One of the most wonderful sounds I've been able to hear is my students say "Wow", "Cool", "It worked!". A couple of weeks ago I was so ecstatic that I was able to hear those delightful words from quite a few of my students as they walked into the room. What brought this surprise? Let me explain...
A few weeks before, I had decided to change the course in which my class usually was executed. From a flipped classroom, I decided to take the focus on learning information because I, their teacher, gave it to them, and put that focus on them learning information and executing labs that they wanted to do. I felt that they could take ownership of their learning, open their minds and create a love of learning. I did this in the hopes that this would bring in those students that were otherwise disconnected and not focused. Some of it worked, some of it didn't, and I've decided to keep on this idea of creating a love of learning for all, but since this didn't reach every student as I would've liked, I have an idea to change my class once again, but more on that later.
It began with showing some youtube videos on active transport, passive diffusion, and osmosis. I picked some that were short and interesting. The students then got to rank which of these topics was most interesting, and then I grouped them. They were to do a "learning task" from each of the categories in their notebooks so that they get an introduction to each topic and they would later have notes they could refer back to. The learning tasks were posted on their portal and on google classroom and they had a variety of them that they could pick, from worksheets to youtube videos as well as webquests and articles they could read. The following day the students were to discuss with their groups a plan of action to present a 10 minute "lecture" of their choice, from showing videos, showing notes, and/or asking questions, a 30 minute lab or hands-on activity, and finally a 5 minute review worksheet or game. The students put everything together, and I discussed with them their plans, made any suggestions needed to make it better, and then asked them for a materials list so that I could purchase the items needed for their activities, or copy any handouts they needed for the other students. Students took one class period for three days to go over their topic with other students. Some presentations were better than others, but I think that everyone enjoyed the hands-on activities.
Below are not my student activities, but the activities that my students completed.
For Active Transport:
So here is my future plan for the DNA topic.
As the students come in, they will begin with socratic method. "How is DNA used in ____." is the essential question. Students will discuss what they think can fill in the blank, and if they cannot think of anything, we will use google's predictive text to find some inspiration. We will discuss what we know about DNA, and will have a variety of questions to allow the students to get discussion flowing if they cannot continue conversation on their own. Before they leave, they will pick a topic that they will research and present "How is DNA used in___." Each night for three classes, an article will be given to them to read for homework, and so the flipped classroom will partially resume. They will come back the next day and have a conversations about what they read with only a flash card to use if they choose, for half the class, while the other half of the class they will get to participate in a hands on activity chosen by the teacher. If students do not participate or do not have valid input and information, then they will be separated and they will have to do the reading, and then they will have to do worksheets to learn the same concepts instead of the hands-on activities. Until they are prepared, they will not be allowed to participate in the hands-on activities. Once the main concepts are reviewed with the class/teacher and hands-on activity, then students will have a day to research, to put their presentations together, and then they will present/or create a video that will be shared online.
This will be happening in a few weeks, and I will definitely blog about that process as well. Wish me Luck! On my next blog, I'll be writing about our GAFE summit! In case you don't know what GAFE is, like me, it's Google Apps for Education... Stay Tuned!
A few weeks before, I had decided to change the course in which my class usually was executed. From a flipped classroom, I decided to take the focus on learning information because I, their teacher, gave it to them, and put that focus on them learning information and executing labs that they wanted to do. I felt that they could take ownership of their learning, open their minds and create a love of learning. I did this in the hopes that this would bring in those students that were otherwise disconnected and not focused. Some of it worked, some of it didn't, and I've decided to keep on this idea of creating a love of learning for all, but since this didn't reach every student as I would've liked, I have an idea to change my class once again, but more on that later.
It began with showing some youtube videos on active transport, passive diffusion, and osmosis. I picked some that were short and interesting. The students then got to rank which of these topics was most interesting, and then I grouped them. They were to do a "learning task" from each of the categories in their notebooks so that they get an introduction to each topic and they would later have notes they could refer back to. The learning tasks were posted on their portal and on google classroom and they had a variety of them that they could pick, from worksheets to youtube videos as well as webquests and articles they could read. The following day the students were to discuss with their groups a plan of action to present a 10 minute "lecture" of their choice, from showing videos, showing notes, and/or asking questions, a 30 minute lab or hands-on activity, and finally a 5 minute review worksheet or game. The students put everything together, and I discussed with them their plans, made any suggestions needed to make it better, and then asked them for a materials list so that I could purchase the items needed for their activities, or copy any handouts they needed for the other students. Students took one class period for three days to go over their topic with other students. Some presentations were better than others, but I think that everyone enjoyed the hands-on activities.
