Legos and Modeling....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     First, I have to mention something about the isotope lab.  It worked amazingly well.  Students got the mass of 10 plain MM's and 10 peanut MM's.  Then they then had 10 mixed and had to find the ratio.  A few used algebra and some did guess and check.  All but 1 group got it correct.  If I were to do it again, I would have used pretzel MM's because they are probably more uniform.  Mike also had the idea to use a mixture of 20 instead of 10.   Overall, it is a keeper.

     Also, I did a modeling activity with legos.  First, I had students draw 3 hydrogen molecules and a calcium (the particulate level) and then model with legos.  They then had to "build" the products but could only use one calcium.  Kids figured out excess and limiting.  Although it is very rough...here is the video.

     In academic I am trying something different.  I am having students get data on flame tests and spectral tubes, they will have to develop a tri fold on how the information explains the nature of the atom and then they can use the lab on a quest over spectral lines and the atom.  I'll post about it later....

Differentiating, History and Isotopes...

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     I wish I had a picture of this one.  We were getting into a bit of history of the atom and I really did not want to do a boring lecture.  I have three classes.  I got about 15 to 20 scientists name, gave each group a name and a poster and said let's do a who, what, where, when, why and how for the person's contribution to the model of the atom.  I then put them up in historical order.  It turned out kind of cool because it is now a tool I can use for the rest of the year and even the kids who might not be great at research were able to add to the creativity of it.  I also am going to give them a list with all the scientists and tell them that they will need to get some basic information off the poster.

     We are also doing an inquiry lab on isotopes.  I am going to give them 10 peanut MM's and 10 plain MM's.  They have to find the mass of each "isotope".  I am then going to provide them with a sealed envelope that has 10 MM's and a combination of peanut and plain.  Students will have to develop some way of figuring out how many of each.  They are not allowed to open the envelopes until they come up with an answer and describe their method.  The closer they are to the correct ratio, the more MM's they get to eat.  Since, I love MM's, I am not planning on providing much help....

Balancing and Particulate models...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

I was a little worried.  We had gone through types of reactions, balancing and predicting and, although I introduced the idea of the particulate level throughout the year, I had not yet hit it hard in this section.  I also did not want to leave it without talking about the particulate level.  So, we looked at a reaction and I asked them to model it.  For the most part, I liked what I saw.  The above picture is a sample response from a table.  They were less concerned with the amounts and more concerned with the "snapshot" of each of the reactants and  products.  At this stage, I will take it.

So now we are heading into stoichiometry.  My goal is to approach it similar to an ICE diagram.  I know they do this in modeling.  The kids balance the reaction, say what they are starting with, what the changes are and what they should end with.  It also helps as we get into equilibrium...it is a nice transition.  I will keep you posted...

Stuff I am Thankful for ....

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So here is what I got from Thursday at my Miami U. class.

Geyer gave me a great idea using manipulatives on a test (went to ebay and started spending money on legos). Imagine giving students two 8x8 lego plates and some small round legos and saying, "Model this reaction..." and then put it in a plastic zip lock and that is a test question.

Barb gave me some great ideas for redoing her activity with pizza plates instead (made a note of that).  Essentially, students will be provided with round pizza pans.  There will be a "radius" in picometers and they will model the period 2 elements with magnets and sodium.  The idea is to look at trends.  Margie provided the idea of doing the Coulombic attraction POGIL just before this.  Again, another thing I am thankful for.  It would dovetail nicely into this section.

Also got some good ideas on how to better do POGIL's (sorry..."Activity Notes").  I am going to tell students, here are your notes.  I will answer any questions about the notes except the last questions which will be an assessement.

As I consider what I am thankful for during Thanksgiving, all of the TIMU people are all on the top of my list.  If I did not name some personally, don't worry...they have still had a postive impact on my teaching.  It is 5:45 on a Saturday morning...need some more coffee....

The Periodic Table and Obsessions....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     O.k....some say I am slightly obsessed with the periodic table.  I have 2 periodic table mugs, a periodic table shower curtain, four periodic table ties and a new periodic table bow tie.  I do not see myself as obsessed...just impressed. (I am not obsessed with coffee either...addicted is a better phrase...by the way, I like to call it my "happy juice").

