tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88552655657427595412024-03-13T04:40:24.125-07:00Disciplined Rebellion"Science is disciplined rebellion..."Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-22388711950660479282017-10-01T19:48:00.000-07:002017-10-01T19:48:03.195-07:00Scientific ModelingI didn't really understand what a scientific model was, or its importance, until I started diving into NGSS a few years ago. Each year since, I've continued to try to refine and improve how I teach and assess this practice with my students. Currently, I assess their ability to create a scientific model and their ability to evaluate a preexisting scientific model.<br />
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This week, I started with my Honors Biology students on the "designing a scientific model" journey. We began by discussing a model they were already familiar with - the Rutherford atomic model - and sharing thoughts about what that model explains to us about atoms. Luckily, one of the students piped up and reminded the class the Rutherford model is no longer considered "correct," which led us right into a discussion about how as scientific explanations change, models will also change.<br />
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Last week, the students collected data on heart rate associated with various cardiovascular activities. Although they had already completed a scientific argument based on the data, next I wanted them to design a model to show their explanation of the data. We worked together as a class to create a model for the results of one of the independent variables, and then they practiced making a model for a different independent variable on their own. Finally they self-assessed their model based on this rubric:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ekv58Jq1Ko4/WdGmIwCX77I/AAAAAAAANNY/Pj3MT7UIvlogPKls99MFn-mc9yVaDEqCQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-09-30%2Bat%2B9.53.03%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="645" height="288" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ekv58Jq1Ko4/WdGmIwCX77I/AAAAAAAANNY/Pj3MT7UIvlogPKls99MFn-mc9yVaDEqCQCLcBGAs/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-09-30%2Bat%2B9.53.03%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This rubric is a screenshot from Schoology. It's definitely a work in-progress. If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it!</td></tr>
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Now it was time for them to try to create a model with new data on their own. In order to continue down the path of our guiding essential question, the students completed an investigation into muscle fatigue, which involved squeezing a tennis ball under different temperature conditions. Once they had the data, and watched a short video introduction to anaerobic respiration, it was time to see if they could make a model to explain the differences between two different temperatures. I have not yet looked over their work, but I'm hoping to see some growth. As a warm-up at the beginning of the week, I had the students create a model of how a rainbow is formed, and then they did it again at the end of the week. I saw improvements in this task, so I'm optimistic for their muscle fatigue models.<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honors Biology students collecting data for the Muscle Fatigue investigation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anatomy & Physiology students creating 3-D tissue models for peer-to-peer instruction.</td></tr>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-85446511395885971852017-09-22T18:04:00.001-07:002017-09-22T18:04:24.784-07:00Reconnecting & ReflectingAlthough last year was an amazing adventure as my first year teaching in Seoul, it was a dismal year for my blog as I only posted a handful of times. One of my goals for this year is to reconnect with my PLN, and being more active on this blog is a part of that. Beyond all the transitions involved with an international move last year, I think part of the reason I didn't blog as much was because I didn't have any big ideas I felt like sharing. But I've realized many of the blogs I like to read aren't necessarily about "big ideas" - they're just a peak into the day to day life of a classroom.<br />
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So, with all this in mind, my blogging plan for this year is to post one day a week, focusing on reflections from the past week's classes. I'm teaching Honors Biology (9th grade), Honors Anatomy & Physiology (11th & 12th grade), and AP Biology (11th and 12th grade) this year, and I may or may not write about every class each week.<br />
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Without further ado...Here's what we did this past week!<br />
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<u>Honors Biology</u><br />
I introduced the idea of scientific argumentation to my 9th graders during the first week of school. The CER framework was brand-new to them, so I had them practice it in pieces. They put all of those pieces together in a full written argument last week, and the results were daunting. It was clear the students were still struggling with data analysis and applying science ideas to explain data. I needed to hit the brakes and revisit CER.<br />
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Since we're in the middle of exploring a phenomenon associated with healthy diet and weight (involving NGSS standards on biomolecules and cellular respiration), at the end of last week the class worked together to design an experiment that required them to collect heart rate data for various cardiovascular activities. I then worked with them step by step to analyze the data, modeling how to sort on a spreadsheet, how to account for outliers, when to average data, how to judge whether data is reliable, and how to discuss trends and patterns in data. Students worked in partners and used their whiteboards to write a Claim and Evidence for the cardio data. Using whiteboards was great for this because as I circled the groups and gave them feedback they needed to make lots of changes, which is easy to do on a whiteboard. Also whiteboards are easier for me to read than a lap top screen or notebook page when I'm on the move around a classroom. Many groups filled two whiteboards as I prompted them to fully and specifically support their claims.<br />
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I used a similar strategy for the Reasoning section - student pairs working on whiteboards. During this time, most of my prompting was asking, "why?"<br />
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Student: Jogging increased heart rate more than playing basketball.<br />
Me: Why?<br />
Student: Because you're moving more when you're jogging.<br />
Me: Why does moving more increase your heart rate more?<br />
Student: Because you need more oxygen.<br />
Me: Why?<br />
Student: Because you need more energy.<br />
Me: Why do you need energy to jog?<br />
Student: To move the muscles.<br />
Me: How are energy and oxygen related?<br />
Student: Oxygen is needed to make ATP in cellular respiration.<br />
Me: And what does heart rate have to do with that?<br />
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I think you get the idea. Initially, this student's Reasoning would have simply begun and ended with, "You're moving more when you're jogging." I'm working to help them better understand how deeply they need to dig to truly justify their claims.<br />
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The culmination of all this practice was a chance to go back to their original argument that was initially so challenging for them and, redoing and revising it with their improved understanding of the process. I have yet to look over their work, but if their questions during the process are an indication of their new thinking, I believe some positive progress has been made.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aRFL1GgN_kA/WcWisr-ufZI/AAAAAAAANMM/37nDKjGuyF0F2ttFM0Sf5PTTmGNV1-H1ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aRFL1GgN_kA/WcWisr-ufZI/AAAAAAAANMM/37nDKjGuyF0F2ttFM0Sf5PTTmGNV1-H1ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1052.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-assessment in Anatomy: Outline a body and draw a list of structures where you think they are located. Structures from different systems were drawn in different colors.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AP Biology students started out their year by designing an investigation of ant behavior.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anatomy students participating in a model for homeostasis: "Homer-ostasis" requires them to keep the yellow "Homer Simpson" cup full, yellow, and at the correct temperature, despite a hole in the bottom.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First attempt at a scientific argument using the CER framework with AP Biology students. This is new to most of them as well, so we've got some work to do as a class.</td></tr>
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<br />Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-55169621921965859492017-02-12T03:32:00.000-08:002017-02-12T03:32:04.312-08:00Yes, Science Is Still Happening!A collection of photos to highlight some of the things happening in the APIS Biology classroom recently. I know the blurred faces are creepy, but it's a school policy when sharing pictures of students...<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">LEGO League in Seoul! We weren't quick enough to get registered for the official competition this year, but the kids made up their own obstacle course. They're currently programming the robot just as they would if they were competing and will share their work at the school's International Fair at the end of March. The student in the back is my 12 year-old son, Egen, so no face-blurring required, which is awesome because I love the fact that I caught him mid-laugh.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Cell membrane bubble model. I really love this activity, not only because the students enjoy it so much, but also because they truly understand membranes better afterwards. I had them write a model evaluation after the activity, and the amount of learning they exhibited was astounding.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Building water filters in Environmental Science. This was their first engineering challenge of the year. The activity I based it on had restraints in material usage and cost, and the student teams all took different approaches to those constraints.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Another favorite: The sinking leaf disk assay. The students all perform the protocol the same way once, and then choose their own variables. This year, I asked them to write a scientific argument for their results and create mini-posters. There was much deep thinking when they started working on the Reasoning section of their arguments, trying to understand and explain their results. They also did some pretty sophisticated statistical analysis with the data this year.</td></tr>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-55730922438383492552016-09-24T08:06:00.004-07:002016-09-24T08:06:37.207-07:00Making ProgressAfter a three-day high school retreat and week-long vacation thanks to the Korean holiday called Chuseok, I was anxious to get things in class back into a rhythm this week. Now that the week is done, I can say with confidence that learning was happening and students are making progress!<br />
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I'm still getting used to teaching Biology to 9th graders (as opposed to 10th graders) who haven't yet been exposed to the CER framework or any modeling exercises. For a warm up this week, I asked the students to draw a model (explanation) of what happened in their greenhouse investigations from before break. It was a train wreck. However, it did give me insight into (a) their lack of understanding of what a model is and (b) their shaky conception of the greenhouse effect and its relation to the carbon cycle. What to do? Scaffold, scaffold, scaffold.<br />
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So I put everything else on hold for a day and a half, and the students practiced designing models, with help from me along the way. I started with direct instruction and gradually released the task to them. They probably created close to ten models in the course of 2 class periods. Afterwards, I assessed them again with a warm up: "Diagram a model of how rice cooks." (I wanted something that all students were familiar with and wasn't overly complicated. The results were amazing. One student drew the <u>steps</u> for how rice cooks instead of an explanation, but was able to make corrections once prompted. Otherwise everyone was on target. Whew.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practice models for the Greenhouse Investigation. Getting better!</td></tr>
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AP Biology students finished their first CER poster session this week. I didn't want to assess their posters this time for 2 reasons: They created the posters in groups, which makes individual assessment tricky, and with this being their first attempt at this type of work, I felt it would be unfair to penalize them while they're still novices. Instead, I required the students to complete peer reviews on each others' posters. My classes have had a less than stellar track record with peer review in past years; students don't take it seriously and/or they just aren't very good at assessing work. These AP classes, however, did some great work. I gave them the rubric below to record their assessment. For most of the students, their feedback matched mine almost exactly. I was especially focused on their understanding of statistical analysis (Evidence) and natural selection (Reasoning) and very happy with the outcome.<br />
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By the way, I designed this CER on a real-life data set of lab mice at the University of California, Riverside. The mice were artificially bred to run for long periods of time. I got the idea from this site, <a href="http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/BornToRun.html" target="_blank">http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/BornToRun.html</a>, and reworked it a little to make it more CER-friendly. The students developed their own research questions and method of measurement. They were able to incorporate standard deviation and standard error of the mean into their calculations. It ended up being a very robust investigation. <br />
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In Environmental Science, students are working through a unit I decided to call "Principles of Ecology." I had them complete a pre-assessment to see what types of Ecology topics they remembered from Biology, and then designed the unit around what they had forgotten. I've wanted to have students build Winogradsky columns for many years, but it never fit perfectly into any of the standards. However, range of tolerance is one of the Ecology topics my ES students are learning about, and the columns fit in perfectly! It was a challenge to find mud from a stream or pond in metropolitan Seoul, but I successfully trekked down to the local canal before school one day and dug up a bunch of sediment. With no buckets or trowels to be had, I used a plastic storage crate my sons keep LEGO in and a soup ladle. I got some strange looks from the elderly Koreans and commuters on the bike/walking trail. The sediment was pretty sandy, so I'm hoping it works okay. The ES students had fun mixing in the newspaper and egg yolk for carbon and sulfur resources. One student had never separated a yolk from the egg white before, so he even learned a new baking skill - bonus!</div>
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To model limiting factors, ES students did some "hunting" of yellow, puffball mice with pipe cleaner owls. Kind of reminded me of the "ring the bottle" game I used to see at county fairs. The class will be writing CER arguments based on their results in class next week.</div>
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One final accomplishment for the week: I found a bike and rode it to work a couple of times (not on the day when I had to collect canal sediment, though!). It feels good to be getting into a rhythm and feeling comfortable in my new city and new school.</div>
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<br />Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-2570121689183778292016-09-17T06:50:00.003-07:002016-09-17T06:50:47.659-07:00A Trip To SingaporeDuring my first week at APIS this fall, all staff were presented with the opportunity to apply to be on a team of teachers and administrators that would travel to Singapore, visit some international schools, and bring back ideas and inspiration for APIS. The focus of this trip was to be, "personalized learning."<br />
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I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of 14 staff members to go on the trip, and at the beginning of September we took off for a 4-day whirlwind visit in Singapore. Two of the days were spent traveling, and on the other two days we visited schools.<br />
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The first school we visited was Singapore American School, the focus of this blog post. It's a huge international school with a stellar reputation. However, recently they decided that they needed to start thinking more about the future of education and adapt their instruction to fit 21st Century Learning. Over the course of a year, they sent teachers to many schools around the world to gather information about advances in education, and then a core group of staff members worked together to develop plans, based on what inspired them, for the future of SAS. They are just now in the first years of some of these changes.<br />
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Several teachers had conversations with us about the SAS Advisory program, and we also got to see their cutting-edge Early Childhood classrooms. The two initiatives I was most interested in, however, were in the high school. One program that was piloted last year and has been extended to include all Seniors this year, provides time, resources, and mentors for every Senior to complete a "project" of their choice. These projects might be writing and performing a play, starting a business, or completing long-term scientific research. Along the way, the students have classes to support their goal-setting and people skills, but also have some flexibility in their schedules if they need to leave campus for their project.<br />
