SLPE Reflective Post

1.       I think our lesson went well.  My group was not nervous and felt comfortable in the classroom.  This helped us interact with the students.  The students were very interactive back which made the lesson go well.  They were eager to raise their hands and answer questions or observations.  We had 4 in our group and the students were in 4 groups so we split up and were with the same group the whole time.  I think this went well by asking the students engaging questions and staying with the same group the whole time.  We all worked well together and made the lesson go well.  I think the closure of our lesson could have been better.  We didn’t have much of a closure planned and just tried wrapping up the lesson by reviewing students on pitch.  The changes we made for day two were very effective.  After doing the peer teaching and hearing the comments to change day two we did.  For day two we changed it in which each group was allowed to pick what variables they wanted to test and play with.  There were different liquids and containers.  The students really liked this and formed conclusions on pitch and sound waves.

2.       The students did meet our learning performances.  They did experiment with different variables and learned how it affected pitch.  On their worksheets they wrote that the liquid, shape of container, material of container, and utensil affects the pitch.

3.       With the enacted lesson plan with our college classmates they did not care about who filled up the water or who played the song, but in the classroom this was different.  The students were all concerned about who would fill up the Snapple bottles, play the song, or write on the worksheet.  We had to assign roles and some students were not happy about not getting picked.

4.       I learned to not be nervous in the classroom.  The students responded well to us because we were comfortable in the classroom.  Also to think about every detail of the lesson plan.  We did not expect the students would need to be assigned to certain roles of the lesson plan.  I now know to expect this.

5. I think our day one went very well with the Snapple bottles and the playing of the songs.  For day two I would change a few things.  I would give the students more options for variables.  I would give them more choices for cups and liquid.  We had four different cup types and four different liquids.  I would also let each group be more student centered.  We did not have the amount of time to let the students do this part of the lesson with no guidance from us.

Pendulum 2

How does a shorter string length affect the average number of strings? We chose the question because we have the materials to test it out. We are further testing the pendulum. 1 washer was 16.375 on average 2 washers was 16.375 on average 3 washers was 16.1875 on average 4 washers was 16 on average Claim: having a shorter string length affected the average swings but mass did not make the swing numbers rise. Evidence: our average of swings stayed consistent. Quiz answer: it would be a bumpy ride. All swings have a straight bar the strings come from and have the same length otherwise it would not be even.

Pendulum

What is your personal experience with swinging on anything like a trapeze? Being on a playground they had a trapeze like play thing and I would swing and do flips, but do not really remember much. What applications to "real life" do swinging objects have? Swings and playground or recess activities. What is your prediction about what will happen if two people are on one trapeze and only one is on the other and they are both let go at the same time? Explain I think it will be the same time. I remember learning about gravity and two objects fall at the same speed even if their weights are different and I think that would apply to this. What understanding or ideas do you have about the science of back-and-forth swinging objects? I just have understanding about gravity. 9 for 1 washer I think for two it will be the same 9 for 2 washers I think it will be the same for 3 washers 9.25 for 3 washers I think it will be the same for four washers 9 for 4 washers My prediction was correct for all of the washers. Why wasn't a bigger angle used? Does this relate to gravity where the weight of the object does not affect the falling object? For both of my questions it is beyond the scope of the experiment. I think my question about it relating to gravity is interesting to me because I know that is another misconception.

Chapter 9 assessment

Inquiry continuum

Our whole lab was completely teacher centered. It told us exactly how much water to pour into each cup, how long to stir, when to time to it, and how long to time it.

Inquiry Criteria	Inquiry continuum specific statement from the column/row	Why do you believe this fits that column/row (your argument)	How would you improve this part of the lesson to make it more inquiry based?
Engage	Learner engages in question provided by teacher, materials, or other source	We were told when to stir, when to measure, and how long to measure.	To make this more inquiry based I would suggest not presenting the students with every step to the experiment.  They could test different ways to cool the water.
Evidence	Learner given data and told how to analyze	We were told what data we would be collecting and how to collect it.	I would let students design their own experiment and decide for themselves what data is best to collect.
Explain	Learner given possible ways to use evidence to formulate explanation	We used our own evidence that clearly pointed to the answer.	Let the students decide how to use their evidence and how to analyze.

