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Ditch that Homework. Chapter 8: Ditch that Red Pen

During this semester we had the opportunity to read Ditch that Homework, written by Matt Miller and Alice Killer. With going to be secondary education teachers in a time when everything is changing so much it is important that we are also able to change with the times. This means, not sticking to the traditional methods we remember when being in grade school. Another chapter that had spoken out to me was Chapter 8 Ditch that Red Pen. The chapter opens up with talking about how the author had created an assignment for students to create a blog post. He would have them submit them to each other or the himself. He would give the students feedback on their post. He kept finding time and time again that none of the students were reading the feedback. As a teacher it is important to give feedback right away as if you wait a few days it is hard for the student (or anybody) to get into that mind space again. Once a student hands in an assignment they pretty much write it off. An example of trying another way to give feedback is to walk around the room and give students oral feedback (page 141). Instead of giving students papers full of feedback on them try just giving them one or two areas they could improve on. This way they will not feel as overwhelmed with so much feedback. If students are able to get solid and timely feedback, than teachers tend to see improvement in their overall work. When giving homework in the classroom you should try and assign homework on the computer that gives instant feedback so that the students can see where they are instead of having a piece of paper in front of them and getting frustrated. Before you being a new topic make sure that you give a pre-assessment. This could be a quizizz, kahoot, socrative, etc. This allows the teacher and student to evaluate where they are and allows the teacher to tweak their lesson plans for the week. You can also give a mini lesson in between that allows the students to learn some of the content and then try to take the quiz again and do better than their first time. When working as a teacher you want to provide your students with feedback that is going to be beneficial and help them with their critical thinking skills rather than making them feel overwhelmed. I really enjoyed this chapter because I can remember getting papers back in grade school that were COVERED with red pen. I can admit, I felt overwhelmed. With being an educator there are ways that we can focus on giving students  feedback that will be beneficial to them. Instead of picking out everything they did wrong, give them feedback (one to two pieces of the assignment) that allows them to think more in depth about the content. As a teacher, I can promise I will never be marking up a students paper all over. I do not see it as being beneficial. I also will strive to give feedback back ASAP, by the end of that day the latest depending on what it is. I can remember waiting weeks for test grades and feeling so anxious waiting. When I finally did get it back I had pretty much forgotten about it. It was hard to try and talk to teachers about it because it was not fresh in my mind. I believe that every students deserves feedback that is going to positively build them and help them think deeper rather than getting to much feedback and it hurting the student more than helping. 

Resources-

     MILLER, MATT, and ALICE KEELER. DITCH THAT HOMEWORK: Practical Strategies to Help Make Homework Obsolete. DAVE BURGESS CONSULTING, 2017.

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Ditch that homework chapter 2. Ditch that Lecture.

During this semester we had the opportunity to read Ditch that Homework, written by Matt Miller and Alice Killer. With going to be secondary education teachers in a time when everything is changing so much it is important that we are also able to change with the times. This means, not sticking to the traditional methods we remember when being in grade school. While reading this book the second chapter really spoke out to me. During the first five minutes of your class coming in you want to have a hook so that you have grabbed their attention for that days class. Collecting and going over homework is not an ideal hook and could lead to further student disengagement. As an educator we want to move from a teacher centered room to a student centered room. If you are able to post lesson information in a platform for the students to access on their own the teacher will find themselves with much more time on their hands to help students one-on-one. Doing this allows the students to build their “critical thinking” skills. When creating lesson plans it is essential to focus on what the students are going to be doing rather than what the teacher is going to be doing. Make the classroom some where they want to come to. There was a great example of a math teacher who made an essential questions of “how do we save nelly?” as he was behind on his taxes (page 23). This was a great hook to get the students engaged in what they would be learning that day without it feeling like their learning. When you create an independent classroom the students have great access to one resource, their teacher (page 24). This allows the students to have positive supports for their learning. The idea of a flipped class has also been presented. This is when students are able to gather information outside of class and do their work in class. (page 30). This allows students to have higher orders of thinking as they would be able to ask that crucial questions that they have. In the classroom give the students options and choice. When they feel as though they have control of their learning they are going to become much more engaged. They tend to get more passionate in their school work due to the feeling that their choice matters. This will also help them with life skills after they are done with school. Another idea that was mentioned was instead of giving students assignments give them the learning objectives. Let them come up with a creative way for them to meet this learning objective while also staying passionate about their work. As an inspiring eductor this chapter spoke volumes to me. I want to be able to create a classroom where the students are able to take it upon themselves and be engaged in class. I know when I was growing up that there were many times I found myself in school 6 hours a day sitting through boring lectures. I know that I did not learn much from it as I was always zoned off. I believe that the classroom can be a place to have fun while still meeting the standards. 

