Saw sharpening...

Decided that to sharpen the saw I would try at least two nights a week to get outside with my two year old Nikolai. Sounds funny to have to plan it, but it's easy after dinner to start the dishes, gold that laundry, check the email... and all of a sudden it's bath time!! Week one was a success some walks, park time and today biking, running a lap at the local track and some soccer in the front yard!!
I really wanted to post a pic and video but can't figure it out!! It says something about that my administrator of the email account does not allow it... Technology...

ER--NGISED SDAWKCAB

" ER NGISED SDAWKCAB"--Any quesses?

RE-DESIGN BACKWARDS. That's what I need to do with ALL my UNITS.

It seems overwhelming... but my plan is to sit down with the standards and write a list of the major units that I cover. Then try to come up with 1-3 enduring understandings for each of them. If I can't do that, then I shouldnt be teaching the unit... or the unit is not worth saving... or it should be combined with another.

When that is done I would like a list of AT LEAST 3 LABS or HANDS-ON activities that I use to teach the enduring understandings and if I cant do that... I need to spend time making it happen. Its one thing to teach but to teach science students have to do science, scientifically... meaning ask a question, do a test, come to a conclusion, plan what's next.

Am I really looking at two things on my TO DO list that are going to take up my whole summer?

Most likely. 

MY "NEW" SENSED NEED

I guess my biggest concern in my classroom is that I don't feel like the students THINK like scientists.
It sounds weird... I can't put my finger on it but they just miss the concept of "THINKING SCIENTIFICALLY" about what to conclude after an experiment and what to do NEXT!

Is it because they are not that engaged in what we are doing in class? Maybe.
Is it that the content does not seem relevant to their daily life? Perhaps.
Or is it something bigger? I'm thinking so.

Is what I am missing in my science classes just an overall lack of CRITICAL THINKING skills all together?  Is scientific thinking really just critical thinking in disguise?  Damn you Tony Wagner.

Great... I have my answer... what's wrong in my classes is a lack of critical thinking.
Now what can I do about solving the problem?

I need to "scientifically" think on that one for awhile. (ha ha)

LIST of MY AR CONCLUSIONS

AR Conclusions:

1. Collecting data is certainly worth it, but it can yield far different results then one originally intended. 

2. Low-achieving students will  not retake tests but they might fix answers for points back.  

3. I need to consider a re-testing policy for my classroom. 
4. Students can easily score themselves on level on engagment during a small amount of class time.             5. Students they are very aware of the academic choices they are making on a daily basis. They choose.

6. Level of engagement may be indicative of their grade. This is intriguing to me.  

7. 45% of my students do not study outside of class time but 90% work hard during class time.

8. Students worked in groups 70% of the time during my 5 weeks of data collection.

From here, I am interested in figuring out which style of teaching gets my students the highest levels of active engagement. Are groups a factor?  And would a high level of student engagement then correlate strongly with higher grades and academic success? If I can get my students more engaged then could I raise their grades?

 PULL IN THE... EMERGENCY GENERATOR! "WE'VE LOST POWER!"

I feel like “The Little Engine that Could!” Seriously on a daily basis. I generate. I do there is no denying it. I have a backup generator if my original generator fails. A plan in my head before I get to school and then the actual plan that just “comes out” as the bell rings based on student needs and behavior and attitudes.  First and foremost I use the revised Minnesota Science Standards to plan which units I will (or should) cover. This is my second year with the revised standards and I already know I am going to have to leave a few things out. Second I correlate the standards with student textbook chapters to see what fits and what is missing, boring, or left out.

To generate student notes I spend time reading and re-reading the student textbooks to draw out the “best or most valid” information that I feel the students need to know to understand the units and standards. Then the real work begins as I get the creative juices flowing on how to go about teaching an ACTUAL lesson to re-teach the information to the students.  I don’t lecture nearly as often as I used to… and never two days in a row. Never the whole hour. Maybe 25-30 minutes. It drags I know… Sometimes I use the SMART BOARD but really I feel like that is just something else that I don’t really have time for yet. I still use the OVERHEAD for notes believe it or not. I like the lights off (half off really.) I like sitting down for once… it calms my students—otherwise I never sit or stop. I like COLOR-CODING for them and actually SPENDING TIME writing the notes WORD-for-WORD. I know its old-fashioned but again it slows me down. I am facing the students. I can see their eyes. PowerPoints work sometimes but I tend to speed through them like a run-away train!

