Rounding Third and Heading for Home....Hopefully...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Sorry if I have been away for awhile.  Fourth quarter is a bit crazy.  Having to deal with all of the crazy schedules, seniors, "summer-itis" and my own kids....at this point I am glad to keep my head above water.  The tank is running pretty dry..

     So here is the question..how to keep going and providing meaningful content when it is tough to grab their attention?  How can you teach kids when the schedule is so crazy that many of them are not their (sophomore debates...AP testing....State sports matches...).  Here is one idea.  One of my goals is to "flip" the classroom 4th quarter.  Bottom line, information and lectures will be for homework, problems and labs will be done in class.   If you know that you cannot be there, at least you can get the basics.  Another strategy I am going to try is to come up with a new book.  Our books are falling apart and we have been told that we are not getting new ones.  The good news is that the state of California created free online text books that anyone can use, alter or make their own as long as they are not going to use them to make money and as long as they will be used for educational purposes.  In some ways they are better than the online books that are purchased.  They provide good content and no frills.  Also, you have permission to edit them to make them your own.  Seeing as how they are free...the price is right.  Check out this link....CK-12.org.  Finally, I am still sold on the "tri-folds" when doing labs.  Even during fourth quarter when it is almost impossible to grab their attention, I have had more kids argue about what the hypothesis should be for the lab.

     Now the big question...how do I know kids are learning?  What is the evidence?  Thanks to the target inquiry program from Miami University (project TIMU), I gave the students three "pre tests" in September and the same three "post tests" in May.  One test was on chemistry, one on scientific reasoning (they had to provide a correct answer and the correct reason) and one on attitude.  Preliminary results show that they increased on their chemistry and reasoning but went south on their attitude (both academic and accelerated classes).  The results are still preliminary and I am going to run them through more statistical analysis.  It is encouraging that they are learning but discouraging that their attitude about science is worse.  This will be the topic of my summer research.  It also gives me a place to start to work on for improvement.