Jake's Blog

In a presentation regarding teachers’ unions and, specifically, the Rochester Teachers’ Association, RTA President Adam Urbanski emphasized the need for educators to provide their students the opportunities to uncover content and concepts rather than utilizing the 180 days of the school year to cover material which constitute a particular curriculum. By doing so, we are working to actively engage students in the own educational experience and allow them to individually process information as a means of building relevant conceptual understandings.

As a means of incorporating this philosophy into our professional practices, Carli and I have worked (seemingly without much sleep!) to create  a collaborative community of learning scientists in our sixth grade class through authentic Invertebrate Investigations. Each day we have the privilege of observing our students engaged in open inquiry and, as exhausting (and sometimes frustrating) as this experience has been so far, it is extremely rewarding to see these young minds contributing to their own education and that of others by uncovering understandings of what it means to be an animal.

Not without its frustrations, this unit thus far has been extremely insightful for not only the students, but also for myself and Carli as educators. It is my hope that I can continue to plan such experiences for my future so that they have the opportunity to engage in science and contribute to the experience of all in our established community of learners. As such, these experiences, founded in national and state standards, not only prepare students for established assessments but also provide them the opportunity to uncover content and concepts.

As we began our innovative unit this week, Carli and I have both experienced the uncertaintly that often accompanies inquiry-based experiences in the science classroom. We have observed that because so many of our students are high achievers, they have become conditioned to know and, in many instances, regurgitate the “right” answer. This quest for “correctness,” however, does not fit our plans for the innovative unit as students will be conducted authentic investigations using a chosen invertebrate as a means of gaining insight into the beginnings of the Animal Kingdom.

Even though the first week of our unit was, in my opinion, an overall success, I can’t help but reflect on this need to bring students out of their comfort zone so that they may have the opportunity to do science as a means of engaging in independent discovery. As “uncomfortable” as my students may be right now (many of them constantly ask “Is this right?”), I believe that this open-inquiry experience will be extremely beneficial within and outside the sciences and will provide students with confidence knowing that they developed, designed, and implemented an investigation and presented their findings, as scientists, to their community of learners as a means of contributing to the field.

In order to scaffold the students in this new and obviously daunting endeavor, Carli and I have incorporated a variety of “mini-lessons” that provide insight into the components of the unit. For example, following the first two days of background research, students were prompted to record questions that they had about their organism. We then utilized the Elephant Toothpaste demonstration and a subsequent class discussion based on recorded observations and questions related to the demo to introduce investigatible questions and why many questions are not testable. In addition, to prepare students for writing detailed protocols, Carli and I incorporated a short PB & J activity in which the students gave the instructor directions for making a peanut butter sandwich.

Hopefully these activities paired with constant student-teacher conferencing and teacher feedback will provide the students the scaffolding necessary to “take the leap” into the unknown of inquiry-based investigations. We can sense their excitement about the project (as not a period goes by when someone doesn’t ask “When are we getting our animals?”). It is our hope that this experience will set the stage for further independent discovery as a means of building conceptual understanding of the “big ideas.”

This week, Carli and I, through our planning, observed our students demonstrating their abilities as scientists in a variety of ways. The level of active engagement among my students continues to amaze me and it pushes me to go further in my own practices to develop and implement meaningful and relevant experiences for them. These opportunities are proving mutually beneficial as we all work collaboratively as members of a community of learners.

Our plans this week, in my opinion, were well thought out, well prepared, and well executed. I’m constantly grateful for the opportunity to work with Carli as I believe that our strengths as pre-service educators complement each other very well. We have the opportunity to bounce ideas off another person on a regular basis, receive immediate and thoughtful feedback, and utilize the “two heads are better than one” mentality in the planning and execution of our ideas. In addition, our cooperating teachers have been extremely supportive and excited about our plans both past and future and are more than willing to help us in our very ambitious endeavors while simultaneously helping us to improve our practices.