B, B &W

Pink Lab: We couldnt figure out a way to light the bulb in a different way with one wire, one battery, and 1 light bulb When lighting the bulb with two pieces of wire, we had to have the light bulb in the middle of the two pieces of wire and then each wire touching an end of battery. Strengths: Student-centered lab with little instruction from the teacher, so the students can learn more. It is an inquiry based lab. Weaknesses: I could see this lab being a little hard for students to understand and them having to ask the teacher a lot of questions. Yellow Lab: When making a simple circuit and with two light bulbs they were both lit dimly and when we unscrewed a light bulb the second lightbulb lit up more. In the series circuit when we unscrewed a lightbulb, then the second light bulb went out. Strengths: Very straight forward lab and the teacher would not have to answer many questions. Weaknesses: Does not require any inquiry from the students. Physical science content standard b: light heat, electricity, and magnetism. Benchmark c: electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effeects. Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.

The reading gives two stories about classrooms and their teachers who are in the same district.  The first reading is completely teacher centered.  There was no inquiry.  She did not engage the students at all.  She went straight into the experiment without engaging the students.  She starts it by giving vocabulary to the students that she thinks they need to understand the lab.  She then gives them step by step instructions of what to do.  I am sure the students do not learn about electricity in this lab and are tested only on the vocabulary.  They will then remember the vocab but not know how to apply it.  About electricity they will know that if you connect a wire, lightbulb, and battery you will get light.  The second story is inquiry based.  She engaged the students by asking the question of how would you buy a pound of electricity?  She took all students answers and focused on the students answer who said that you can't hold electricity.  She then challenges the students by letting them form experiments.  She encourages them to walk around the classroom and see how others students did and didn't work.  They will get the most out of this inquiry based because they were challenged and hard to form their own experiment.

Weather

Standard Benchmark	Learning Goals	Formative Assessment	Learning Performance
Content Standard: K-4 Earth and Space Science Content Standard: D Changes in Earth and Sky Benchmark: Weather from day to day changes and over the seasons	-The changes in weather from day to day can be forecasted by air pressure.	Only 11% of the students got the correct answer of D. more information is needed.  Students may have choose their answer due to personal experiences rather than their knowledge of weather.	-Build a simple barometer to measure air pressure, then forecast the weather by using the air pressure.

Learning performance found at http://www.gowildnewyorkcity.com/teachers/lesson_air.pdf

1.       Explain how the learning performance you chose would help you understand what students know about the standard you identified  (learning goals: what students should know)

a.       The lesson teaches students why the weather changes and how they can forecast then by using air pressure as a measurement.

2.       Explain how your Learning Performance contains all five features of inquiry.

a.       They are engaged by being asked questions like:

                                                               i.      • How do we know whether tomorrow will be a rainy or a sunny day?

                                                             ii.      • What are the different ways to find that out?

                                                            iii.      • How do meteorologists predict weather conditions

b.      They give priority to evidence, by first taking the air pressure for a week before weather forecasting so they know they are doing it correctly and then the next week can form their predictions

c.       The second week of the experiment they use their evidence about air pressure to make explanations for forecasting the weather.

d.      Students are evaluating their explanations by comparing to the other students in the classroom.

e.      After they evaluate they communicate to justify their conclusions on predicting the weather.

Activitymania

A main point of the article is over stimulation of many activities that do not have a purpose. This is how I remember schooling. We went from activity to activity that we had to do exactly how the teacher wanted us to. We did not learn much from the activity then. Inquiry takes more time and has a purpose.

INSES

The topic of inquiry is important for the article.  It includes letting children explore the natural world and producing explanations from evidence, then it also shows an example.  The example was a simple observation of a 5th grade class observing three trees and their watering cycle.  I like how the teacher encouraged them to write a letter to the custodian, he then made changes and they were convinced of their conclusions.  The teacher let them be out in nature, form a hypothesis, create a solution, and then see real results.  I never did this as a kid and would love it.  I remember science of reading a lot and then doing experiments that were step by step explained by the teacher. I hope to incorporate these kinds of activities into my classroom. It lets the students get out of the classroom and use their applied knowledge towards a real world problem.