     Here is why I like the periodic table.  It is the ultimate chemists cheat sheet.  It is an amazing pattern with the trends, relationships and stories.  So here is the good news.  I found a great lab at the TIMU site called "Trend Setter".  The students have a bunch of cards with properties and they recreate exactly what Mendeleev went through.  Not only do they learn the content but they have to work as a group and use higher order thinking skills to find the "missing element".  It is the first time I have done this lab and is a stretch for the kids..but I think it will be a good stretch.  I am so excited...I might were one of my ties....By the way...if you are looking for a good periodic table lab that  ties in many concepts (ionization energy, atomic radii, electronegativity, analysis of patterns and trends) log into the Grand Valley site and check it out...

The Particulate World and Hydrates...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     I am doing a hydrate lab.  For homework, I told the students to look up what a hydrate is and look at the particulate model.  They came in and I gave them a pie plate and some really cheap magnets off of amazon.  The majority of students developed the particulate model.  I was able to check it out just by going from table to table.  The question is...can we now apply this on a macro scale in the lab...

Cool New Formative Assessment for Flipped Classrooms....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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O.K...this is cool.  Most teachers like to grab short videos off of YouTube.  Many also "Flip" the classroom by showing some Khan Academy type video, require kids to take notes at home and then do the problems in class.  The concern is always if kids are paying attention and putting in the time to understand the content on the video.

     There are some new products that have a free version of a software that attaches questions to the videos.  The are from "Educanon" and "Zaption".  I have tried zaption and here is the low down....

 

     We were doing an "inquiry" lab with chromatography.  Students had gotten some background information.  I wanted to see what they knew but I did not want to give them too much information.  I found a short You Tube video about chromatography basics.  I was able, through Zaption, to easily insert questions and make it into what they call a "tour".  Kids had to sign in, watch the video....but at certain points that I designated, the video would stop and not continue until they answered a multiple choice question.  The cool part is that I could then go into the "analytic" section and view how everyone did.  Quickly, I was able to tell that they had the "basic" idea of chromatography but needed some help on applying it to our specific situation that involved red food dye and candy.  Overall...quick, fast, cheap and it works...my kind of technology...You can check out the video here.

A New Configuration.....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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     I was tired of dead exhausted kids staring at me as I was trying to talk (hate to say the word "lecture").  Our principal sent us an article about a teacher who shadowed a kid for a day.  The teacher came to the conclusion that the majority of the things she has been telling people or thought she knew about teaching might not be exactly correct.  She was exhausted from having to sit for 7 hours through lectures.  She would have done things differently.  So...I am trying to make my room a bit more interactive.  Instead of one person answering the problem of the day, I am having each table talk about it and write down ideas on a white board.  My hope is to have the kids work together to find the answer instead of me telling them.  So far...results are mixed but hopeful.  Some kids are far better teachers than me which is great to see how they help each other.  However, not so try for all tables but we are doing the best we can.  The set up worked well with a inquiry TIMU lab we did.

     I have to say I was inspired by our "SLO" process.  I had one kid come to me dejected.  At the beginning of the year he said he thought the purpose of school is to try to show him that he is stupid.  This hit me like a ton of bricks.  I know I shouldn't complain about the system...instead I am going to do my best to try to improve it.  First, I found two highly regarded exams done by science educators specifically for high school students (MOSART test for chemistry and Lawson test on scientific reasoning).  I am trying to convert them to an electronic format.  The teacher can grade it with the click of a button.  The analysis of the results will show strengths, weaknesses, indicate they type of learner the majority of the students are (concrete, abstract..etc) and recommend intervention (the appropriate TIMU lab for the misconception).  It is slow going and difficult but important.  I know I cannot control every kids feelings, but students should never think we are trying to make stupid...hopefully they will think the opposite...

