Summary of Aug 29-Sept 7
I know I am a little behind in posting and will try to post everyday that I am in the classroom. However, instead of posting for each day previous I will sum up what has happened so far in my clinical experience to this point.
Aug. 29: 1:45-3 pm
Mrs. Seamons used a lesson out of a booklet she got from the Clark Planetarium. The series is called Kinesthetic Astronomy. The students were positioned about a helium balloon in a circle. She introduced the concept of night/day, tilt, orbit, rotation and seasons experienced on the earth relative to the sun. Each student in the circle was given an East and West stick to hold up and moved about the balloon mimicking the movement of the earth about the sun.
In the question and answer period after the activity there were some outstanding questions that really helped me understand exactly what the students were thinking and misconceptions that had arisen either from the activity or from previous experiences. The probing questions that Mrs. Seamons asked I think were critical to getting at what the students were thinking. Asking good questions really helps a teacher evaluate students effectively.
Aug. 30: 1:45-3 pm
Mrs. Seamons has created workbooks for the students to assist in helping them understand the concepts introduced throughout this astronomy unit. The worksheets were created using the Kinesthetic Astronomy Lessons. They are very visual and I think helpful for reemphasizing the lesson’s concepts. I noticed that throughout the lesson the same concepts are introduced and reintroduced in various ways, so that by the end of the period of time students have heard or seen the same information at least 3 times. I am wondering if this is unique to elementary education or should I be doing this same thing in High School science classes?
Also, I noticed the students had a difficult time working on the sheets independently. They constantly were asking if what they had written was correct. Mrs. Seamons continually told them to sit down and do what they could; she would discuss with the whole class the answers when everyone had a chance to think about each question. This goes back to our discussion in Teaching Science 1 on Thurs. about students not wanting to engage in their own learning; the mentality of “just give me what you want me to know and don’t make me think about it.” With this mentality students do not own their learning; it is not part of them. I think there is a balance though between giving factual information and letting a student struggle with obtaining a scientific concept.
Aug 31: 1:45-3 pm
Students were asked to write their address in the universe. An interesting discussion ensued after the activity; students wrestled with how a mailman would deliver a package to a house given the whole universe to search through. I really liked this activity and wished we could have spent more time with the discussion part. Students viewed a 35 minute video about our solar system. Following this, students measured the distance from the earth to the moon in a scaled model outside. Busy day but the students were constantly engaged in some learning activity. A question and answer period followed this last activity. Students were allowed to ask anything that they wanted about the universe and some very telling questions surfaced that indicated some misconceptions about distances and locations of solar system objects.
Sept. 5: 1:45-3 pm
I gave a lesson on the concept of scale. We first talked about scale models that we use everyday. I used a toy car, a house plan of my yard that I used for installing a sprinkler system, and a globe that Mrs. Seamons has in the classroom. We talked about the usefulness of scaled models. I had the students predict what they thought the size of the planets would be given a 20 cm diameter sun. We then calculated the scaled size of each of the planets in the solar system and evaluated our predictions. This activity took the entire amount of time. I was not prepared to discuss the mathematics involved in the calculations but that is what the discussion turned into. We worked the math out together, but again the students just wanted me to give them the answers. I realize now I should have had a discussion about how we would calculate the scaled sizes and let the students work out how to calculate the sizes for themselves. What I had planned for the lesson was not what happened in the classroom. This part of the lesson was only supposed to take 20 minutes and it took the entire hour and 15 minutes.
Sept. 6: 1:45-3 pm
I continued with the lesson and helped the students calculate the scaled distances of the planets. Yesterday the students had chosen different sized objects from a bag that contained various objects to represent the scaled sized planets. We taped these objects to a 3x5 card on a Popsicle stick. Then the students went out on the playground and created a scaled sized model of the solar system using the calculations they had determined. There was a lot of confusion and disorganization. I think my instructions were confusing for them because they got out on the playground and didn’t understand what we were trying to do. When I spoke with Mrs. Seamons afterwards she said my instructions made sense but that this class has a difficult time staying focused and on task. She thought we could have spent more time outside for the instruction process and conclusions, but that the chaos was simply part of the movement used throughout the lesson.
Sept. 7: 1:40-3 pm
When I got to class today, most of the students were still out to recess. I observed the newspaper staff deciding what articles and features would be in the first month’s issue. It was fascinating to watch these 6th graders interact and volunteer to do work. Mrs. Seamons simply directed the discussion and made assignments once in while when the students were unsure how to proceed. The students were very excited about putting this paper together. I have seen past year’s DES Gazettes and it is impressive how much goes into putting one together.
When class started, Mrs. Seamons gave students various tops to play with and little or no instructions. After about 5 minutes she told them to switch their top with someone that had a different top. After 5 more minutes the students were instructed to get out their science journals and move from their desks to the common area. A discussion ensued about rotation. Another toy was brought out that demonstrated orbit followed by another discussion. The student wrote in their journals about what orbit and rotation mean.
In this exercise, Mrs. Seamons used the students’ natural inquisitive natures to explore scientific concepts. The students were able to form an understanding of what orbit and rotation were because of the hands-on experience prior to the discussion. She drew on direct observations to help students make the connection between what they saw and a formal definition.
Following this activity, I had the students write in their journals about the lessons from the previous days. I asked them to write in complete sentences on the following about the scale lesson:
Name one thing that surprised you about the lesson on scale.
In your own words, define scale.
Name something that you have used that is a scale model of something else.
I have not read the journal entries yet but I’m curious to see what is said. I don’t know that these questions really get at what I am trying to evaluate and I don’t know how to evaluate my questions for effectiveness.
The students then corrected their workbooks up to “Rotation vs. Orbit”. Discussion proceeded throughout the correction process. Many misconceptions were weeded out and I felt it was a very productive effort.