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The other intriguing program we were able to visit was for those Seniors who have already completed all their requirements for graduation and have potentially reached their limit for AP courses. As Juniors, these students can apply to a special group of approximately 20 students who meet as a "class" all day every day to experience a truly interdisciplinary, personalized curriculum. The class has 3 teachers (one ELA, one Math, one Science) who are in the room all day as well, and the students receive various English, Math, and Science credits for taking the course. There are short, direct-instruction sessions for those students who need them, as well as large-group discussions, but there is also plenty of time for students to explore individual passions. The space they spend every day in is pretty amazing too. Check out some photos below:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Central work area. Kitchenette in the back.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe-style booth seating for more intimate conversations.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A glassed-off conference room within the larger room. Plenty of whiteboard space for ideas.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comfy seating in the conference room.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Project board with standards the students are working on, as well as a timeline for daily goals.</td></tr>
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I would love to teach in an interdisciplinary, passion-based, personalized environment like the class I saw at SAS, and I'm excited that APIS is looking in this direction! I feel so fortunate to have been able to visit these schools and see the creative ways they're thinking about education.<br />
<br />Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-47678541262191942912016-08-20T19:09:00.000-07:002016-08-20T19:09:34.940-07:00Classes Begin!Week one of classes at APIS is officially done!<br />
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Overall, it was a great week and it made me happy to interact with students again. I think the biggest teaching adjustments I will be making this year will be in regards to school culture, not necessarily Korean culture. Like anyone who changes to a different school district, you ask all the questions you can think of before classes start in an attempt to be fully prepared, but you don't completely get a "feel" for the school until the students arrive. Only then do you finally start to get an idea of how things work and what social norms exist. Here are some observations of similarities and differences between week one of classes at APIS and my former school in MN:<br />
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<u>Similar</u><br />
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<ul>
<li>The first week was HOT! Above 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humid every day.</li>
<li>Students not knowing where to go because of schedule changes.</li>
<li>New students joining my class rosters each day because of schedule changes.</li>
<li>Working out a few small technology kinks: my printer stopped working, the SmartBoard wouldn't connect, the grade book was being temperamental.</li>
<li>I spent the first week focused on getting to know my students, building a class culture, and starting to introduce some science practices.</li>
<li>Locker issues: Some students don't like to use lockers, some students don't lock their lockers, students with the lockers that are the farthest away from classrooms are stressed.</li>
<li>Started the week with homeroom, going over the student handbook.</li>
<li>Weekly staff meetings, with snacks provided!</li>
<li>Crazy daily schedule changes. Day 1 had shortened classes to fit in an assembly and homeroom.</li>
<li>Students and teachers alike excited to be back and happy to see each other.</li>
</ul>
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<u>Different</u><br />
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<ul>
<li>Air conditioning units in each classroom. Thank goodness!</li>
<li>Wonderful use of Google Forms for all sorts of administrative needs (facilities requests, technology help, time-off requests).</li>
<li>A lunch period of FORTY-FIVE minutes! Can you believe it? Students have time to play soccer, hang out in the library, and get some class work done - as well as eat their lunch. Amazing!</li>
<li>No composition notebooks to be found in the local stores. Needed to change my game plan for class notebooks.</li>
<li>Using Edmodo instead of Schoology. So far, I'm sorely missing Schoology. (Sad face)</li>
<li>Students carry their backpacks (and sometimes multiple other bags) to class. What???</li>
<li>Students wear uniforms, which I did experience at a previous private school in MN, but there are so many variations as to what that uniform can be at APIS it makes my head spin.</li>
<li>High School students are expected to provide most of their course supplies, such as highlighters, scissors, colored pencils. Ordering classroom supplies is a tricky, time-intensive process.</li>
<li>Staff gets together regularly after school to play basketball, ultimate frisbee, and just have snacks in the park. Teachers' families are welcome!</li>
<li>Weekly Science Department meetings with the High School principal.</li>
<li>I've already received welcomes from the parents of three of my students in response to my weekly email.</li>
<li>I get to walk to school and back each day - love it!</li>
</ul>
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I could probably add quite a bit to those lists, but I think you get the general idea. A few photos will help to round out what the experience has been like so far. First, some photos of my classroom. It's smaller than my room in MN, but my biggest class here only has 15 students, so it fits our needs perfectly. After that, a glimpse into some of our "Week 1" lessons. I can't share photos of my students on my blog like I did in the past, but I was able to take some pictures to represent their work this week.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UutxXuPx1q4/V7kFFn8WCgI/AAAAAAAAMmI/GPoUzqvITFwLey6lJUddnDbybvzWFa44gCLcB/s1600/IMG_0175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UutxXuPx1q4/V7kFFn8WCgI/AAAAAAAAMmI/GPoUzqvITFwLey6lJUddnDbybvzWFa44gCLcB/s400/IMG_0175.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">My Desk: Butterfly decals on the wall traveled all the way from MN, as well as the "365 Days of Wonder" book on my cupboard and big, pink Post-It notes tucked against the wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Front of the room. Whiteboard space is minimal, so I laminated some white papers to make more writing surface on a bulletin board.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--VYxzEj6K38/V7kFFPnGSPI/AAAAAAAAMmA/8WZ1QIy4zJcK0WoFDKvGhRYqHrrrm3oWgCLcB/s1600/IMG_0177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--VYxzEj6K38/V7kFFPnGSPI/AAAAAAAAMmA/8WZ1QIy4zJcK0WoFDKvGhRYqHrrrm3oWgCLcB/s400/IMG_0177.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One side of the room. Another item that traveled from MN - my "questions" poster.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bvAlv_zZXI/V7kFHWVQaNI/AAAAAAAAMmM/t1aMDmVo5hIA0N6v5YOgMO1dwbGnezdagCLcB/s1600/IMG_0178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bvAlv_zZXI/V7kFHWVQaNI/AAAAAAAAMmM/t1aMDmVo5hIA0N6v5YOgMO1dwbGnezdagCLcB/s400/IMG_0178.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back of the room with my Mindset reminders on the back bulletin board.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5eXoCwOidAE/V7kFIOXA__I/AAAAAAAAMmU/exkNJMAW_goIu7GkOyiAwhqkGv2ltfkjwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5eXoCwOidAE/V7kFIOXA__I/AAAAAAAAMmU/exkNJMAW_goIu7GkOyiAwhqkGv2ltfkjwCLcB/s400/IMG_0179.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fume hood, storage, and a couple of windows on the final side of the room.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZggGwitm_w/V7kFH6Qc03I/AAAAAAAAMmQ/0lsbjtre67AKy9KIxsIMur7om47YZ4mvwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZggGwitm_w/V7kFH6Qc03I/AAAAAAAAMmQ/0lsbjtre67AKy9KIxsIMur7om47YZ4mvwCLcB/s400/IMG_0180.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">NHS students brought us rice cakes the day before classes started. They're a traditional Korean dessert. I have to say they they are much too starchy for my taste. Kind of like eating very lightly-sweetened, thick, raw bread dough. I appreciated the very kind gesture, though! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zfeXESRwEWA/V7kFXG47OHI/AAAAAAAAMmg/5j4WWxVtoCgJX4aWxLLO9UtfeWuykyvHQCLcB/s1600/IMG_0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zfeXESRwEWA/V7kFXG47OHI/AAAAAAAAMmg/5j4WWxVtoCgJX4aWxLLO9UtfeWuykyvHQCLcB/s400/IMG_0231.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">One of the first week activities to highlight teamwork and science processes: LEGO Build. Each group builds a structure with provided LEGOs and writes instructions on how to make the set. Then another team of students gets the exact same LEGOs and has to build the structure based on the instructions. Great student descriptors came out of this activity, such as the importance of seeing something from someone else's point of view and how working on a team can produce more creativity than working alone.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMsBJWOQ5kk/V7kFWsAyzsI/AAAAAAAAMmc/RFH_mxW5naAOA5IjcH6BU290rVVE_zZOgCLcB/s1600/IMG_0239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMsBJWOQ5kk/V7kFWsAyzsI/AAAAAAAAMmc/RFH_mxW5naAOA5IjcH6BU290rVVE_zZOgCLcB/s400/IMG_0239.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Another "first week" activity to introduce the "Question Formulation Technique." Students did the classic Milk Fireworks Activity with different types of milk. (At least, I think they were different types of milk. The packaging labels were all in Korean, so I had to guess a bit...) The activity was their question prompt, and then they were able to discriminate between open and closed questions through a sorting exercise. Hoping to incorporate even more PBL this year, and the QFT will be integral to that process.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tNgTdET6oIs/V7kFWYugg9I/AAAAAAAAMmY/2aIFP_9j-UgD5w0hsoze2wusT2mEHdvgwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tNgTdET6oIs/V7kFWYugg9I/AAAAAAAAMmY/2aIFP_9j-UgD5w0hsoze2wusT2mEHdvgwCLcB/s400/IMG_0244.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Have started AP Biology with animal behavior in the past, and decided to take that approach again. In MN, I was able to gather lots of pillbugs for this, but although they can be found in Seoul, I couldn't locate as many. So my first idea was to use cicadas, which are amazingly huge and loud here. The local kids can often be found creeping around with nets attempting to catch them. I figured my family and I could capture enough to use in the lab, but we were foiled; we only caught one! So I made some insect traps with local melons and Asian pears. I have been able to capture tons of ants, a few crickets, and a couple of earwigs. The students have been designing some really interesting investigations based on ant behavior. So far, I've been very impressed by their scientific thinking and insight.</td></tr>
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<br />Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-25325646067941226822016-08-06T04:52:00.001-07:002016-08-06T04:55:50.335-07:00A Week in SeoulThe Meyer family has been in Korea for over a week, and it's hard to believe how much has happened during this time. I can tell already that I need to be more prolific in my blogging while I'm here, considering that we seem to experience something new every day. To prevent this post from becoming a novella, however, I'm going to try to sum up the highlights in a few areas.<br />
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<u>Traveling</u><br />
We arrived at MSP Airport around 11:00 p.m. on July 24 and didn't arrive in Incheon until 5:30 p.m. on July 26 (Korean time). We started with a flight to Los Angeles (about 4 hours) and then flew to Seoul from there (about 12 hours). Being stuck in an airplane seat for 12 hours is a form of torture I hadn't previously considered. My feet were so swollen by the time we landed, I almost couldn't fit my shoes on. Positive note: The food was good, especially the bibimbap for our first meal.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Played some travel Scrabble to pass time in the airport.</td></tr>
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<u>Getting Acclimated</u><br />
Andy, the high school principal at APIS, picked us up in the airport, helped us get my cell phone up and running, and then drove us to our apartment. He lives in the same building, so he was kind enough to go through some of the confusing parts of our apartment for us. The apartment has a lot of appliances/amenities that are digitized, and of course all the instructions are in Korean. Here are some of the digital controls in our apartment: electronic card entry to get into our building, keypad to get into our apartment, washer, dish washer, air conditioner, wine chiller, kimchi refrigerator, electronic lights panel, hot water for appliances, sinks, shower, and in-floor heating, and the bidet. I'm pretty sure I accidentally hit the buttons for the in-floor heating on our first morning here because things were getting pretty warm, but I think I figured out how to turn it off again by pressing some random buttons.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--qFg3BYSkCE/V6XMBXbZw7I/AAAAAAAALPQ/rc9PcAwz6WYzwq5Ov700z3zMrVYGR4ooACEw/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--qFg3BYSkCE/V6XMBXbZw7I/AAAAAAAALPQ/rc9PcAwz6WYzwq5Ov700z3zMrVYGR4ooACEw/s400/IMG_0014.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It didn't take long for the boxes we had shipped to arrive. Number one priority for the boys: playing Magic the Gathering.</td></tr>
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The morning after we arrived, Jodi, a counselor at APIS, and her daughter, Katrine, stopped by with baked goods and an offer to take us around the neighborhood. We were just about to go out to search for a market, so it was perfect timing. Besides a small grocery store, we also have coffee shops, a bakery, a stationary store, and multiple restaurants in our neighborhood. Oh - and a McDonald's across the street (Dan and the boys have visited - I'm determined to never cross their threshold!). There is a large stream with bike/running/walking trails along it only a few blocks from our apartment, and APIS is less than a mile away. I've been walking there and back every day. It's mostly a residential area, though, with quite a few schools in the vicinity. I've run on the trails early in the morning (to beat the heat), and there are all sorts of people up and active at the same time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ax9XgZXaR8/V6XMDGn15DI/AAAAAAAALQA/fkROoOLi7xgXm0GV90N156jtnNerPmRAwCEw/s1600/IMG_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ax9XgZXaR8/V6XMDGn15DI/AAAAAAAALQA/fkROoOLi7xgXm0GV90N156jtnNerPmRAwCEw/s400/IMG_0010.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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This looks like playground equipment, but it's actually exercise equipment. It shows up periodically along the trails. Older Korean men and women pause along their walks to work out. The boys thought it was pretty fun too!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRhCluP4Uzo/V6XMC8VLnJI/AAAAAAAALQA/AsAhF5PdqNgCMySZdIqmZORmSvezBjyuwCEw/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRhCluP4Uzo/V6XMC8VLnJI/AAAAAAAALQA/AsAhF5PdqNgCMySZdIqmZORmSvezBjyuwCEw/s400/IMG_0012.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stepping stones across the stream.</td></tr>
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One of the first things APIS did for all of us new teachers and families was to take us around Seoul on the busses and trains so that we would get practice using the transportation system. I love not having to drive anywhere! Busses, subways, and taxis are all fairly inexpensive, clean, and easy to use. Our first taxi trip was to EMart to pick up some groceries we couldn't find at our local store. Our first bus/subway trip was to Costco. Hoping to travel to IKEA Korea tomorrow.<br />
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<u>Keeping Busy</u><br />
To start the school year, APIS planned three days of Incoming Faculty Orientation and a three-day retreat for all the staff. There were traditional "workshop week" activities, such as going over the school handbook, procedures, and a school tour, however these were accompanied by some pretty amazing additional experiences: Eating a traditional Korean barbecue, a trip to Insadong (an "arts" neighborhood in Seoul), Shabu Shabu dinner, whitewater rafting, dinner at Todai, and a Korean baseball game. The food here has been delicious so far. I'm going to need to do a separate post on all the wonderful dishes we've tried - and the fun Korean snack foods we've discovered. Even the school cafeteria food has been yummy!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sWSrTVeBDFw/V6XMDCQNsqI/AAAAAAAALQA/GiFtwz7rjPEa4yf3m8WMl6LfurrCQpTgwCEw/s1600/IMG_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sWSrTVeBDFw/V6XMDCQNsqI/AAAAAAAALQA/GiFtwz7rjPEa4yf3m8WMl6LfurrCQpTgwCEw/s400/IMG_0018.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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The boys have been very open to trying all sorts of new foods - and they've found some they surprisingly enjoy. Egen likes <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bA50cUHcSE/UdSIzRvHzuI/AAAAAAAAKow/_SuXosT-lKc/s560/Enoki1.jpg" target="_blank">this type of mushroom</a> you can find in a lot of dishes here, and Quinn loves octopus.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painting ceramic figures - one of the activities the boys did in Insadong.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SSH0RAhQjLY/V6XMF1xHcDI/AAAAAAAALQA/3ZMMuuniHQEzNqWNQ-a-iDTKdYitYpOYgCEw/s1600/IMG_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SSH0RAhQjLY/V6XMF1xHcDI/AAAAAAAALQA/3ZMMuuniHQEzNqWNQ-a-iDTKdYitYpOYgCEw/s400/IMG_0025.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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Dan at Korean barbecue. So many side dishes! You grilled your own meat at the table and then built it into a lettuce wrap.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iAg0u_PVNgo/V6XMGB2P5SI/AAAAAAAALQA/tpnEqO1UIkE7S5zdSDsnZsZE5BxzljfugCEw/s1600/IMG_0035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iAg0u_PVNgo/V6XMGB2P5SI/AAAAAAAALQA/tpnEqO1UIkE7S5zdSDsnZsZE5BxzljfugCEw/s400/IMG_0035.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eating snacks at the Korean baseball game.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6OhIhUP1RvM/V6XMI8pZcrI/AAAAAAAALQA/NnY7KdJKByUtL8Y2nqi1Tht8xxfN7d6FwCEw/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6OhIhUP1RvM/V6XMI8pZcrI/AAAAAAAALQA/NnY7KdJKByUtL8Y2nqi1Tht8xxfN7d6FwCEw/s400/IMG_0044.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic of the field.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOIhg_mQ_Ug/V6XMIAmFkgI/AAAAAAAALQA/a5Rgy6mMlFk7ciMhhmTca9Ojin-SssrVgCEw/s1600/IMG_0047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOIhg_mQ_Ug/V6XMIAmFkgI/AAAAAAAALQA/a5Rgy6mMlFk7ciMhhmTca9Ojin-SssrVgCEw/s400/IMG_0047.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot and exhausted while waiting for the subway after the ball game.</td></tr>
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If you can't tell from my descriptions, I am loving Seoul, and so is my family. Despite the heat and humidity, we feel very much at home here, and a lot of that has to do with the warm welcome we've received from the APIS faculty and staff. There is so much more I could write about, but I think it's time to wrap up this post for now. I'm hoping to write future posts about Korean food, my classroom, and my walk to work, so keep checking in!Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-88089390525844191102016-05-28T05:34:00.000-07:002016-05-28T05:34:04.249-07:00Changes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WaIEoyThlAg/V0TI8TgcdCI/AAAAAAAAIRg/gi61d5l2buIj_7M7viKfELC1zOMEzc1BwCLcB/s1600/APIS%2BFamily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WaIEoyThlAg/V0TI8TgcdCI/AAAAAAAAIRg/gi61d5l2buIj_7M7viKfELC1zOMEzc1BwCLcB/s400/APIS%2BFamily.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meyer family in our APIS hats.</td></tr>
