KLEIN's
GUIDE TO
SCIENCE EDUCATION
PHOTO CREDIT: Nadene Klein at Tuolumne Meadows Yosemite National Park
On July 7, 2020, students returned to my classroom after our quarantine quarter and our typical 6 week summer break. We are the first public school in the state of Colorado to open with students in-person. Actually, we are operating on a hybrid model of education. Students attend school for 1/2 days such that 1/2 of the student body is in the building in the morning and the other 1/2 in the afternoon from Monday to Thursday. They attend 1/2 of their classes on alternating days. This means teachers see each student twice per week in person. Then on Friday, students have an online learning assignment for each class. This system could amount to 3 grades per week per class for the student. Students have 3/5 of the time in each class to learn the curriculum. To further compound the situation, students had the choice to become full time remote learners. We classroom teachers are still responsible for providing a "robust" learning experience online for them. It is left to each teacher at my school to determine how best to achieve this. I have chosen to require my 8 remote learners to attend my classes synchronously via Google Classroom and then to do the same weekly online assignment as everyone else. Beside teaching, I spend the last moments of class time and passing periods sanitizing tables, writing utensils, and science supplies/equipment used during class to prep for the next class. In three and a half weeks, I've gone through 4 bottles of cleaner! I also have to rethink laboratory activities. Students cannot work in partners and groups. I can only do labs for which I have enough supplies/equipment for each student to perform them individually AND that I can sanitize between use. Reimagining a lab rather than giving up on it takes time and ingenuity. Here's an example of one I did the second week. As a way to model the use of indirect evidence and the scientific method I usually have students do Mystery Boxes in groups. An object is in the sealed box and students have to determine what it is without opening the box. Well, I don't have space for dozens of boxes nor the time to acquire them. Instead of that, this year we did Mystery Bags!!! This way each student could have their own. I could recycle the bags when we were done. I just had to change a few of the parameters of what was allowed with testing the bag. I guess this school year is going to be like a mystery bag. Who knows how events will unfold and how they will impact my school, my students, and me. Scientifically yours, Nadene
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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
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