Pi, Insomnia and Moles...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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  I have been officially diagnosed with insomnia...no kidding.  I usually wake up at 2:30 A.M. and spend the next 2-3 hours rewriting my lesson plans in my head...crazy..I know.  So here is what I came up with.

 I was feeling really frustrated.  I felt like I was not doing nearly as well as many of the other TIMU teachers and I should be.  O.K....maybe I cannot control every piece of curriculum.  But what can I control?  I have decided to place my desk in groups.  Second, I am going to use my TIMU money to get some small whiteboards for each pod of desks.  Now when I do the problem of the day, instead of calling on one or two people, I am going to call on desks or groups.  Every group will have to whiteboard the answer and one or two groups will have to defend their answers.  My accelerated kids seem to have a tired look when we get started..hopefully this will force them to interact more.

Next...raspberry pi.  Mike got me thinking about this.  It is really cool so I got one with my TIMU money.  As I was tossing and turning I was thinking about all of the extra work this would take to get up and running....learning a new program language..getting everything to work, etc.  Then it dawned on me.  Why am I doing all the work?  So when I got to class I told the kids that their second quarter extra credit project will involve the raspberry pi.  They have to put it together, get it running, and hook up a sensor that can somehow detect one chemical.  Funny thing happened...by 6th bell I had 4 kids show up in my study hall with ideas and supplies.  One kid even called home and made his mom bring in some programming books he had.  This is the Maybe there is something to making things more student centered (see the redoing the desks in paragraph 1).

I should have known better...We were doing dimensional analysis, measuring and converting.  So we figured we should do some easy mole conversions so we could get ready for mole day fun.  There is a lab we have where they measure the mass of some elements (macroscopic) and then convert to moles and atoms (symbolic).  Guess what happens when you leave out the particulate?  When asked, "Which has more atoms, 2 moles of copper or 2 moles of iron?"  Number one answer (paraphrase) "Iron.  It is more dense.  That means that for a given volume or amount, you can squeeze in more atoms.  After all, we saw a picture of this in the density lab."...Ouch....We will revisit moles just before stoichiometry.  If anyone has a way to do it without dimensional analysis, I would like to give it a look.

I fully expect this process to have a nightmarish look to it when you walk into the classroom.  To respond to a professor's comments...yes..this is going to be harder and crazier.  However, I would rather try and fail than continue something that I know is not what might be the absolute best for students.

Always move forward and stay positive....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Tough week...I dealt with a funeral and SLO's.  For those of you who do not know what an SLO is...don't worry, I am not going to discuss it here.  Let's just say it is not for me the most enjoyable reason I became a teacher...

     Student's learning is why I became a teacher.  I needed some inspiration so I joined the American Association of Chemistry Teachers and started checking out their resources, especially ChemEdX online.  Great stuff and ideas by creative positive educators.  I would give it two thumbs up.

     The biggest change in my teaching has been the introduction of the particulate level.  I got the macroscopic and symbolic but as most teacher, I felt kids still could not explain what was going on.  I started diving into the world of the particulate and here is what is starting to happen....

     A kid asked me as we were dong density, "Why does ice float on water?"  As luck would have it, I just got a water modeling kit.  We "added energy" to the molecules and made them a liquid with rubbing our hands on them.  As we stopped "adding energy" they kind of "popped" up and formed ice.  Students could see that the ice took up more space and there were "holes" in the ice.  Same number of molecules but spread out...less dense.

     In another class, we were talking about iron reacting with copper (II) chloride.  We were trying to figure out if Iron (III) or Iron(II) would form.  I wrote out both equations and showed the experiment in the macroscale.  I had to stop when I wrote "aqueous" with the copper chloride and iron chloride.  I learned in the TIMU program that if I were to just write "CuCl2(aq)" then students would have a bunch of misconceptions.  So I drew out the individual atoms and their charges dissolved in water.  It lead to a great discussion on why the charges changed in the reaction.  In both cases, some kids got it and some did not but I feel like it is some more than have in the past....

