Early in my Master’s program, I remember one of the experienced teachers (a wise, wise man) say that one of the big difference between novice and experienced teachers is that novices think a lot about themselves in the classroom: how they are doing, what techniques they are using, etc, and experienced teachers think about the students and what they need.

I am getting pretty good about thinking about my students (being a parent has really helped me there) but I tend to transfer my feelings about life, learning, and success to my students. I think my previous post is an example of that. Who says my students want to do learn and do a good job just for the sake of understanding the joy and beauty of chemistry? Second chances, and all revisions, are a lot of work, and that is one thing they really don’t want more of.

I do think I am still too self-centered in the classroom. This is one thing that my students don’t see directly, but affects how I plan and my expectations for their reactions.

I should think of someone I know who thought that high school was okay, and that chemistry is okay, and try to plan for them.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that my students need to practice. 3 or 4 problems is not enough. They might whine somewhat about the worksheet, but they are hopeless without a lot of practice. The thing to do is not to have other activities replace practice, but to have a lot of practice incorporated into more authentic activities (e.g. labs).

Practice, practice, practice.

And slow down.

and don’t assume anything, especially if you didn’t teach them last term.

Today was a bad day in everything but my teaching. We are starting “shape.” This is how I think of Lewis structure/VSEPR stuff. We are taking steps towards thinking in three dimensions, which is one of the wonderful things about chemistry.

I managed to start at the beginning. I reviewed their prior knowledge of valence electrons. I then defined Lewis structures. Then I did the LS for the elements whose valence electrons they had just found for their POD. Then I started with two simple molecules (methane and ammonia) and demonstrated “easy” ones. Then I outlined a method for figuring out the number of bonds and the number of non-bonding electrons. Throughout this I would show them 2, and then they would do one. Tomorrow we will start of with practice (I modified a worksheet from another teacher’s website). Then I will show them some examples with multiple bonds and define resonance. Then we will practice more.

Baby steps. Lots of practice. Despite it being a fairly teacher led day, the students seemed quite positive. I think I actually taught something properly, instead of jumping in all willy-nilly with only enthusiasm and assumptions.

I have been expanding on my environmental chemistry unit idea. The only problem is that I am not sure if six weeks is enough time. That is what I have between Spring Break and the end of the year. It would encompass just about everything we will do. Electrochemistry, Acid/Base chemistry, concentration, ions and metals, potentially organic (I’m not sure about tests for organic pollutants) and we could at least discuss radioactivity in connection with pollution even though that is not a problem here.

The final lab/project (possibly test) would be to write a procedure and run a series of tests on the river water over the course of two class periods. They would have to do a write up and presentation on their test results, and on possible problems from the pollution or clean-up ideas. (clean up ideas have more potential for chemical explanations).

To prepare them to do this, they would need to do at least four preparatory labs to learn the lab techniques and theory so they could write the procedure. They would need to have at least one, preferably two previous lab write-ups so they knew how to do those (they are not really part of the curriculum here for some reason). They would also need to learn about environmental chemistry in a more general way.

The coolest idea I have is that they can do a lab where they make solutions of known concentration and measure their absorbance, and then when they get the data from the river they will be able to figure out the concentration from the class graph of concentration vs. absorbance. (each pair would do a different concentration so that we could have 10 or so points on our graph).

Can I plan this fast enough, so that I can start them on it????? Is this actually possible or is it way over my head?

Part of me thinks this easier to plan, because I have this big goal that everything needs to lead up to. Every concept we learn, every equation we practice, will somehow need to help them be able to do this final task.

I am less worried about my students content knowledge than about their lab/problem solving and general independence. Can I teach them how to be that independent in six weeks? That is a lot harder than just teaching them the chemistry.

My search for labs has intensified, because while lecturing on molarity and solution stoichiometry, I found myself saying things like, “now, if we were in a lab, and you were going to make this by mixing these two things, you would do this, because…..” and so on. How awful is that. So hard to follow, and so simple fix, if one could just find/design a decent lab.

I will have to think about my criteria for a good lab. At the moment I have a “I know it when I see it” thing.

Apparently the state standards say that 25% of time in a science class should be spent on lab work. That doesn’t even happen in the AP course here. Of course, labs for labs sake is no better than math or homework for their own sake, and there are some awful activities out there. But quality lab work should be a priority.

I’m stating what may seem obvious because my mentor advised me not to make it a priority. To be fair, he was thinking of labs-for-labs sake, and he is worried about me getting to overwrought with this whole teaching/grad school/ life thing. Which is kind. But I have to learn somehow. More to the point, my students have to learn

Looking for labs, I found some great ones on water quality. (I should of thought of this myself, they do a huge unit on this in FOS 1)

Edited to add: Here is the link with the lab that inspired me.

Potentially encompasses acidity, metal ions in solution, redox, organic, absorbance (turbidity), and the environment.