Iowa Core

The Iowa Core website will be a website I look at frequently while I am a teacher.  Every lesson I plan will have a content standard from the Iowa Core.  The Iowa Core and the website have been discussed in numerous of my classes.  I have heard that districts split the content up between grade levels, so I like becoming familiar with the website.  I also think it is interesting that Iowa doesn't follow the national standards, but made their own.  I clicked on the science grades 3-5 and it gives me all of the standards in science as inquiry, earth and space, life science, and physical science.  I don't understand all of the standards but when I click on the star it has bullet points that explains the standard.  Right now looking at all of the standards, it makes me nervous for my first year of teaching.  It's hard to think about covering all the science standards and then have to cover the math, literacy, and social studies standards.  Before the teacher education program I didn't realize teachers went by standards.  In my elementary classes I remember just going from textbook to textbook for subjects.

Mosart Website

All four tutorials tied together and explained how to get rid of misconceptions.  I liked how it asked us questions about children and misconceptions, because I got some wrong and then the videos and text showed us the right answers.  This is exactly what we need to as teachers.  First ask them what they think and instead of just drilling them with the correct answer, show them the correct answer.  I also thought it was important how the website talked about the reasons for misconceptions and to not blame it on past teachers.  They get most of them from experiences outside of school.  The last thing I thought was important about the website said the misconceptions are in all ages and levels.  Even advanced students have misconceptions.  I think this is important for me in the classroom to not expect the advanced learners to have the right answer. This is important so that I have to focus on every student and not assume anything.  I thought the value of the website was to explain why they have misconceptions, who has misconceptions, and how to figure out what misconceptions they have.

Sweater Article

I loved this reading this article and it is very interesting.  The main point is misconceptions that children have and then how to get past their barriers.  I thought the phrase, "children's mind are still under construction and must be treated with care where conceptual change is concerned."  This has to do with the experiment the teacher did and let them create their own experiments, formulate hypothesis, solutions, and redo experiments.  Students will get the most out of finding the answer themselves, instead of reading them in a textbook.  In my classroom I will stress the relevancy of the lesson or experiment, allow children to come up with their own experiments, and stress consistency.

Keeley

The main idea of the article is formative assessment probes.  They give many examples for diagnostic and monitoring purposes.  I like how it gives ideas of how to know the students preconceptions that they get from experiences.  This then helps you know what to teach.  I think this ties into science journals in which students could write or draw their preconceptions.  This gives them an opportunity to express their opinions, instead of raising their hand in a classroom setting.  I would like to use the science journals in my class room to see what misconceptions students children have and then create my lesson plans about their responses.

Private Universe

How the phases of moon occur? How the sunlight hits the moon and our view of it. Cause of seasons? The tilt of the earth towards the sun, when the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun then it is summer. Cause of lunar eclipse? Not in the same plane of the earth. It has to be in the plane of the earth behind the earth to be a lunar eclipse.

Peters

The article discusses the work of Piaget and Vygotsky and how it relates to children and teaching.  Understanding how children learn and process will help us as teachers.  Through Piaget and Vygotsky we understand the stages children are in and what is hard for them to learn and what is easy for them learn.  I'm glad I read this article, it was a refresher to my previous psychology classes but applied to teaching.  After reading this article I am going to have goals for the children from the standards and look at the child as an individual.

Misconceptions Die Hard

I like the basic message of the article about the misconceptions and our focus on terminology in schools.  I like the idea of breaking those misconceptions by doing labs.  While in my courses these seem like they could be interesting topics for making lesson plans.  Another thing I got from this article was to incorporate terminology into lessons and labs.  It is not easy to memorize a term, but by learning and using it in a lab it will be easier to remember.  I also think it is important for the students to hypothesize before experiments to learn their misconceptions and prove them wrong through the experiment.

Krajcik

I love the Chinese proverb that starts out the article.  That is something that I would love to have hanging in my classroom.  I like all the strategies of how a teacher needs to succeed using a constructivist approach.  When I think back of the teachers I remember and loved, they used the constructivist approach.  Students do not learn well by just reading and lecturing.  Hands on is what children can learn the most from.  Some teachers just do the bare minimum and constructivism involves more thinking from the teacher.  I will always remeber my AP Chemistry where we had to think of our own experiments and procedure.  This made sure we understand everything in the lesson and could incorporate it without the teacher giving us all the answers.  I also think scaffolding and modeling is important.  Some teachers struggle with teaching students of all academic abilities and this allows students to help each other learn.  I want to incorporate constructivism into science and math.  These are two subjects that usually trouble students and they would be able to get the most out of it from a constructivist approach.

