First Impressions

Tossing and turning I lay. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Just waiting for that alarm clock to ring. Waiting to rush to the shower, swallow my food whole, and then drive to school. It's the first day of school. When I arrive the grounds are abuzz with activity and the air is electric with excitement. I stop, find some friends, and we walk to our first class.

Dragging my feet, a look of defeat on my face, I drudge back to my car. The air is no longer electric. It is heavy, pushing down on everyone. So much work ahead of me. So much heart-wrenching work lies ahead of me.

The first day of school. Sure it is important, but many (especially teachers), forget just how important. It's the beginning. The start of the months-long journey of learning and growth. To many teachers it is just a part of the grind. The first day of months of sweaty, stinky students who don't care, don't listen, and can make every teachers life a living hell.

But again, this is why the first day is so important!!

This may be one of the most daunting challenges that science teachers have to face. On the first day of school they not only have to get through their syllabus, explain field trips, and explain labs, they also have to make a good impression and make their topic appealing to their students. This last part is especially hard. Science in the eyes of students can be particularly overwhelming. So they hear "welcome to your freshman biology class" and they get completely overwhelmed. This is where making a good first impression can make all the difference.

Following is a list to help science teachers get their year off on the right track. It includes ideas, resources, and even a funny video or two.

• Forget for a minute that this is a science class. Sure you have material to rush through and tests to prepare for, but the students don't care about that. Start with a surprise game of jeopardy with simple biology and chemistry terms. The winning team gets a bonus of 2% on their next exam. Below is the link to my favorite jeopardy maker.
• Jeopary Rocks
• Instead of rushing through the first chapter of your textbook, have an in class assignment that I like to call "Why I Hate Sciene!". Let them take 10-15 minutes to write a one page essay on why they hate science, what their past experience has been, and what they think a science class should entail. You get to know your students while they get to be open and honest!
• After introductions and talking about the syllabus, spend the time discussing what the students would like to study. Of course, this can be like pulling teeth. So instead you could create a survey with some sort of puzzle piece or something attached that when they finish they take up and add to the puzzle.
• This is my favorite. There are some really really really funny science videos. Just check out this link and you'll be rolling and laughing. I was! (I plan to incorporate these as much as possible!)
• YouTube-Asap SCIENCE

A Way of Thinking

“Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility."
                                      -Carl Sagan

 How many remember getting into college or high school, picking up your textbook, and thinking "wow that is one thick book!" I know I did. Before we receive our syllabus for the semester we think "there is no way that we are going to cover all of this material! Right?" Wrong. So many teachers choose a textbook and power straight through it. They use preprepared slideshows and activities to espouse this body of knowledge to their students. But fundamentally, science is not a body of knowledge. No! It is a way of thinking as Carl Sagan stated. While there is a body of knowledge that is out there represented in data, research papers, and other outlets, we forget just how this knowledge came to be; through science!

As science teachers it is paramount that we recognize
we are not only teaching data, research, and theories, but that we are also teaching science. That we are also teaching and inspiring curiosity and inquisitiveness. Teaching them to question.

I don't know about most teachers, but I believe that this is something many teachers in other subjects are able to more readily do. They don't have to worry as much about constant change in subject matter and material. I mean, in English classes a noun is always a noun. But in science the knowledge of a cell and its constituents is constantly changing! This is why we must turn our classrooms into a laboratory of sorts. Maybe a think tank is a better term. One way to accomplish this is through using the flipped classroom approach.

This approach is literally a flip of what is typically done in class and what is done at home. The typical classroom consists of in class lecture and then home work is performed after the school day concludes. Instead the opposite is done for a flipped classroom. The students will watch a video lecture or look at new material PRIOR to class and then class time will be devoted to review, activities, and discussions. I believe that this approach is most sound for scientific classrooms. This way, class time with the teacher is not wasted! Instead, there is interaction, communication, and most importantly reinforcement! The students have time to ask questions. They are able to have more undivided attention from the teacher!