Resources-

   MILLER, MATT, and ALICE KEELER. DITCH THAT HOMEWORK: Practical Strategies to Help Make Homework Obsolete. DAVE BURGESS CONSULTING, 2017.

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Unit Show case

This semester we had the opportunity to use UbD to make lesson plans and unit plans. If you are unfamiliar with UbD it is by Mctighe and Wiggins Understanding by Design . This is allows you to work backwards in completing your unit plan.  Here you will see that I had created three stages on a Cell Biology unit. In stage two you will see that I have created a grasps story. This story allows the students to understand what is expected from them in the summative assessment. They are taking on the role of graphic designers to help the American Society of Cellular Biology. They have the opportunity to make their own analogy of a cell (maybe its a board game, may its fixing a car etc). The American Society of Cellular Biology will then chose one project to show on television given the students an opportunity to explain how they came up with their analogy (what parts relate to what cell organelle function). In real life situation may find themselves come across a situation where they need to come up with an analogy to help some one without the same knowledge information so that they will understand it. For this GRASPS story I had created three prototypes. The first prototype I created was a socrative. This was a pre-assessment quiz (composed of 14 questions) to see what the students understood prior to going into the new Unit. The next prototype I created was a Twinery. Twinery allows students to create stories so that you can make it continue if you get the answer correct or you stop if you are unable to get the answer correct. The students would than be allowed to do a quizizz game to show that they have a better understanding of the information that they have learned. At the end of the Unit the students will be able to do their summative project (based on the GRASPS  story). In my example, I had created a cell on the three d printer. I than had a powerpoint that showed all of the cell organelles labeled on a diagram of the printed cell. Underneath I than explained what each cell organelle’s function was. When working on this project students will be given a rubric so that they are able to understand what exactly is expected of them. A way that you could bring the community into this classroom is to have Cell Biologist come in.

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As aspiring to be a future educator I took it upon myself to reach out to some prior teachers. I did this to see if they had any content that would help myself to be the best future educator possible. When thinking of three teachers to choose from, I wanted to make sure that I picked three candidates that helped me become successful during my school career. The first teacher that I reached out to was my math teacher, Mrs. Angelini from high school. I connected with her through Facebook. She did not have any resources but she was very excited to hear that she had made such an impact in my schooling career. She was also very excited to hear that I am in school to become a teacher. I then reached out to another high school teacher but they were no longer at the school system. With this loss, I continued to trickle down the line. I then decided I would contact my public speaking teacher from Bristol Community College. I emailed her through my old bristol community college email, but I have not heard back from her. I chose to reach out to her as I was a senior in High School taking full-time college classes. During this time she helped me to find my voice and not be so afraid when going up in front of the class. She also introduced me to Herbalife tea that gives energy. I had found this to be very helpful as I was finding myself always tired. I then choose to reach out to Mrs. Cloutier from Seekonk High school. I chose her due to her being my favorite teacher freshman year. There were many changes when going from middle school to high school. She had made this transition wonderful for us as she had always made the class interesting. She gave us time to socialize and be normal students which I really appreciated as many of the other teachers were always yelling.  She was very excited that I had chosen to contact her. Unfortunately, she did not have any information that she thought would help. 

