA later today. We are going to become members next week. I really like the downtown building for basketball. But we will probably have to use the facilities in Fayetteville most often because they offer free childcare while your work out.
On a sad note, I took a half day on Tuesday. Laura's Uncle Bill passed away. I really enjoyed spending time with him - he will be missed. Marlyn and Billy are in my thoughts. Bill was buried next to a tombstone in the shape of the Carrier Dome. I think that he would appreciate that.
5. "It is getting Brick outside". "Cedar trees are ideal if you want to break wind".
The grades are really hurting in my fourth block class. A couple students get kicked out frequently; they have a hard time staying focused. But I think they are finally starting to come around. I am going to show them their grades compared to other classes on Monday. Hopefully that will inspire some motivation.
Two students want to design a new kind of mousetrap that will act as a guillotine. I needed to veto the idea for obvious safety reasons. I look forward to sharing other student projects with you in the future.
1) This year I was fortunate to be selected for participation in a grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Enhancing Education through Technology (ARRA-EET: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Fiscal/Appropriation%20Reports/2009AppropriationsReports/4ARRA.pdf). All of the grant participants met at the Syracuse Teacher Center on Tuesday to update each other about progress in our classrooms. Some of the sixth grade teachers have already set up eportfolios for their students - pretty impressive start. It was helpful for me to see some of the sample student eportfolios. Laurie also pointed out the importance of the reflection piece: "without the reflection component, its not a portfolio, its just a folder". I also began to think about my own students' portfolios. My global environment students will create portfolios, but I also want to create portfolios with at least one of my earth science sections. I also want to be sure that the students include work that they are proud of from other classes (i.e. english, social studies, art).
At the meeting, we were given scanners, digitial cameras, and document cameras. These will be important tools for helping my students to convert their work into digital formats that can be included in their eportfolios. This equipment is in addition to the digital camcorders and remote mouse that we have already received. I look forward to implementing these tools in my classroom.
I inherited GPS units from the Environmental Science Teacher before me. I set up a course outside, and students recorded changes in latitude, longitude, and elevation as they moved through the course. Students also used a map of Corcoran's campus.
2) Earth Science students have been working with topographic maps. Students created cardboard cutouts to represent models of specific topographic maps. I think this activity helped them to better understand the maps, and the students seemed to enjoy creating the models. The vocabulary and mapping quiz was successful. When making the unit test for Earth Science last week, I had an epiphany. The Regents exam is obviously cumulative. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to give 'compartmentalized' tests throughout the school year. Each test that I give from now on will be cumulative (include questions from every topic that has been covered so far). This format will provided a more accurate simulation of the Regents exam, and will help to ensure that my students do not forget content that was covered early in the school year.
The Global Environment students have been studying the global heat engine (the mechanisms that transfer heat from the equators to the poles. They created imaginary continents, and have mapped out wind directions and humidity in the various regions of their continent. They had a lot of fun doing this, and I will also try this activity with my Earth Science students during the unit on meteorology. The Global Environment are in the proposal phase of their personal science projects. I have seen a lot of good ideas, but some other students are still struggling for inspiration. The director of the MOST (Museum of Science and Technology) visited as a guest speaker on Friday to help motivate students to enter their projects in the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair in March.
The ESF students are using my website on a near daily basis. The pilot study was successful. I now plan to gear up the use of my website with all Earth Science classes.
3) Topographic profiles are side views of land features (kind of like surface versions of geologic cross sections). Some of the Earth Science students are having a hard time converting contour line data (i.e. mapview) into profiles. Some are also still struggling with isolines and calculating gradient. I am going to review these three concepts in depth on Monday in preparation for the upcoming unit test.
I still don't have enough textbooks for all of my Global Environment students. So far I have been able to find meaningful supplemental readings on the web for students to read as homework (I think the reading on El Nino and La Nina was too involved, and I will use a more focused assignment next year). But students have their first presentations next week, and some had to sign out textbooks in order to work at home on their posters/powerpoints. I am looking forward to having a class set of textbooks. A few students unfortunately seem to have lost interest in the course, and will probably be dropping. They are extremely vague when I ask why they have lost interest.