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Starting with this post and continuing for the next two years at a minimum, the content of this blog will begin to change a bit. I originally started "Disciplined Rebellion" as a way to share and organize my thoughts about science teaching. While I'll continue to write about this, I hope to broaden the scope of my topics a bit by sharing stories and reflections from my newest adventure: teaching science in Seoul, Korea.<br />
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Since I first became a teacher almost 15 years ago, I've wanted to teach abroad. I traveled internationally in college and realized quickly how little I knew about the world - and that I wanted to keep learning. Luckily, my husband, Dan, feels the same way about exploring the world, so I started researching how I could teach in a foreign country. In the midst of this, we had two children, who we knew we wanted to experience global travel as well, but not when they were too young.<br />
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This fall, when my boys were 11 and 8, Dan and I were talking about future opportunities for them and came to the conclusion that this would be the year I'd try to get an international teaching job. We felt the boys would be old enough to remember the experience, and they were starting to need more diverse opportunities than what our small, rural community could give them. Knowing that not many international schools hire teachers with families - and without a teaching spouse on top of that - I figured I'd work as hard as I could on my application this year, see where it took us, and then call it quits if it didn't work out.<br />
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I sent all of my teaching credentials to the University of Northern Iowa, which hosts an International Teaching Job Fair every winter. They shared my information with hundreds of schools, and I started getting interview requests from around the world. After a few Skype interviews, the offer I decided to accept was from Asia Pacific International School (APIS) in Seoul, Korea. I am very impressed with the vision of the school and excited about living in Seoul.<br />
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So, the Meyer family will be moving across the world at the end of July! Needless to say, the next couple of months will be very busy for us, but I'm hoping to share some of our experiences on this blog. So you might get to learn more about my family and personal life than you have in the past! Once I arrive at APIS, I will see how much they are comfortable with me sharing about my students and classroom. I will continue to blog about science teaching as well.<br />
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I'm very excited about where this journey will take my family, and me personally, as an educator. On my last day of classes here in Springfield, I gave all of my students a pair of chopsticks. I told them how I have always wanted to learn how to use chopsticks, but it was hard for me so I never stuck with it. Now that we'll be living in Seoul, I'm more determined than ever to become skilled in the use of chopsticks. So we bought a pair of metal chopsticks for each person in the family, and we've been practicing using them at every meal. It takes me about twice as long to eat my food, and I often get impatient and frustrated, but I'm making progress. I shared this with my students as a metaphor for my hopes for them. I told them to find that "thing" they're passionate about and work as hard as they can to fulfill their goals associated with that thing. It might be difficult or frustrating, but eventually progress will be made. On the chopsticks I gave my students, I attached a piece of paper with this quote:<br />
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<i>"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you." - Fred Devito</i></blockquote>
I know there will be stressful times in our move to Seoul and adjusting to a new home, job, and culture, but I am looking forward to the challenge and the changes in my own learning that will result.<br />
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-21190646144271571022016-05-24T13:55:00.006-07:002016-05-24T13:56:30.160-07:00My Favorite Things, 3rd EditionEvery once in a while, I share a favorite website, book, and podcast that I’ve found useful for teaching science. This article is published in the MnSTA Newsletter and cross-posted here. <span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<b>Website: HHMI Biointeractive.</b> <a href="https://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive">https://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive</a><br />
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If you are a Biology teacher and have not yet explored HHMI’s Biointeractive website, you will be amazed at the amount of information and number of classroom resources you’ll find there. Offering everything from videos to posters to interactive online labs, HHMI is a treasure chest of Biology-related content. Some of the resources I’ve used in my own Biology classes are the Gorongosa Food Web activity, video clips from The Making of the Fittest, the Neurophysiology Virtual Lab, and the DNA Transcription animation, just to name a few. I appreciate that HHMI is constantly updating the content on this website. If you want to receive weekly bulletins with current science news and the most recent Biointeractive resources, you can sign up for their email newsletter, “Biointeractive News.” All of these resources are offered free of charge to teachers.<br />
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<b>Book: </b><i><b>Biology Inquiries</b></i> by Martin Shields. <br />
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This is an older book that I don’t open up very much any more, but it was the impetus for quite a few inquiry-based activities that I still use in my current Biology class. The book is divided into subject sections, such as “Science as Inquiry,” “The Cell,” and “Science in Personal and Social Perspectives.” For each of these sections, there are a handful of inquiry-based lessons related to the topic. Each activity lists materials, approximate time requirements, and a lesson outline, as well as including copies of any student handouts. In this way, the lessons are ready to go straight out of the book. However, I found Biology Inquiries to be most valuable as a launching point to consider a topic from a more inquiry-based perspective, then designing my own adaptation of the book’s activity. For example, in the “Interdependence of Organisms” section, there’s an activity entitled, “History of a Carbon Atom,” for which students write a creative story about all the different places a carbon atom could travel. I took this idea and transformed it into an outdoors QR code scavenger hunt that introduces my students to the Carbon Cycle, after which they write about their experiences. If you’re looking for a way to infuse more inquiry into your Biology class, this book is a terrific resource.<br />
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<b>Podcast: <i>Science Magazine</i> Podcast from <i>Science Magazine</i>. </b><br />
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Once upon a time, I was lucky enough to have a friend with a subscription to Science. He would give me his old issues when he was done reading them. Eventually, he ended his subscription, and my time for reading journals started dwindling. Then I stumbled upon the Science Magazine Podcast, which I found was an even better solution than waiting for my friend’s old copies. This podcast covers current science research from the Science journal articles as well as other additional topics. It’s usually only 20 to 30 minutes long, so I can fit it in during a short commute, and the host of the podcast (Sarah Crespi) often interviews the scientists behind the journal articles. I find this a much more engaging experience than simply reading the article in the standard format. On the most recent episode I listened to, an experiment that used 3D-printed orchids to isolate pollinating preferences was described in such a fascinating way that I’m considering sharing it with my students to prompt discussion about experimental design. If you don’t already use an app to listen to podcasts, you can also download Science Magazine Podcast episodes online at <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/podcasts">https://www.sciencemag.org/podcasts</a>Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-39792401752869167802016-01-31T10:56:00.002-08:002016-01-31T10:56:19.793-08:00My Favorite Things, 2nd Edition<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each month, I share a favorite website, book, and podcast that I’ve found useful for teaching science. This article is shared in the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>MnSTA Newsletter</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and cross-posted here. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Website: “PhET Interactive Simulations.” </span><a href="https://phet.colorado.edu/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://phet.colorado.edu/</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many science teachers are probably already familiar with PhET simulations, but I was introduced only a few short years ago, so I’m guessing there are still some of you out there who have yet to be acquainted with this multi-layered resource. At its basic level, the PhET website provides a variety of science simulations from different disciplines, including physics, chemistry, and biology. As a Biology teacher, I’m hoping the designers will continue to bolster the choices in this particular area, but I’ve used the Membrane Channels and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lac Operon </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">simulations nearly every year. Beyond the simulations themselves, there are also activities submitted by teachers linked to each simulation. I was inspired one of these activities to create an inquiry-based “stop-motion” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lac operon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> lesson in my College Biology class. The simulations run best on a PC or laptop, but PhET is in the process of making HTML5 versions of some of their more popular simulations so they are usable on iPads as well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remarkable Creatures </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Sean Carroll</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not only is Sean Carroll a Biology rockstar based on the genetics research originating in his lab, but he’s also an engaging popular science author. In </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remarkable Creatures</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, he tells the stories of a handful of individuals whose scientific work has been important in advancing the theory of evolution. Each chapter is dedicated to a different historical figure, from more familiar characters such as Darwin and the Leakey team, to those I had never heard about, like Roy Chapman, whose group discovered the first fossilized “nest” of dinosaur eggs. Research on Neanderthal mtDNA and Neil Shubin’s famous </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tiktaalik </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">round out the more modern scientific advances at the end of the book. Because each chapter is a stand-alone story, a section of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remarkable Creatures</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> could be easily used in the classroom to supplement a genetics or evolution unit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Podcast: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big Picture Science </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from the SETI Institute. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are you looking for a way to keep up with the newest advances in science, but don’t have enough time to read all the journals? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big Picture Science </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">will provide this for you on a weekly basis, and also manages to translate the research into a cohesive show that is easy to understand, accompanied with splashes of humor. There is a “theme” every week, and each of the science stories in the episode relate to that theme. “Look Who’s Not Talking” was the title of the show I last listened to, with information about the impact of social media on members of the armed services, an interview with one of the programmers for Hello Barbie, and a discussion about various ways people can “disconnect” from devices. If you don’t already use an app to listen to podcasts, you can also download </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big Picture Science</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> episodes online at </span><a href="http://radio.seti.org/episodes" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://radio.seti.org/episodes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-46679931031485370202015-12-20T14:47:00.003-08:002015-12-20T14:49:00.849-08:00Using CER to Deepen Thinking<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When I started using the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning framework last year, little did I know the transformative power it would have in all aspects of student learning. Opportunities to incorporate scientific argumentation in the classroom continue to present themselves.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The last time I taught College Biology was pre-CER for me, so it's been exciting finding ways to incorporate it into the methods I've traditionally used with this class. One recent shift was a speciation activity from previous years. The original lesson asked students to plot data about the location of various sub-species of the California salamander, <i>Ensatina</i>. Students would then answer questions about the patterns that the sub-species created and eventually be "led" to the possibility that speciation had occurred. Here's a <a href="http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/step.sp.html" target="_blank">LINK</a> to the original lesson from ENSI. I like that the activity is based on actual research on ring species, initiated by Robert Stebbins from UC Berkley in the 1940's. However students never really puzzled over the data as much as would have liked them to. So, I decided to apply the principles of CER to the activity, hoping to see more critical thinking.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bt8kQ5nLr4E/Vncu7YMgReI/AAAAAAAAHEI/RuFO2dc-XqI/s1600/salamander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bt8kQ5nLr4E/Vncu7YMgReI/AAAAAAAAHEI/RuFO2dc-XqI/s320/salamander.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/devitt_02</td></tr>
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To start the activity, I shared the story of the <i>Ensatina</i> salamander species with the students. I showed them photos of what the sub-species look like and discussed the history of the research that has benn done on the species. Students then used the data and map from the original activity to plot the locations of the salamanders. At this point, instead of answering scripted questions, I tasked the student teams with (1) Writing a CER argument addressing the question, How did speciation of the <i>Ensatina</i> salamanders occur in California? (2) Diagramming a whiteboard model to support their argument. Remember, the students had no knowledge of the actual scientific result of this research.</div>
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<span class="s1">The discussions teams had while developing their CER and whiteboard models were exactly the type of thinking I was hoping for. Students debated which sub-species was the most ancestral, why salamanders in different areas of California looked so different, and applied topics from class such as disruptive selection, habitat isolation, and hybridization. Each of their models and arguments ended up being a little different. Since we didn't have time to run an official white boarding "class conference," I asked every team to create a video describing their CER with the whiteboard model as a prop in the video.</span></div>
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This wasn't the end of the activity, however. I wanted the students to evaluate each others' arguments. Also, I no longer give points for group work, so I was searching for a way to assess my students individually on this topic. What I decided to do was this: Each student watched three CER videos from teams other than their own. After watching the videos, they critiqued the arguments discussed in the videos by responding to the prompts below.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<i>1) Compare and contrast the speciation arguments in the three videos you watched.</i></div>
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<i>2) In your opinion, which team developed the strongest argument? Why? (Discuss the qualities of all three arguments in your explanation.)</i></div>
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<i>3) Describe two additional pieces of information that would have improved all the groups' arguments. In other words, if you could request that the original salamander scientists provide you with more data or information, what would have been helpful to know to support the arguments?</i></div>
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The results were outstanding. Students dug into the arguments of their peers and provided very insightful analyses of evidence.<br />
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Here are some excerpts of student work from the peer critique:</div>