Carli, in her blog, did a great job of detailing the successes of our lessons from this past week which emphasized student choice and worked to prepare our students for our upcoming open inquiry-based unit on animals as well as allow us the opportunity to assess individuals on their ability to design and implement an inquiry-based investigation. Not only did this week’s components work to guide our further instruction but also helped to demonstrate conceptual understandings through a variety of modes.

The next four weeks will be an interesting time for our community of learners as we will be implementing our innovative unit – details regarding our unit can be found below. We are excited at the prospect of designing such an experience for our students and we hope that it will be as beneficial and educational for them! Updates to follow as we put our plans into practice!

INNOVATIVE UNIT – “How are humans animals? How are animals human?”

Aligned with the New York State Standards-based curriculum designed by the Brighton Central School District, this unit will continue the study of living organisms and focus on an Introduction to the Animal Kingdom and a study of Invertebrates, building on past investigations of bacteria, protists, and plants. Specifically, students will engage in the development of understanding of the essential question “How are humans animals? How are animals human?” as a means of continuing their investigation of living organisms, the evolution of species, and the interrelationship between living things and their environments. Under this umbrella of an Introduction to Animals, students will have the opportunity to build conceptual understanding of the characteristics unique to members of the Animal Kingdom, how scientists classify these organisms, the evolutionary changes which have allowed for the diversity of the group, the interactions of specific phyla with their environments, and the means by which the structure and function of these organisms optimize them for survival in such environments.[1]^,[2]

Students will, working in pairs, select an organisms of a specific phyla from a pre-determined list to research. Using a variety of research tools and media, the students will gain background knowledge about the organisms, its environment, and the ways in which it interacts with its environment and other organisms. Students will also engage in a variety of foundational experiences meant to prepare them for the investigative portion of the innovative unit.

Using the background information they have compiled regarding their organism, student pairs will develop an investigatible question meant to provide greater insight into the organism as a living thing and the ways it interact which its environment. Great emphasis will be placed on investigatible questions and if the developed questions can be tested or not. Students will then work collaboratively to design an investigation to test their question and then implement the design given necessary materials (teachers will need to supply various living organisms and any other materials for implementation). During the investigation, students will be working towards developing insight into three questions:

1. Developed investigatible question

2. How is this organism human?

3. How are humans the organism?.

A field journal will be constructed prior to the beginning of the project so as to organize findings and allow students to work at different paces while still completing the investigation in a timely fashion.

Students will present their findings to the class. Findings should include background information, their question and conclusions drawn from the investigation, and a relation to humans. Students will have a wide range of options for the presentation of their findings and the audience will be provided with graphic organizers to compile information and findings.

In addition, students will engage in the dissection of earthworms as a means of building connections between the understandings they have developed through an investigation to another closely related organisms. They will also have the opportunity to relate observations of external structure and function to internal structure and function as a means of building further conceptual understanding of the relationships between them.

As a final piece, each class will work to develop a concept map around the essential question as a means of visualizing the connections between the investigated organisms and our perceptions of humans which will work to connect not only to previously discussed content and concepts but prepare the students for further study of other members of the Animal Kingdom.

---

[1] Daniel, Lucy, Rillero, Peter, Biggs, Alton, Ortleb, Edward, & Zike, Dinah. (2005). “Introduction to animals.” In Life Science (pp. 328-355). New York: Glencoe Science.

[2] Daniel, Lucy, Rillero, Peter, Biggs, Alton, Ortleb, Edward, & Zike, Dinah. (2005). “Mollusks, Worms, Arthropods, Echinoderms.” In Life Science (pp. 328-355). New York: Glencoe Science.

Over the past two weeks I have had the distinct opportunity to work with a very competent, creative, and innovative science educator. Because of this collaboration, both our students and our practices as teachers will benefit immensely and I am enjoying the experience. I wholeheartedly believe that as science is a dynamic field and as teaching is a dynamic profession, collaboration is necessary to enhance the educational experience for students and allow teachers the opportunity to self-assess, receive constructive criticism, and develop innovative ideas for the constant improvement of one’s practice.

