Quick Update Before It Becomes August 2016

I've not been successful in posting about our adventures in the classroom. I've been busy learning a lot from my colleagues, Lee and Susannah. Their passion for science is contagious and inspiring. Just a quick note (mostly for myself), we've presented in front of a group of about 15-20 teachers. In this presentation, we discussed the advantages of creating a student-centered learning environment that emphasized student-led talk. The teacher is purely a facilitator and invites students to challenge and debate each other over scientific concepts. Going to flesh out this idea more over the next few months.

All in all, I'm extremely excited about learning more about the way NGSS is transforming teaching practices and, hopefully, I'll also transform my own practices to reach the maximum number of students.

Making Ooble... Er... GOO with Preschoolers and Reflection

For an online class at the University of Phoenix, I had to teach a 30-45 minute lesson incorporating critical thinking. (Shouldn't all lessons do this already?)

Since my school is closed for the summer break, I found a local preschool open year-round. The staff was really supportive and flexible with my schedule. (Yay!)

I know how to make Oobleck, but it seems like the procedure changes every time with every new group of students. These kids weren't any different and they enjoyed getting dirty and playing  with the "goo".

Some changes I made were simple like changing the words cornstarch to baby powder. Two out of the twelve understood what the word liquid meant and one knew the word solid. I felt a little out of my realm considering I work with 13-14 year olds. Nonetheless, I adapted the lesson to help them come to their own conclusions. Most of the lesson was posing a bunch of questions. So below I'm going to reflect on some of the things I did with the students and how I might have improved upon them.

What I did:

• Named the cornstarch "baby powder". How might I have incorporated a stronger vocabulary component with this lesson?

Other ways to consider:

• I may have underestimated their vocabulary and could have easily used the term "cornstarch". However I figured since I only had about 30 minutes, I would use a term most familiar to them. Had it been my classroom, I would have used the term "cornstarch". 

What I did:

• Asked the students all questions verbally. 

Other ways to consider:

• I might have used some poster paper/white board to record their thoughts before moving on to the next question. When the thinking becomes visible, students can refer back to it and revise their initial thoughts. In the future, I would write down (or type up in a Google doc) each question and slowly write their ideas. When we progress in the lesson, I would revisit their first ideas and then ask if anyone wanted to change their ideas.

What I did:

• Asked a question to the whole group. When I asked a question, there were several times that I got that one EAGER student to answer. This shut down the other students, although, they weren't shy in expressing their views afterwards. How might I have been able to generate discussion between the kids? Is that possible at this age? What might that look like?

Other ways to consider:

• I think that using a visual on poster paper/white board would have helped with this. The preschool setting was also very different from the formal classroom setting that I'm familiar with. So had this been my class all year, the dynamic may have been different. I also could have established "science buddies" which would guide the kids' interaction with each other rather than the whole group. 

What I did:

• Gave the kids' the materials to mix before demonstrating first. 

Other ways to consider:

• I think this can be flexible depending on how structured the group is. To engage the students, a demonstration or video might get them excited about the activity. I missed out on this opportunity and just went for the goo! However, if I had waited and demonstrated, I might have elicited more diverse responses from the kids. 

That's it for now. I would love to hear what other teachers think about this lesson and how they've done this with their students.

Kiddo having some fun. Said it was, "Slimey!"

"Gooey!"

"Slippery!"

Girl in purple, "It's a solid!"

Me, looking confused, and asking if it's still a solid or becoming a liquid.

"My hands are filthy!"

"Miss Steffany, look at my hands!"

All of us enjoying the goo!