WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?
WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?
Had an interesting week....First, Mike Geyer tossed me a J. Chem. Ed. article. A guy made a colorimeter out of legos, LED lights a resistor, some wire and a couple of AA batteries. Mike showed me the article. I couldn't resist. A few bucks later I had about 100 LED lights, 50 resistors and I raided my son's lego bucket. A former AP student of Geyer's was bored and put it together in a day. A funny think happened...he got awesome results. Ironically, his dad is a scientist who happens to have an extremely expensive colorimeter at work. This kid got results similar to his dad's. Did I mention the lego colorimeter costs about $3?
So, what is it about one kid that you give them a problem and they thrive and others just turn up their nose? Not sure I have the answer. I do think I am going to come up with the "Teaching 10 Commandments". Here might be a few...Create a "need to know" basis. Also, come up with some type of assessment that is not just "pen and paper"....like building a colorimeter. Next, make sure the kids can wrap their heads around the large scale first. Another one, take time to learn vocabulary. I was a bit shocked to go back and look at the infamous, "Johnstone Triangle" article. Ironically, he states that for years, there is much chemistry that can be done without knowing anything about the particulate level. He states that vocabulary is a great place to start because it is less confusing. Bottom line...and I think research shows this...you want to provide something for students to challenge them but not so much that they shut down.
So here is an idea I have tried before. Do an experiment, get the data and then tell students they have to predict or figure something out based on it (the need to know part). Then I am going to introduce the vocabulary and symbolic. Finally, tell students their prediction must include some type of modeling. I think I might try this with the evaporation lab....I will keep you posted.
So, what is it about one kid that you give them a problem and they thrive and others just turn up their nose? Not sure I have the answer. I do think I am going to come up with the "Teaching 10 Commandments". Here might be a few...Create a "need to know" basis. Also, come up with some type of assessment that is not just "pen and paper"....like building a colorimeter. Next, make sure the kids can wrap their heads around the large scale first. Another one, take time to learn vocabulary. I was a bit shocked to go back and look at the infamous, "Johnstone Triangle" article. Ironically, he states that for years, there is much chemistry that can be done without knowing anything about the particulate level. He states that vocabulary is a great place to start because it is less confusing. Bottom line...and I think research shows this...you want to provide something for students to challenge them but not so much that they shut down.
So here is an idea I have tried before. Do an experiment, get the data and then tell students they have to predict or figure something out based on it (the need to know part). Then I am going to introduce the vocabulary and symbolic. Finally, tell students their prediction must include some type of modeling. I think I might try this with the evaporation lab....I will keep you posted.
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