1) The end of the year is always bittersweet. On one hand, I am looking forward to the summer (fun with family/friends, and time to research, refine, and prepare my instructional practices). On the other hand, I am parting ways with 90 great kids with who I shared a year of teaching/learning science. There is also an underlying anxiety regarding the upcoming standardized exam. I am confident that all of my students have developed an understanding of Earth Science this year. They know more about the world around them, and they can prove it in casual discussions and writing assignments. However, the Regents exam requires logical thinking for several multi-step questions. We are using the last week of class to study logical problem-solving skills in the context of Regents questions, and using cooperative learning strategies and flash cards to review content. It is my responsibility to prepare the students as much as possible for success on the exam. However, the downfall of my situation is that the end of the year coincides with waning student motivation and lack of attendance. This is a great source of frustration.
Earth Science students are also taking the lab practical exam on Wednesday.
2) Students have been working on Earth Science flash cards, and I also provided them a list of essential figures/diagrams. They finished their final lab for the year on Tuesday (using M&M's to simulate radioactive decay of the Carbon-14 isotope). Successful completion of the lab required students to calculate, graph, and analyzed class data totals. The document camera was invaluable for this lab activity as it allowed me to project student data.
3) I have assigned a practice regents exam as homework on castlelearning. The downfall of these homework assignments is that only about 20% of my students complete them. I am still trying to brainstorm ways to improve homework completion rates. For next year, I plan to develop a more formalized homework policy. I am going to alternate between traditional homework and castlelearning assignments. I am going to print out and distribute a schedule of these assignments at the beginning of each marking period (i.e. a homework syllabus). Homework will be worth 20% of students' grades. It is critical for students to realize the relationship between their success and their individual effort (i.e. independent practice outside of the classroom). It looks like our school will also be working on an overarching homework policy.
4) My sister gave birth to a baby boy (Owen) last week, making me uncle Mr. Williams. I forgot how small and fragile little babies are, and I forgot about my fear of holding non-bundled babies less than 1 month old. So another exciting part of this summer will be watching the development of my nephew.
5) "This is a roller" - Mr. Williams (in reference to the Chopin playing on his computer speakers during the construction of flash cards). For reference, a "roller" is any song/track that one might listen to while "rolling" down the street in one's vehicle.
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