Kim’s blog

How do you sum up a week that has felt like a year?  So much has happened that I’m having trouble finding the words to sum it up.  Apologies are given in advance for bearing with me through my whole smorgasbord of events.  Basically I came off a weekend spending time in the ER then the hospital with my Dad.  On Monday, most of us started our second student-teaching  placement…a new school, new mentor teacher, new students, new schedule, new co-teaching rhythm.  On Monday evening, we had our cohort discussion about the Warner lesson plan and its implications.  We even had the opportunity to look over our past lesson plans and learn where our strengths lied and what shortcomings could use an extra bit of attention.  Monday was an overwhelming day to say the least, but we all came out knowing more, feeling more, and questioning more (perhaps I should include  that last phrase in the nature of science section for my theoretical framework…insert smiley face here).  

 In all seriousness, I, just as everyone else, have dealt with a lot.  My Dad is still in the hospital and expected to come out tomorrow or Monday.  We have all finished a full week in our new placement.  We are all trying to figure out the best way to connect with our new students.  Wow, things are looking up! 

I’ll close this blog with the highlight of my week… a student had asked if I could stay with her during lunch to help her with some homework.  To be quite blunt, I’m a woman who needs her snacks every couple hours, but to have a student want some extra help from a novice teacher as myself, I was pumped up.  Not only did I get mistaken for a student by the lunch ladies and have the opportunity to indulge in some tater tots, chicken nuggets and corn bread, but I was able to get to know a student’s way of thinking and be able to help her understand a bit more about genetic engineering.  It was a great way to end the week!

If at any point in my life I was going to burst with excitement, it very well may have been at 3PM on Friday, December 18.  The thought of sleeping more than 4 or 5 hours a night, of actually having a conversation with friends aside from ‘How’s the paper coming?’ or ‘What inquiry-based activity are you using to teach Mendel’s pea plant experiments?’, and being able to drop everything and attend to family needs made for an amazing two weeks filled with peace of mind and sanity.  A month later, we are back in the thick of things and trying to have our lives flow in sync with the Warner rhythm once again.  However, it doesn’t seem to be as much a struggle as it has been in the past.  Over the last two semesters, our backpacks have grown with more than just print-outs, books, and blue certification packets.  We’ve successfully lead a camp, 10+ weeks of STARS, >100 hours (let’s just put an emphasis on > shall we ) of field observation, and four weeks of running solo in front of the classroom.  The achievements are outstanding, and they truly diminish the appearance of those future hurdles that try to daunt our paths ahead.  I don’t mean to be the Get Real! Cheerleader here (well, I would be the team mascot if we had a cool custom for me to sport), but I think that sometimes with all of the papers, tests, classes, lesson plans, portfolio plans, and the infinite amount of miscellaneous tasks, our growth and accomplishments can sometimes be overshadowed.  Our cohort has developed into an impressive assortment of science enthusiasts who genuinely have the students as their focus and at the same (very limited) time, are always willing to help one another with feedback, lesson ideas, or even a mini counseling session at the Elmwood or Distillery. So if I’m tooting our own horn, so be it but I’m really proud of how far we’ve come, where we are now, and where each of us is headed.  Perhaps we should think about getting me an actual horn to toot or maybe a sweet kazoo to go along with the mascot costume that I long to parade around Dewey in. I’ll just leave the specifics to a class vote.

Tags: motivation

I don’t even know how to sum up today.  To see all the STARS scientists in one room with their loved ones to support them and actually have the community bear witness to all that they’ve accomplished over the last 10 weeks was absolutely inspiring.  Through all of the planning and sometimes worry about how we were going to make the most of the STARS meetings, the culmination of the students’ and the teachers’ hard work was immeasurable.  The girls took so much pride in their investigations and had transformed into fully capable budding scientists.  It excites me to know that these young women make up our future.  Their ingenuity, creativeness and energy are inevitably going to lead to amazing discoveries and advances in the future to come.  Even though my part was small in comparison to their lifetime ahead, I’m privileged that I was a part of their growth.

