My day one was with Steven Polo who is in charge of 1 Honors Living Environment class and 3 Science 8 classes. I showed up the first day at 7:00 and was there before my CT (I am living up to my mantra of “On time, regular attendance”). With the way that the scheduling is set up at Wilson Foundation the first day was all about introductions to the students, straightening out their schedules and letting them know what the rules are. I was fortunate enough to meet many teachers including Mrs. P, Mrs. Wk, Mrs. T, Mrs.L and Mrs.Wr. Some teach 8th grade and some teach 7th grade but they all were very helpful in giving me advice and extending an open invitation into their classrooms whenever I wanted. Mrs. L is the cooperating teacher for children with special needs in Science 8th. She has offered me the opportunity to “help out” in her self contained class which will be a learning experience for me as well.

The students are a diverse group. They all seemed to have the first day jitters but they were very receptive to the fact that I was going to be in their class as a student teacher and were all very welcoming. Hopefully this is going to be the tone for the year.The LE students were given their portfolio folders and asked to add any designs that they wanted to it and make it their own. This allowed me time to go from table to table and comment on what they were adding which, opened up the first chance for me to start building on their trust. I was myself which allowed many of them to  open up to me. It was good to be able to sit and talk with them so that they were able to learn about me while I learned about them. One student I enjoyed in particular because he wrote ” I don’t know what to write so I am writing nothing” and had this look of fear on his face when he saw that I was walking over to him. When I read it I just smiled and said that I liked it. You could see the relief in his eyes. I made sure to  make my presence felt by walking around and commenting on everyones folder so that they can get use to me being there.

When it was time for the Science 8 students to come in they were staggered in groups every 20 minutes. This way they could spend a little time in all of their classes (Science, Math, English and Social Studies). My CT had the students write their names on a piece of paper and attach it to a wall next to what kind of inquiry based person they were. Some of the options were knowledgable, risk taker, open minded, caring, and balanced. As the students were working on this I circulated around the room and helped to clarify any questions. This also allowed me to talk to the students either one on one or in groups so that I could learn more about them. It was a learning experience for me as much as it was for them.

All said and done it was a good first day. I did not have the chance to see what they will be learning or my CT’s style of teaching but I was able to open up a dialouge with many of the students that I hope will remain open as the year progresses.

One last thing. My CT has a rule that if you forget a pencil or pen you can borrow one from him but you must leave him one of your shoes. The look on the first students face that forgot his pencil was priceless but he was a god sport about it. I do not think that many students will be borrowing pencils form him this year.

For future cohorts here is my copy of the Donors Choose Assignment. I hope that some time in the future I will be able to update this blog with a picture of my students using the skulls that I am looking to get.

Title: 3.9 million years to today: The Timeline of Human Evolution

Introduction:

As children we all were interested in cavemen. The movies we watched depicted them as hairy, grunting, primitive beasts that rode on the backs of dinosaurs and lived in caves. While some of these notions are true many of them can lead children to make many false assumptions about what our ancestors were really like. These misconceptions can weigh heavily, in a negative way, on the aspects of evolution that are being taught to our children. In order for children to understand all aspects of life they must know how they came to be and what developmental steps our primitive ancestors went through to evolve to the point we are at presently.

My Project:

The Rochester City School District Curriculum Science Standard 4 states that “students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science”. The learning standards for NY State also say that the basic theory of biological evolution states that the Earth’s present-day species developed from earlier, distinctly different species. It has been said that being a good modeler is in large part a matter of having a number of fruitful models in your hip pocket. Acquiring such a collection almost certainly requires sustained work in a context where modeling has a purpose and a payoff.

