Attending the ChemEd conference I participated in a workshop entitled "Who Cares" which was about developing awareness in students of applications of Science, linking issues in the world to the content they are learning in the classroom.
It involved hooking students in with a picture and allowing them to form their own ideas on what the picture was representing. The students would then be given an explanatory text, a short text that one student would read to the class, related to the picture and the issue. After listening to the text students would develop ideas on the opinions and points of view of the people involved, whether directly in the issue or on the periphery. The next step was to watch an explanatory video on the topic, after which they could have further discussion on the topic.
The issues could lead directly or indirectly to the topics being taught.
I prepared and presented an Issue presentation to the Science department and it was very well received. I intend to try and bring it into my classroom as a regular feature. Jenna is also considering using it for the shared classes she has once a week.
To facilitate the departmental use I have set up a folder where presentations of this kind can be filed. In addition I put in a "How to" instruction sheet, and a recording sheet for the various issues that have be put in the file.
Friday, 28 July 2017
Monday, 24 July 2017
Class differentiation in Level 2 Chemistry
For Term 3 I have split each Chemistry class into two groups. One group of the academically focussed students, and another of the students who are happy to just get their 14 credits. The academic kids are going to work on both remaining externals, and the others on one external.
Parents have been contacted to ensure that it is clear what their child is doing, and have been asked to respond to me to acknowledge that they are in agreement with the choice that they are making.
<Date>
<Parents>
<Postal Address>
Dear <Salutation>
Re : <First Name> <Last Name> <Class>
From this term in Chemistry, and for the remainder of the year the classes within the course has been split into two working groups. One group comprises the students who are planning to take Level 3 Chemistry in 2018, and may be planning a career or further study in which they may use Chemistry ("The L3/Career" group). The second group are students who have decided that Chemistry does not feature in their future plans, and are aiming to get enough credits at Level 2 to pass the course, but do not plan to take their study of Chemistry any further (dubbed the "I just want my credits" group). So far the students are self-selecting the group they want to be in.
The L3/Career group will be working at a quick pace through two Externally assessed Achievement Standards, 2.6 Chemical Reactivity, and 2.5 Organic Chemistry. It is necessary that this group is diligent about keeping up with the work, and this will require regular homework.
The "I just want my credits" group will be spending their time learning Organic Chemistry and revising the 2.4 Atomic Structure and Bonding standard we covered last term.
All learning for externals should be completed in time for the school exams in Week 9 of Term 3. After the school exams we will tackle the final internally assessed standard 2.7 Oxidation and Reduction.
<First> has yet to choose a group. Please discuss with <First Name> which group <he> will select to be in to ensure that you and <he> are comfortable with his choice. I also ask that you confirm that you are aware of <his> choice in a response to this email.
Yours faithfully,
<Teacher>
<TeacherEmail>
Parents have been contacted to ensure that it is clear what their child is doing, and have been asked to respond to me to acknowledge that they are in agreement with the choice that they are making.
<Date>
<Parents>
<Postal Address>
Dear <Salutation>
Re : <First Name> <Last Name> <Class>
From this term in Chemistry, and for the remainder of the year the classes within the course has been split into two working groups. One group comprises the students who are planning to take Level 3 Chemistry in 2018, and may be planning a career or further study in which they may use Chemistry ("The L3/Career" group). The second group are students who have decided that Chemistry does not feature in their future plans, and are aiming to get enough credits at Level 2 to pass the course, but do not plan to take their study of Chemistry any further (dubbed the "I just want my credits" group). So far the students are self-selecting the group they want to be in.
The L3/Career group will be working at a quick pace through two Externally assessed Achievement Standards, 2.6 Chemical Reactivity, and 2.5 Organic Chemistry. It is necessary that this group is diligent about keeping up with the work, and this will require regular homework.
The "I just want my credits" group will be spending their time learning Organic Chemistry and revising the 2.4 Atomic Structure and Bonding standard we covered last term.
All learning for externals should be completed in time for the school exams in Week 9 of Term 3. After the school exams we will tackle the final internally assessed standard 2.7 Oxidation and Reduction.
<First> has yet to choose a group. Please discuss with <First Name> which group <he> will select to be in to ensure that you and <he> are comfortable with his choice. I also ask that you confirm that you are aware of <his> choice in a response to this email.
Yours faithfully,
<Teacher>
<TeacherEmail>
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