There are many ways in which educators can (and should!) collaborate for the development of a productive, healthy, and ever-progressing educational environment and experience. Co-teaching can provide teachers the opportunity to incorporate a variety of instructional and assessment methods into the classroom as well as facilitate the integration of increased literacy, use of technology, and recognition and explorations in to the social, economic, and historical impacts of scientific discoveries.

Likewise, the use of cross-discipline teams can also work to provide students the opportunity to build connections between socially-constructed content areas and utilize and hone a variety of skills in new applications. This method of collaboration can also enhance the educator’s experience and allow for the development of new and innovative ways of engaging students in their learning.

Lastly, discipline-specific teams can work to bridge the gaps between the “sciences,” evaluate student and teacher performance, identify what works and problem solve what doesn’t, and work to ensure that the curriculum, instruction, and assessments work to emphasize and reinforce the development of conceptual understanding of the “big ideas” of science.

We encourage our students to work collaboratively to identify misconceptions, build and assess understanding, and make connections across disciplines – why don’t we, as educators follow the same mantra?

As an homage to a colleague who, while plagued with tons of work and little sleep, still manages to incorporate humor into his practice, and to my current students, here’s some funny biology:

A quarter of the way through my second and final student teaching placement – that much closer to the degree, the fulfillment, and the beginning. Even though I discussed many of these points in my reflection of my first observation, I felt that I should address them and others in a different context:

• Struggles with lesson planning and success of lessons – Even though as Warner students we are all struggling with the workload, the requirements, and the lack of sleep, it is rewarding to see the efforts of your toils in the success of lessons and motivating to continue in our endeavor. I feel that regardless of how I put it down on paper or articulate it to others, my lessons are engaging, well-planned, organized, and work to help my students feel included in a community of learners and build conceptual understanding of the day’s topic and its connections to the big ideas of science.
• Need for flexibility – Each class, each section, each student: they are all unique. It is impossible to script a lesson and expect it to be successful as there are constantly unexpected occurrences which cannot possibly be anticipated when writing plans. The ability to adapt one’s lesson based on what’s working and what’s not and the needs of the students is, in my opinion, an essential characteristic of any great teacher. I believe that my experience as a teacher and a member of the community of learners which I am trying to foster is more organic than can be expressed or articulated ahead of time. My transitions, my questioning, and my students’ responses are those “unexpected” parts of teaching which, in my opinion, makes the profession so dynamic and allows me to constantly reflect and adapt. Without these opportunities, I feel that burn-out and complacency are more likely to set in and negatively affect one’s practice.
• Relationships with students – I have had the opportunity already at Twelve Corners to connect with many of my students in a variety of environments – homeroom, class, lunch (yes, I volunteered for cafeteria duty!), the halls, after school, etc… – which will only aid me in my attempt to differentiate my instruction and engage EVERY student in their education and their science experience.
• Incorporation of a variety of media in order to engage 6th graders for 80 minutes – When I first found out about this placement, I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated – Sixth graders? 83 minutes? IMPOSSIBLE! However, by being over-prepared, planning ambitious lessons, and maintaining my passion and excitement for the sciences, I have be able to engage my students in a variety of activities meant to build conceptual understanding while simultaneously efficiently and effectively using the time available. When the goals and objectives one set forth for a lesson are meaningful and are paired with a strong foundation in content, relevant and physically engaging activities, and motivated students, the 83 minutes fly by!

As my first observation for my placement at Twelve Corners was this week, my blogpost consists of a reflection of my lesson on reproduction in seed-bearing plants.

What went well? Following the previous lesson, we were effectively able to build on the discussed material to continue building our conceptual understanding of cellular respiration. For the most part, the formative assessments conducted throughout the lesson demonstrated that the material covered in the previous day’s lesson was retained by a majority of the students. Because of the content discussed, numerous students were able and willing to contribute to the collaborative nature of the class. In addition, I feel that my pace was much improved and I was more conscious of my students’ progress throughout the lesson which aided in my ability to engage them in productive activity for the majority of the period.