Diffendoofer Day

1. What does it mean when someone knows how to think? Be able to think is answering questions, problems, or even talking without anyones help. 2. How does a teacher teach a student how to think? Asking for their opinion and be able to come up with their own answer and not getting the answer from anyone or anything else. 3. Have you ever been in a class where you really had to think? In AP chem we had to come up with our own experiments for our labs every week. It really made us learn a lot in which we were not just spoon fed the experiment and no thinking was involved. We had to think of how to get a possible solution and then the experiment to do that.

Rising to Greatness

Reading the article, two topics stuck out in my mind and they were the topics of math scores not changing and the performance gaps for students by race, poverty, and disabilities.  I was surprised and happy to hear that Iowa had some of the highest math scores in the 1990’s, but we have not improved since then.  I am a math specialization so this affects me greatly.  I find math fun and interesting, but that is not the case for most students. I hope to bring this into the classroom.  Math will be what I am most passionate in the classroom and I plan on increasing my student’s math scores.  The next important topic in the article was that of performance gaps.  Lowering these gaps would help Iowa and the nation.  I hope to do this in my individual classroom by learning each child’s strengths and weaknesses.  I think every child should have the same opportunity to learn and will do whatever I can to give children an even chance to learn.

5 Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks

After reading the article I think science notebooks should be in every school.  Remembering my elementary, a science notebook would have been a great way to make science more fun and not the usual dreaded subject.  I thought the article made a great point in that it is a great way for students of mixed abilities to learn.  Many children can lack writing skills, but I think the notebook is important in which they can use their visual skills.  Science can be difficult for students by making students think and a science notebook can make this process fun and easy.  This would help teachers who are frustrated by asking students to raise their hand and give an answer; instead the student can write in the notebook.  This seems perfect to me and can be great for any student in the classroom.  This is also gives me the idea to incorporate science notebooks while I am in my practicum or student teaching.

Line of Learning

1/18/12

Children learn science through observation, reading, and experimenting.  A classroom that challenges students to think and solve is a great environment for students to learn science.  Teachers should design a science classroom with the steps of thinking and solving, and then have projects for students to practice those ideas.

1/30/12

Children learn science through experiences.  They formulate hypothesis, experiments, and solutions in their everyday life.  They also do these while in school and add or change their existing knowledge to make room for their new knowledge.  Classroom environments that facilitate children's learning is one in which misconception are tested, children form their own hypothesis, experiments, and solutions.  A classroom that uses science journals is a way to facilitate learning by letting children express their thoughts no matter what kind of learner they are.  Teacher's should know that children have many misconceptions about science that are not easy to break.  Lessons that test these misconceptions should be constructed in a way to let children express their ideas and test them.

2/7/12
To maximize my students learning I will use the Iowa Core standards in my lesson planning and instruction.  It helps me narrow down what to teach in each field, including science.  It breaks down the standards to grade level and what subject of science. This will help me plan my benchmark lessons.  I like the lesson plan that krajcik discusses.  I like how it how you consider time required and also cautions.  I have not made many lesson plans so I would not take time to think about these things when creating a lesson plan.  Time and caution should be considered to facilitate children learning.  I think children should be familiar with the Iowa Core standards, incorporate the standards, and teach benchmark lessons.

2/14/12
To maximize my students learning I will discover my what my students know about science.  Formative assessments will be used at the beginning of a topic or unit, for me to learn what the students know or do not know.  The Paige Keeley probes will be a lot of help for me in doing this, as she has formative assessment probes on almost all science topics.  I also plan on incorporating the use of forms on google docs to do this. It is a lot easier than using a copying machine to create 25 paper forms of the probe, having the students fill them out, have me look at the information, and then have to organize the information. I can make one form that every student can take and then I can get immediate feedback with answers in statistics and charts.   I can then know where to start my lesson.  I will know what to focus more on and what they have previous knowledge about.  The Iowa Core website will help guide me then by what to teach the students and make sure the students will have knowledge on after the lessons.

2/21/12
Science is nature, being hands on, building things, guessing, testing, and thinking.  The best way to learn science would be through inquiry.  It creates a student-centered classroom.  They have to do the thinking to create an hypothesis and experiment.  They can make mistakes and then get it right it.  They will learn the most out of this type of learning instead of the typical science classroom where the teacher gives them step by step instruction.
2/28/12