Aug. 29: 1:45-3 pm
Mrs. Seamons used a lesson out of a booklet she got from the Clark Planetarium. The series is called Kinesthetic Astronomy. The students were positioned about a helium balloon in a circle. She introduced the concept of night/day, tilt, orbit, rotation and seasons experienced on the earth relative to the sun. Each student in the circle was given an East and West stick to hold up and moved about the balloon mimicking the movement of the earth about the sun.
In the question and answer period after the activity there were some outstanding questions that really helped me understand exactly what the students were thinking and misconceptions that had arisen either from the activity or from previous experiences. The probing questions that Mrs. Seamons asked I think were critical to getting at what the students were thinking. Asking good questions really helps a teacher evaluate students effectively.
Aug. 30: 1:45-3 pm
Mrs. Seamons has created workbooks for the students to assist in helping them understand the concepts introduced throughout this astronomy unit. The worksheets were created using the Kinesthetic Astronomy Lessons. They are very visual and I think helpful for reemphasizing the lesson’s concepts. I noticed that throughout the lesson the same concepts are introduced and reintroduced in various ways, so that by the end of the period of time students have heard or seen the same information at least 3 times. I am wondering if this is unique to elementary education or should I be doing this same thing in High School science classes?
Also, I noticed the students had a difficult time working on the sheets independently. They constantly were asking if what they had written was correct. Mrs. Seamons continually told them to sit down and do what they could; she would discuss with the whole class the answers when everyone had a chance to think about each question. This goes back to our discussion in Teaching Science 1 on Thurs. about students not wanting to engage in their own learning; the mentality of “just give me what you want me to know and don’t make me think about it.” With this mentality students do not own their learning; it is not part of them. I think there is a balance though between giving factual information and letting a student struggle with obtaining a scientific concept.
Aug 31: 1:45-3 pm
Students were asked to write their address in the universe. An interesting discussion ensued after the activity; students wrestled with how a mailman would deliver a package to a house given the whole universe to search through. I really liked this activity and wished we could have spent more time with the discussion part. Students viewed a 35 minute video about our solar system. Following this, students measured the distance from the earth to the moon in a scaled model outside. Busy day but the students were constantly engaged in some learning activity. A question and answer period followed this last activity. Students were allowed to ask anything that they wanted about the universe and some very telling questions surfaced that indicated some misconceptions about distances and locations of solar system objects.
Sept. 5: 1:45-3 pm
I gave a lesson on the concept of scale. We first talked about scale models that we use everyday. I used a toy car, a house plan of my yard that I used for installing a sprinkler system, and a globe that Mrs. Seamons has in the classroom. We talked about the usefulness of scaled models. I had the students predict what they thought the size of the planets would be given a 20 cm diameter sun. We then calculated the scaled size of each of the planets in the solar system and evaluated our predictions. This activity took the entire amount of time. I was not prepared to discuss the mathematics involved in the calculations but that is what the discussion turned into. We worked the math out together, but again the students just wanted me to give them the answers. I realize now I should have had a discussion about how we would calculate the scaled sizes and let the students work out how to calculate the sizes for themselves. What I had planned for the lesson was not what happened in the classroom. This part of the lesson was only supposed to take 20 minutes and it took the entire hour and 15 minutes.
Sept. 6: 1:45-3 pm
I continued with the lesson and helped the students calculate the scaled distances of the planets. Yesterday the students had chosen different sized objects from a bag that contained various objects to represent the scaled sized planets. We taped these objects to a 3x5 card on a Popsicle stick. Then the students went out on the playground and created a scaled sized model of the solar system using the calculations they had determined. There was a lot of confusion and disorganization. I think my instructions were confusing for them because they got out on the playground and didn’t understand what we were trying to do. When I spoke with Mrs. Seamons afterwards she said my instructions made sense but that this class has a difficult time staying focused and on task. She thought we could have spent more time outside for the instruction process and conclusions, but that the chaos was simply part of the movement used throughout the lesson.
Sept. 7: 1:40-3 pm
When I got to class today, most of the students were still out to recess. I observed the newspaper staff deciding what articles and features would be in the first month’s issue. It was fascinating to watch these 6th graders interact and volunteer to do work. Mrs. Seamons simply directed the discussion and made assignments once in while when the students were unsure how to proceed. The students were very excited about putting this paper together. I have seen past year’s DES Gazettes and it is impressive how much goes into putting one together.
When class started, Mrs. Seamons gave students various tops to play with and little or no instructions. After about 5 minutes she told them to switch their top with someone that had a different top. After 5 more minutes the students were instructed to get out their science journals and move from their desks to the common area. A discussion ensued about rotation. Another toy was brought out that demonstrated orbit followed by another discussion. The student wrote in their journals about what orbit and rotation mean.
In this exercise, Mrs. Seamons used the students’ natural inquisitive natures to explore scientific concepts. The students were able to form an understanding of what orbit and rotation were because of the hands-on experience prior to the discussion. She drew on direct observations to help students make the connection between what they saw and a formal definition.
Following this activity, I had the students write in their journals about the lessons from the previous days. I asked them to write in complete sentences on the following about the scale lesson:
Name one thing that surprised you about the lesson on scale.
In your own words, define scale.
Name something that you have used that is a scale model of something else.
I have not read the journal entries yet but I’m curious to see what is said. I don’t know that these questions really get at what I am trying to evaluate and I don’t know how to evaluate my questions for effectiveness.
The students then corrected their workbooks up to “Rotation vs. Orbit”. Discussion proceeded throughout the correction process. Many misconceptions were weeded out and I felt it was a very productive effort.
posted by Anonymous | 11:21 AM
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