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I was extremely happy with the outcome of this CER lesson. Not only was the content of the course reinforced, but students participated in powerful science practices. Double win!</div>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-11943111925954269582015-12-05T15:21:00.000-08:002015-12-05T15:22:39.191-08:00My Favorite Things<i>What follows is an article I wrote for the most recent MnSTA Newsletter. The online version can be found <a href="http://mnsta.org/cgi/page.cgi?_id=46" target="_blank">HERE</a> for people who are members of MnSTA. </i><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks ago, I was searching online for something new to supplement the phylogenetics lessons the College Biology class had been working on. When I finally came across a great resource, one of my first instincts was to tweet it out, sharing it with my fellow teaching colleagues. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 8.24.51 AM.png" height="144px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pcMLE2pvuYdU2o8vKtLaXrpMfD2XqqYj9V8YGcPhB7zVa0K7dIOrM7EG7JCtrAVMvWXUTKzT9l--Frrj1J86sgORyfgu1cQ8PEoF1HHQ88097RSW6bxQxlnSQn3BQ8Fw75tb3th" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="260px;" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems as though many teachers are pre-programmed to share. Put two or more science teachers in a room, and it’s my observation that it takes approximately 4.2 minutes (give or take) before they start talking about examples of their favorite lessons, websites, or labs. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So in the spirit of sharing, I’m beginning a series of articles themed, “My Favorite Things.” For each edition of the MnSTA newsletter, my goal is to share with you one website, one book, and one podcast that are “favorites.” Since I’m a Biology teacher, these will mostly concentrate in that discipline area, but I’m hoping as the articles get rolling, I will hear from many science teachers throughout the state of Minnesota, willing to share their favorite things. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, this means you!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If you have a book, website, or podcast that inspires your teaching or is simply one of those resources you turn to regularly, please contact me (information at the end of this article). Your ideas will be shared here as part of the regular article. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that said, onto the sharing!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Website: “NOVA Labs: Evolution Lab.” </span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/evolution/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/evolution/</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is the phylogenetics website that had me so excited a few weeks ago. In this “game,” students are guided through a series of missions in which they initially build phylogenetic trees based on traits, fossil evidence, and then eventually DNA similarities. Part of each mission is a tutorial introducing new concepts and tools, with the following challenges getting progressively harder. There are questions at the end of each mission to check students’ new learning, and players can only move on to a new mission once they’ve successfully unlocked the previous one. I was pleased that NOVA covers a wide diversity of organisms in these missions, from bacteria to dinosaurs to hominids. One of the missions also challenges students to consider practical applications of phylogenetics in medicine. It took my students approximately an hour to go through all the missions, and afterwards I asked them to write a paragraph using what they learned in the NOVA Lab as evidence for questions they were exploring in class. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Paige Keeley.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of you may have seen or have been using the subject-specific formative assessment probes designed by Keeley, which are wildly popular among science teachers. While I do incorporate a couple of these probes here and there throughout my curriculum, the Keeley-inspired tools I use the most come from this book, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Science Formative Assessment. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here, Keeley spells out a variety of generic strategies that can be used in any science class to get a better idea of student thinking. Just in the past quarter, I’ve used at least three ideas from this book. For a recent debate about energy in food chains, students participated in a “Four Corners” assessment. They were asked take a stand on a question by moving to the corner of the room that represented their answer and preparing a “position statement” defending that answer with the other like-minded students in the corner. In preparation for a quiz on classification, students worked in pairs to complete a “Justified True/False” and then rotated through other groups to defend and clarify their justifications. To show changing thinking about photosynthesis and expose misconceptions, I asked students to “Post-It Vote” on a question before exploring the topic in class, and then again afterwards. All three of these methods, and 72 others, are described in detail in Keeley’s book. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Podcast: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Horizontal Transfer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Paul Anderson and David Knuffke</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you teach high school Biology and don’t currently listen to podcasts, this podcast alone should be enough to get you on the bandwagon. Produced by Paul Anderson (of Bozeman Biology video fame) and fellow Biology/Chemistry teacher David Knuffke, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Horizontal Transfer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a weekly discussion of ideas, tools, and resources pertinent to all Biology teachers. From topics as specific as “graphing” to broad, philosophical ideas such as, “the ideal high school,” each episode is engaging and entertaining. From the beginning, Paul and David encouraged the listening audience to contribute to the podcast with feedback and “teacher hacks,” which they feature as a regular part of the show. Because of this global collaboration, listening to the podcast makes you feel like a part of a greater community, not just a passive recipient of information. Catching up on past episodes is easy as well, since Paul and David also created a website (of the same name) to archive all the shows and resources. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a side note, I get asked a lot, “Where do you find the time to listen to podcasts?” Think about all the mindless tasks you may have during the day, and these might be the perfect moments to put on a podcast: a long commute, doing the dishes, raking leaves. Once you get started, you’ll start recognizing all sorts of unclaimed minutes throughout your day. Give it a try!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have some “favorite things” you’d like to share with Minnesota science teachers, please send the name of the website, book, or podcast with a short review to Amanda Meyer via email (</span><a href="mailto:alynnmeyer@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">alynnmeyer@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) or Twitter (@alynnmeyer). Looking forward to your contributions!</span>Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-1635717676179483162015-11-16T18:35:00.001-08:002015-11-16T18:35:31.097-08:00Formative Assessments in BiologyAs a part-time technology integrationist for my district, I create a monthly newsletter on Smore for all the staff members. It usually includes updates, ideas from various K-12 classrooms that I've seen, and suggestions for new tools to try. This month, I focused completely on formative assessment. It's been a big part of our PLCs, and after a conversation with some of my colleagues I realized that I use a lot of tech-based formative assessment in Biology.<br />
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So this post is a summary of some of the digital formative assessment tools I shared with my staff members in the October newsletter. For each resource, I've provided an explanation of what it is, how it works, and an example from my own classes. I also have a large arsenal of non-tech formative assessment ideas I use in class, mostly based on Paige Keeley's "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Science-Formative-Assessment-Strategies-Instruction/dp/1412941806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446465276&sr=8-1&keywords=paige+keeley+formative+assessment+in+science" target="_blank">Science Formative Assessment</a>," which I use weekly. Maybe I'll share some of those in a later blog post!<br />
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I know that formative assessment is one of those "buzz words" in education right now, but once I started using targeted methods more thoughtfully to truly probe what my students were thinking, I was just coasting along in class, doing my own thing, oblivious to what my students needed. Bringing in effective formative assessment was the first step in creating a responsive, learner-centered classroom.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Padlet</span><br />
<br /><i>What?</i><br />Are you looking for a good way to get at students' initial ideas about a topic or new content? Padlet is a great tool for aggregating students' thinking so that the entire class can share with each other. This also allows you (and the students) to look for common misconceptions and/or patterns in thinking.<br /><br /><i>How?</i><br />Set up an account online and create a blank Padlet. Each Padlet you make has its own web link, which you can copy and share with students. All the students need to do is go to the web link, click on an empty spot, and then start typing! Students can also add photos and links to their submissions. Although I've always had students access Padlet through a link on Safari, there is also an app.<br /><br /><i>Example</i><br />The photo below shows how Anatomy students shared their questions related to zombie anatomy after watching a series of video clips and making observations. These questions were then connected to the unit on the Nervous System.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Formative</span><br />
<br /><i>What?</i><br />In looking for a digital tool that allowed students to share models in Biology, I came across the web-based tool, Formative. Using Formative, students can answer various types of online questions the teacher has designed. What makes it better than other tools, in my opinion, is that students can draw their answers and there's no log-in or account required for the students.<br /><br /><i>How?</i><br />Once the teacher sets up an account, s/he can design assessments with many different types of questions: multiple choice, show your work, short answer, true/false. You can also add a variety of content to accompany the questions: images, text blocks, a whiteboard, and YouTube videos. After creating the assessment, one option is to copy a link that makes the assessment accessible, even without logging in. Students are immediately prompted to enter their first and last names when they access the link and start the assessment.<br /><br /><i>Example</i><br />Biology students completed an experiment investigating the greenhouse effect this fall. After the experiment, I wanted to know what they thought about their results. Using Formative, I asked them to draw what they thought was happening in their Control and Experimental bottles. Once students submitted their drawings, I could see all of them in one place on my Formative account, making it easy to skim through them and get an idea of where students had gaps in understanding.</div>
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<i>What?</i><br />I have seen many more students using Educreations this year. It's a simple way to make quick videos. Students can add photos, text, and/or drawings to their video, and then narrate over the image they've created. Having the students speak and explain something visually at the same time is a powerful way to get a peek into their thinking.<br /><br /><i>How?</i><br />You as a teacher will set up an Educreations account and classes in that account. Each of your classes will be assigned a class code. When students originally sign up for Educreations in the app, it's good to have your class code handy for them. If they enter your class code, you will automatically see all their completed projects in your Educreations account. Students can also copy a link to their Educreations video and submit that link on Schoology.<br /><br /><i>Example</i><br />After requiring some student research on the Nitrogen Cycle, I wanted to know what they understood so that I could plan out instruction for the standard. So I asked the students to build an Educreations video showing particular terms and describing their current understanding of the cycle. After watching these short videos, I had a much better idea of where they were struggling.</div>
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<i>What?</i><br />Socrative is another type of "quiz builder," but there are a couple of things that I think make it stand out from others. First, some students really like the "space race" option, where the class can watch progress through the quiz as all the individuals or groups completing the quiz move their rockets across the screen as they get more questions correct. Socrative also has very detailed teacher reports, which is something I'm looking for with particular assessments.<br /><br /><i>How?</i><br />After you set up a teacher account, you are assigned a "class number" that will never change. Students can go to Socrative online or via the app, enter your class number, and get right into the quiz. Some other nifty options Socrative offers are "Quick Questions," "Exit Tickets," and different options for pacing within the quizzes.</div>
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<i>Example</i><br />Before starting the topic of Evolution with Biology students, I wanted to know what common misconceptions they had. I set up a series of true/false questions in Socrative that the students answered before learning anything about Evolution. With Socrative's super-duper reports, I could quickly and easily see that most students were okay with Questions 5 (below), but I knew I definitely needed to focus on Question 1 throughout the unit.</div>
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<i>What?</i><br />Popplet is a mind-mapping app that is super-simple for students to use. A good application for this app is when students have been learning a bunch of different pieces that then need to be connected to a bigger idea. It's another way to encourage students to think critically about their learning - and for you to see if they're ready to extend to that higher level of thinking.<br /><br /><i>How?</i><br />No account required for you, no account required for students. Yay! Students simply open the app, create their Popplet, download the image, and then submit the image to Schoology to share it with their teacher.<br /><br /><i>Example</i><br />In an attempt to help students understand the connections between 2 different standards that they had previously learned (the carbon cycle & climate change), I gave the class a set of "vocabulary" terms from both topics and then tasked them to create a Popplet that connected all of the terms with their own ideas.</div>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-24416926698649414972015-09-27T17:40:00.000-07:002015-09-27T17:40:54.251-07:00Week 5 for SHS BiologyMy original goal for blogging this year was to reflect on my classes each week. Well, the last time I blogged was for Week 1 - how quickly a month passes by! So this post will be a summary of what's been going on in the Springfield Biology classes over the last month, instead of the last week.<br />
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<u>Things that have been working well:</u><br />
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<ul>
<li>Leveled Assessments: A change to this year's standards-based format is students completing different assessments for each level. A Level 1 Assessment of a standard is the most basic content knowledge. It serves as a baseline for me to see where the students are starting, and the scores aren't entered into the grade book. A Level 2 Assessment is similar to the Level 1 Assessment, but has less supports. It isn't entered into the grade book either, but students must retake this assessment until they reach proficiency. A Level 3 Assessment is an application question related to the standard, and to reach a Level 4 students have to perform additional research or tutoring for a peer. So far, I'm very happy with how the assessments are working. I like getting that initial information from the students, and I feel more secure that they understand the basics of a standard before we move on to higher-order thinking.</li>
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<li>Note-taking in College Biology: In past years, I've struggled with assigning students to take notes from their textbook readings. It takes a lot of time to teach them this skill, and it's very challenging for students. However, I've had many past students say they were unprepared for college text reading once they started their degree programs. So this year I used a version of Lee Ferguson's (@thebiospace) notes document to teach note-taking to my College Biology students. We worked on an entire section together, and then they practiced on their own. Another change I made is that they don't read the book for all of their content - sometimes I provide a video instead (for which they use the same notes format). So far the balance has been about 50/50 between textbook content and video content. When they are required to take textbook notes, I keep the length of the section short and make sure the topic is fairly straight-forward. </li>
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<li>Climate Conference: I've always felt guilty about the lack of attention I've dedicated to climate change in Biology class. It often gets discussed briefly as a side-note at the end of our discussions about the Carbon Cycle. This year, I was determined to wrap the entire unit about the Carbon Cycle, Photosynthesis, and Respiration around the topic of climate change. The students started by generating questions about a video I showed regarding global temperature changes over time. They then planned and executed their own greenhouse effect investigations, learned about the carbon cycle, investigated photosynthesis & respiration in snails and elodea, and are now in the midst of a Climate Conference simulation, pulling everything they've learned together. I designed this activity to mimic the UN Climate Conference that will take place in Paris in a couple of months. Each of the teams in the class chose a country to represent. Based on that country's needs and limitations, they are designing a plan for their country to cut 10 billions tons of carbon emissions by the year 2055. Plans will be shared and analyzed at our "official" Climate Conference this week.</li>
</ul>
<u>Things I'd like to improve on:</u><br />
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<li>Because I started the topic of climate change with student questions, I need to weave those back into the discussion at the Climate Conference. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do this yet.</li>
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<li>I need to be more clear with my College Biology students about when an assignment is for practice and when it is for assessment. These students are typically very grade-conscious, so I need to lower their stress level by being more transparent about points. It's challenging to use standards-based grading in my 10th grade Biology class and traditional grading in the college-level class. So much of my communication about assessment has been in "SBG" world over the last year, so it's hard to switch back into the traditional mode.</li>
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<li>Argumentation in Biology: Many of my Biology students are still struggling with portions of the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning framework we use for the scientific argumentation standard in class. They were introduced to this last year, but they are especially confused about dissenting evidence and further research. I need to have more one-on-one conferences with students to help clear up confusion.</li>