     The plan...try to squeeze the particulate in whenever possible.  This week we are starting with moles in both classes.  In academic I plan on having all types of moles of substances out (the macroscale) and then having them calculate different amounts.  It will culminate is a lab practical in which they are provided a certain number of atoms or molecules that they will have to measure out and then we will check it on the scale.  I will keep you posted...

Inquiry and Archimedes and Life...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

Tough to read but bottom line...I gave kids a mass and said find the mass without a balance and then find the density.  They did it and found the percent error.  The best part is that students had to plan, then do, then confirm while the explained their plan and then find the percent error to get immediate feedback.  I felt this was helpful.  Even though they could talk to each other about their plan, they were never exactly sure until they got the confirming data.  They were forced defend their ideas and back it up with data.

I would reflect more about this, but this week my father-in-law passed away.  In many ways, he was like a second father to me.  Sometimes, life not only intervenes for our students, but for us as well...hopefully I will have more for you next week...

It is like playing pick up basketball....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Formative assessment is good and difficult.  Yes, I get the idea of what kids know and do not know.  However, given the new technology and circumstances, when you find out what they do not know, you kind of have to "reinvent" the wheel".  That is where we earn our money as teachers.

     In Academic we did  a lab, an activity and notes on percent error.  Som kids got it, but some did not.  Enough that we will have do to a little more work.  In Accelerated we are leading up to Archimedes.  So how am I trying to help kids????

    I am still trying the composition books in Academic.  It is researched based that kids who take notes do better than those who do not.  In Accelerated I am attempting to introduce the particulate and put in pieces of inquiry any where I can (like this next lab on sinkers and floaters).  They will have to find the mass of an item without using a balance or scale....I will report back next week....

Dipping my toe into the Particulate World....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     So I decided to try the TIMU project that teacher's helped me develop this summer.  It involved just introducing the particulate level with the macroscopic and symbolic.  As a quick "assessment", I had students story board something as simple as ice melting and then the water evaporating.  For the most part, they kind of got the idea (see above).  However...if you look at the water phase on the particulate level drawing you will notice it looks more like a gas than a liquid with one free surface.  Almost every student did this.  I gave them credit for demonstrating some type of change but I also know it is not correct.  We have not gone into phase changes that much on the particulate level so I felt this was a fair misconception on the students part.  The following day, we started off class with a couple of particulate drawings of water and we addressed this misconception.  I might follow up with a test question as well to see if they were paying attention.

     This week we are back to the symbolic and macroscopic world of measuring.  In one class they will be measuring aluminum by taking several measurements of beads and cylinders and trying to determine which method is the best with the least amount of error.  In another class I am going to (got this from Mike Geyer and Kim Stites) take an exact amount of water measured from a buret and have students measure it in graduated cylinders and large beakers and then ask, which devices provide the most accurate and precise measurements?  I will let you know how it goes.....

We live in a Particulate World..

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     This week I introduced the students to the particulate, the macroscopic and the symbolic with a new activity from the TIMU project (Here is the LINK).  The data is still out but the feeling is that it is promising.  It also provided me as a teacher a way to characterize everything as one of the three lenses we will use...macroscopic, particulate and symbolic...The goal is to provide a framework for the kids for the rest of the year.

     This week in science...finish up the "Tool Chest" activity and jump into measuring.  Students will have to do it on paper and with instruments.  In another class we are going to start with chemical changes.  The lab we will be doing will be in the "story telling" format of a tri fold.  I have many kids doing science fair so this should help them.  The biggest change from last year is that the question should NOT be in a "yes" or "no" format.  So instead of saying, "Did a chemical change occur?", we are going to ask  "What would happen if we compare and contrast physical and chemical changes and can we provide support through experiments and observations?"  Also, I want the hypothesis to be a reasonable testable prediction, not an educated guess.

     Finally, just want to give a shout out to the newly formed American Association of Chemistry Teachers.  (LINK)  I here there is a wonderful article in the online periodical "Solutions" by yours truly....(sorry for the shameless plug).

Hope to have some cool drawings for you from the work the kids did next week on particulate models....

Project TIMU - The Perfect Storm or How I Spent My Summer Vacation...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

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WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     I had a mind blowing summer...I will try to provide the reader's digest version.