If you want to read up some more on a flipped classroom, clink on this link below. It will lead you to a document that goes into further detail regarding flipped classrooms.
                                                                                                               -Document Link

Here are a few examples of how to take advantage a flipped classroom approach in teaching science!

• At home preparation ideas for students
• Video lectures or youtube videos 
• Handouts, worksheets, textbook readings  
• Research new ideas on the topic of study
• Challenge them to find something that the teacher may not even know!
• Ideas for in class activities
• Group discussion-pretend they are in a think tank!
• Have them put their preparation into action in a surprise game or activity
• Avoid pop quizzes, or other time consuming homework
• Develop strategies that engage their mind
• A mystery, puzzle, or treasure hunt. 

Tackling a Daunting Scientific Paper

Are you headed to medical school? Interested in studying biology, chemistry, ecology, or any other science in college? Maybe even looking to go on to graduate school and conduct research? If any of these paths speak to your future goals there is one thing you will do in each, READ PAPER AFTER PAPER AFTER PAPER!! Alright I think you get the gist.

Reading a scientific paper is quite a frightening task. I had no idea of their existence until I took my first Biology course. Week one in General Biology left my lost and confused, and it was all because of scientific papers. Each week we were to perform an experiment and then report on it in scientific paper format. This was my first taste of what a scientific paper consisted of. A few classes later I ran into Cell and Molecular Biology. This monster of a class had us read long, complicated scientific papers. The reading of these left me exhausted, brain-dead, and pretty much lost. With huge words, complicated figures, and abbreviations, these papers seemed to be presented in a new English dialect. With time I learned how to read scientific papers. Here are my tips for reading complicated scientific papers!

1. Forget that time even exists

If you are a time crunch and you want to read a scientific paper, DON'T! Reading and fully understanding these papers will take hours. 

2. Break it down into sections

If you understand what the purpose of each section is, you can better interpret the main ideas. 

• Title
• This tells you the main idea, what the paper will be about
• Authors
• Where the authors work and their title can help you interpret the purpose and setting of the paper. For example, if work is done by medical doctors then it will most likely have references to something dealing with health.
• Abstract
• Short, but complete summary of the article.
• Introduction
• This section is important because it shows the real-world application and importance of the research. It also sets up the hypothesis with questions and observations.
• Methods
• This is the most detailed of all the sections. Here is where you will run into abbreviations and acronyms and equipment with names that seem crazy strange. Its purpose is to act as a recipe, so that if you wanted to replicate the experiment you could.
• Results
• This is where data and information that was collected is shown using graphs and tables. There typically isn't much interpreting of the data in this section, mostly just straight up data.
• Discussion
• This is the core of the paper. Here the scientists explain the importance of the results. The go back and support or disprove the hypothesis as well as answer the questions of pertinence to the real-world.

3. Translate as you go

This is where it becomes time consuming. As you move through the sections, take the time to look up words and terms you don't understand. Then reword, rewrite, and summarize the section how you understand it.

4. Take the time to answer a few questions
I found these questions in an article, which I will be posting the link to at the end of this post.

1. What were the scientists looking for? What question (or questions) did they ask?
2. What methods did they use to answer their question?
3. Did the researchers compare two or more things? Did they look at some factor over time? Did they use a technique to identify something new?
4. What answers did the scientists come up with? Why do they think their answers are important?
5. What are the limitations of the findings? Do the results apply in all cases? Are there things to watch out for?

Now that you have these tools, go out there and READ, READ, READ! You can do it! For other tips, and a more in depth look at the sections, check out these links below!

• Four Tips for Reading a Scientific Paper
• To Understand a Scientific Paper, Delve into its Parts

Science Teachers Should Innovate!

Have you ever thought about where the way in which we educate comes from? Have you ever thought about all the problems it carries with it? If you haven't, or if you have, check out this video and you too will begin asking similar questions.