</ul>
There have been lots of great things going on in the classroom, but a month of great things is hard to sum up in one blog post. I'll do my best to write again next week so that I can provide a more detailed account. Until then, enjoy some photos of Springfield students in action.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S-FPr59u_nc/VgiKOThT8bI/AAAAAAAAGrU/x97Dy9SbCD0/s1600/Students2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S-FPr59u_nc/VgiKOThT8bI/AAAAAAAAGrU/x97Dy9SbCD0/s640/Students2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Where does the mass of a plant come from? Pre-assessment results (A = nutrients in the soil, B = sunlight, C = gasses in the air, D = water). Fascinating outcome; lots of learning yet to happen!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XnSfsxOxpWw/VgiKOVJtVMI/AAAAAAAAGrY/WOXB2BtAbxk/s1600/Students.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XnSfsxOxpWw/VgiKOVJtVMI/AAAAAAAAGrY/WOXB2BtAbxk/s640/Students.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">(Clockwise) Working on the greenhouse investigation, watching videos of their classmates' lab results, making banners for the Climate Conference, "choose your own adventure" carbon cycle with QR codes, and diagramming results from the plant energy investigation.</td></tr>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-81666522233554725252015-08-30T15:24:00.000-07:002015-08-30T15:26:11.308-07:00Week 1 for SHS BiologyEvery year, I change my Week 1 strategy a bit (or a lot) in an attempt to meet the following goals:<br />
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<li>Get to know my students a little.</li>
<li>Help my students begin to know me.</li>
<li>Begin building classroom culture.</li>
<li>Give the students some information about what to expect from class.</li>
<li>Allow the students some input regarding the class.</li>
<li>Solidify routines and procedures that are important to student learning.</li>
<li>Do some science.</li>
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And do all of this in an efficient way so that I don't drag the "intro to class stuff" on so long that it's October before students actually start digging into the content! So much to do in so little time...<br />
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This year, I decided to organize all of these goals around "themes" that I felt were important to learning in Biology class: Persistence, Teamwork, Problem-Solving, and Curiosity. Here's the low-down on what the students did to explore these themes.<br />
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<u>Monday</u><br />
We had 20 minute classes on the first day of school (and my first hour Biology class was even shorter), so we only had time to do the following:<br />
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"Warm-Up." This is one of those procedures I want students to get used to. Every day when they come into class, there is something on the board for them to do. Today, they had to write their name on a popsicle stick. I'm old-school and use these for calling on students or making lab groups throughout the year. I like them better than any digitized name-picker I've come across.<br />
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I showed an Intro to Biology Video (below). This one gets my adrenaline racing every time.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7L7x0BAqWis/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7L7x0BAqWis?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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I explained how to access and interact with the Course Overview video. I created a video of me talking through the Course Overview. I put it into Zaption and added various interactive questions to it, as well as places where I asked for student feedback and comments. The students had the whole week to find time to watch this 10-minute video, and we'll discuss it more on Monday or as the need arises. Personally, I really dislike talking through the course overview in class.</div>
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<u>Tuesday</u><br />
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The "Warm-Up" for the day was to complete the "Get To Know You" survey from Panorama Education (<a href="https://backtoschool.panoramaed.com/" target="_blank">click here</a>). This is only my first year of using the survey, but I'm kind of digging it so far. I took the survey first, and then after the students took it, the survey gave them information about how their answers were similar to mine. And I received analogous information about the students as well. I like the instantaneous connections.</div>
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Students worked in partners on this "Saving Sam" activity (<a href="http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/saving_sam.html" target="_blank">click here</a>). Themes that this addressed are Persistence, Teamwork, and Problem-Solving. After the activity, student teams brainstormed what this activity indicated to them about learning in Biology class. I recorded all of their answers on a huge Post-It note.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Saving Sam" success!</td></tr>
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<u>Wednesday</u></div>
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The "Warm-Up" today was to sign up for Remind for the class. Then students received their science notebook and started getting it organized. I've had the students use composition notebooks for science for many years now. This is definitely an integral procedure for my classes. Lee Ferguson has a nice set of videos on how to set these up. Here's the first:</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H-2148m_l_0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H-2148m_l_0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Students explored ice balloons as a way to generate questions. This is an activity I've done for quite a few years. I picked it up at an inquiry workshop and modified it to fit my needs. Students get a tray with a frozen water balloon, some dissecting probes, a thermometer, food coloring, salt, sugar, and corn starch. They have approximately 10 minutes to explore the ice balloon using the tools (and keeping it in the tray). While they're experimenting, each student has a stack of small papers they use to record their questions about the process - one question per paper. When they're done, a team of 3-4 students should have a large stack of questions generated. I then briefly define open vs. closed questions, students sort their questions into open and closed, and finally record a few examples of each in their notebooks. Themes this activity addresses are Teamwork, Problem-Solving, and Curiosity. It was also a good introduction to my expectations for materials use and clean-up in the Biology lab.</div>
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Once again, when the activity was done, I asked students to reflect on what this experience indicated to them about learning in Biology class, and I recorded their ideas on a second giant Post-It note.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring ice balloons.</td></tr>
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<u>Thursday</u></div>
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For the "Warm-Up," students practiced changing questions from closed to open and open to closed. This is getting them prepared for the Question Formation Technique we'll be using in class, based on the book, <i>Make Just One Change</i>, by Rothstein & Santana. (<a href="http://rightquestion.org/make-just-one-change/" target="_blank">Click here for a link.</a>) </div>
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The students started on an activity I have never done in the past, but feel is becoming increasingly important in my classes: how to evaluate online sources. I try to emphasize in my course that students have unlimited information at their fingertips and I am not the sole provider of knowledge. However I've realized that students don't know how to find and/or evaluate digital content. So I put together a series of short exercises to help them with this.</div>
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1. Establish the need. I asked the students to all put the question "Are vaccinations safe?" into the search bar on Safari. (My students all have iPads.) I then assigned each student a site from the list that was generated. I did this by number: student 1 had site 1 at the very top, student 2 had the next site down, etc. Their task was to skim the site and decide how it answered the question - yes or no. Students then pasted a copy of their site's url and the "yes" or "no" answer onto a class Padlet to share the results. As you can see below, the sites ranged from .gov to .org to .com and more, and students found both yes and no answers. I used this as a springboard to point out the fact that different sites provide different answers, so our job as question-askers is to sift through for the most credible resources.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Padlet results for top 20+ online hits: Are vaccinations safe?</td></tr>
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2. What is credible? Students were then given the titles and urls of 11 different websites and asked to rank them (based on name and url only) in order of credibility.</div>
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Like many of my new ideas, this one went longer than expected, so we stopped here for the day.</div>
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I introduced the first homework assignment of the year - what I called a "practice assignment." Instead of lecturing in class, students access content outside of class via iBook, video, website, or traditional textbook. Students choose which learning tool they prefer. I provide them with guiding questions to write about as they move through the content, and then students fill out an online feedback form. To practice this type of assignment for the first time, I put together some resources on Ebola. We won't be discussing the content for a few days, but I always try to give students multiple days to get assignments like this done so that they can plan around wifi needs and busy schedules.</div>
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<u>Friday</u></div>
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The "Warm-Up" today was only possible thanks to this great spreadsheet shared by Alice Keeler (<a href="http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/2015/08/12/class-twitter-account-how-your-students-can-tweet/" target="_blank">click here</a>) designed to collect and organize student ideas for tweeting. I asked the students to tweet (using the shared spreadsheet) about one thing they learned, still wondered about, or something that just stuck with them from class this week. I'm planning on asking the students to do this every Friday as a warm-up. Research on memory shows that if learners wait a while after learning something, and then go back to access that information at a later time, they're more likely to remember it long-term. By the way, you can see some of my students' tweets from this warm-up at @MeyerScience.</div>
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To continue the credibility evaluation from the previous day, student partner groups were assigned one of the 11 sites to actually visit and determine everything they could about the author of the site. Was it one or more authors? Was there an editor? Were the authors restricted? What was the educational background of the authors? Did the authors have a bias or affiliation with a particular cause? Was the author monetarily sponsored in any way?</div>
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Students reported back what they found and then re-ranked the sites as a class (with very different results from the initial ranking). </div>
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I still have one more activity related to credibility of online sources that I'm going to present to the students on Monday (it's all about using Wikipedia correctly), and then we'll create one more giant sticky note about the experience. The themes that this one addresses are Problem-Solving and Curiosity. After this last activity is done, students will participate in a "chalk talk" to summarize all their Post-It note ideas under three topics: What can I expect of my teammates in Biology class? What can I expect of my teacher in Biology class? What can other expect of me in Biology class?</div>
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More than any other year, I feel like the time spent during this first week was a nice balance of my goals. The true test will be the outcome of the chalk talk on Monday. I'll report back next week!</div>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-78235513404143664612015-07-19T15:22:00.001-07:002015-07-19T15:23:37.885-07:00My Two Cents On Conferences<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVR25b1L6No/Vawi5t2w2mI/AAAAAAAAF3g/7VyJEy5UxYs/s1600/5543998238_87e2747a14_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVR25b1L6No/Vawi5t2w2mI/AAAAAAAAF3g/7VyJEy5UxYs/s640/5543998238_87e2747a14_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Based on a completely unscientific examination of my recent social media connections, there has been a lot of chatter about the nuances of socializing during educational conferences. More specifically, some conference attendees have felt left out, snubbed, or simply ignored by their peers. A few post-ISTE15 blog posts addressed this phenomenon, as well as less directly, some reflections from FlipCon15. It seems as though the relatively new advent of virtual PLN's and the seemingly exponential growth of the edu-famous entourage have collided to form the perfect storm at educational conferences. </div>
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Some teachers have friends around the country (or around the world) that they are only able to visit face to face once or twice a year. The conference is like a lifeline for these types of relationships, so of course they want to spend as much time as possible with these colleagues. On the other hand, some attendees have only "known" a favorite presenter or blogger or podcaster virtually, but have learned from or been inspired by him/her. Of course they want the chance to meet that individual in person at the conference to thank him/her or just socialize for a while.</div>
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What results is a sometimes uncomfortable situation in which a conference attendee might feel like s/he is back in high school, sitting at the lunch table all alone, while the cool kids whoop it up a few tables away. </div>
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Well, I've decided it's time I add my two cents worth on this topic. Please note that these are strictly opinions based on one person's experience (mine!), but here are my limited credentials:</div>
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<li>I'm an introvert at heart.</li>
<li>I have my own edu-heroes whose podcasts I listen to, blogs I read, and/or Twitter accounts I follow. </li>
<li>I have no problem starting up a conversation with someone on social media, but I am a little more shy in person.</li>
<li>I've attended a variety of national conferences, sometimes with close friends, but usually on my own.</li>
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So, with that glimpse into my psyche, here are my ideas about what we could do to better avoid creating "high school cafeterias" at our education conferences. I think some of these strategies would help more attendees to feel included, but also allow for those "PLN reunions" to happen. </div>
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<u>Changes at the Attendee Level</u></div>
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1. Individuals that are planning on attending a conference, especially a national conference, should spend time before the conference connecting with other attendees digitally. Get on social media and find out who's going to be there. Set up some "outings" or "meet-ups" ahead of time so there's some guaranteed face to face time. Advertise which sessions you might be attending so that you can pre-connect with others who will also be there. This ensures a friendly face to look for when you get into the room.</div>
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2. If you happen to go to a session in which you don't know anyone, introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you. You'd be amazed at the stories and knowledge your "next door neighbor" has. I met some of my most interesting connections at NSTA15 last winter using this philosophy. You might not get the chance to have a coffee with that edu-famous presenter you really wanted to meet, but I'm here to tell you that there are a ton of amazing educators in the audience that would love to meet you and chat.</div>
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3. For those educators who do know a lot of people at the conference and have been looking forward to spending time together, I think it's courteous to make one simple change: Avoid adding the conference hashtag to your personal tweets. Looking to get your PLN together for dinner? Sharing an inside joke? Reminiscing about past gatherings? Those tweets are targeted to a specific, select group and don't need to be shared with all the conference attendees. It only makes other people feel like they're missing something when they really aren't a part of this insular conversation that you've made public. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have these Twitter conversations with your buds; I just feel like there's no need to use the conference hashtag with these tweets. Hashtagging should be for conversations about experiences, ideas, and learning that <i>all</i> people can feel a part of.</div>
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<u>Changes at the Presenter Level</u></div>
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1. If I were to lecture in the classroom, I wouldn't continue for very long before I took a break and asked students to process that information in some way. Similarly, I feel like part of a presenter's responsibility is to allow time for attendees to bounce ideas off each other during the presentation. This not only allows an opportunity for the genius of the room to be uncorked, but it also has the potential to get people talking to others they may have never otherwise met. You could even be really crazy and purposefully mix up those groups so that attendees don't only talk to the people they chose to sit with. Give your attendees time to verbally process with each other and the opportunity to meet a like-minded friend.</div>
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2. Keep in touch with the attendees who contact you. If someone at your session tweets about it, respond with a "favorite" or written reply. If you receive any correspondence later about questions or resources, make sure to take the time to answer. I'm sure it can get a little overwhelming if you receive a lot of requests, but if you're going to put yourself out there as a presenter, I feel like you have a responsibility to "walk the talk."</div>
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<u>Changes at the Conference Level</u></div>