     Years ago a physics teacher was frustrated with his students.  They could calculate numbers and put down answers that seemed correct but when probed they did not seem to truly understand the fine points of science.  This seems to be a universal feeling from many science teachers.  He did some research and about the same time Gabel and Johnstone were developing some pretty convincing arguments that to teach science students really needed the macroscale (labs), the symbolic (formulas and equations) and the particulate level (models and drawings on the atomic scale).  In many cases, the modeling or particulate level is what is missing in instruction. Years of subsequent research strongly supports this model.  The American Modeling Teachers Association was eventually formed.   Fast forward to the last couple years at Miami.

     Project TIMU started at Miami through a NSF grant.   Here is a snapshot.  As teachers, we started off learning to dissect science journal articles.  Next, as a group of teachers we started with an authentic science experience.  I got lucky.  My summer with analytical chemist Dr. Jon Scaffidi was both challenging and rewarding.  I was WAY outside my comfort zone but learned a ton.  Dr. Scaffidi is a good researcher and teacher. .  At the same time we were learning about the types and levels of inquiry and how it fits into modern educational theory.  Next, we started diving head first into papers on chemical education theory.  We were provided the time, tools and often forced to examine articles, figure out what they were saying and critique them.  This is something teachers never would have the time or resources do to during the school year.  We supported each other and got through it.  It also opened my eyes (and blew my mind) about the ideas and misconceptions that students have.

     Then came this summer...we developed two inquiry lab experiences and an action research project.  Imagine developing a lab or activity and then having 10 teachers, four professors and a bunch of graduate students go through it as teachers and students.  Just when I thought I might know what I was doing, most of my work go ripped to shreds.  I even asked a professor if this program was an inquiry program to get me to realize I should quit teaching.  Good news (for some at least)...she assured me the answer was no.  Sure it was tough being run through the critique gauntlet.  Every suggestion I received was researched based constructive criticism that I can honestly say made the activities better.  Nothing was taken personal and nobody seemed to have any agenda except to try to help each other develop good inquiry activities for students.

      Bottom line...this has been the hardest educational program I have participated in throughout the last 20 years.  It dispels the rumor that education is a "blow off major".  It has been emotional.  If I take away the emotion, it has opened my eyes to research and data specific to teaching chemistry that I never knew existed or that I never was able to understand.  Dr. Ellen Yezierski threw up the above diagram on a power point slide when she was trying to sell the program years ago.  Honestly, I kind of half paid attention to it.  She has hit it overwhelmingly in spades, almost to the point to where I wonder if I could keep going.

     So here is the good news...I feel like I have a set of researched based tools and practices that if I authentically use and monitor can provide students with the best possible education that I am able to provide based on decisions from the best practices that are known to exist (sorry for the run on sentence).  Will I get it right every day?  No, but this program can help me stay on target.  Nice way to start the school year.

     By now you might be wondering about the activities.  They will be posted for all to use on the TIMU website.  For now, here is a portion of one I developed.   

http://prezi.com/z61qnnkv4cuf/the-macroscopic-particulate-and-symbolic-level/

    My goal...keep going and keep trying.

     Until next time.....

Here we go again....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Welcome back to another year.  Bottom line...we are here to help kids.  The goal of this blog is to struggle and wade through the chaos of education to do three things....help kids achieve, figure out when they are there and look for evidence.  I will probably come up with all the answers three or four years after I am dead...but it does not mean that I should not make the attempt.  The purpose of this blog is to stay positive and to weekly remind myself why I got into education in the first place...to help kids.  So what am I going to try this year???  I decided to revisit the last post I made and see where I am at...

1. Identifying similarities and differences
2. Summarizing and note taking
3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
4. Homework and practice
5. Nonlinguistic representations
6. Cooperative learning
7. Setting objectives and providing feedback
8. Generating and testing hypotheses
9. Cues, questions, and advance organizers

1. Similiarities and differences...this is all about compare and contrast. This summer I participated in project TIMU, possibly one of the most difficult educational experiences of my life (topic of a separate blog). I plan on using models many times this year. There will be many places where we draw models of chemicals and compare and contrast models to the real thing.