So, it’s me presenting info and then me generating some “fun,” creative way for the students to review or use the information from the previous day. A poster, a skit, a project, a worksheet. A lab if at all feasible, something for them to cut out, or draw, or fill in. Manipulation of material and facts.  Honestly… its exhausting. I feel like I am connecting the information but really my students are NOT making true connections and links between units or lessons. I need to re-vamp what I am doing and I know that. More time for questions… more discussion and learning from one another...less answers provided to the students. I wonder...will this ever be ANY easier? I am realizing that I thought it would… but I was wrong.

I think I can, I think I can... Can I? Should I? Am I the only one pulling? 10 yrs uphill...

DOUBLE VISION

MY VISION and MISSION STATEMENT… after YEAR ONE

Part One:

One year of my masters program has certainly helped my shape and re-define what my vision and mission is as a 21^st century science educator. Through my time spent with other educators on the weekends and the reflective practices from month to month I have come to see my role and career in a whole new way.

My current BELIEF statements about teaching are:

1. Students learn best when actively engaged and guided in the discovery of knowledge

2. Science is a hands-on discipline and lab work is an essential component

3. Teachers must intentionally plan collaborative lessons and include focus on student process

4. Students must be challenged to inquire, question, communicate, and use critical thinking skills

5. Technology should be incorporated as needed and used to promote and enhance learning goals 

Part Two:

Where do our ideals come from? Are they innate, something we are born with? Do they come from our environment and our experiences with it? Or are they perhaps a combination of both nature and nurture? I am truly hoping it’s the latter. I believe that no educator goes into even one day of teaching hoping and planning to do a bad job… but there is always room for improvement. I feel that I could use improvement in many areas and taking time to reflect on my past, present and future has helped me visualize and see the continued changes necessary for my career as an educator.

PAST…

Growing up teachers lectured. Students listened, recorded notes, and took the test. There was no complaining there was no misbehaving and there was little change from this pattern. Good teachers gave interesting lectures and examples and good students listened carefully and studied diligently to master material presented to succeed on multiple choice exams. Rote memorization and facts were reality and this repeated procedure came to be…expected. Type A personalities don’t like change. That’s me. This is my background, my history, my prior knowledge. This is how I constructed knowledge and what I assumed being a teacher would be… just successfully repeating this lecture pattern again and again.  I went to college. In fact I went to college for seven years and things were the same. Scientific really.

When I got my first job I worked hard every day preparing my lectures, recording them in notebooks and re-writing them for students on the board.  I didn’t necessarily plan on this style… it was what I assumed I was to be doing. I changed jobs after five years and moved to a district that had more than one science teacher. I saw what others were doing, but really just continued doing what I thought was the best. I was growing, somewhat. I incorporated a lot of study and note taking skills into my daily practice because students were lacking and struggling in those areas. I worked hard on scientific vocabulary and good strategies for content area reading. I upgraded to using the SmartBoard and began using YouTube for live video clips of concepts I was covering with students. In fact this would be how I would describe where I am presently.

PRESENT…

After nine years of teaching I know a lot of things. I am good at classroom management and discipline. I know my students well and my district. I am very familiar with my science standards and the content I am expected to cover throughout the course of the year. I have specialized in the elective courses I like and have a pretty good following in both marine biology and anatomy. I am a good lecturer, have passion and enthusiasm for my content and teaching in general and enjoy dissections. I know how to prepare a good test and differentiate where needed for student success. I know where to go when problems arise and how to communicate effectively with parents and administrators. In fact, before starting my master’s program I was “pretty comfortable” with myself and my teaching in general. But… one year of masters weekends …    I now know that my curriculum is… expected. I now know that lecture is boring and frowned upon. I can see my students struggling to stay engaged in what I am saying… even though I am enthusiastic about saying it. They know vocabulary but don’t understand concepts. They pass tests but really struggle to “do” science. I can feel the change that is necessary. God it’s SO apparent I am almost drowning in guilt and overwhelmed by fear of what is to come. I have to throw away everything I have. Pitch it. Purge it. Start again. Start new. Holy shi*!!!

FUTURE…

I need to redesign ALL my units…backwards. Asking essentially: “What do I want students to be able to do and demonstrate?”  I need to teach them how to think and analyze critically. To give them opportunities TO DO science… not just talk about it! Labs and hands-on activities need to be the starting and focus point for my teaching followed closely by connecting concepts with collaborative teamwork and student-led discussion. I have to plan what the STUDENTS are going to do, not what I am going to say or teach them. I have to change the way I think about teaching and strive to be a facilitator for my students guiding them through the standards almost by surprise, by inquiry. One day can be completely separate from the next. I can see the integration of concepts and overlapping of ideas and scientific skills. Students must be asking questions and setting up their own experiments to answer their questions. I need to invest my prep time working on developing my own questioning skills and gathering up labs, lab materials, and equipment! To research new units, case studies, discussion and application questions!