As I had reached out to my teacher’s I unfortunately was not given any resources from the teachers that I had reached out to. So I went to the web and started to research on my own. While doing research for biology-based content, I came across a website called Effective K-12 Science Instruction article. This article was made by Texas A&M University. It opens with, “The Standards apply to all students, regardless of age, gender, cultural or ethnic background, disabilities, aspirations, or interest and motivation in science. Different students will achieve understanding in different ways, and different students will achieve different degrees of depth and breadth of understanding depending on interest, ability, and context. But all students can develop the knowledge and skills described in the Standards, even as some students go well beyond these levels. ” (cmst). To be able to successfully meet the standards it is important that you are able to make a science curriculum that provides excellent science education for all of the students. It is also important that you make connections to previous learning experiences and relate it everyday life. This will help the students to understand what they are learning rather than letting it go in one ear and out the other. You want your students to be able to develop deeper understandings of the material they are learning so that they can meet the learning targets. The first most effective strategy they have found is Enhanced Context Strategies. This talks about being able to relate the context to previous context students have used. Also, by relating the context to what is happening in the world, community, etc. When beginning a new topic it has been found that KWL (what I Know, what I Want to know, and what I Learned). This gives the teacher an opportunity to assess what her students know prior to starting a new topic. It also gives them an opportunity to show what they have learned at the end of the unit through some sort of summative assessment. Some examples of ideas that were provided are use problem- based learning, take students on field trips, Integrate current events, look at the big picture, etc. I found this to be very effective as when I am learning and make connections I am able to remember it a lot better than if I were to hear it out of a textbook. The next most effective strategy is Collaborative grouping strategies. Collaborative grouping works when teachers are able to arrange students in flexible groups, usually 3-4. This means that they are not based on their abilities and there groups are going to change allowing them the opportunity to work with other students. In these groups they are able to solve problems or work on projects. “the ability to collaborate is a necessary shill for success in the real world and requires working with others rather than competing with others”. This quote really stuck out to because it seems as though we are always in a competition with someone else rather than helping them become their best selves. Learning to work together at a young age will allow for more collaboration, respect,  in the workplace when they grow up. It gives them shared responsibilities such as having a leader, timekeeper, materials getter, etc. It also gives them an opportunity to go into material deeper as each student's understanding of it will be a little different. Some examples of collaborative group work are laboratory exercises, inquiry projects, problem-based learning exercises, etc. The next successful strategy for being a science teacher is Questioning strategies. As a teacher we try to create many types of questions for students to answer, some help develop critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills. When asking students questions it gives them an opportunity to express what they know and put in their own opinion. If you are able to successfully make an environment where students feel safe and as though they can be themselves you may even see that they feel comfortable challenging each other's ideas. Allow everyone to listen and learn, this may promote other students to throw in what they know. Although many tests are fact-based, it is important we ask the more open-ended questions that require a deeper understanding of context. It also allows you to observe miscommunication on concepts that the students may have.” Questioning strategies may be used to establish relevance, focus attention, encourage creativity, and to have students recall prior knowledge, make connections, and apply knowledge”. Some examples of questioning strategies are varying time, positioning or cognitive levels of questions, ask more open-ended questions, stop the video at key points and ask questions, etc. The next effective strategy is Inquiry strategies. “According to the National Science Education Standards, “Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. The inquiry also refers to the activities in which [students] develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world”” Inquiry allows students to experience the nature of science by allowing them to engage in the practices of science. You want your students to experience the types of designs that a scientist would face. These designs could be descriptive, comparative, experimental, etc. This allows the students to learn how to collect data and understand what they have collected. Instead of using prescriptive laboratory and field exercises allow students to lead investigations. Examples would be a descriptive research design or description study, comparative research design, experimental research design, etc. The fifth effective strategy is Manipulation Strategies. Manipulation strategies allow students to work with direct materials (triple beam balance, microscope, beakers, etc). This means that they are able to manipulate physical objects in order to experience science. This is helpful for visual and kinesthetic learners. This allows students to become active learners. It is their responsibility to build their understandings of the material. Some examples of manipulation strategies are creating a drawing or diagram to illustrate a  process, make a map, create a model, create a graphic organizer such as a concept map, etc. The sixth effective strategy topic is Assessment strategies. “The role of assessment ineffective teaching has broadened from primarily evaluating student achievement to include diagnosing student needs, advising instructional decisions, and auditing student progress.” Your assessments of your students should be ongoing. It is important to give your students effective feedback because if you don't it could hinder their student achievement. As teachers, it is important to use formative assessment. This allows you to accurately make a summative assessment. Many students have test anxiety so if you can as a teacher reduce that. Trying to focus the learning on content-based information rather than basing it off memorization for a test can be very helpful. Some examples of assessment strategies are homework, formative assessment (enable prompt individual feedback to guide learners and inform instruction), self-assessment, quizzes, etc. Another effective strategy is  Instructional Technology Strategy. Instructional technology can help teachers meet the challenges of providing effective instruction.  Instructional technology is many tools such as, computer hardware, electronic measuring, digital cameras, etc.Technology allows us to get simple calculations, information access, and data collection. When doing labs computer simulations allow students to manipulate variables and quickly see results from change. IT allows students to facilitate communication, collaboration, critical thinking, data interpretation, and problem-solving, Some examples of instructional technology strategies are connected with other students or scientists via the internet, use a podcast for instruction, take virtual field trips, etc. The last effective strategy that was found is Enhanced material Strategies.  As a teacher, it is important to be an expert in your content area. If you are not aware of your subject area it’s hard to properly teach it to your students. If a teacher is able to recognize suitable methods for teaching certain concepts in different situations allows them to provide appropriate instruction. Some examples of this are, modify a laboratory exercise to increase the level of inquiry and make it less prescriptive. Rewrite or annotate text material, use graphic organizers to clarify concepts.