School is modeled after factories? You can't be serious. Our education system is outdated, outperformed, and under-cared for. Plain and simple, most every aspect of education needs changing. This week in Education Technology I found a video that I believe is just plain enough, specific enough, and vague enough that we as teachers and educators should use to model our classrooms and curricula. 

Innovation! Anyone catch how many times he used that term? No matter, innovation in education is the next and only step we as teachers can take to overcome the system's short comings. We, as science teachers, may be in a better position than any other to re-innovate the school system.

Innovation in the Science Classroom

Science in itself consists of observation, hypothesis, experiment, and then collecting and interpreting data to confirm our hypothesis. Let's use this in our classrooms! However, we must remember that the primary goal of our research process should not be that the students achieve great grades. No, the goal is that the students actually learn as well as develop intrinsic motivation in their learning. So let's observe our students, hypothesize a new curriculum, experiment by applying it in our classroom, collect data on their learning, and interpret whether our data supports better learning in this new curricula.

What about the specifics?

• Observation
• Start implementing class discussion and student-led activities. Allowing them to be creative and take responsibility in their own learning will show you just how well each student learns and how intrinsically motivated they are.
• Hypothesis
• This is where the innovation comes in. Get creative. Make everything student centered. Maybe you shouldn't remain at the front of the room and instead create learning groups to encourage group discussion while you walk around interacting with each group. You could assign weekly lectures to students, giving them little instruction and allowing them to creatively share the information. If you feel comfortable enough, maybe even get rid of the textbook! (GASP!)
• Experiment
• Implement this new curricula. Just stick to it. Don't forget to continue observing and record ideas, notes, and data.
• Collect and Interpret Data
• This is where it gets tricky for most of us. We think "what better way to collect data than to test them?" But you should've been collecting data all along! Your data may not be numbers that can be correlated, but it should show positive growth in your students learning and their intrinsic motivation. Just a hint, one the greatest indicators of this growth would be students becoming more involved. This means more questions and more creative solutions!
• Was your hypothesis confirmed?

Let's start the innovation revolution in the science classroom!

Could Applying These 2 Research-Tested Methods Improve High School Science?

My previous posts have reviewed literature concerning current research on the state of science in today's high schools. We saw how teachers are not taking advantage of the incredibly interest their students have in science. This post will review a piece of literature titled 2 Research-Tested Learning Strategies and I will suggest ways to apply this in a high school science curriculum.

The above article was published by Edutopia, an amazing site for teachers and parents regarding the education of our students. Check it out by clicking on the word Edutopia. The two learning strategies explained in this article are both ground-breaking and straightforward in their simplicity. The first is spaced practice. The second is retrieval practice.

1. Spaced Practice
This is the more unknown of the two. This learning method involves using equally spaced breaks when reviewing information. For example, when studying for a final exam, a student may study all the material anew each month. To use spaced practice they would begin each month with the first information taught in class. Continuing in this pattern was found to help students learn and store new information.

A way that we science teachers can use this in our teaching is to begin with very basic principles and then build off of that. We would then choose a time period, for example three weeks, and then again go over the basic principles, what was covered in the prior three weeks, and then add new relative information. This creates a continuing line of thought for the students and helps them better relate and understand the information

Week 1: General Taxonomy
Week 2: Details revolving around a taxonomic category such as kingdom Plantae
Week 3: Practical application of organisms in Plantae
Week 4: Review general taxonomic structure, general characteristics of Plantae, practical application
Week 5: Proceed to move on to another taxonomic category such as Animalia


2. Retrieval Practice
This is the more known and more commonly used of the learning methods. This is the principle upon which tests and quizzes are based. However, multiple other retrieval tools should be used as well to accommodate other learning types.

A way that we science teachers can implement this in our classrooms is to integrate constant retrieval exercises other than periodic tests and quizzes. For example, having daily discussions about what was covered in the last period would help activate their mind and allow them to put it further to memory.

