Action Research #2

I decided to drop including my IB students in my action research. For one thing, it is double the data. Secondly, they are seniors and at a different level than my mostly sophomores in biology. I guess this is making it more of a controlled experiment. Now I will just have about 65 individual's data to keep track of. I think that is plenty. I am already off my schedule, but I am hoping that by making it just biology I will stay on track better. This weekend I need to score the pretests that I have completed. After looking through them, what I thought would be simple might not be so simple.

Storylines #2

On Friday, the students worked on the Hidaya pedigree. Many of them saw it as a challenge and dug right in. I did assign groups. In the last few activities of last semester, I let students pick groups. This only caused students to group by ability and usually color. With this new way of teaching, it is important for students to hear many different perspectives.

Usually I start genetics by teaching about DNA then going to genetics, punnet squares, pedigrees and then karyotyping. I am really liking this order. By the time we talk about DNA and protein synthesis, it will have far more meaning and relevance to them.

The questions you get in genetics are the best! "Is breast size genetic?" "Do transgender people have something in their genes that makes them that way?" This is just two of the questions I got.

Storylines: Diving in

Update #1:

So I have been eager to try out the storyline way of teaching science that has been developed with the NGSS aligned standards. I love the focus on science skills with content intertwined. Since I did not want to make a full year commitment without having tried it, I decided to start my year normal and then try to incorporate a storyline during the school year to help make a decision for the next year. My colleagues were a little nervous about jumping in as well and we really try to plan together and share a similar calendar, labs, and assessments.

Starting second semester I decided to jump in with both feet. We cover genetics and DNA the start of second semester. After examining storylines, I decided to go with the Melanin storyline from the Illinois Science Teachers Association. They have a supportive Facebook group and one of the key developers is very active with answering questions.

I told my Biology teaching colleagues that I was just going to do this and they could jump on board or stick with the old plan. Both of them decided to stick with the old plan---- and then changed their tune and are going to try some elements of the storyline.

The first day was rough --- it involved watching a video about albinism and come up with questions about albinism. I was very disappointed at the number of students snickering about the albino children. I was worried about how this would go with their insensitivity. The questions they came up with were very simple. "Why does this happen?" "Why are they so white?" "What percentage of people are albino?"

On day two, I supplemented with basic genetics notes about vocabulary before we talked about pedigrees.

Today, we are going to try out Hidaya's story where the students read and create their own pedigree.

Collecting data for my action research #1

So I am using this blog to chronicle my action research data collection process.

#1
I administered the first formative assessment on asking scientific questions. This is the "pretest" before we do regular warm up type activities for two months and then a "post test".

One thing I have noticed is that perhaps I should be doing this in google forms since the data can be looked at anywhere. Also then the student name is already next to it and I can sort accordingly. Also then students can add which grade they are in and which class they are in.

I am also having a difficult time describing exactly what a scientific question. A question that could be used to create a testable hypothesis? A question that could be the start of an experiment?

There is a whole range of quality of questions submitted.
"Does the type of tree affect the color of it?"

"Why are leaves different colors?"

Tomorrow is the big day....

I have only had one nightmare about the first day of school. All my copies were out of order and I couldn't remember what I was doing next. The first day of school is my least favorite day of the year. I enjoy teaching because of the relationships. On the first day of school, they are almost all strangers. After tomorrow it all get better. Plus all of us have our jitters out. Now I just hope I can get some sleep. Even being in this for 15+ years, I still have trouble falling asleep the night before the first day. Good night..... I hope.

It's all an experiment!

In my reflection on the previous years, I think of a few things I would like to implement in the new school year. Here are the three things I am going to try this year.

1. Assigned lab groupings: In the past, I have mostly let students pick their groups with choosing for them a few times each year. I have noticed that this leads to groupings that cause more disparity between students. Having students in mixed ability groups can help all students think in new ways. With a focus on Social-Emotional Learning, assigning lab groups does not allow for any students to feel left out. Everyone has a place to be and students strengthen relationships with new groups of students. I have assigned seats in groups of four so students will work with those students. I change seating charts every month--so new groups every month. I will focus on some community building activities with students to feel comfortable with their assigned groups.

2. Focus on Science and Engineering Practices: My state is adapting NGSS to their new state standards. I am also working on my Master's and looking at a focus on SEPs in formative assessment for my action research. Plus they are an awesome focus for our students.

3. More formative assessment: I am looking at using a mix of bell work and exit tickets to focus on SEP's and getting a snapshot of how my students are doing with their learning. I am still trying to determine my format for these. Paper is easy on the front end, but digital are nice for evaluating them.

What are you changing for the new school year?

Happy New Year!!

My calendar starts in mid to late August. This is my happy new year. Time for a new start, trying new things, changing the things I didn't like from last year. The beauty of teaching is that you can start over each year. My teaching experience had me teaching in a rural district for four years, moving to a new state, taking on a maternity leave sub job, working for two and a half years in informal science education, and finally 12 years at my current school. This puts me at about 17 years of education experience.
In every year of my formal teaching, I have hung this poster up in my classroom. I remember the student that inspired me to buy it. This student one time raised their hand in class and then holding out their calculator told me that the phone was for me and proceeded to have a conversation with the fictitious person about how I could not take the call because I was teaching. I couldn't help but laugh. This poster is for those students that surprise you and yet they don't surprise you. I could see the inspirational student doing any of the statements by Bart Simpson. This is a reminder to have a sense of humor, especially concerning those students that try you. My personal favorite is "I will stop talking about the twelve inch pianist."