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The conference format can go a long ways in allowing for different types of interactions amongst participants. Based on the conferences I've attended, here are some "format" ideas that I think work well to achieve a balance amongst the myriad of attendees' social expectations.</div>
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1. Provide communal meals onsite and make sure there's enough time to eat them. Let's face it, a lot of our conference socializing is done over drinks or a cheeseburger. For those attendees that don't know a lot of people at the conference, a communal meal is a great place to meet someone new. No need to worry about finding a lunch date, just simply join a table. Sometimes tables are explicitly organized by interests so everyone has a "home," but they don't need to be. We're all adults and should feel somewhat comfortable (albeit, a little awkward) joining a table of strangers for dinner. For attendees that already have a group of friends they'd like to spend time with, a nice long meal time allows the opportunity to eat outside of the conference and catch up.</div>
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2. Plan for a variety of session types, some of which are meant to simply bring people together. Many big conferences will have a "first-timers" breakfast to kick off the conference. FlipCon has scheduled time for job-alike sessions for people to meet each other and share ideas. One of my favorite memories from ISTE14 was attending the "Birds of a Feather" gatherings that united educators around common interests or passions. I met so many intelligent, friendly colleagues at those sessions. Traditional conference sessions can be very one-directional. The presenter or the panel "talks at you" and there is no community connectedness. This is fine for some topics, but conference planners need to make sure that there are also many scheduled, intentional opportunities for conversations to happen. </div>
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A conference is what you make of it and adaptable to what you need from it. Just remember that everyone attends conferences for different reasons. Presenters and conference planners can do a lot to help ensure that attendees with diverse needs are all satisfied. But at the same time, your attitude, courage, and empathy can go a long way in making each conference a valuable experience.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Photo from Denisefg87 on Flickr, available via Creative Commons.</i></span></div>
Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-66798018492303449762015-06-27T10:00:00.006-07:002015-06-27T10:00:30.889-07:00Summer Reading: "Building A Better Teacher"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s4A6mRH-HMA/VY7WhDUw8eI/AAAAAAAAFy4/sGtrBDkOKfw/s1600/2015-06-27%2B11.54.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s4A6mRH-HMA/VY7WhDUw8eI/AAAAAAAAFy4/sGtrBDkOKfw/s400/2015-06-27%2B11.54.51.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
I heard Elizabeth Green speak about her book, <i>Building A Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone)</i>, on <a href="http://www.americanradioworks.org/what-teachers-need/" target="_blank">an episode</a> of American Radio Works this past fall, and she's been on my reading list ever since. While I was expecting the book to be a methodical description of what the research says about effective teaching, it turned out to be more of a comprehensive, historical look at our nation's thinking about teaching. Not that this was a bad thing. I learned a lot about the complexities of "good teaching" and why it's difficult to write a book that's a methodical description of effective teaching.<br />
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My first surprise was that researchers in the U.S. haven't been studying the "science of teaching" for very long. Green takes the reader through a history of this research, essentially starting with an educator named Nathaniel Gage. Gage was a professor at the University of Illinois and one of the first to employ experimentation as a tool to study teaching. Eventually, Green moves forward in history, through various researchers, until she reaches a Michigan teacher: <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dball/" target="_blank">Deborah Loewenberg Ball</a> (currently the Dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan). Much of the book, in one way or another, is connected to Deborah and the style of teaching she developed for math classrooms. At the risk over-simplifying the methodology, Green describes the following differences in Loewenberg Ball's teaching:<br />
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<li>Begin a lesson with a question to spur student curiosity and discussion (instead of direct instruction by the teacher).</li>
<li>Allow student discourse to drive the teaching and learning of the lesson (instead of pre-determined teacher questions and time commitments).</li>
<li>Plan for teaching a few big ideas in greater depth (instead of many topics superficially).</li>
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These ideas were further validated for Loewenberg Ball by a visit to Japan, where she was able to observe typical math classes in session. Green also writes quite a bit about the Japanese practice of lesson study and attempts in Michigan to model the process. Although many educators saw the value in Loewenberg Ball's methods, it was challenging to scale the system.<br />
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There are a few chapters in the book that discuss charter schools, such as the KIPP and Uncommon Schools networks. These schools typically focus on prescriptive teaching methods to raise test scores for struggling students. While they have had some success on standardized tests, Green describes questions within these communities about the depth of learning for their students, at which point she circles back to Loewenberg Ball's work.<br />
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Although this book does not encompass all the research on teaching that has taken place, it was a good introduction for me. I liked the historical lens, as it made <a href="http://ambitiousscienceteaching.org/" target="_blank">Tools for Ambitious Science Teaching.</a> It was Loewenberg Ball's teaching philosophy that resonated with me the most. Even though she is focused on math instruction, many of her methods transfer well to science. Tools for Ambitious Science, in my opinion, applies Loewenberg Ball's work to science instruction.<br />
trends in our national impressions about teaching more evident. Also, because of this book, I stumbled upon a terrific website for science teaching: Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-7021744417110952672015-06-24T14:54:00.000-07:002015-06-24T14:54:19.255-07:00Summer Reading: "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xTy8AMkWaz0/VYsk2dsqlZI/AAAAAAAAFxo/ZaqNNVDsW0Q/s1600/photo%2B%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xTy8AMkWaz0/VYsk2dsqlZI/AAAAAAAAFxo/ZaqNNVDsW0Q/s400/photo%2B%25284%2529.JPG" width="350" /></a></div>
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<i>The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet </i>was a book of surprises and contradictions. Although the book jacket describes its main character as a "twelve-year-old genius cartographer," it also has an awful lot to say about the nature of science. After a couple of pages into the first chapter, I thought that perhaps this would be an appropriate book to read to my two boys, as the main character is only a few years older and there are quite a few illustrations in the margins. However, it didn't take long for me to realize that although children would enjoy the storyline of <i>T.S. Spivet</i>, they would certainly struggle with some of the philosophical and metaphysical themes running throughout the novel. My final surprise was how much I enjoyed this book. Its story was engaging, which made it hard to put down. The illustrations were clever and thoughtful. And finally, it encouraged me ponder big questions about life and the universe. </div>
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Part of my enjoyment in reading this book is that I really didn't know what it was about when I first put it on my library reserve list. For that reason, I don't want to give away too much of the plot. However, I will tell you this: T.S. Spivet is an adolescent boy, living in Montana, with an insatiable curiosity and uncanny ability to put his thoughts into pictures. He thinks about all sorts of everyday occurrences in terms of data, models, measurements, and trends, sketching them out in a series of notebooks. This is the source of the illustrations in the book.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_7ww4zexJaY/VYsk2a5XTkI/AAAAAAAAFyE/bYpx5VJXZTo/s1600/photo%2B%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_7ww4zexJaY/VYsk2a5XTkI/AAAAAAAAFyE/bYpx5VJXZTo/s400/photo%2B%25285%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An illustration at the opening of a chapter. T.S. ponders migration.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx3rN_LTajk/VYsk2wi6vWI/AAAAAAAAFx4/U9UIbGbkRuc/s1600/photo%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx3rN_LTajk/VYsk2wi6vWI/AAAAAAAAFx4/U9UIbGbkRuc/s640/photo%2B2.JPG" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the sketches from the beginning of the book. T.S.'s sister is shucking corn while he's collecting data. He gets upset when she finishes the job without him and his data set is incomplete. This was my first clue that this book was something unexpected and unique.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ea1Af3u2qbU/VYsk2RJ-NQI/AAAAAAAAFyA/I-n3qPpsWh4/s1600/photo%2B1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ea1Af3u2qbU/VYsk2RJ-NQI/AAAAAAAAFyA/I-n3qPpsWh4/s640/photo%2B1.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite sketches from the book. T.S. travels to Chicago and ponders the nature of shorts vs. pants.</td></tr>
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An event occurs in the book that prompts an independent, cross-country train trip for T.S., during which we get to learn more about his unique perspective of the world, discover some of his family history, and peek more into his relationships with his father, mother, and siblings.<br />
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As I said above, it doesn't seem like a book with this storyline would have a lot to do with science, but T.S. thinks about everything in life through the lens of science. He observes things that others might ignore, asks probing questions, collects data and looks for patterns to form hypotheses. We get to learn more about his grandmother, who was a geologist in the early 1900's, and the struggles she experienced as a female scientist. T.S.'s mother is an entomologist, which also has an impact on the development of T.S. as a character.<br />
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T.S. is supposed to be a child genius in this book, but I originally had a hard time trying to maintain that image of him as a 12-year-old in my mind, finding myself constantly challenged by his thinking and creativity. But as I saw the themes of the book play out, I realized that this story would have been impossible if T.S. was an adult. Seeing the world through a child's eyes is a completely different experience compared to an adult's perception. The magic and mystery of the book are possible only because the main character is a child.<br />
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As educators, we need to remember the valuable perspective students bring to our own learning, simply because they are so new to the world. <i>The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet</i> reminds us to cherish children and their perpetual wonder.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>*All photos were taken by the blog author, Amanda Meyer.</i></span>Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-37439369353331505612015-06-22T14:13:00.002-07:002015-06-22T14:14:47.778-07:00Summer Reading: "The Sixth Extinction"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--z4dY05Ut7c/VYh6MyqcoKI/AAAAAAAAFxM/Ushf0KPPnUw/s1600/Dodo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--z4dY05Ut7c/VYh6MyqcoKI/AAAAAAAAFxM/Ushf0KPPnUw/s400/Dodo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image from </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction, labeled as "Free to use and share."</i></span></div>
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<i>The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History </i>was first added to my summer reading list as one of the potential book reads for <a href="http://www.horizontaltransfer.com/" target="_blank">Horizontal Transfer</a> podcast listeners. It didn't make the cut for that particular group, but after listening to an <a href="http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/03/11/daily-circuit-sixth-extinction" target="_blank">interview</a> with the author, Elizabeth Kolbert, on an MPR podcast a few weeks ago, I decided to read it anyway. She captured me with her descriptions of the book that made it seem one part adventure and one part natural history. The book did not disappoint in this regard, however I feel that the science stories it shared were more suited to new-comers to the topic.<br />
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Much of the book involves Kolbert traveling all over the world in order to experience unique ecosystems, locate a rare species, or visit the site of a historic event. She starts the book with a few chapters on endangered or extinct species and their connection to the mass extinction events of the past and present. A trip to Panama examines the current rapid decline in amphibian populations, and chapters about mastadon fossils and great auks take the reader through the history of scientific thought about extinction. The discovery of the KT-Boundary and its associated "bolide" impact is explained through the use of ammonite fossils.<br />
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The second half of the book reveals more specifically how humans are directly linked to the current mass extinction event, or the "Sixth Extinction." In these chapters, Kolbert travels to Scotland, the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy, the Great Barrier Reef, the Andes Mountains in Peru, the Brazilian Amazon, New York, and Cincinnati to focus in on the major human impacts on global extinction: ocean acidification, deforestation, and the transportation of invasive species. Again, she scaffolds these chapters with stories of particular species, such as the little brown bats that are dying from white nose syndrome and a Sumatran rhino a zoo is attempting to breed in captivity. She even spends a chapter on Neanderthals and their possible extinction as a result of interactions with <i>H. sapiens.</i><br />
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Kolbert does not end <i>The Sixth Extinction</i> with her prescription of "how to make it all better." We are in the midst of a mass extinction, and righting the ship at this point may be out of our hands. She outlines that there are two possibilities here: Number One, humans continue to impact the Earth in a way that eventually leads to our own extinction. The Earth will continue into the future, less diverse but still teeming with life; we just won't be a part of that. Possibility Number Two, our creativity and innovation will allow humans to explore and settle in different worlds. Most importantly, Kolbert makes clear that up until this point, we have been causing extinctions without truly understanding their impacts. Now that we have a better understanding of extinction, biodiversity, and evolution, we need to be more thoughtful about the choices we're making that affect the biosphere.<br />
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I have to admit I found myself wishing to visit some of the places Kolbert describes, especially considering many ecosystems are disappearing (the Great Barrier Reef may be gone in 50 years). However, can I justify that type of travel when so many extinctions are directly or indirectly related to climate change? Not really. Other than enjoying Kolbert's descriptions of these amazing ecosystems and species, I can't say this book offered me a lot of new scientific information. Many of these case studies have been covered pretty thoroughly in the news. In fact, a few days ago, I ran across <a href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/mass-extinction-ehrlich-061915.html" target="_blank">this recent study</a> supporting that we are indeed in the midst of a mass extinction event. I agree with Kolbert in that humans, in general, need to become more aware of the impact of our actions on other species. This is where my role as a science teacher comes into play. Though I am pretty familiar with the science in her book, my students are not. I have the resources and time to educate students about these pressing issues. In summary, I didn't learn much new information by reading <i>The Sixth Extinction</i>, but I will definitely share excerpts from the book with my students.Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-62663707439299076762015-06-15T06:21:00.000-07:002015-06-15T06:42:08.944-07:00Summer Reading: "Whistling Vivaldi"Inspired by our high school English department, last year I started posted outside my classroom door the book/s I was currently reading. I've always been a voracious reader, and now my entire family gets giddy about books the same way some people anticipate and discuss a new <i>Game of Thrones </i>episode. (Okay, my husband and I are pretty giddy about <i>GOT</i> as well, but mainly because we loved the books first!) So, although I'm constantly reading at least one book at any given time during the school year, summer is when I really kick it into high gear. More free time, combined with hours at the pool and weeks at the lake, gives me ample opportunity to start checking off those titles that have been on my book list all year.<br />
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My hope is to share some of those books via this blog this summer. <i>Whistling Vivaldi</i> by Claude M. Steele is what will hopefully be the first of many that I write about.<br />
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I'm pretty sure I came across this book in a Twitter chat at some point this past year, but that's all I can remember, so I apologize for not being able to give the recommender credit. The full title is, <i>Whistling Vivaldi And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. </i>Here's the first line from the jacket cover:<br />
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"In <i>Whistling Vivaldi</i>, renowned social psychologist Claude M. Steele addresses one of the most perplexing social issues of our time: the trend of minority underperformance in higher education."</blockquote>
Although this is no "light" summer read, I appreciate that Steele uses a combination of personal narrative and solid research to take the reader through the relevant discoveries on this topic. Personally, it was the most evidence-based and actionable book I've read regarding minority cultures in education. Now, I haven't read extensively on this topic, but never did an assigned reading in my licensure program so clearly and rationally outline the potential causes of the achievement gap or such realistic ways to start closing that gap. Having now been immersed in Steele's research, I see connections to his observations in my everyday life: the television we watch, the trip to the grocery store, and of course, my classroom.<br />