When listening to the ted talk it reiterated that as teachers, it is also important that we give out students choices. When students feel that they have a choice they tend to become more interested in what they are working on. When giving them choices try going from a teacher guided classroom to a student guided classroom. This allows the teacher to become more of a “coach” and allows the students to get up front and center. “Education is not the learning of the facts but the training of the mind to think” Albert Einstein. I feel as though when students that attended middle/ high school in the 2000s felt as though everything was based on memorization. We would read text books and reflect. We did not do much partner work or were never given a choice. This phrase spoke volumes to me because you can memorize something but if you aren’t able to connect it with other content, you tend to forget it over time. The ted talk then goes on to talk about how this teacher gives units in 2-3 weeks. When he first introduces the lesson he gives the students “menus”. These menus have many different activities on them. The students are able to chose a certain number of different activities (teacher informs them how many to chose). Some examples of these activities are movies and taking notes, self paced interactive computer tutorials instead of lecturing, playing a board games, looking through a microscope and etc.   The activities allow the students to chose activities based on their learning style. It is the teachers responsibility to have all of the activities on the list available, which may take some time but can highly benefit the students. The students then will have the opportunity to hand in the assignments in any order that they want. When working on these activities they are able to ask the teacher questions that they initiated instead of traditional teaching where teachers ask you the questions. The last part of this ted talk talks about caring. As an educator, it is important that we ask our students about what they like to do outside of school or if they work. When you see them in the hall, ask how they are doing. If they are in the newspaper for something, hang it up in the classroom and have them sign it. When we make our students feel important, they can see that we care and we want them to be successful. 

These teaching strategies and ideas have allowed me to think about different ways to implement teaching strategies in the classroom. I want my classroom to be an environment where the students feel safe. I want their input into what they like and don’t like so that we can create a successful learning environment together. 

Resources:

“Effective K-12 Teaching Stratergies.” CSME, College of Science- Texas A&M, cmse.tamu.edu/documents/LittlegreenBookletv3.pdf.

National Science Teachers Association - NSTA. “NSTA Position Statement.”

NSTA Position Statement: Science Education for Middle Level Students

, www.nsta.org/about/positions/middlelevel.aspx.

Ruhl, Joe, director. Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future. Ted Talk, 27 May 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCFg9bcW7Bk.