For this terms observation for my appraisal MTH observed a year 9 lesson where we were looking at thinking skills and applying knowledge they had learnt to real world applications. In this particular instance "real world" was a rather broad concept. The framework for this was from the Issues Presentations that I had seen at the ChemEd Conference and presented to the department.
This particular lesson was within the unit of work dealing with waves and energy and the class had just completed learning about sound and sound waves. The presentation dealt with the movement of waves in a vacuum, particularly in space, using the explosion of the Death Star from Star Wars as the initial image.
The class in question was a lower ability class with many students having literacy at Level 2 or Low Level 3 on the curriculum. Many of them do not display critical thinking skills and show little to no desire to learn them.
The students were engaged by the gif of the Death Star exploding with the Millenium Falcon flying away from the blast zone. Some could very clearly tell the class what had led up to that point and what came after, and could debate the plot points. When challenged some problems or falsities in the presentation of the explosion were identified which led us into the text reading.
Five students participated in reading out loud to the class, a selection of text from MovieTropes.com detailing how movie explosions in space defy laws of physics. Due to their previous learning on sound waves and wave behaviour some of this made sense to the students. I was still having to lead the discussion, positing questions for them to respond to, but most students were engaged, especially the low achieving boys.
The final step was to watch a video on the physics of sound explosions which explained with diagrams, pictures and animation in more detail.
There was very little writing in this lesson which helps get engagement from those students who struggle with literacy. I am trying to develop analytical and critical thinking skills in my students and to get them to see how what they are learning in class can help them to be better at interacting with the world and less likely to be taken advantage of.
Friday, 25 August 2017
Friday, 28 July 2017
Developing thinking skills by focusing on Issues
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.
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.
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>
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Winning Hone Haka
Start to 2017
Beginning 2017 has been a rush in that there has been so much full staff PD and admin and not nearly enough time in departments for us to plan together, and alone, to get ourselves fully ready for the teaching year before the students were sitting in front of us. This is in spite of the fact I came in a few days before the full staff was called back.
Ongoing Inquiry into the Geology assessment for Year 10's
The last couple of days I have been watching and marking presentations from my year 10 class on a Natural Disaster.
The quality of presentation is much higher than last year. This is a combination effect from having a more literate and engaged class than I had last year, but also having provided greater scaffolding for the students. From the scaffolding they have a better understanding of what is expected of them, and the detail to which they need to go.
Some students are, as expected, only doing enough for the minimum. Others have really been focussed on the higher levels, and been motivated by the clear outlines. The hardest part for many has been presenting to the class, however as scary as it may be, presenting is a valuable skill for them to practise.
In addition I think I will give them a modified re-submission opportunity, modelled on how they will be assessed at Year 11 in NCEA Level 1. Modified, in that I will be showing each student what on the rubric that they missed, and perhaps helping them to research their way to a better grade. In this way they will hopefully develop a better understanding of how they may use rubric's to check their assessments for sufficiency.
The aim would be to have them better craft their assessments to meet the criteria at every level .
The quality of presentation is much higher than last year. This is a combination effect from having a more literate and engaged class than I had last year, but also having provided greater scaffolding for the students. From the scaffolding they have a better understanding of what is expected of them, and the detail to which they need to go.
Some students are, as expected, only doing enough for the minimum. Others have really been focussed on the higher levels, and been motivated by the clear outlines. The hardest part for many has been presenting to the class, however as scary as it may be, presenting is a valuable skill for them to practise.
In addition I think I will give them a modified re-submission opportunity, modelled on how they will be assessed at Year 11 in NCEA Level 1. Modified, in that I will be showing each student what on the rubric that they missed, and perhaps helping them to research their way to a better grade. In this way they will hopefully develop a better understanding of how they may use rubric's to check their assessments for sufficiency.
The aim would be to have them better craft their assessments to meet the criteria at every level .
Friday, 23 June 2017
Creating Assessment- Year 9 Astronomy
This morning I was putting together the assessment for the Year 9 Astronomy unit. The unit needed to be redone in order to ensure that we were effectively assessing at curriculum levels.
The new test has been compiled from the Assessment Resource Bank's resources of properly aligned assessment tasks. I started with a standard from Level 3, many from Level 4, some from Level 5, then I adapted a NCEA Level 1 task for the Level 6 component. This will really make it straightforward to assess the level of thinking that our students are doing.
The Test
The Marking Rubric
The new test has been compiled from the Assessment Resource Bank's resources of properly aligned assessment tasks. I started with a standard from Level 3, many from Level 4, some from Level 5, then I adapted a NCEA Level 1 task for the Level 6 component. This will really make it straightforward to assess the level of thinking that our students are doing.
The Test
The Marking Rubric
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