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The basis of Steele's book is understanding a phenomenon called "stereotype threat," and he spends a few chapters developing this idea for the reader. To truly understand stereotype threat, I strongly recommend you read the book, as Steele takes you through many experiments and experiences to build his theory. However, in a nutshell, stereotype threat says that any minority group tends to perform more poorly on a given task in an environment that reminds them of or reinforces their minority status. For example, Steele recruited male and female college students who were at the top in their math classes. He gave them challenging, GRE-level assessments in English and Math. The students scored similarly on the English test, but women scored significantly lower on the Math test. Steele had a theory that this was a result of the stereotype that women aren't as "smart" at math. Simply having this stereotype hanging over them puts more pressure and anxiety on women, interfering with their cognitive processing. There is no stereotype threat for English for women, and therefore there was no significant difference in scores.<br />
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To test his theory, Steele removed then removed the stereotype threat before administering the Math test by simply telling the women, "You may have heard that women don't do as well as men on difficult standardized math tests, but that's not true for this particular standardized math test; on this particular test, women always do as well as men." When this simple statement introduced the test for women, they "performed at the same high level as equally skilled men." Steele gives examples of similar experiments with similar results for black college students (revealing a stereotype threat for any test of intelligence), white male college students when compared to Asian students on a math test, lower class French students when compared to upper class French students on a language test, older individuals compared to younger individuals on a memory test, and on and on. Stereotype threat affects performance of a multitude of skills in an entire spectrum of groups of people.<br />
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On a personal note, just this week I came across recent news stories about Michelle Obama using a commencement speech to acknowledge stereotypes she dealt with growing up and the #DistractinglySexy social media campaign. It's clear that stereotype threat is alive and well, pervading every aspect of society.<br />
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Once Steele establishes the existence of stereotype threat, he then describes the multiple ways it affects people's lives, once again based on evidence-supported research. Not only does it interfere with concentration and cognitive processing, but the often unnoticed stress it causes dramatically impacts health. The high incidence of high blood pressure in African American populations is given as an example of this and experimentally validated, according to Steele.<br />
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Steele ends <i>Whistling Vivaldi </i>by outlining a handful of tested methods schools and other organizations can employ to reduce stereotype threat for their populations. He goes through the research on this subject just as thoroughly as he treated the earlier research on the establishment of stereotype threat. As a science teacher, I appreciate this book's combination of personal narrative, stories of real people, and evidence-based research. And the topic of stereotype threat, I would suggest, is essential for every person - not just every teacher - to better understand.<br />
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-67151107274280563952015-06-03T13:49:00.003-07:002015-06-03T13:53:07.268-07:00Year One of Standards-Based Grading: Lessons Learned<div style="text-align: center;">
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As I researched Standards-Based Learning last summer, preparing to implement it in my classroom for the first time, I collected copious amounts of resources and chatted with colleagues across the country in order to be as prepared as possible in this new venture. As is typical in education, however, I couldn't predict all of the repercussions of the change. What follows are the unexpected and unforeseen results of Year One of SBL in my high school science classes.<br />
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1. <i>Some students will fight against the SBL system.</i><br />
After a summer of preparing for this big change, I was excited and full of optimism to dive into SBL. I carefully planned out the first week of school, intentionally creating experiences for students that would help them buy into the classroom culture and philosophy that accompany SBL. All seemed to be going well, until students received feedback on their first assignment. "Why do I need to redo this? I'm fine with my score." "Why can't you just give me a grade for this?" "Why can't I just be done with this assignment?" For whatever reason, many of my students this year had no desire to improve their work and reach a "proficient" level in class. They started the year by completing every assignment as quickly as possible so that they could simply be "done" with it, and ended the year by not completing assignments at all because, "I'm just going to have to redo it anyway." This attitude may have been particular to this group of students, but I firmly believe that it's indicative of a larger problem. See #5 for further elaboration.<br />
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2. <i>Students, parents, and fellow staff members will need constant reminders about why SBL is important and "how it works."</i><br />
Not only did many students push against the "attitude of improvement" that is inherent to SBL, but the unfamiliar SBL tenets of multiple attempts, no late work, and no extra credit, along with crazy-looking grade reports, required multiple explanations and re-explanations of SBL practices and philosophy throughout the entire school year - until the final grades were in the book. These reminders were necessary for all parties involved: students, parents, and even teaching colleagues. My administrators were very supportive, fielding many phone calls from parents and even visiting my classroom to hold discussions with the students. My colleagues were full of questions about the process, which was encouraging, and I tried to answer them to the best of my ability. I can't over-emphasize how surprised I was that these questions didn't go away as we advanced through the school year. In my experience, people don't understand SBL all at once; their understanding (and also confusion) about the process continues to evolve as their experience with the process broadens.<br />
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4. <i>The classroom teacher must have solid assessments in order to collect evidence of student learning.</i><br />
I was very confident in my formative assessments starting the 2014-2015 school year, and my intuition was supported. I have worked hard to develop a variety of experiences, such as activities, experiments, and discussions, that encourage students to learn and practice content via active participation. I'm constantly on the look-out for better lessons, but the formative portion of my class is pretty solid. The summative assessments have been much more tenuous, however. I've been experimenting with different forms of summative assessment for the last few years, never happy with the outcome. This year, I decided to give student portfolios a try, as they seemed to be a logical fit with SBL. They lasted for one semester before I decided a change was called for. There were multiple factors that went into that decision, but one of the major reasons is that I was not convinced the portfolio work was an accurate reflection of what the students actually understood about the learning targets. Kind of a big flaw for a summative assessment. So, in January, I switched to free response, application questions as summative assessments for each target. Because the questions weren't dependent upon memorization of facts, I allowed students to use their science notebooks on these assessments. This shift required that I ask deeper-level questions of students, and I thereby better understood each student's thinking on the learning targets.<br />
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4. <i>Yes, it's true! Grades in a SBL system are more reflective of what students actually know. </i><br />
I don't know how many times I'd read or heard this statement before actually using SBL with my students, but it didn't really sink in until the end of the year. I had a handful of students who would have just barely passed Semester 2 if I had been using a traditional, percentage-based system. However, because I organized my gradebook according to standards, I could see that they didn't have any evidence supporting their what they knew for one or more learning target. So instead of simply using a "D-" as qualification to pass the course, I informed the students that in order to receive a grade on their final report card, they needed to complete their work for the the missing learning targets, explaining that without evidence of their learning on that target, there was no way to provide a grade showing what they knew. Most (but not all) of these students rose to the challenge and completed their work.<br />
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5. <i>The biggest challenge in moving to a SBL classroom is not figuring out how to make it work in with your traditional gradebook. The biggest challenge is shifting the learning mindset.</i> By the time students have me as a teacher for the first time, they have been in a traditional classroom for ten years. Instead of delivering content by the "open ears, pour it in" method, I start exploration of topics by intentionally creating discrepant events for students, causing them to be confused about what just happened. I expect them to learn via experiences in which participation and reflection is required. When straight-forward content delivery is appropriate, there is rarely an in-class, teacher-led lecture. Instead, students are provided with various resources (videos, textbook, iBook, websites) to support interaction with that content. And on top of all that craziness, instead of giving a "score," I give feedback. Instead of informing a student of the percentage they scored on an assignment, I refocus them on proficiency. No wonder students are frustrated. This system is 100% different from the "schooling" they've grown accustomed to over the course of a decade. It is a huge challenge to convince students to embrace classroom habits that are best for learning instead of clinging to habits that are comfortable, and sometimes easier.<br />
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Many of my "lessons learned" might convince any dedicated educator to return to traditional grading, but lesson #4 is my iron-clad argument for persisting with SBL. For the first time, I feel like the feedback and grades I'm providing to students not only truly reflect their learning, but also help to propel student learning. It's no longer the arbitrary grading "categories," the category weights, or points per assignment that influence a student's grade. It's the evidence they provide through the work they complete. Despite the mental challenge of facing students who are more comfortable with seeing Biology class as a series of assignments they have to "get through," my heart is happy to be able to have conversations with students about what they have learned instead of how many points they've accumulated. I'm excited for the many years of "SBL lessons learned" yet to come.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image from BK on flickr, labeled as Public Domain under Creative Commons.</i></span>Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-83450249729993964912015-04-18T17:02:00.000-07:002015-04-18T17:02:26.424-07:00"Cheating" in the Google Generation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do you remember the girl in your class who tried to squeeze all the dates for the History test onto the palm of her hand so she could surreptitiously sneak a peak at them during the exam? Or the one who drilled his buddy from the other Biology section with questions about the same test that he was about to take? These were the typical cheating behaviors I witnessed as a student in the late 80's/early 90's. While these behaviors haven't gone away, they have been supplemented by what many consider an entirely new form of "cheating." Googling. In the last week, I have had two separate conversations with fellow staff members about cheating incidents at our school, and they both involved online information. The instructors were rightly frustrated that the students were trying to take short cuts in their learning, however in the back of my mind, I was struggling to be entirely sympathetic. You see, I don't feel that accessing online information in order to complete an assignment or assessment is necessarily the issue that needs to be addressed. I think the root of the problem has more to do with the type of work we are asking our students to do and the level of the questions we are asking our students to ponder.<br />
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Everyone "knows" that any fact-based question you could ever want the answer to can pretty much be found by searching the internet. However, teachers are still shocked when students find answer keys for their math worksheets online or do a quick Google search during a test to find the name of the capitol of Togo. (It's Lome, by the way. I just Googled it.) We are at a crossroads in education. Teachers and libraries used to be the sole dispensaries of knowledge, but now much of the information teachers once dispensed is free to anyone with a device and an internet connection. So where does that leave teachers? What is our role in this new, fact-flooded ecosystem?<br />
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It has become increasingly clear to me in recent years that what I learned about Biology as a high school student and how I showed my teacher I learned it is no longer a relevant system for my students. Last year, I stopped requiring my students to complete multiple choice summative assessments. Instead, multiple choice formative quizzes are given to assess how students are progressing through the introductory levels of learning a topic. These are not graded - they are simply information for the students and myself. Last year, I also started utilizing more verbal, project-based, and hands-on type assessments, trying to get into what the students truly understood.<br />
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This year, the way I assess students has continued to evolve. My current summative assessments are designed to allow the students to show me what they understand, not what they have memorized. Therefore, I allow Biology students to use any resources that are in their notebooks while they work on the assessment. The notebook is their "internet," their repository of facts. I don't care if they have access to the structure of DNA during the assessment; I want to know if they understand the structure well enough to explain to me what happens to the DNA molecule when its environment changes in some unpredictable way. On a recent Anatomy assessment, students used all their class resources and the internet to choose a skeletal system disorder of their choice and explain to me how the topics they learned about in class (bone histology, gross bone anatomy, articulations, surface features, and bone repair) related to that disorder. And I told the students a week ahead of time that this is what the assessment would be. No surprises. I am constantly reminding my students: This class is not about what you can memorize. It's about what you understand. It's not that the factual content isn't important - it's just not what I'm going to directly assess my students on.<br />
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Therefore, one role for the teacher in the information-rich 21st Century is to scaffold learning so students move beyond factual details and into deeper connections with content. A second role for teachers is to guide students in swimming through and evaluating that deep pool of content. Teachers need to ask the questions that don't have right or wrong answers (and therefore can't be "cheated" on) and encourage students to ask their own questions. After establishing or generating a question with many possible responses, teachers must instruct students how to construct a solid opinion or argument based on reliable evidence. This is where the skill of sifting through and evaluating information becomes important.<br />
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I think a concrete example of this skill in action will be the best way to illustrate my thinking here. I have a colleague who recently told me about an HHMI activity on the Rock Pocket Mouse mutation that she worked through with her students. Knowing that DNA mutations were going to be a topic coming up in my own Biology classes soon, I looked into the resources. After transcribing and translating various sections of the mutated gene, students are asked a series of relatively low-level, one answer questions about the process. What I was looking for from this assessment was not could my students could pick out mutations, but could they understand that mutations can be good, bad, and neutral for survival. So I shifted the assessment to a Claim, Evidence, Reasoning format. The students still started by transcribing and translating the genes from the original HHMI activity. Then they were asked to answer the following in a claim: Are all mutations bad? As evidence, they reflected on what they observed in the Rock Pocket Mouse activity, but also what they found in researching other mutations of their choice. I provided links to information and videos about particular mutations, such as lactase persistence, to get them started. For the reasoning section, students needed to use what they knew about particular changes to the DNA (and thereby, amino acids) in these mutations that supported their claim.<br />
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"Cheating" on the types of assessments I've described above is nearly impossible. No two students will explain their understanding in exactly the same way. There are multiple right answers. I'm not assessing their ability to memorize. I'm assessing their ability to articulate their understanding, apply their understanding under new conditions or in different situations, and evaluate information as it relates to their understanding and opinions. In opposition to viewing access to information as "cheating," I'm trying to encourage my students to use all the information at their disposal to tackle tough questions. As I recently tried to propose to a teacher who was frustrated with students cheating in his class, maybe instead of trying to stop cheating by blocking websites and locking devices, we need to ask our students to show their understanding in more varied, complex ways.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image "A Cheating Oldie But Goodie" by Mr_Stein from Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.</i></span>Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-4255798352110643922015-03-22T10:31:00.002-07:002015-03-22T10:31:31.370-07:00Contemplating Conferences<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the last month, I've participated in five different professional development experiences.<br />