4) On Wednesday, we had a Superintendent's Conference Day. All the science teachers met at the Museum of Science and Technology. We met with the district director of science, saw two planetarium presentations, and learned about really cool free software called Stellarium (www.stellarium.org). Then all the Earth Science Teachers met to discuss our favorite labs. It took some time, but I think the meeting was very productive. We put together a pretty good pile of labs that we will send to the science director. He is going to post them as links on the district website so that we all have digital access to them. Finally, we had a meeting about open inquiry in the science classroom. The meeting was facilitated by a professor from Syracuse University, and I think he will be visiting Corcoran to help us find ways to implement the Suchman method in our classroom. I stayed for a very cool IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope (I would like to read a book about Hubble the Astronomer).
I also sat down for my exchange conference with my administrator. I chose Student Development (diversified instruction) and Reflection (nice!) as my areas of focus. We mainly talked about aligning grades with standardized test performance. He also mentioned that the main finding of our recent site review is that expectations are kept high for IB students, but dropped down for non-IB students. I think that this is a pervasive problem that should be addressed in our school as a priority, and I intend to address this personally in my classroom immediately. I now explicitly keep this notion in my mind while planning lessons.
My family is going to take a tour of the YMCA later today. We are going to become members next week. I really like the downtown building for basketball. But we will probably have to use the facilities in Fayetteville most often because they offer free childcare while your work out.
On a sad note, I took a half day on Tuesday. Laura's Uncle Bill passed away. I really enjoyed spending time with him - he will be missed. Marlyn and Billy are in my thoughts. Bill was buried next to a tombstone in the shape of the Carrier Dome. I think that he would appreciate that.
5. "It is getting Brick outside". "Cedar trees are ideal if you want to break wind".
The grades are really hurting in my fourth block class. A couple students get kicked out frequently; they have a hard time staying focused. But I think they are finally starting to come around. I am going to show them their grades compared to other classes on Monday. Hopefully that will inspire some motivation.
Two students want to design a new kind of mousetrap that will act as a guillotine. I needed to veto the idea for obvious safety reasons. I look forward to sharing other student projects with you in the future.
Attention: Reflection Formats
From now on, each post will attempt to follow the format below:
1) Update on use of technology in the classroom
2) Specifics on positive aspects of the week's lessons
3) How could the week's lessons have been improved?
4) Brief personal update (i.e. diary)
5) Behavioral anecdote or Student Quote
1) Update on use of technology in the classroom
2) Specifics on positive aspects of the week's lessons
3) How could the week's lessons have been improved?
4) Brief personal update (i.e. diary)
5) Behavioral anecdote or Student Quote
Six Week Reflection
Sleep deprivation has been a personal them for me these last two months. My wife and I have been adjusting to life with two kids (and the dissapearance of feet-kicking up). It has been a lot of work, and we are still acclimating to the new routines, but it is also exciting and incredibly fun to have established our family unit.
Unfortunately, due to lack of time, this reflective blog seems to have fallen by the wayside. As I write this, I am simultaneously holding my two-month old son, and monitoring the other as he loads and unloads his toy school bus with imaginary school children. As a personal mandate, I will now begin contributing to this blog on a weekly basis. Please bear with me, as in the interest of time, my writings may not always exude elocution.
Unfortunately, due to lack of time, this reflective blog seems to have fallen by the wayside. As I write this, I am simultaneously holding my two-month old son, and monitoring the other as he loads and unloads his toy school bus with imaginary school children. As a personal mandate, I will now begin contributing to this blog on a weekly basis. Please bear with me, as in the interest of time, my writings may not always exude elocution.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Blogs vs. Websites
Welcome to my blog. I will primarily use this to reflect upon experiences in my classroom and the science topics that my students are learning. The "Young Scientists" blog is different than my website. The website includes assignments, notes, and other class materials. This blog provides a forum for discussion of those materials. It is also a place where people can ask me questions, and where I will share various insights and relate (hopefully) interesting experiences.
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