My classroom

I love my classroom; it is such a beautiful learning space!  When I walk in each morning, I feel so grateful to have such an open, bright and well-equipped place to teach.  I want my students to have the same sort of feeling when they walk in too; warm, inviting and stimulating (but not too much!).

The periodic table (the kids are amazed that my old one has elements "missing" when they compare it to their recent, updated one... an excellent spring board for discussion on the scientific process, how new elements are created and how they are recognized)

In helping my grade sevens, "write like a scientist"... answer stems can help them to support their ideas.

Because I have a large bank of windows, tons of cupboard storage, a fume hood and a smartboard, I do not have much space for displaying student work- just 2 small bulletin boards.  Being that my school was one our government had privately built, my school board does not own the building.  This means I have to follow the rules of the private company and cannot put holes in the wall; no nails, no tacks, no staples unless it is on a bulletin board.  This also limits what I can put up and how.

On one wall is my assessment board.  I post our 4 point scale (Marzano-style) my students and I come up with at the start of the year. I also hang my clear folders for students to drop their various exit tickets as they leave (clear sleeves from a dollar store hung on with binder clips).  Students like to post samples of their work that they feel shows their success.  Here, my nines have posted examples of their classifying matter concept maps.  It is not just the high achieving students that have posted their work as exemplars.  Any student that feels their work shows their best are encouraged to and do post.  Love it!

To fill up my other board until I get student work at the start of the year, I have my skills board (Beaker gets posted and placed all around the room each year... kids love to see where I move him to next.)  Not the most creative, but we do refer to the word wall words and key phrases as essentials each student has to develop to think like a scientist.  I use these phrases when working on goal setting with my students so they focus on their learning rather than setting a goal of a percent.

On one counter, I have my hand-in bins, my popsicle stick containers and my organizational papers students will need throughout the year. Students grab as needed for their binder.

(need to take more pics... a work in progress!)

Classic beak adaptation activity

My grade sevens love to be active while learning.  As educators, we know the importance of movement and active learning to help students learn optimally.  One of my favorite activities to do when we are studying our ecosytems unit is bird beak adaptations.   It's a classic for good reason!  I don't say much about the activity before we begin.  I strongly believe in the moto I heard from everyone's science hero, Bill Nye, "Show then tell."  As my grade sevens enter the room, they chose a tool from a bin- tweezers, tongs, spoons,  droppers, staple remover, etc.  I tell them that they are no longer my wonderful grade sevens, but have transformed into lovely, hungry birds.   They must eat to survive!  The students tape large Dixie cups to their shirts to act as their "stomach" while they eat.  They move station to station trying to eat enough "food" from the specific ecosystem as they can.  They are timed at each station, which adds an element of excitement to the activity.  After each "feeding", they tally how much food they managed to get into their stomachs, ready the station for the next group and move on.  During our debriefing, the students really understand the relationship between ecosystem characterisitcs, available food sources and successful adaptations.  Teaching evolution by natural selection is a sinch after this!

I keep the "food" supplies, beak choices and activity sheets in a box ready to go for next year.  Here are some pics of what I use. In hindsight, I wish I had taken some pictures of the students doing the activity. Oh well, there is always next year!

Sci 7 Plant Survivor Project

My students love projects!  The foundation project for our plant unit was Plant Survivor.  Students had to design, construct and explain a plant that was adapted to thrive in a given environment.   We focussed on the competencies of managing information and innovation throughout the project as well.  Students loved sharing their final creation with their peers and the school community.

We started with our Driving Question and brainstorming ideas based on prior knowledge.  We then co-created our 3 key focus questions to answer throughout the project. (I must confess, my job was to guide their thinking and their ideas to these 3 questions to ensure we were going to explore the essential learnings from the Program of Studies. They never knew!)

Next, we worked on our Managing Information competency and worked on researching the characteristics of 6 main biomes.  Students had "voice and choice"  by selecting which biome they were interested in researching.  They shared their findings on our research board.  This forced them to summarize their research- no "copy, paste",  check with their peers, and allowed me to efficiently check for errors or ommisions in their research without reading 90 papers. They also had a graphic organizer in their project booklet to keep their information for the next steps.