Since coming to Twelve Corners, not only have I been able to establish working relationships with many of my students, I believe that I have developed and maintained a sense of professionalism which aids me in the “management” of the space. The students have a great deal of respect for their school, their teachers, and each other which has helped make my fairly quick transition into lead teacher that much easier. While I have only been in the classroom for a week and a half, I feel comfortable and very much at ease working with the students and capitalizing on their individual strengths and areas of necessary improvement. In addition to their willingness to contribute to the development of the class’ conceptual understanding, a majority of students advocate for themselves and actively seek out help when it is needed. More and more, the students are recognizing that there are two resources in the room and can utilize both myself and my cooperating teacher if they have questions or concerns. These relationships, in my opinion, are essential to maintaining good classroom management – I truly believe that no matter how good a teacher one is, there will always be issues which arise; the measure of an effective educator is partly in their ability to deal with such issues and continue to provide a productive and meaningful educational environment for the students present.

I also feel that I effectively used the available time and filled the 83-minute block with engaging and relevant work meant to build conceptual understanding based on previously experience content knowledge. By first assessing this prior knowledge at the beginning of the period, I was able to gauge each class’ need for review of the content prior to working toward the “big ideas” which were supported by my planned activities which served a variety of learning styles and allowed the students to engage with the material in numerous ways.

As a means of improving my practice, my cooperating teacher observed that I have a tendency to repeat correct answers back to students before moving on to another question or asking for clarification from other students. He explained that by doing so, I may be taking ownership away from the student and, as I want to increase this ownership in the classroom, I have made strides to change this potential detrimental habit. Therefore, I have channeled this habit into a new way of connecting with the students. When a student provides an answer to a question, I provide positive validation of the response (Excellent!, Great answer!, Very good!) and then use that answer to frame another question. I feel, as does my cooperating teacher that this will not only enhance my practice but also work to building the conceptual understanding which is essential for the comprehension of the “big ideas” of science.

What did I change/would I have changed? After following my original lesson plan for the first period class, I quickly realized a variety of changes could be implemented to improve the overall lesson. Primarily, I observed that the content review which I had incorporated was redundant and unnecessary. Therefore, at the suggestion of my cooperating teacher, I removed the Study Guide review component and provided the students with the key for the assignment so that they could self-check and report their scores at a later time. In addition, I realized that the demonstrations of the cones (gymnosperms) and the discussion and dissection of seeds (gymnosperms and angiosperms) were essential visuals for the students and made them an integral part of the lesson rather than reserving them for extra time. Lastly, I moved the double bubble activity to after the dissections which, in my opinion, allowed the students to reflect and process the concepts developed by the class and organize the information in small groups. I noticed throughout the periods that select students were, at times, disengaged and therefore I have to do a better job of engaging and assessing these students more often so that those missed opportunities do not occur or, at the very least, occur less often.

What did I learn about my students? As I have only been at Twelve Corners for a week and a half, I am still working towards connecting with each individual student and recognizing their individual abilities, interests, and motivations in science. My 100 students continue to amaze me in their willingness to contribute to their own education and that of their classmates – by asking deep conceptual questions, participating whole-heartedly in activities, recognizing the value of exposure to the content outside the classroom, and conscientiously maintaining focus and motivation throughout the time available to us, these sixth graders are already preparing themselves for future successes in a variety of environments.

What did I learn about myself? This experience, and those which I have each day, remind me that in order to be an effective teacher, one must be extremely flexible and responsive to one’s students. It is impossible, in my opinion, to plan a scripted lesson and expect it to be effective in practice. Each class period is different, bringing with it unique and, sometimes, unforeseen challenges which must be addressed and may not fit into the “script” of a concretely structured lesson plan. Without this ability to adapt and change, the lesson is doomed from the start. Therefore, in order to effectively and efficiently plan lessons, teachers must be comfortable with the content, continuously recognize the end goal, have contingency plans in place, and realize that the path to that goal may be different for each class and may change 40 minutes into a period depending on the unexpected occurrences which plague the American classroom and work to derail lessons and the building of conceptual understanding.

