So yesterday, I and others in the Secondary MAC Program had the opportunity to attend the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I thought that this was a great experience for us even though some of us felt the pang of not being with our students for the day.
The first session that I went to got me all excited for the rest of the day (and probably the rest of the weekend!) It was a presentation on how to make a wiiboard, and some ideas on how to use it. The Wiiboard is basically a SMARTboard, but instead of buying a very expensive piece of equipment, you just need a wiimote, an infrared pen, computer and projector. The presenter, John R. Sowash has a great blog that you can find here: electriceducator.blogspot.com - you can find a lot of resources on how to build your own wiiboard there if you're interested. You can also take a look at my last post - a liveblog of the session below. I can't wait to start developing ways to use a wiiboard in my own classroom :)
The second session demonstrated a large scale project-based-learning project with 6th graders in Barrien Springs. This was of particular interest to me (and some of the other science folks) because our methods class talked a lot about project based learning. I felt that it was a great demonstration of how project based learning can be cross-curricular. Some issues that were brought up were: how do we assess the students, how do we ensure they hit all the standards they are expected to know, and how practical/is it possible to build an entire years curriculum on project based learning?
The third session I did not stay for long, but I did manage to snag her website on free tools for educators that you can find here there are some fun ideas there that are worth taking a look at. I myself need to go back and explore, but I felt that I could explore these on my own so that I could move onto another session.
The fourth session I attended was a presentation by Victor Chen, a former MACer as well as a chemistry teacher at my placement, Thurston High School! It was very cool to see him presenting at this conference. Although the probeware that he was demonstrating I am already familiar with through my own high school and college experiences, it was still nice to see how he uses them and how they are a great alternative to some of the more expensive science equipment that is out there.
Overall, I thought that MACUL was a good experience. I felt that despite the long drive, some of the ideas that were presented there made the trip wo
Shout out to my car: Tracy (the driver), Ben (the snack guy), Phil (the game master), and Drew (aka King Bob) for making the trip there and back fun! :)
3.13.2010
3.12.2010
2.28.2010
A little lost but finding my way back
This past week I have struggled with my regular biology class in finding ways for them to be more engaged and motivated to study the material that they have a unit exam on (on Tuesday!). I know that the material is a little difficult to wrap your head around because it requires a great deal of visualization and conceptual/logistical knowledge to fully understand. Mitosis and Meiosis seem like topics that will forever be one of those topics that students either get or don't get the first time that they encounter it.
The reason I have been frustrated is because I don't know how to make it better for my students. They took a quiz on the material, and many of them did poorly so I gave them the opportunity to make corrections for 1/2 credit (only a handful took advantage of the opportunity) and we continued to review the material. About a week later, they were given almost the exact same quiz and much to my surprise and demise, 1/2 of them did worse than they had the first time around. So, kind of at a loss for words as I collected the quizzes, I asked my students for suggestions of what I could/should do to help them learn the material. Many of them mentioned games, more visuals, and hands-on activities but after having spent nearly 3 weeks on those 2 topics my bag of tricks for Mitosis and Meiosis had already begun to run dry. Even my mentor appeared to be at a loss but having taught the topic many times before, she was unsurprised and tried to encourage me to understand that the nature of the topic was one that many students will just not understand. This sort of just frustrated me more because I felt that there had to be a way.
As their unit exam looms closer, I am determined to make the most of the last day - but I realize that it is a little late to remedy things for this unit. Hopefully the next unit (on DNA replication) will go better. I have some fun activities and visuals for them lined up but I feel that I need to be even more innovative in how I approach the topic given how the last unit went.
The reason I have been frustrated is because I don't know how to make it better for my students. They took a quiz on the material, and many of them did poorly so I gave them the opportunity to make corrections for 1/2 credit (only a handful took advantage of the opportunity) and we continued to review the material. About a week later, they were given almost the exact same quiz and much to my surprise and demise, 1/2 of them did worse than they had the first time around. So, kind of at a loss for words as I collected the quizzes, I asked my students for suggestions of what I could/should do to help them learn the material. Many of them mentioned games, more visuals, and hands-on activities but after having spent nearly 3 weeks on those 2 topics my bag of tricks for Mitosis and Meiosis had already begun to run dry. Even my mentor appeared to be at a loss but having taught the topic many times before, she was unsurprised and tried to encourage me to understand that the nature of the topic was one that many students will just not understand. This sort of just frustrated me more because I felt that there had to be a way.
As their unit exam looms closer, I am determined to make the most of the last day - but I realize that it is a little late to remedy things for this unit. Hopefully the next unit (on DNA replication) will go better. I have some fun activities and visuals for them lined up but I feel that I need to be even more innovative in how I approach the topic given how the last unit went.
1.28.2010
Whew ...1 down, 1 to go
That's what I always thought when it came to final exams I would count down the number of exams I had remaining every semester (or I suppose every quarter in college). This week was my placement's final exam week. While somewhat boring during the actual test itself, I've learned a few valuable things from what to do when something goes wrong to calculating grades in general:
1) seriously review all the material yourself before review days/exams - the students ask some really good questions sometimes!
2) What goes on after a student is caught cheating is really unpleasant for everyone involved : the teacher, the administration, the student and their parents
3) Just doing your work in class (not matter how poorly done it is) is SO much better than a 0. I had students going up full letter grades from turning in 1 mini-project assignment!
4) It's sometimes really frustrating to see a student's grade and then have to try and decide whether or not they deserve to be bumped up - or, really frustrating to see a student's grade and know that they tried so hard but the numbers don't work out and you can't really bump them up...
Other than that, I've begun to take over the 1 regular biology class and shadowing my mentor on the 2nd honors biology class that we have. And it's been fun so far! Can't wait to see how the new semester pans out starting next week!
1) seriously review all the material yourself before review days/exams - the students ask some really good questions sometimes!
2) What goes on after a student is caught cheating is really unpleasant for everyone involved : the teacher, the administration, the student and their parents
3) Just doing your work in class (not matter how poorly done it is) is SO much better than a 0. I had students going up full letter grades from turning in 1 mini-project assignment!
4) It's sometimes really frustrating to see a student's grade and then have to try and decide whether or not they deserve to be bumped up - or, really frustrating to see a student's grade and know that they tried so hard but the numbers don't work out and you can't really bump them up...
Other than that, I've begun to take over the 1 regular biology class and shadowing my mentor on the 2nd honors biology class that we have. And it's been fun so far! Can't wait to see how the new semester pans out starting next week!
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