KLEIN's
GUIDE TO
SCIENCE EDUCATION
PHOTO CREDIT: Nadene Klein at Tuolumne Meadows Yosemite National Park
It is the ending of the 2018-2019 school year. We all know how difficult it is to keep students engaged at this point. Some days it's like pulling teeth to get them to do anything productive. How do you know if you've got them hooked without them directly telling you? Well...here's what I'm seeing...
My Earth and Environmental Science classes responded to a survey at the beginning of the semester. Results indicated a high interest in archaeology as a topic of study. I manipulated my plan so that it would be our last unit. We've been working on an activity in the last two class periods whereby students working in small groups were given a description of a fictitious civilization. Each group had to secretly decorate a terra cotta flower pot and saucer with paint in a way that represented "their people." (Pots and saucers cost less than $1 each at WalMart.) When the returned for the 2nd class period, they were given a different group's artifact that they needed to decipher to determine all they could about the ancient civilization from which it came. Oh, to make it harder, and more realistic, I had smashed them into small pieces. I even removed some pieces. I was fortunate enough to have won a grant from AIAA to purchase 2 drones to use with students in the classroom. The drones arrived this week. I know very little about operating drones and didn't feel motivated to read the 50 page owner's manual. So, I gave the task to my physics students. They needed to assemble their drone and figure out how to make it work without crashing it. The final out come will be a one page cheat sheet that anyone can use, even me, to operate the drone. What doe these two different lessons have in common? Students were 100% engaged during the last full week of classes. How did I know they were hooked and not just being compliant?They didn't tell me so. I didn't survey them nor ask for an exit ticket. Frankly, I couldn't. The way that I could tell is that not one single student wanted to leave my room. Not even the last class of the day!!! I had to force them to clean up and leave in time to get to the next class or go home! Every day counts when you have the voluminous amount of curriculum to cover that we do. We can't afford to squander the last days of school, no matter the mindset of the students. If you plan ahead to literally save the best for last, every day does count. Your students will be engaged to the end. Scientifically yours, Nadene
0 Comments
|
AuthorNadene Klein, M.Ed. has been an educator for over 25 years. She brings a passion and love for science to the classroom and through this blog to you. Archives
March 2024
Categories |