How did I create a meaning learning community? By integrating a variety of learning styles (written, visual, and auditory expression) as well as allowing for the social construction of a framework for the development of conceptual understanding, I believe that I was able to provide each student with the necessary opportunities to build comprehension of seed-bearing plants, sexual reproduction in plants, biodiversity, and connections to previously discussed concepts. In addition, by incorporating numerous formative and summative assessments, I believe that I was able to introduce students to different, yet still valid, forms of evaluation which incorporated their learning and expressive styles while simultaneously informing my own practice and helping me recognize the individual needs of my students. Lastly, by providing concrete, relevant examples during instruction and planning physically engaging activities, I believe that the students had the opportunity to build conceptual understanding as a class while also individually synthesize their own conceptions of the material.

In my first week at Twelve Corners, I have experienced much and have the opportunity to gain further insight into the workings of education and the need for resources to ensure engagement in material and facilitate independent discovery.

I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about working with 6th graders as it is quite out of my comfort zone. Even though I enjoy working with younger children, I felt as if I would be constrained in terms of content and depth because of the lack of prior experience and background knowledge. In addition, the management issues which I had anticipated also compounded my stress. However, I was (happily) mistaken as I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience so far and look forward to the remainder of my time at Twelve Corners. The students are polite, motivated, engaged, and excited about science. They feel connected to their education and are provided with the resources necessary to ensure success and development. I feel that this experience has already provided me with great insight into the need for investment in the education of our children – without the proper resources, how can a student be expected to succeed?

My first exposure to my classes was last Friday and this past Monday (as the school operates on a rotating A-B schedule). The students were involved in Microscope Mania, a unit designed to incorporate the study of protists with skills practice using the microscope. I was amazing at the level of self-sufficiency among the students and while the often had questions, they worked independently and could move from one task to another without issue. I was also amazed at the sophistication many students demonstrated when discussing both organisms and microscope use. Lastly, their respect for the available resources was also evident and, as my CT explained, is a value on which the teachers and administration focus from the start.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the classes finished Microscope Mania with a unit test – however, this assessment was again based on both identification of protists and necessary skills. Students “judged” each other and the teachers were only used in case of a discrepancy between groups. Again I observed the self-sufficiency and respect among the students in all classes – when the students had completed the test, they put away the materials (turned off and covered the microscope, cleaned slides, etc…) and effortlessly transitioned into another activity. It is my hope that I can continue this trend of smooth transitions and learn more from my CT about implementing such practices.

As the 8 week placement will go by quickly, my CT and I agreed that it would be in my best interest to begin teaching as soon as possible. Therefore, my first lesson were this week (Thursday and Friday), beginning a unit on plant reproduction and processes (photosynthesis and cellular respiration). As a means of maintaining continuity, we decided to mesh my ideas with established classroom practices (mainly the use of “study guides” developed by my CT). In my first lessons as a teacher of 6th graders, I worked hard to incorporate a variety of learning styles into the lesson so as to engage as many students as possible. We first watch a short video which gave an overview of the topic and provided the students with some background knowledge. We then review the study guide homework as a class and worked to build conceptual understanding by asking probing questions meant to synthesize connections between subtopics. Lastly, we began an on-going Predict/Observe/Explain project involving the germination and planting of seeds. I thought long and hard about the logistics of distributing materials and guiding the students through the process of making their “mini-greenhouses” out of wet paper toweling, a Petri dish, and three seeds. With the help of my CT and some adjustments following the first class, I believe that it went very well. The students seemed excited as they were asking many questions about the project and what we would be doing in the future as well as conscientiously working on making prediction and careful observations of their seeds (many students wrote “I predict that…” without prompting! still others decided to draw their observations on the provided sheet).

It is my hope that my plans will continue to engage the students using a variety of media so that they get the most our of the experience. Next week we will be using foldables, concept maps, flower and seed dissections, a “Flower Puzzle” and continued observations of our germinating seeds to further build conceptual understanding of reproduction and connections with other topics.