2. Note Taking and 3. Feedback - In academic chemistry I am trying composition notebooks. We plan on taking notes and I will write mini rubrics for instant feedback. I also developed an action research plan that involves rubrics to help write conclusions.

3. Homework and practice. I plan to use the UT website with students in Accelerated Chem but I plan to add more numerical questions that they have to work out and less multiple choice.

5. Nonlinguistic Representations - This will be the modeling and particulate matter work I will do with students from day one.

6. Cooperative Learning - Labs and POGIL type activities.

7. Setting objectives - I bought two large dry erase boards. The objectives will be clearly posted EVERY day.

8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses - One acronym - Project TIMU. There will be a large infusions of teacher developed inquiry labs from this program. Again, this will be a separate blog, but let's just say it involves about 10 teachers, 2-4 professors and multiple grad students locking themselves in a room for a great deal of the summer and developing inquiry labs, going over them as students and teachers and making constant changes. These labs will be posted.

9. Ques, questions and advance organizers. I still plan to use the problem of the day every day as a tool to start the kids off.

Again, a hopeful guide. Much of this depends on where the students are at. My goal, have fun learning and teaching and hopefully help at least one student every day in a very real way. We shall see.....

Rounding third and heading for home...sort of...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     I know I haven't blogged in awhile.  I think the above picture says it all.  I will never pretend or assume to speak for everyone, but I think I can safely say there are more than a few tired teachers right now.  However, as kids are taking exams, it provides me time to reflect on what I could do better.  I always go back to Bob Marzanno's "Classrooms that Work" top ten list.

1. Identifying similarities and differences
2. Summarizing and note taking
3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
4. Homework and practice
5. Nonlinguistic representations
6. Cooperative learning
7. Setting objectives and providing feedback
8. Generating and testing hypotheses
9. Cues, questions, and advance organizers

So based on this list, here are some things I am going to try.

Setting goals..I do put them on the web site for each unit but I plan on getting two whiteboards (one for each class) and I will have the specific goals always posted in the room.

Recognition and Feedback...I am terrible at reviewing tests.  Mary Palmer gave me a great idea.  I plan to have two parts to every test.  There will be a multiple choice section that will provide questions that are lower on Bloom's taxonomy and then there will be short answer questions that go much more into detail on the same topic.  Students will get two scores.  They will get one score on the multiple choice (basic information) and one on the higher order thinking questions.  Hopefully, this will show them where they need to work to improve.

Also, I hope to develop a rubric that can be used on labs for writing conclusions.  Students will use the same one on multiple labs.  They will always be able to see how they did on the previous lab as they work on the next lab.

For cues, questions and advanced organizers, I plan to experiment with having students keep lab notebooks.  Mary Palmer has been successful with this experience with her Freshman.

I also hope to do more formative assessment similar to what Paige Keely does.  We will have more students who have taken the physical science course, and I will need to know where they are at before I figure out where to head.

Nonlinguistic Representations...definitely going to introduce the ideas I have learned on modeling and particulate matter.  This is some of the best stuff I have seen in a LONG time.

I am sure there is more I could work on.  I hope to make a few changes, and try to make them well.  As far as "Teachers have it easy.  They get to sit by the pool for three months..."  yea...right.  Just not seeing that.  The good news is that I will be able to see my niece get married in Salt Lake City and I hope to catch a few Red's games.  I will keep you posted...

Wow...

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

     Last Thursday at the TIMU class at Miami I kind of had several items due at once.  First, we had to have two copies of our action research paper due.  Then, I had to give the last literature critique.  This is where a person (me) picks a paper on Chem Ed. about a certain topic.  The class has a week to read the paper and then I try to lead everyone in an hour long discussion.  We do not just review the paper but we have to analyze it.  Much of our grade depends on....you guessed it...using Bloom's taxonomy to go in depth and to get everyone involved. 

