Sunday, February 26, 2017
Sunday, February 19, 2017
690 Reflective Writing Module 4
Peer Research Summary
The topic that interests me most from the research this week is Society and STEM. This topic deals a lot with women and minorities in science, which is something that I am very connected to. For one, I am a woman in STEM. As I worked toward my Biology degree, I encountered some prejudices and stereotypes, though I consider myself lucky that I wasn't held back by any of these. The first situation I encountered in college was the fact that a majority of my professors were men. It was difficult to have so few women as science mentors, though the few I had were excellent. Another situation that I have encountered is something little, but it shows some of the preconceived notions that students have about science. One of my favorite parts of biology is doing dissections, and as I've worked with peers and students, many have the same, shocked reaction when they find out. This stems from the stereotype that all girls think things like that are gross.
Another reason that this topic interests me so much is that I was involved in a program in college for minority students and women. High schoolers who participated in the program took a college class over the summer, and myself and another college student mentored them and planned STEM-themed field trips and activities. The purpose of this program was to help girls and minority students experience college and become more exposed to STEM. This program also fit in with our "community involvement" topic, as we toured several different businesses where the students got to meet individuals working in STEM fields.
The topic that interests me most from the research this week is Society and STEM. This topic deals a lot with women and minorities in science, which is something that I am very connected to. For one, I am a woman in STEM. As I worked toward my Biology degree, I encountered some prejudices and stereotypes, though I consider myself lucky that I wasn't held back by any of these. The first situation I encountered in college was the fact that a majority of my professors were men. It was difficult to have so few women as science mentors, though the few I had were excellent. Another situation that I have encountered is something little, but it shows some of the preconceived notions that students have about science. One of my favorite parts of biology is doing dissections, and as I've worked with peers and students, many have the same, shocked reaction when they find out. This stems from the stereotype that all girls think things like that are gross.
Another reason that this topic interests me so much is that I was involved in a program in college for minority students and women. High schoolers who participated in the program took a college class over the summer, and myself and another college student mentored them and planned STEM-themed field trips and activities. The purpose of this program was to help girls and minority students experience college and become more exposed to STEM. This program also fit in with our "community involvement" topic, as we toured several different businesses where the students got to meet individuals working in STEM fields.
Reflection Week of 2/13/17
This week, I mainly had my conceptual bio students work through their Bio Journal. Although it is tedious, I think that this journal is beneficial because it gives the students a way to organize the information that they are learning. Since many of them will not take notes without the journals, this is a good way to keep them on task and paying attention. I try to keep the students engaged during the days we work on Bio Journals by asking many questions relating to the journal and requiring fairly in-depth answers that require them to answer “why” they think what they do. I also try to break up the class by doing some sections individually and some sections as a group, and including related concepts and examples from the real world. For example, when we discussed limiting factors, I talked about human population growth and what may be a limiting factor for humans. I gave their ecology test this Friday, so we played a review game on Thursday. I found a review game online that is played like connect four. When a team gets a question correct, they get to place a “piece” on the board. The goal is to get four pieces in a row. This game went over surprisingly well with the students, and they enjoyed it… until they realized that it was going to be difficult for anyone to win the game. However, I saw some great teamwork and they enjoyed the competition, so I would probably use this game again. In the future, I would keep count of how many questions each group got correct so there would be a backup winner in case nobody got four in a row.
In addition to my teaching this week, my mentor teacher and I were able to sit down and talk about my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. We both agreed that some of my strengths include planning, my energy level during lessons, and questioning and praising students. I believe that these are strengths that I’ve built up based on previous experiences. My energy level is due to my own passion about the topics, and my ability to plan and use questioning and praise to engage students is from my time spent tutoring in college. While tutoring, I encountered students with many different needs and learning styles, so I needed to plan for any situation when I went into a new tutoring appointment. I also refused to give any of the students I tutored direct answers to their homework questions, so I had to build up my skill for creating guiding questions.
We also discussed weaknesses that I need to work on, and my mentor teacher only mentioned one. When I am teaching a lesson, I tend to say “alright” a lot to transition into a new concept or question. This can be distracting for the students, so I will try to cut down on the superfluous words that I use while teaching. Another area that I would like to work on is requiring students to raise their hands or calling on students to answer a question. I have several students who are very eager in class and like to answer all of the questions. This keeps other students who may want to answer from being able to, and it keeps students who are not paying attention from being held accountable. When a student calls out in class, I have started asking them to raise their hand, then they answer again after I call on them. In addition, I have begun to specify when I ask a question, “raise your hand and tell me…” or I’ll sometimes call on a student before I ask the question.