It is my belief that the purpose of teaching evolution is to teach students that life is an ever-evolving variable. In order to pass this belief on to my students I believe that it is important for them to see the process of evolution in a tangible way. This can be established through the use of models. The payoff of using modeling to teach evolution is giving the students a tangible reference to go back to whenever it is needed. I am proposing that the purchase and use of an anthropology cranium set that consists of 5 replica craniums of Australopithecus afarensis , Australopithecus africanus ,Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis . This is to be used alongside a Standard Three Part Human Skull (Homo sapiens) that is to be purchased as well. It is my intention that these models will be used to help the students apply scientific inquiry practices to examine the differences in the craniums and assess the timeline of evolution. Using cranial skulls from different species over an evolutionary timeline will give the students the opportunity to view the subtle and not so subtle differences that have occurred throughout the evolution of the primate lineage. The integration of the Homo sapiens skull at the end of the unit will allow the students to apply the prior knowledge that they have gained and connect it to something they can relate to, their own species. Not only will the current 8^th grade class of approximately 125 students at my school use the cranium models but subsequent classes will also use the models that I am requesting through this project for many years to come.

My students need:

The opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to look first hand at the evolutionary process in a way that they have never been able to view it before. Through the use of these models and hands on activities they will leave with a greater understanding of mankind’s history and the evolutionary steps that started almost 4 million years ago that produced Homo sapiens.

Budget Section:

Anthropology Skull Set

Standard Three-Part Human Skull

This will be my last blog post for EDU 486. When I first started this class I was nervous. I like to consider myself technologically savvy but in reality I just started using computers on a regular basis about 4 years ago. I recently started getting more comfortable using them.

I was a firm believer that computers were a tool that could be used for students to work on Microsoft Office and not much else. Why would they need computers if they have textbooks? Sure they could look up information but usually they would cut and paste from WIKIPEDIA and that would be it. I thought that I would just keep on blogging to fill the requirements of the class and that I would never enjoy it.

This class opened my eyes and turned my views right around. It opened my eyes to the role of culture and society on a child(thank you Miguel) and made me realize that not all people grew up in the same environment. It showed me that sometimes it is better to do things backwards (UbD) than the way that others do it. It taught me to never underestimate the minds of children (thank you Fecal Incidents).It opened my eyes to the many technological aspects that are out there (gotta love The Tempered Radical). It forced me to embrace blogging which I can proudly say that I will keep doing even after I graduate.

I now see that not only computers but technology in general are an integral part of the classroom. When properly used the internet can be a tool that will expand your students minds. Why read about the rain forests of South America in a book when you can play a video that shows the animals interacting, the sounds of the forests and what the river looks like during the flood season. The sound of the water flowing is a sound that students will remember especially when the only river they have seen is the Genessee.

The advantages and uses of technology are endless. If Moore’s law continues to be held we are looking at a time in human history when technology can allow our students to achieve more advancements and discoveries in a shorter time than ever in history.

In the book Teaching 2030 (2011) by Barnettt et al. they state that “The resources of the Internet and search engines will shift cognitive capacities. We won’t have to remember as much, but we’ll have to think harder and have better critical thinking and analytic skills”(p.3).I was not able to think of a good philosophical statement regarding the role of technology in science education that would be better than this so I borrowed it and am planning on instituting, for the rest of my educational career, the use of technology as a tool for my students that will allow for them advance their minds and better their communities in any way possible.

Thank You Michael!!!!

Today was presentations at the Harley School for the GRS science camp. All I have to say is that we came, we saw and we kicked some ***. Our campers were a little nervous in the beginning but they quickly overcame any nerves that they had. Tz had written a rap over the weekend so they decided that they were going to perform that at the beginning of  the presentations. Then they changed their minds so Aa wrote a speech. When it came time they decided at the last minute to go ahead and do both. It was a little shaky at first but they came out ahead. All I have stuck in my head is “Clean that, clean that beach” from their rap.

The campers excelled at presenting their findings. They adapted very well to the changing age range of the visitors. When it was a group of younger students, they talked to them so that they understood all the concepts. All age groups were handed gloves so that the could handle the samples but the younger groups were encouraged to shake and touch the water samples. I was proud when I saw how well our campers interacted with audience in general but especially when I saw them explaining their results to the adults in the audience. They sounded like scientists and they knew it. They all learned a lot over the week.They were able to convey what they learned in a clear and concise way to show the level of knowledge that they gained this week.