As we learned about the parts of  a plant, we brought it back to their project.  How are the leaves, stems, roots and reproductive systems of their plant best suited to their biome?  They applied their learning to their specific biome and designed an innovative plant along the way.  In the end of the learning process, they all had a unique plant designed to survive their biome.  They chose to display their learning in a variety of ways- models, posters, 3D posters, google presentations, prezis...  

states of matter + energy student notes

An alternative to students writing my notes or filling in my graphic organizers for states of matter and energy...  I love that they are excited to show what they know, they take ownership of their work and I can quickly assess their understanding.  Yes, it takes more time, but it is well worth it.  I could save time by using traditional methods of note taking, but I do not think I would have the same level of comprehension in my students- high achievers and struggling learning alike.  

Students making meaning- alternative to worksheets

Finally finding time to post again.  I can't believe it has been almost a year!  My goal is to post a few things between now and our November break...  With report cards and student conferences, we will see how it goes.

Thinking about my students, this year, I have found that they are creative, but have language learning issues.  Almost half of my students a English language learners and struggle with learning formats that are heavy in reading and writing.  Of course, improving their skills in these areas is important, but so is developing their scientific literacy. I have been refining my methods, activities and strategies to have them make meaning for themselves, develop essential science vocab, and provide evidence of their learning without lost s of traditional worksheets and quizzes.  Here is an example of my nines working through the learning outcome of the history of the modern atomic theory.  We worked thorough class demonstrations, short video clips, LOTS of small group and whole class discussions and a fun play dough Build-an-Atom activity.  Then, they were tasked to show me what they know.  I gave them a few suggestions off formats, and a checklist of criteria based on the learning outcome, then watched what they did.  They had one 50 minute class to work.   I moved about the class with my mini whiteboard and class list in hand and noticed right away who needed further clarification, who had a misconception, who was bang on and such.  I made notes as they worked that could easily be added to data on their learning achievement.  I find when students are given the opportunity to make meaning in a way that makes sense to them and is open ended enough to make them think thorough the concepts and organize it for themselves, they learn it deeper than if I had given them a pretty graphic organizer I made myself, thought thorough myself and had the fill in while I taught.  They also love to share with each other in their table groups and place their finished work in the student work bin to display in the classroom as an exemplar.  I think they put their work in their science binder in an organized way instead of stuffing it into their backpacks or leaving in behind on the table when the bell goes because they have ownership over it.  1 sample is from a student who has always been a high achiever; the other is from a student who has struggled academically.  The seamless differentiation has also been a bonus.   Both students were happy with their work, both could talk in detail about their work, and both did well on the traditional paper/pencil assessment that followed.

Authentic Project- School playground, gr 7 Structures

One project my grade sevens threw themselves into and just loved was their playground design.  We are a new school without a playground and our parent council is working tirelessly to fund raise for one.  I took the desire for a recreational space for our students as an opportunity to weave some authentic learning into our Structures and Forces unit.  This was my first real attempt at project based learning.  I had no idea how much work it would be!  In the end, the students loved it, they learned many learning objectives at a deep level and they felt connected to their school community quickly.

I am very grateful for my 3 day training with Charity and the Buck Institute on project based learning.

Here are some of the handouts and student samples from the project.

Ideal Playground

Grade 3 Buddy Questions

Key Ideas Checklist

Self Evaluation

Data Reflection

Exam analysis

So the learning does not stop when the exam is given back...

Depending on how I approach things with my students, everything become assessment for learning. A good example would be my grade nine students' unit summative assessment- a "typical" unit exam with multiple choice and numerical response questions to mirror our Provincial Achievement Tests they must write in June.  I could simply mark it and pass it back to the kids- they look at their mark and the learning stops.  Instead, I incorporate an effective strategy I learned from a colleague.  The students get back their exam booklet and an analysis sheet.  They look at each of the learning objectives that were on the exam and reflect on how well they understood.  I am not sure where my colleague got the idea, but it does a great job of keeping the focus on students' mastery of learning outcomes.  My students appreciate the time to reflect on their learning and set goals for specific areas they need to still learn.  I have valuable conversations with my students about learning, not about marks.  The added bonus is that my students feel less pressure from the exam- they know it is to check for their enduring understanding and not to generate a percent for a report card per se.  For students with anxiety or who struggle, it takes off a huge stress for them and refocuses their attention on what counts- their learning.  Here is an example from my grade nine chemistry exam.

Chemistry Exam Analysis