So here is how lesson 3 went in my series of 3…better late than never is the motto I’m going to stand by here

Making cell models as the main activity for a lesson plan to teach cell structure and function was very interactive and stimulating for the students. The classroom felt alive with students discussing and collaborating with one another throughout the period.  One of the main downfalls was that this activity required more time.  In retrospect, at least an hour period would have been needed to provide time for the groups to present, describe, and validate their models to their classmates.  I really wanted the students to be able to reflect on why they chose the candy they did to represent the organelles and their associated characteristics; however, we completely ran out of time and the students were working on their models up until the end of the class period.  An excellent suggestion from Joe was that I could have had the chart I handed out for them to document the organelles and associated candies have a designated column for explanation of why each piece of candy was chose for each organelle.  Also, I should have frosted the cakes prior to class since this activity did not have any significant learning value.  I had intended to do this, but it was suggested that there would be enough time and not to worry about it.  I should have followed my instinct and frosted the cakes beforehand.  While the frosting represented the cytoplasm, in retrospect, I don’t feel it was a valuable activity for them to spend time frosting the cakes. 

In addition, this lesson made me reflect on how to better differentiate within the classroom.  While I did give the students verbal directions as they entered into the room to get them on task, I should have also had a visual representation of what the objectives and directions were for the lesson.  It takes time for some students to process what is being said and some students may not have heard or been able to multitask listening and settling in when I was giving the directions.  In respect to this, I also need to be more assertive and command my voice better in the classroom.  I haven’t established a strong position in the class yet, so at times the students are still talking in the background and it is difficult to project my voice over it.  The background talking is distracting to the other students and means that not everyone is engaged and on task.  This will be an aspect that I want to remedy during my student teaching. 

Lastly, I learned that I always should have a back-up plan.  I discussed with my CT about using his video recorder for my lesson, but this fell through.  Ultimately, it was my responsibility to make sure I had everything I needed. Especially when there was no camera available for my first 2 lessons, I should have immediately borrowed an I-Flip to ensure that at least the 3^rd lesson was recorded.  As I gain more experience, I know I’ll get better at time, material and classroom management, but in the meantime, I need to have some patience with myself since I’m not professionally at the level I want to be.

Tags: cells

This past Thursday, most members of the Green team were present despite bus rides, cheerleading and tutoring conflicts.  It was great to see the commitment of our team and to have their combined energy for the final meeting before the STARS conference.  Pizza time was an excellent opportunity to get reacquainted with one another and get the lines of communication flowing.  The ultimate conversation starter was the movie that John created highlighting all of the girls’ diligence, enthusiasm, and fun that the girls had experienced over the last 10 weeks.  The y were excited to see themselves, hear the upbeat background music, and realize how much they had accomplished over their time in STARS.

The girls then were split into 4 teams to collaboratively construct our poster for the conference.  The teams chose their task which consisted of either  the background, the question, the method or the results / conclusion.   After 30 minutes of focused work, the STARS made a very concise and informative poster that took spectators on journey over the last 10 weeks.  The team work between the girls and the two schools enabled them to successfully design a creative poster that delivered a clear message of their scientific work.  Top quality!

Between the two schools, the Green team had a variation of activities for this week’s STAR session.  One half team (EAST) was concentrating on data collection using their windmill models, a voltmeter, and Excel while the other half team (Freedom) was reflecting on their role as a scientist over the last few weeks.  East was very efficient with setting up the windmill models and collecting data.  One student negotiated the windmill and amount of blades, another student read aloud the voltmeter readings, and the last student inputted the data on an Excel spreadsheet.  The STARS immediately took note that the voltage readings were not consistent and jumping around quite a bit.  With some guidance, they decided to collect the lowest and highest points of voltage and calculate the average voltage from these points.  It was noted that more than 1 trial would have increased the reliability of the data, but due to time restrictions, we only could run through each blade number once.  After the data was collected, the STARS women discussed their findings that a windmill with 8 blades was the most efficient since it produced the most voltage. 