I am excited to be working with so many amazing students and a great CT. In addition, Carli and I have the opportunity to plan many of our lessons together as well as co-teach a section which I feel will be a great experience for the both of us, demonstrating the need for collaboration not only among students but among teachers as well as a means of building a community of professional learners dedicated to the development of engaging, meaningful, and relevant science education.

This post is a bit older but I was unable to post it due to problems with the internet/site…

While I have truly enjoyed my experiences at Edison, this opportunity is not without frustrations. As the son of two educators I knew that this was not an easy profession by any means; however, I have found that no matter how I try to implement engaging, inquiry-based activities into my lessons, I am still not seeing the results that I had expected.

I originally thought that by providing my students a break from traditional science classroom practices such as authentic assessments and physically engaging investigations, the students in my classes would feel a greater sense of ownership and investment in their education. However, the culture of the American educational system such that it is makes the implementation of these practices extremely difficult. In addition, as much as I try to scaffold these practices and provide the students with the necessary framework to complete such assignments, the majority of students choose to not participate.

I don’t know for sure if it is a question of work ethic, confusion, or disregard for educational opportunities. I thought that with my energetic approach to Living Environment I could encourage students to engage in their education. However, it is extremely frustrating when we get to the end of the marking period and half of my students are failing. I realize that a variety of issues are part of the problem, such as attendance problems, the cycle of poverty, the availability to proper study spaces,  and the necessity to work and provide for family members (among others). I do realize, though that there needs to be a sense of accountability with our students and, at some point, it falls on them.

So my question/struggle is – What if inquiry-based aren’t working? Are these practices for everyone? So far, I would say that while inquiry provides a great alternative strategy to traditional practices, I don’t feel as if it is the end-all be-all for science education. As a means of addressing each of our students’ learning styles, we must not only differentiate instruction but also differentiate our practices so that each student has the opportunity to feel included in a safe and productive educational environment as well as engage in the material in his or her own way.

Since the start of 2010, there have already been new experiences for me which have worked to shape both my perspective and my practice. This post is the first in a series which will continue to log my exposure to science education and the methods and tools which I will gather and share to inform my future work as a teacher of science.

Of these changes was that of my student teaching placement. Following the winter holiday, I completed my last three weeks at Edison Tech with Lisa E. and her Living Environment classes. This experience was extremely insightful and did much to inform my practice – I had the unique opportunity to work with a great cooperating teacher who allowed me to try a variety of tools in the classroom and evaluate not only student performance but also self-assess so as to reflect on the experiences learn from them. In addition, my time at Edison not only provided me insight into urban education and reaffirmed my desire to teach in an urban district, but also helped to renew my confidence in my decision to be an educator. While often frustrating and never easy, this challenging opportunity provided amazing experience and preparation for my future work.

The second change has been the start of a new semester at Warner. It is my hope that the two courses I am taking this semester will work to continue to provide valuable, practical, and meaningful information and experiences which will, in turn, allow me to better serve my current and future students. While I realize that we have requirements for both our specific program as well as for the Warner School, I hope our focus remains on our students and the preparation of highly-qualified and confident educators.

Our first classes (Topics – dealing with mayoral control of schools and alternatives to No Child Left Behind; EDU 448 – insight into New York State standards and their use in the classroom) have provided additional insight into relevant aspects of education – I hope this focus continues so as to adequately prepare us for our new careers!

The last change thus far has been a new student teaching placement which I began yesterday at Twelve Corners Middle School in Brighton. While working with 6th graders may seem daunting to some, I believe that this will be another meaningful experience which will inevitably guide my practice. I have already been able to work closely with some of my students and look forward to the unique opportunities that this placement will provide (such as the prospect of co-teaching one class with a fellow Warner student). Such experiences will only help in my preparation and provide the practical and relevant insight necessary to successful serve one’s students and provide them with the tools and skills required for critical thinking and problem solving.