Below are not my student activities, but the activities that my students completed.
For Active Transport:
At the end of the week, the students were to create a video interview regarding what they learned, how they taught their lesson, and how other students learned from them. It was very telling. Some students really grasps the topics, some understood the basics of the concepts, but all of them learned. Not only that, all of them were so curious as to watching the outcomes of their labs the day after, I'll take that as a win. That curiosity and inquisitive mind really came through, which was what I was aiming for all along. Now that we are on the next topics, cell division, which include things like mitosis/meiosis, cell regulation and cancer, and cell differentiation and stem cells, this direction that the class is going in doesn't seem to be so promising.
I watched a video by Patrick Bassett directed to our school and he said that we should have the students teach other students. When watching that, I was thinking: that's exactly what I'm trying to do, and for a lesson, it worked. There was group work, the students were being independent learners, found out content for themselves, and then applied it to an activity that they led. For this current topic though, the students are not as interested. These activities are not lending themselves to be exciting or astonishing. So, once again, I believe a change is in order.
With our school, we read Most Likely to Succeed and then watched the Documentary. I am really taking in some things I've learned from the book in order to change my class in a more progressive, student centered classroom. These are some thoughts that came to me while reflecting on the message by Wagner and Dintersmith.
- Inquisitive minds are of plenty.
- What interests those inquisitive minds are specific.
- How do we harness it to touch the hearts of students to get them interested in the content we are teaching?
- We need to make connections between all realms for students to really grow.
- How do we increase motivation and build independent learners while balancing content?
- Change is difficult
- Students sometimes resist change
- Students sometimes want to be told what to know
- What happens when adults/teachers step back
- We all learn differently, how can students make their own choices and ownership of their learner at the high school level, when they have never been asked to do so before. How much "training" does that take? Trying to implement changes in the second semester can be difficult.
- Idea: Start with an essential leading question, and teach them the basic concepts so that they can present on their solutions to problems or present their research to the leading question. Each topic they learn about first, is to develop an answer to that question, and students should develop the research and the reasoning for their presentation or solution.
- Current challenges with change is time (45 minute classes)
So here is my future plan for the DNA topic.
As the students come in, they will begin with socratic method. "How is DNA used in ____." is the essential question. Students will discuss what they think can fill in the blank, and if they cannot think of anything, we will use google's predictive text to find some inspiration. We will discuss what we know about DNA, and will have a variety of questions to allow the students to get discussion flowing if they cannot continue conversation on their own. Before they leave, they will pick a topic that they will research and present "How is DNA used in___." Each night for three classes, an article will be given to them to read for homework, and so the flipped classroom will partially resume. They will come back the next day and have a conversations about what they read with only a flash card to use if they choose, for half the class, while the other half of the class they will get to participate in a hands on activity chosen by the teacher. If students do not participate or do not have valid input and information, then they will be separated and they will have to do the reading, and then they will have to do worksheets to learn the same concepts instead of the hands-on activities. Until they are prepared, they will not be allowed to participate in the hands-on activities. Once the main concepts are reviewed with the class/teacher and hands-on activity, then students will have a day to research, to put their presentations together, and then they will present/or create a video that will be shared online.
This will be happening in a few weeks, and I will definitely blog about that process as well. Wish me Luck! On my next blog, I'll be writing about our GAFE summit! In case you don't know what GAFE is, like me, it's Google Apps for Education... Stay Tuned!
I love the active transport activity! I will use this next year.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!! I'd love to hear how it goes for you!
Deletethis looks awesome, but for someone new to this lesson, the work load sounds significant. i realize once the lesson is set up, only tweaking will be required, but any suggestions for first timers?
ReplyDeleteHi John!Thank you so much for your comment and for reading my blog. I will be updating twice a month so be sure to go back and follow along. I love helping new teachers and I'm so happy you are interested in trying new things for your students. Never loose that quality. So John, my suggestion is trying to pick one thing that you want to change and incorporate into your lessons and classroom. Then try it out. If it's successful then try to incorporate more of it, if not, tweak what you did. I definitely think that providing my students with a rubric before hand and explaining the process and reasoning for the process is necessary. I could share the rubric that I've amended from others with you at your request. I'm always changing it up to be a better teacher for my students. If you see a particular aspect you're interested in changing, please get back to me and I'll try to help you incorporate it.
DeleteBest!