                Overall, this STARS lesson let each half team participate in an authentic aspect of science.  East was able to collect and analyze data in order to point to a conclusion.  Freedom was able to use the ‘Inquiry Cube’ activity to investigate and reason through a problem the same way scientists do.  Increased participation of some of the STARS women at EAST was apparent during video conferencing, which further demonstrates that they are actively and collaboratively engaging in science.  They see that the work they are doing during STARS is relevant and has purpose, and they are taking pride in this.  One of the major arrows that hinder us is that there is no longer enough time for the STARS to complete all they want to do in one session.  It is encouraging to know they are interested in their investigation and want to pursue it further.  Our future scientists are looking bright!

The lesson ‘Using windmill models to collect data and determine design efficiency’ went very well overall and took some unexpected, but enlightening, turns that were not originally anticipated.  The documentary on William Kamkwamba helped bridge the connection for the STARS on how relevant and important their work was and how it could have a direct impact on the community.  The STARS listed comparison on how William Kamkwamba was 14 years old when he constructed a windmill for his village, and it was out of old material that he had found laying around.  Similarly, we were using old cereal boxes, popsicle sticks, mesh board, foam board, and construction paper as some of the starting materials for our windmill design.  Furthermore, if he was able to make a windmill to power his village, why wouldn’t they be able to build a windmill to power their school?  By watching a real scenario, it made their investigative question meaningful and relevant to them. 

The STARS then constructed a concept map using the white board. This was to be a collaborative activity, but some were more involved in the construction than others.  Perhaps in the future we would use post it notes and have each of the girls write down a part of the investigation and then we could combine and link them together.  This would give them a few extra minutes to think about the concept map design, what was important to our investigation, and provide an opportunity to ensure that each STARS voice was heard.   The STARS were able to discern which variable they were going to manipulate and which they would keep constant.  They choose to study the efficiency of a windmill with 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 blades while keeping the shape constant.  What was not agreed upon was what material the blades were going to be constructed out of.  Each student chose a different material, which they realized after comparing their models that it was not possible to draw any conclusion about blade number when another variable was also different.  The STARS then fully represented as true scientists and after discussing their findings with the other half team via video conferencing, they decided to choose cereal boxes and popsicle sticks for the blade design.  Not only did they collaborate with others, but they analyzed their models and made a decision on what their next step of their investigation would be. 

It was a productive day for the Green team.  We learned that steps in the scientific process need to be revisited sometimes and altered when necessary.  Also, the students were able to redirect the investigation after using their peers as resources.   The students’ ideas were original, and they took ownership over the investigation.  What I noticed about myself personally is that I need to relax more around the students and not be so concerned with the imperfections that might arise.  While my questioning is getting better, I still trip over words sometimes, and I’m not always explicit in my direction. With time and awareness, I hope to improve upon these.

After yesterday’s lesson, I came into class today with some thoughts on what my expectations would be for the students in both their learning and behavior.  I knew that I would need more stamina today as compared to yesterday since it was a double period (90 minutes) for Living Environment.  As the students came in, I greeted them by the door and immediately relayed instructions to be seated with paper out ready to take down notes.  It was an action packed schedule, so no time could be lost to disciplining issues.  The students were very receptive to this guidance and within a minute or two, I had their full attention. I explained that I was not able to talk over people the way I had yesterday, and that I would need them to cooperate by raising their hands when they had a question or comment.  Stating my expectations up front really set the mood of the entire 90 minute class.  For the most part, students raised their hands and did not try to speak over one another or me.  It was very refreshing and the productivity of the class stepped up a notch as compared to yesterday!

After we reviewed yesterday’s discussion on prokaryotes and eukaryotes, the stage was set for the exploration of plant and animal cells.  We reviewed some cell models and discussed the functions of each organelle.  It was especially exciting to hear the students be able to identify segments of the “Inner Life of a Cell’ clip and relate it to our discussion. 

In retrospect, the lesson went well today and the students appeared to be engaged throughout the 90 minutes.  However, I would not have had them choose their groups and instead would have established the groups myself in order to alleviate the commotion that resulted.  Also, after debriefing with my CT, he made me aware that when I talked to a particular group, I closed off my body, and therefore my attention, to the other students.  This is something I plan to concentrate on tomorrow during the group activities.