     So I read the paper, worked on a powerpoint and kind of had it ready.  I have to admit, this time of the year I am kind of on empty.  It was not my best stuff.  Most people had a partner but I was flying solo.  I did get to pair up with the post doc, Dr. Stephanie Phillips who provided some great ideas and helped to "word smith" things a bit.

     I got there a bit early to set up the dry erase boards and check out the technology and was immediately ushered into a focus group.  The people from the NSF were there to check in on the program.  Good news and bad news...they are nice people who asked all the right questions and do want to help (your tax money put to good work).  The bad news is that I kind of wanted time to get ready.

     Dr. Phillipps and I started the presentation and it started a bit slow....also the NSF people were in their as well.  No big deal (O.K....maybe a little).  The discussion started to pick up and one question came up.  Who was this article written for that we were reviewing?  Dr. Phillips pulled me aside and mentioned that this journal was an elite journal.  Getting published in this is like winning a Nobel Prize.  It only has about a 10 to 15 % acceptance rate.  Ellen then just happened to mention that the lady from the NSF has published in this journal multiple times.  The lady from from the NSF then said that out of the 219 top world wide science journal that have an impact, this particular journal is ranked number 9. ( None of this was the "wow" moment.)  Slowly, I am starting to realize that there is no way that I will now (or ever) come close to being the smartest person in the room.  If I am not on my "A" game...I am going to sink fast.  Still, this is not the "wow" part yet.
     The teachers were going over the paper and they found some glaring errors.  They found some that I had not found after reading it over several times.  They found some major ones in a paper that should be in the top 10% of all papers in this elite journal.  O.K...here is the "wow" moment...these are the same teachers that will be looking over my action research project.  Not only are they some of the most intelligent educators on the planet....they are extremely nice.  I am extremely fortunate to be part of this group.  Thanks to them, my students are going to get a great project.  I am not sure what to say.....I am blessed...grateful...."thank you" ....or just "wow".

The Credible Hulk....

WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?

"The Credible Hulk... Make sure to show me good evidence and reasoning to support your claims or I am going to get really mad!!!"

     If there are any lawyers reading this who work for Marvel Comics, please lighten up and don't sue me.  I am just a guy trying to get kids to learn.  Also, I stole this idea from my personal hero, Neil Degrass Tyson.  Yell at him...

     So here is the plan.  Assessment is hard, especially good assessment.  My hope is to create a rubric that only looks at one particular part of inquiry labs.  It will look at the conclusion.  Basically, kids will work in groups, do the lab and then as individuals, write a conclusion.  In the spirit of a true educator, I will use an acronym (I did not come up with this on my own...I got a form of this from Meri Johnson).  Here is the way students will be required to write conclusions.

     CERR
     C - Claim.  Basically, answer the question that was stated at the beginning of the lab.  Answer the problem.

     E - Evidence.  There are two parts here.  First, provide background information that would support your claim.  Second, provide clear data.  Don't tell me "see the data table".  State and provide of examples of the data.

     R - Reasoning - Explain how the background information and data supports the claim.  I wil also ask students to include "depth of knowledge" when they explain the reasoning.

     R - Rebuttal - Is there any way that the data or evidence is problematic?  Is there a chance it could not support the claim?  

     My plan is to develop a really good rubric.  First, I will make up a conclusion and have the students use the rubric to grade the conclusion for homework.  Then they will trade their rubric with someone elses and figure out if they did not have the same grade, why not?  Hopefully, this will help them to better understand the rubric that they will use.  

     They will then use the rubric to write their first lab conclusion.  I will grade it using the rubric.  I will then use the same rubric for the next 3 to 4 inquiry labs.  Each time I will use a different color pen on the same rubric.  My hope is that the students will be able to see their improvement over time.  Also, at a quick glance, I will be able to see how students are changing (or not changing) over time and make changes to my own teaching.

     Why conclusions?  Students will have to use reasonable arguments and data to support their claims for the rest of their life and in other classes and tests as well.  Also, I think this is "doable".  The data should be easy to see and visual.

     I'll get back to you when I have the rubric.  Hopefully I won't start turning green....