I am proud of all the campers that our group had this week. They were able to attain a lot of new knowledge while also having fun.I was able to see that in a week it is possible to form a bond with a group of campers that I did not know in the beginning. I am not the type of person that cries easily but i would be lying if I said that it did not take everything in me to not cry when I was saying goodbye. I formed a bond with these children and I hope to form many more with my future students.

In order to wrap up Day 6 there are a few people that I need to thank.

Michael: Thank you for everything that you have done to help me grow both in and out of the classroom. You are an asset to not only the Warner School but to the Rochester community in general. I look forward to picking your brain in the future for more of your immense knowledge.

Jo Ann: You are a God send. I can honestly say that I would have had a much harder time making it through the week were it not for your words of encouragement and positive outlook on everything. I can guarantee that words can not express how much I appreciate the opportunity to have met you and to have you as a part of my life. You are the best .

Lisa:  You are a brilliant,genuine and good person.You are going to make a great teacher and leader in the future. Thank you for all the guidance and help that you provided in the week and I look forward to working with you in future classes. I am so glad that we got to work together this class. It gave me the opportunity to get to know you better, thank you.Keep your head up and you will accomplish anything that you put your mind to.

Katy: You are a very strong women who will be an asset to any teaching community that you work in. I will forever be thankful to Micheal for putting us in a group. This gave me the chance to get to know you personally and I am a better person for it. I admire how you stick to your guns and do not let anyone push you around or intimidate you. I look forward to learning from you in the future and seeing the great things that I know you will accomplish in life.

April: Thank you for taking a chance on a 35 year old father of 3 and allowing me to pursue my dream of being a teacher. This camp has made me realize how much of an impact I can have on a child’s life in only a week. Imagine what I can do in a year.

Today was the final day of Camp this week. All that is left is to go to the Harley School on Monday and see the campers make their presentations. Today was all about revisiting and finalizing. The campers did a wonderful job all week with learning new things about the beach, bacteria and other factors that effect their communities. Today we asked them to revisit their model and make any changes that were necessary. They made a few changes but this started them thinking about science again and put them in the mind set of scientists. We took the momentum that was established and started discussing some of the things that the campers noticed about the beach and this lead to the topic that they chose to do for their final presentations.

One of the campers stated that the beach was closed 33% of the time last summer. This lead to a discussion of why the beach was closed and what we could do about it.They chose as a group to redesign the beach in a way that will be better for the environment and allow for the community to attend more often. The campers broke into 4 separate groups and started designing rough sketches of what they would do to the beach to make it safer to go there. We made sure to walk around and ask “Why would you do this?” so that we could see that the campers were engaged and thinking in a scientific way. They all gave me answer like “we have this wall here to contain the bird poop” or  “there are a lot of garbage cans so that the waste does not get in the water”.

The students were able to see that the science behind cleaning the beach and keeping the community involved. They were able to see that there is a problem and what the causes and effects were. They sat down and looked for a scientific solution to the problems and I am hoping that they are able to convey that on Monday.

Day 4 started with the best team building exercise that I have seen. As a group we felt that our campers were struggling with being a team so we decided to incorporate a team building exercise into our lesson plan. We went out onto the Quad and set up a mine field that contained diaper, swimmees, boots, goggles and other things that the campers either used at the beach or might find at the beach. The campers were then partnered up into groups of 2. One was allowed to see while the other was blindfolded. the partner who could see had to give the other one directions on how to make it to the finish line. At the end was a whistle that you needed to blow in order to win. This allowed for our campers to develop a sense of trust for eachother and I think this is exactly what they needed at that moment.