In addition to my teaching this week, my mentor teacher and I were able to sit down and talk about my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. We both agreed that some of my strengths include planning, my energy level during lessons, and questioning and praising students. I believe that these are strengths that I’ve built up based on previous experiences. My energy level is due to my own passion about the topics, and my ability to plan and use questioning and praise to engage students is from my time spent tutoring in college. While tutoring, I encountered students with many different needs and learning styles, so I needed to plan for any situation when I went into a new tutoring appointment. I also refused to give any of the students I tutored direct answers to their homework questions, so I had to build up my skill for creating guiding questions.
We also discussed weaknesses that I need to work on, and my mentor teacher only mentioned one. When I am teaching a lesson, I tend to say “alright” a lot to transition into a new concept or question. This can be distracting for the students, so I will try to cut down on the superfluous words that I use while teaching. Another area that I would like to work on is requiring students to raise their hands or calling on students to answer a question. I have several students who are very eager in class and like to answer all of the questions. This keeps other students who may want to answer from being able to, and it keeps students who are not paying attention from being held accountable. When a student calls out in class, I have started asking them to raise their hand, then they answer again after I call on them. In addition, I have begun to specify when I ask a question, “raise your hand and tell me…” or I’ll sometimes call on a student before I ask the question.
Reflection Week of 2/6/17
This week, I was able to include some short inquiry activities into my lessons. This has been difficult lately because I am on a bit of a tight schedule for this unit. We are trying to test for the unit next Friday so the students don’t have to take the test after the three-day weekend. We were able to do a POGIL worksheet on Wednesday, which I think was very beneficial for the students. I am trying to get them more used to activities with higher rigor than what they have been doing. This POGIL was not excessively rigorous, but it made the students think, analyze and problem-solve more than what they are typically willing to do.
I have also been planning a project for the students to complete that will take longer than most of their activities. Because of these students’ lack of motivation and willingness to work, the current teachers rarely even assign homework, let alone a bigger project. I’d like my students to make a board game designed around one of their Bio units. They will include questions on the topics in their unit that are similar to test questions. I think that this project can really benefit my students, because creating test questions is a great way to study, and it will give them a creative outlet as well.
I have also been planning a project for the students to complete that will take longer than most of their activities. Because of these students’ lack of motivation and willingness to work, the current teachers rarely even assign homework, let alone a bigger project. I’d like my students to make a board game designed around one of their Bio units. They will include questions on the topics in their unit that are similar to test questions. I think that this project can really benefit my students, because creating test questions is a great way to study, and it will give them a creative outlet as well.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Reflection Week of 1/30/17
This week was a busy week in my internship. On Monday, I took over planning and teaching the conceptual biology classes. My first lesson went well, but there was a lot to improve on. For my next lesson, I printed out my lesson plan to have a hard copy to refer to during class. This helped me keep my thoughts straight and stay on track during the lesson. In addition, my lesson ended before class did on Monday. To counter this, I have been over-planning for my other lessons. I have been including extra little activities or extensions to do if my lesson finishes earlier than expected.
This week I also began a project with my biology students and I was pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm for the project. While none of them admitted that they enjoyed the project, the majority of them were engaged in the research and worked hard on their poster. I think that this hands-on activity helped them understand and engage in the material.
On Friday of this week, my mentor teacher came back to school. As well as I was doing running the classroom while she has been gone, and as much as I enjoyed it, I was relieved for her to come back. It will be nice to have a knowledgable teacher in the room to observe me and help me reflect and improve on my teaching.
This week I also began a project with my biology students and I was pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm for the project. While none of them admitted that they enjoyed the project, the majority of them were engaged in the research and worked hard on their poster. I think that this hands-on activity helped them understand and engage in the material.
On Friday of this week, my mentor teacher came back to school. As well as I was doing running the classroom while she has been gone, and as much as I enjoyed it, I was relieved for her to come back. It will be nice to have a knowledgable teacher in the room to observe me and help me reflect and improve on my teaching.
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