I am “fortunate” enough to live near a rather polluted water source, so this could be very interesting. Practical. Not that they care about how yucky their water is, but it has to be better than me lecturing.

Criterion for a worthy classroom game: the game must proceed naturally from the joy of the discipline, and not be foreign or imposed upon it.

Bad game: a standard computer game where you have to solve a math problem to get more bullets.

Why do I care about games? Apparently when kids solve puzzles and play, their amygdala is less active, they are less stressed out and afraid and they learn more.

Today I had planned to take my students to the computer lab, to do some computer simulations on Molecular Workbench.  I love molecular workbench. I think the models and simulations are very good. They also have ways for students to answer questions (which I have found to be high quality so far) and submit reports. It is free. Last week, I downloaded it onto one of the computers in the science computer lab, and played around. I planned to have my students download it and go for it.

A week later, when they all try it, it won’t open. It turns out that MW had upgraded their java the day before, and so it wasn’t compatible with the settings on our computers. A work order has been put in, and everything will be upgraded, and the application applied on all the computers and the central server. This is very good. It still put me in a tight spot on Wednesday.

Fortunately I had ideas for Thursday, that I was able to implement. We went into depth on the dissolution of ionic and polar compounds.

Lesson: always ask the technology people for advice on technology. Department heads probably have a pretty good idea of what is going on, but it is not their job to know all the details. Ask the expert.

Today was a great day, actually. Everything went so smoothly, and it was so interesting.

A brief outline:

For the Problem of the Day I had the students find their partners on their HOFBrINCl gases partner sheet, which I based off of “Clock Buddies,” an idea I found here.  I used the diatomic gases because it is a chemistry class.

Then we did chalk talk around the question: What does it mean to dissolve? I was operating under the assumption that they all had a pretty good idea, and was trying to build off of what they already know.  I was a little skeptical this would work with sophomores, who tend to be reticent, but it was great. I had between 30-50% participation (which is high for my class), and it was only the first one. I expect that to go up as we do them more often.

Then I did a simple demo putting sugar, baking soda, and hot cocoa mix into cold water, hot water, and hot water that I stirred. I had the students begin two column notes with observations on one side, and explanations on the other. I gave them key words to use in their explanations to help them have molecular discussions (the words were: collisions (with many stars), temperature, motion, molecules, and surface area).

Then they got into pairs and completed the explanation column.

While they did that, I grouped the pairs into fours, and assigned each group a question to work on. I assigned the fours so that I could mix up the groups by ability, and so I could give more basic questions to some groups, and more challenging questions to other groups. The questions were specific examples around the phenomena they had observed. Once they were in their fours, they could double check their explanations, and then start working on the question.

For the question, each member of the group has a job (they got to decide). The four jobs are: writer (produces a paragraph explanation), artist (draws a diagram explaining the phenomena), presenter (will present to the class on Monday), and watchdog (makes sure the group is on task, that everything is coherent, and that the explanations are truly molecular). I will grade them individually and as a group.

I realized during first period that I had planned a project so completely in line with collaborative learning theory it was a little scary.

But it worked. I have never seen them work together so well. I also think this counts as scaffolding and teaching them how to work in groups, so hopefully I am laying the foundation for future collaborative learning.

I’m so proud. I feel like I’ve redeemed the week.

I find making resolutions very useful. The only time I don’t make resolutions is New Year’s =). Progress reports are in for my students, and I am going to try to give myself one. Come to think of it, I should make an online survey for them so they can give me one too.

1. More structured lesson plans. In my student teaching, the curriculum was so good, and so available, that I was tweaking it, and I could get by without planning an entire lesson by myself, as far as figuring out what to teach, and how to teach it. That is not working so well. I need to have one, simple, objective for each day. I am too tangential, too easily distracted, and I need to focus. I should have one over-riding goal each day that I can put on the board for my students, and write in my planner for myself, to keep focused.

2. Post grades every week. I have been doing this about half the time.

3. Grade and return all work within two days (e.g. by Wednesday if they hand it in on Monday) I have been grading over the weekend, but struggling to find time during the week.

4. Make up the test/assessment at the beginning of the unit, so I know exactly what I plan to assess as I teach.

5. Have at least one demo or lab each week. This seemed like a pitifully easy resolution at the beginning of the semester, but I have really struggled to find the time. I have so little time there before I have to get baby girl from daycare. However, I recommit myself to this principle. First hand experience is central to science.

6. Plan math examples more carefully, and remember that I am teaching math. Do not assume my students know math.

7. Stop appearing as though I play favorites. This is something I struggle with, because I am so easily distracted that I fall into conversations with certain students, and never with others. Stop this. Make a point of showing all the students, even the ones who hate the class, that I like them and am glad they are there.

All of these are principles that I am well aware of, theoretically and practically (except #1 and #6), but have not been doing very well. I could come up with many more, but these seems like the most important ones, and if I make too many I will forget all of them.

Advice is welcome, as always.