Next we needed the campers to go and look at the samples on the river that they had plated themselves the day before. We walked them to the lab and had them put on  gloves and goggles.  The samples were full of bacterial colonies which surprised all of the campers. This opened up the discussion of why there was so much bacteria in the river this far south and what could contribute to this. They brought up contributing factors and even compared some of those factors to the beach. It was a proof to us that they were doing more than having fun at the camp. They were learning science.

Next we had set up stations for the campers to work on in the computer lab. We had 4 stations which were interviews, graphing, researching and preparing. I was in charge of manning the research station and when they came to me the campers had to answer 3 questions with an optional 4th question if they had time. The questions were what is bacteria, where does bacteria grow, what are the main types of bacteria and the 4th question was to have them look at an article from the Democrat and Chronicle and write down information that was pertinent to our topic of beach closure and the investigation that they were performing. It was interesting to see the campers use the internet as a tool. This station allowed the campers to look more in depth at bacteria beyond what they already knew and the 4 stations together allowed them to tie up everything that we had been working on all week. One of the students even wrote that “Bacteria grows by the process of binary fission which is separating and making an identical particle as the original one”. The good thing about this was that she saw it on the web but already knew what it was so she described it herself. The internet just facilitated her previous knowledge so that she could express it.

Day 4 was a day of wrapping up the week and assuring ourselves that our campers were learning science and seeing the fun in it at the same time. The way that today went showed me that they were learning, they were thinking of ways to tie it all together, they were becoming scientists.

Today was the first day at the campus and my first shot at leading. Some words of advice for future Grad Students. Just because you think that you did not do a good job don’t let it get to you. I walked out of day 3 feeling like I did not make it fun and interesting for the campers but in their reflections almost they all commented on how much they enjoyed the day.

We state our day walking the river next to campus. We had the plan to collect eater sample by forming a human chain and using a coozie and a rope to collect samples from the river. Another word of advice, KNOW WHAT POISON IVY LOOKS LIKE. Thanks to Duane I did not march 13 people into a patch of poison ivy but we moved down a little further and were able to take the samples. The campers were not able to plate their samples from the beach due to time constraints so the samples that we took here we used to have them learn how to plate.

When we arrived at the lab the campers played a game to see who could put on their labcoats, goggles and gloves the quickest. Then they had to push a counter 25 times in order to win. This woke them up and then Katy brought them into the incubator room to garb the samples. The campers were allowed to put their hands in the incubator to feel the temperature and then they carried the samples back to the lab.

We grouped them up and had them look at the samples and count the coliform colonies that were observed on the plates. This opened up the dialogue of why there were more colonies on some plates as opposed to others. The campers were sectioned into groups so that they could count their colonies.They also inquired as to why there were more colonies in the sand than the water. This was great for us and the campers because they felt like scientists and we felt as if they were acquiring new knowledge due to the lesson plans that we had set up.

When they were all done in the lab we started to walk back and we came up with the idea to bring them into Goergon Hall to see one of the newer buildings on campus.  We got hung up at the door to get into Goergon because it was a rotating door and all the campers wanted to keep walking in circles.This was a last minute decision and it ended up working out great. We managed to find an empty lecture hall and the campers were able to sit and fill out their journals here. We had some great discussions about science and all got to know each other better.

Day two was a day of learning,data collection and fun. The campers were a little tired but the were happy to be there. On the first day one of our campers was not there but she showed up on Day 2 so all told we had 9 campers total. We started the day with an ice breaker in which they n which the children were put into groups according to the color starburst that they picked out of a hat.In groups of 3 they were then asked to distinguish whether the question was investigation, research or ask an expert. All the campers participated and worked very well together.

After this activity it was time to work on their data collection protocol. The campers were engaged and with minimal facilitation they were able to come up with a question to investigate as well as a protocol for data collection.

The campers were able to put in their waders and head out to the water. They grabbed a 30 foot piece of rope with markings every 5 feet, labquest with GPS and temperature probe and headed to the beach. they took Samples at 250,1000,1250,1500and 1750 feet. They even handled the fact that a crane was in the way of taking samples at the original spot.