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<li>District level workshop investigating Standards-Based Learning and vertical alignment of content.</li>
<li>A weekend class as part of an ongoing program for Biotechnology teachers in Minnesota.</li>
<li>Minnesota iSummit.</li>
<li>Minnesota Conference on Science Education.</li>
<li>National Science Teachers Association National Conference.</li>
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Although I have learned and reflected as a result of each of the experiences, I have also been considering the flaws in some of these models. In particular, I've been contemplating the role of traditional "conferences" in the landscape of modern teaching. At both MnCOSE and NSTA I couldn't help but find myself disappointed at times. Disappointed in the predominance of traditional "read along on the screen while I talk" presentations, disappointed in the lack of pedagogy demonstrated by various speakers, and disappointed by missed opportunities for collaboration. I came away from these experiences with a conviction that we need to re-envision education conferences.<br />
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Before diving further into my ideas on this topic, I want to clarify that I do not blame the conference presenters for these flaws. First of all, it's a lot of work to prepare for a conference session and not everyone has the guts to stand in front of a room of their peers and speak. I have presented at conferences myself and was certainly not perfect. We all come from a tradition of having attended conferences before we actually offered our own sessions. We tend to replicate what we have already experienced in these presentations, which isn't always forward-thinking. If you have ever presented at a conference, first of all, thank you! Secondly, keep reading and consider what you might change next time.<br />
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When I first started attending conferences, it was the late 1990's, and I was just getting comfortable with finding information online. Twitter, Google+, and web-conferencing tools like Skype and Google Hangouts were certainly beyond my imagination. The acronym PLN may have existed, but I doubt it had anything to do with the educational sphere. A conference was the one place where I could find a bunch of great lessons and ideas in my content area in a short amount of time. Publications like <i>Science Teacher</i> only came out once a month, and I was lucky if there was one article each month that pertained directly to my students. Conferences were jam-packed with content that I could hand-pick. I remember the first time I attended an NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers) Conference as a new teacher and felt like the world had been opened to me.<br />
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Fast-forward fifteen years: If I need to brush up on some content, I find a free iBook, eText, iTunesU course, or MOOC. Looking for an innovative way to teach about Transcription & Translation? A quick Google search will provide me with lesson plans, projects, animations, and simulations I can adapt to use in my classroom. Feeling isolated as the only Biology teacher in my district? I participate in constantly-changing and engaging conversations with other like-minded educators via various online boards, blogs, and a multitude of social media tools.<br />
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So what need do conferences fill in this era when teaching resources and connections are now available to me by simply hopping on my MacBook?<br />
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In my opinion, conferences must offer experiences I can't have while sitting on my couch in my pajamas. First, I want to "do" something when I go to a conference session. Secondly, I want to collaborate with other people while I do that something.<br />
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I think an example of an actual conference session I attended this month will best illustrate this point. (Before you read on, recall what I said above about not blaming the presenters!) The presentation was about case studies. I use a few cases studies in the classes I teach, all of which I've found online and have adapted. In this session, I was looking for new ideas for case studies and better methods of implementation. Here's a brief overview of what this session did provide: A description of the different types of case studies and resources for finding them online. Throughout the presentation, our speakers frequently told us the best case study is one you write yourself. The end.<br />
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For me, this was a missed opportunity. When I consider what version 2.0 of this session should look like, here's what I would love to see: A brief introduction to the components of a case study, separate the audience into small groups of similar content area, and then guide us through writing a group case study we can all take back and use in our own classrooms. In this version, the audience would be active participants in the session. It would take advantage of the "genius in the room," and we'd all go home with a product that we couldn't have made on our own. Win! This is how my classroom operates; why shouldn't a conference session look the same?<br />
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There are some conference models that come close to this experience for me. EdCamps are the first that pops into my mind. They definitely encourage participation and collaboration. The one factor that they occasionally lack, however, is the "product." I've been to many EdCamp sessions that generated great dialogue, but nothing substantial that I could directly apply to my teaching. And sometimes this is okay too - but again, I have also had some powerful conversations on Twitter chats. At a conference, I'm looking for something more.<br />
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If you agree that our paradigm of what constitutes an "education conference" needs to change, what can we do? Personally I've made the decision that every time I present I will make a conscious effort to get my audience <b>doing</b> and <b>collaborating</b>. I'll reflect on this question: <b>What will the participants come away with that they can't find anywhere else?</b> If you are a presenter, please consider this same question. If you are a frequent conference attender, please give those feedback forms some of your time and tell the presenters and conference planners that you want and expect more from an education conference.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">“Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice.” Xun Kuang</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image "</i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Conférence NWX2012" from </i><span style="color: black;"><i>Frédéric BISSON on Flickr. Available via Creative Commons.</i></span></span><br /><br /> Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-32330792223289567632015-02-22T13:56:00.003-08:002015-02-22T13:56:45.900-08:00Joy As Connection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="text-align: center;">'Joy is connection,' simple as that. Joy is very different from the kind of pleasure one gets from pursuing excitement or satisfying a drive. Those pleasures tend to be intense and ephemeral. They're fun, but also solitary. They're very different from joy, which is almost impossible to experience alone. The first turns the individual inward, while the second turns the individual outward, toward others.</i><br />
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<i>- </i>From <i>All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood </i>by Jennifer Senior</div>
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I had just returned from the Minnesota Science Teachers Association annual conference (MnCOSE) this weekend when I finished the last chapter of Senior's book and read the passage above. All of the sudden it hit me that this is what I had been experiencing during the conference: Joy as Connection. Educators talk about the "power of a PLN" quite often, and I certainly agree that building a PLN has elevated my creativity and knowledge over the last two years. It has helped me to feel more connected. But I would argue that simply having online conversations via Twitter chats, Google+ Communities, or Voxer only begins to build relationships. For me, the "joy" of being an educator is most vivid for me when we are together. </div>
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Here are some experiences from this weekend that illustrated this "Joy as Connection" idea for me: </div>
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<li>Attending the session on Argument-Driven Inquiry facilitated by Marlene Schoeneck, (@maschoeneck) a passionate, creative fellow #Biochat-er. Meeting another SBG Biology teacher (Kelly Schuette) at this session for the first time.</li>
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<li>Presenting about SBL with Mark Peterson (@dassel) in an electric, intense, and excited group of educators. We wanted to make sure this presentation was an interactive conversation, so we were thoughtful in its design and even rearranged the room to make sure people were talking to each other. It worked.</li>
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<li>Having Paul Anderson (@paulanderson) join a group to share and listen for a good hour at our SBL session. Later being able to have more conversations with him and other excellent teachers at dinner. Sure we talked a lot of "shop," but we also dabbled in topics like aphids and podcasts.</li>
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<li>Being approached by Doug Paulson (@DPaulsonSTEM), the MN Department of Ed STEM Specialist to talk about the Anatomy collaboration Trish Shelton (@tdishelton) and I have been working on this year.</li>
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<li>Later meeting up with Kelly to build rockets and "fliers" for the wind tunnel at the local children's museum. Having fun and unleashing creativity!</li>
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<li>Building a champion spaghetti tower with Mark and my school colleague Elizabeth Madsen (@5Madsen). Problem-solving and cooperation!</li>
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<li>Long conversations with Elizabeth at night in our hotel room, as well as during the drive to and from the conference. Of course we talked about education, but I also learned more about her family and how she loves to repurpose old furniture.</li>
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Despite the fact that I am surrounded by a staff of teachers every day, there's something special - something joyful - about being able to leave all the baggage of your home district and spend time with your PLN. You know what I mean here, right? I don't dislike the colleagues in my building, but there's all that other stuff that gets in the way of those relationships: old grievances, politics, administrative tension. When you have the chance to be removed from that environment and offered the luxury of time for a discussion about the complexity of grading or an impromptu session of play, for me there's no other way to explain it except as "joyful." Now not every conference I have been to has offered this same experience, and I think there were some key reasons this one was different. </div>
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First, I've been cultivating these relationships over the past two years. If I didn't spend the time previous to this conference to reach out to others in asking questions and sharing ideas on social media, I'd still be pretty lonely as I plodded from session to session. Secondly, I made a conscious decision to reach out to others at the conference, introducing myself to the people I sat with, choosing to sit by others who were sitting alone, and intentionally creating a space for conversations in our presentation. Finally, I was determined to take social risks at this conference. There are rockets to build and launch? Let's do it! Paul Anderson came into our session? Go and talk with him! I don't know the person I'm sitting next to? Ask some questions and strike up a conversation! </div>
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So I will continue to tend to and cultivate my online relationships. I will keep blogging, tweeting, voxing, and GHOing not only because the interactions make me a better teacher, but also because I am human. And being human, I crave the face-to-face opportunities those relationships make possible. It's not just about becoming a better educator, but simply becoming a more joyful person. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>"Ultra Concentrated Joy" image from Traci Lawson on Flickr, available via Creative Commons.</i></span></div>
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Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855265565742759541.post-78571314604957136002014-12-06T20:47:00.000-08:002014-12-06T20:47:10.473-08:00Driving Questions, Part 2In the last post I explained that I've started incorporating driving questions into Biology class. I use these driving questions to capture student interest, scaffold the progression of learning, and assess the students throughout the unit. This is my first foray into organizing class in this way, so by no means are these posts prescriptive. In fact, I hope they generate feedback about the aspects of this method are solid and those that need improvement.<br />
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With that in mind, I offer up the next topic the students investigated as a part of Ecology: <u>Energy Transfer</u>.<br />
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I started this unit by showing a clip from the TV reality show "Survivor."<br />
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In this video, the survivors have just won some chickens (and chicken feed) as a reward. Because of their hunger, they start to fantasize about how they'd like to cook the chicken.<br />
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After students watched the video, I had them privately answer the following question, which was essentially the driving question for the unit:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">The Survivors in this video were very excited to cook their chickens! If you were on this episode, what would you suggest to your fellow castaways? Indicate your thoughts by choosing one of the options below:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">1. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lucida Grande, Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Kill the chickens as soon as possible and eat them. Then eat the chicken feed.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lucida Grande, Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">2. Feed the chickens for a while and then eat them. Eat the left-over chicken feed.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lucida Grande, Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">3. Feed the chickens for a while and eat their eggs. Eat the chickens and feed later.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lucida Grande, Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">4. Feed the chickens and eat their eggs until the feed runs out.</span></span><br />
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The next day in class, student participated in a whole-class, active simulation which is designed to help them understand that the amount of energy available at each trophic level is lower than the level before it. Here's a brief overview of what happens during the simulation:<br />
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<li>Some students are the "sun." They continuously wander the room and hand out 10 calorie "packets" of energy (10 lima beans) to groups of students who are producers.</li>
<li>Producers have 5 cups that represent things their energy might be used for, such as respiration, reproduction, and growth. The 10 beans are distributed amongst the 5 cups according to guidelines. Some cups get more energy than others. </li>
<li>When the producers' growth cup has 10 beans in it, they get "eaten," meaning they take their energy to one of the primary consumer groups. This group also has cups and divides out the calories according to pre-set conditions. </li>
<li>When the primary consumers' growth cup has 10 beans in it, they get eaten and therefore take their energy to the secondary consumers.</li>
<li>Consumers continually receive energy from the producers, even though they are occasionally eaten. In the same way, the producers continually receive energy from the sun. All groups keep track of how many times they are "eaten."</li>
<li>Transfer of energy continues until I feel like they have enough data. The class then averages the data for all similar groups.</li>
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When the data is averaged, it's clear that the amount of energy decreases with each successive trophic level. This is because the organisms are using some of their energy, or it's escaping as heat. I don't "tell" the students this however. Instead, I ask them to analyze the class data and design a model that describes changes in energy through a food chain. Here are some samples of their work:<br />
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I was ecstatic when I saw this last model because even though the students hadn't yet learned about energy pyramids, they ended up creating an (upside-down) energy pyramid based on the data. The understanding came from their own experience, rather than what I or their textbook told them.<br />
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Now that students had some in-class experiences around the content, and were hopefully generating questions in their minds about that content, they were primed for application. They learned about energy pyramids, the "rule of 10%" in energy transfer, and worked on mathematical applications of the rule. After the application phase, I ended the unit by proposing the "Survivor" question to the class one more time. This time, students chose their answer and went to a corner of the room based on which answer they chose. Once in the corners with like-minded classmates, they worked to produce an evidence-based argument to support their answer. Finally each group presented its argument and we wrapped up the topic with a whole-class discussion around the arguments.<br />
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Even though Answer 1 is the preferable choice based on energy transfer, other answers could be argued as well. So what I really like about this question is not that many students end up with the "right" answer, but that they have some good discussion of their thoughts while trying to reach a consensus on the "right" answer.Amanda Meyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10761963395018749172noreply@blogger.com4