Fake or Real? High School Teens Can't Tell

The information era. Ever since the introduction of technology, information has come fast and hard. These technological advances were also accompanied by leaps and bounds in medicine, microbiology, chemistry, and most other fields of study. Unfortunately, these discoveries can often times be accidentally misreported or even purposefully fabricated. One of the most susceptible age groups to misinformation consists of pre-teens and teenagers. As children reach this age they begin to accept and receive less parental guidance. Slowly maturing into adults, they are constantly learning new things about the world around them and about themselves. This constant learning can involve falsehoods learned online. No where better was the ability for falsities to explode online exemplified than in this previous election. Stories revolving around fraudulent ballots and news anchors being fired because of their support for a particular candidate went viral, reaching millions. This is why we as teachers must develop strategies for teaching our students to discern between what is fake and what is real. An article by U.S. News titled  3 Tips for Teachers to Help Teens Distinguish Fact From Fiction takes a look at a couple of different ways to assist our students in discerning fake versus real. This is also very important in the field of science.

1. What's the Source?
So many students go through life simply accepting what their parents and teachers have told them. Number one has much to do with the fact that no one questions anymore. Questioning is the basis of all learning. There really is not a bad question!

2. Identify the Source!
These students that have difficulty determining fact from fiction online need to be taught how to find the source to determine credibility. This could be done through multiple exercises. Also, teaching students about particular websites, such as wikipedia and how anyone can add to a post (making it less than credible), is also a great tool.

3. Learn and Practice Vetting
You can hear something a million times over, but sometimes it doesn't stick or makes sense until you do it with your own two hands. This is why students should be allowed to practice, practice, practice when it comes assessing the validity of a source. Many teachers claim simply allowing them to read and review an article for credible sources is actually quite fun.

All Are Created Equal...But Not The Same

Equality. A source of great conflict. Petitions and protests mark the news each and every day calling for equality and justice. While the world sees us in different socioeconomic groups, in different subordinate or advanced cultures, and even at different academic levels, there is One who sees us all as equal. Equally loved and equally wanted. Whatever God you believe in, or even if you don't believe in one, when you look at each person you can see they equally deserve our love, simply because they are someone. Simply because they are human. But here's something that everyone struggles with: realizing that we are not all created the same. We don't all like tomatoes. If I'm being honest I don't like them. We don't all like the San Antonio Spurs. We don't all believe the same. We don't all enjoy the Vampire Diaries. The choice to enjoy or not enjoy things is one of the most beautiful aspects of life. So why don't students get a choice in how they are taught? How they learn? We attempt to fit them into a model that we believe has stood the test of time. However, that model creates little variety in what it molds. And whatever does not fit or will not bend to this mold is discarded. Why do we not cater to the students and help them learn in their way, in their time, instead of continuing in this pattern.

I must admit, teachers are becoming more aware of the fact that they must vary in their instruction. They now attempt to change things up, hoping to reach every student. However, as teachers work towards diversifying classroom instruction, politicians continue to hold back and counter teacher's efforts by nationalizing education practices. Nowhere is this more evident than with standardized tests. The rationale behind standardized tests is sound when the assumption of similarity is considered. However, as I noted above with how we may not all like the San Antonio Spurs, it is obvious that we are not all the same. An even better example is that of artistic ability, such as interior decorating. We are not all the same in this. My wife and I enjoy a homey, lived-in look to our home. While others in my family enjoy a more elegant look. If I was to take a standardized test about interior decorating, even after studying techniques, I would get dramatically different results using different methods than would the rest of my family.

I do believe that standardized tests are a necessary evil when it comes to things such as government funding. However, I believe we should alter the approach. My idea is to lessen the amount students are tested. This would mean that instead of learning to pass tests, students would be motivated to learn for fun and because they enjoy it. I also think their should be some type of option when it comes to standardized tests. Maybe dividing up the tests by learning type instead of by subject. This would allow governing bodies to look at school and student performance in a different way. Intelligence and success in school would no longer be dependent on students fitting in a certain mold. Instead it would more accurately depend on exposing what students understand through modes that better suit extracting their knowledge.