They were able to explore the beach and use all their senses to collect data. They touched algae, felt the temperature of the water, observed detritus, talked about the shells and had fun.

Some of the observations that they made included:

• there is a lot of algae.
• most algae closer to the shore, cleaner looking water is further out in the lake.
• sand is smooth and mushy.
• dirty water, people swimming and the water gets deep quicker.
• a lot of waves.

In the process of data collection we let the campers take the collections, measurements and observations. I had a chance to use teacher wait time by allowing the students to ask a question and count to 3 before I asked a question back. This allowed the students to come to the conclusions themselves instead of me just giving them the answer. This is something that I am getting better at but still need to work on over time.

Our campers had a wonderful time and worked a group to form a question, form a protocol and do data collection.They enjoyed getting into the water and getting dirty. It was an energy filled day that left the kids wanting to do more science.

The first day of camp has come and gone. It started out with the threat of rain and for a moment it looked like it was going to clear up  but of course it did not. More about that later. To start off I have to admit that I was extremely nervous about how today was going to go. We planned, planned some more and then planned even more but you can never be sure what is going to happen. The day started with a text telling us that the campers were extremely sluggish so I was expecting a group of kids to come off the bus half asleep but we formed a line and cheered and high-fived everyone that came off of the bus. I think it set the mood for the day showing the campers that we were excited to be there and full of energy.

Our first task was to get the campers in a group and due to a light rain we ended up in a separate pavilion away from the other groups. We played a game called “me too” in which everyone was given a  handful of marbles and each person took turns saying something that they had done that involves the beach. All the campers were involved and it was a good way to interact as a group but not immediately over power the students with science. It gave me an opportunity to see how involved the campers were going to be and how we would have to work around the different personalities. I have to say that we were fortunate enough to get a good group of campers that were there to have a good time and participate. I think some of the campers were as nervous as us to begin with but this allowed everyone to open up and relax. The fun environment we constructed here was able to be kept throughout most of the day.

From here it got interesting. We had originally planned to do a O/Q chart and then give the campers science kits so that they could go out to the beach and act like scientists in the field. This was not able to be done in it’s entirety at first because after we finished the O/Q charts it started to rain. At this point a small part of me thought “Oh No, What are we going to do now” but the campers took it in stride and squeezed under two umbrellas and off to the beach we went.This unexpected change in the agenda was something that we just went with.  Instead of giving them the science kits and journals to observe with we decided to just have them go out and observe and we would include their observations in their journals later. Even though this was not part of the original plan it worked out better because they were able to just observe and not worry about writing everything down.  They were able to touch the water and see the shells and dirt that was accumulating at the shore.When the rain became too much we ran back to the pavilion to regroup.

At this point we gave the campers time to write their observations in their journals along with a few questions that they made up in order to further explain what they observed. The campers came up with some good observations and questions and we helped slightly to steer  them in the right direction. We had a good conversation with the campers and we had a couple of them that needed a little more attention then the others.

I believe that the hardest point of the day was keeping the attention of the campers at the point when we were all sitting in a large group. It seems that the group was a little too large for us to keep them interested in what Lisa was saying, we had to shuffle them around so that some of them were closer but when we reflected as a group we realized that in the future we will try to break them into smaller groups so that everyone can participate and see what is going on. With a large group it is easy for a few campers to fall through the cracks and not participate which is not only bad for them but bad for me as well. This will play a role in my future teaching skill because even though the classroom is a different environment than the beach it is still important to be able to hold the attention of a large group so that all my students are able to get the best out of what  am teaching.

Next was a chance for us to help the students to understand modeling so off to the beach we went. The camper marked off an X and Y axis in the sand by walking lines and then they designated the X axis as the shoreline and the Y axis as the pier. Lisa gave every group member a slip of paper that indicated what factor they were. these included fecal incidents, pollution, nutrients,and E.coli. The campers were then asked to stand where they thought that they would be in the water. I ended up in the river with Aurora because we were pollution. Lisa then asked if their position would change if it were to rain 10 inches so Aurora said that we should move into the lake because the increased rain would move us further down the river and into the Lake. It was god to see that she came up witht his on her own.