Tags: cells

Today was my first full independent lesson that I taught in Living Environment.  I introduced the students to the world of cells by showing them the “Inner life of a cell” animation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gFwByD400U ). There was such a multitude of questions and comments that I deemed it necessary to show the short clip again.  As much as I was encouraged by the verbal excitement demonstrated by the students, it was not expressed in an organized, productive manner. 

Following a discussion of the cell movie, I asked the students to describe how big a cell was.  Some students made gestures with their fingers while others thought it was more so the size of a particle of dirt. Using the site http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale, the students were able to compare the actual size of a cell in relation to everyday objects such as a coffee bean, grain of rice, and piece of salt. Much to their surprise, it was shocking that a cell could be ‘even smaller than a piece of dirt”.  However, this activity consumed much more time than I had planned for.  My CT suggested that he would have focused on the cell size and not gone into as much depth with the viruses as I did, and in essence, this would have freed up some time for me. 

The final activity for the day utilized the internet site: http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm.  This interactive site allowed the students to explore models of plant and animal cells.  This activity was used to introduce the students to eukaryotic cells as well as discern what their prior knowledge was.  The students had some familiarity with the names of the organelles, but could not explain their function in the cell. Tomorrow’s lesson goes into depth discussing the specifics of plant and animal cell organelles.  From their understanding of cell structures and functions, they will design cell models analogous to the examples viewed on the internet.  They will be deciding on how to represent the organelles as well as explaining their models to their peers.

What I learned from today is that I need to budget my time better and explicitly tell the students what my behavioral expectations are for them.  There was some talking and disengagement among a few students during today’s lesson, and as my CT noted, these kinds of distractions inhibit every student from learning.  Tomorrow I plan to greet the students by the door, and as they enter, tell them what is expected once they are seated.   They must be respectful of me and their fellow peers and be prepared to learn by showing their attentiveness and focus.  In addition, I will no longer give attention to students who shout questions and comments aloud and out of turn.  During today’s lesson, I acknowledged several questions and comments from students who were not demonstrating consideration of others in the classroom.  I am going to address and hopefully remedy this pattern of behavior in the beginning of tomorrow’s lesson.

Tags: cells

         So many amazing things have happened since the blogs went down a couple weeks ago!   Not only have the STARS women opened up more with their peers both at the school and during video conferencing, they’ve taken the lead with the windmill investigation.  They’ve put in a great deal of thought and effort into windmill design and construction, and it has paid off!  They concluded at the end of last week’s session that the angle of the blades has a major impact on the effectiveness of their windmill.  After working with different materials and blade shapes, they compared their designs with each other and with the other half team and realized that the angling of the blades was crucial to whether the windmill was able to capture air or not.   They continued on with their design investigation and found out that constructing blades out of cardboard and reinforcing them with popsicle sticks gave them the best results.  By the end of last week, all the STARS women had working models and their excitement was contagious!  Shouts of joy filled the room, and I was pumped up to be able to share in their experience.  

            They came in this week ready to go and had a very strong start.  Through open inquiry, the STARS women designed electromagnets using wire, batteries and a bolt.  Several attempts were unsuccessful, but they were working together to figure it out and shared some great insights.  Once they did create a working electromagnet, they were very excited and proud.  They even took it further and wondered if using two batteries would increase the strength of the magnet.  The first circuit they made didn’t work, but John did a great job of making it relevant to the students by having them think about how batteries are aligned in boom box.   This completely resonated with the STARS, and they successfully created an electromagnet that could pick up 2 bolts with ease.  During our debrief, John and I did feel that we should have explicitly told the STARS how this activity related to our windmill investigation in that this week we used electricity to make a magnet and next week we will be using a magnet attached to our windmills to make electricity.  I’m not sure if the students clearly understood this. 

            Overall, the STARS are doing amazing work.  Over the last 2 weeks, their windmill designs have dramatically improved, and they’ve successfully utilized the benefits of collaboration to better their ideas and gain additional insight.  I’m very excited for this week’s session when the STARS women will be using their windmills to generate electricity.  This will solidify how important their work has been over the last few weeks, and they will be able to determine which designs are more optimal as determined from a voltmeter.  I can’t wait to see our windmill models in action!