The conversation that we were having with the camper led to us bringing them down to the shoreline and we started discussing the water. Lisa realized that this would be the perfect time to incorporate the science kits. The students were handed the kits which contained thermometers, specimen cups, whirl bags, gloves and wiffle balls. They started to collect samples, make observations and measure the water temperature. It was exhilarating to see the campers star breaking into groups and getting their hands dirty. This was the moment that I had been looking forward to. You could see the excitement in the campers eyes when they stared realizing that the water was warm and that it looked a lot clearer in the cups than it did wen you looked at it from the shoreline.One of the campers even commented on how clear it was but said that she still would not drink it. After this it was time for the campers to have lunch and then reflect in their journals. Almost all of the journal entries included observations about what they saw during collection time so I believe that this part had the biggest impact on the campers.

Katy, Lisa and myself talked later after the campers left and we all agreed it went awesome. One thing we learned was that even though you have an agenda and a plan set it is not necessary to stick with it. We ended up using it as a guideline and based some of the day on the feel of the campers. If we felt like we were losing them then we changed it up to make sure that the campers were engaged. This led to such things as a chance for our campers to try out data collection, impromptu dance numbers from our campers and facilitators and many teachable moments.

Today was a day of eye opening experiences and surprises. Today was the day that I felt a connection to a group of children. Today was a small peek into what I will be doing in the future. Today was APK assessments at Harley School. Katy, Lisa and myself put a lot  of planning and practice into what we were going to do for this project as did all the other groups. I didn’t know if we would run short on time or if we would run short on material or if I would just freeze up and stumble through the presentation. In my mind there were many unknowns that we tried to plan for but were just not sure what was going to happen.Even with all the planning and the practice run that we did on Friday I was not sure what to expect from the campers. To be completely honest  I see now that the dry run with Michael, Yen, Jo Ann and Duane was more stressful than the actual APK assessment itself. Here is a shortened version of our dry run with all the highlights.

Thank you Michael for preparing us for the worst but giving us the best.

We walked into Harley with a plan and decided that we would try it out on the first group and improvise if needed. I have to say that we were blessed with a very good bunch of campers throughout the assessment but the first group, which in I previously thought would be the most stressful, turned out to be the perfect group to ease my mind. They were, engaged, inquisitive and  happy to be there.  They all definitely were individuals with distinct personalities. In my mind they set the mood for what the rest of the groups were going to be like and how I would interact with them.As you know our  group was assessing prior knowledge of experimental design. I can honestly say that the majority of  the students were well versed in experimental design. Even the ones that did not give us the “answers” that we were looking for gave it a good try and came up with some interesting observations and ideas.

One of my biggest fears going into this was that they would look at us as if we were testing them and just shut down. While we did not experience that we did get to experience a few of the campers that were shy. There was one girl in particular that was trying to blend into the background and just give minimal effort. I noticed that she only put down one thing and was just standing there looking around. I engaged her and just started talking and encouraging her. I was surprised when this little move broke her out of her shell and she wrote down what I thought was an extraordinary plan. We also got to witness how one individual can take control of a group while another can seem to be participating but in actuality be disengaged. There was a group of three girls that Katy and I were working with. One of the girls would not grab a marker but starts laying out a plan while the other girls started writing down everything that she said. When she was finished it was interesting to see that one of the girls kept adding to the plan while the other just stopped working. I questioned her about what she had wrote in an attempt to have her elaborate on the plan but she just said  “I don’t know”.

The overall experience has made me very excited about having the chance to interact with these children at camp.  I look forward to seeing in what directions there young minds take us and seeing the pride and ownership they will put into their work at camp.It was a learning experience and it showed me that even though I do have some things to work on (answering a question with a question) I am gaining powerful tools that will be an asset to me when I become an educator.