Can you try new things when prepping for AP tests?

As an AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science teacher you can't help but "teach for the test". The reality is that is what most students are signed up for and it's your obligation to help them get ready for the test.

That being said, I can't just do straight up lecture, drill and kill. So I try different things, some work and some don't. In AP Enviro there is a lot more to experiment and try new things because the curriculum is problem based and fits well with a problem based learning approach (PBL).

On Twitter a while back I saw a post (maybe Alice Keeler?) about having students write an email. Other posts commented on how difficult it was for students to communicate in written form beyond a "text" lingo. At the time I thought it sounded like a good way to have students create an authentic writing that would actually be helpful in the real world. The thought went away until last week.

Dave Burgess mentions in his book "Teach like a pirate" that creativity is not something you have or you don't, you need to cultivate it. And by being open to new ideas you might find a new idea pop into your head. (totally my paraphrase on the subject)

A few weeks ago my husband and I bought a new camper trailer and were being given the walk through with the service technician inspiration struck, sort of. The tech was showing how to pull the plug on the hot water tank and showed us the metal core that keeps minerals from clogging up your tank by attracting them to this core. As he continued I thought "that's electrochemistry! Just what we are studying in AP chem!" I didn't get a chance to think much past this until a couple weeks later.

Confession: I'm a crappy lesson planner. I don't like to plan each step of each lesson. I know the big picture, I know the pathway but I resist planning each detail. One day during lunch I was thinking of the electrochemistry problems I should assign my AP chem students and thinking of alternatives. Then I remembered the water heater discussion! I wrote an email from a concerned customer who was having problems with her hot water heater. Here is the letter.

I instructed my students to read the email and reply in a thoughtful manner, reminding them that the customer was a biologist who wanted to know how her hot water works. This was met with some resistance and whining. Students complained they had no idea how a hot water heater works, or what could be wrong with one. I pointed to their chrome books and said research it.

What happened was interesting. First they started to research reluctantly then they started to talk about what could be happening with the hot water heater. They asked for my help in clarifying things and I asked them to think back to solubility and why some elements would precipitate out and build up in a hot water heater. Then I saw back and listened to these bright students pull the things we had been learning all year long into an explanation. Some letters were better than others and some really went into detail like this one.

The results of my experiment:

• instead of just doing more calculations students were actively engaged in talking about chemistry
• they were retrieving information we had learned last trimester and applying it in a new way
• they were writing about chemistry and reinforcing what they had learned

Overall, positive results. As a teacher, hearing my students talk on their own about chemistry and figuring it out this was one of the best lessons I had witnessed. It was also a lesson that I gave them very little information and direction. 

Going Student Centered- My own version of blended learning

I have been experimenting with my classes. I admit I can't keep doing the same thing constantly because I get bored, my students get bored. My district really likes and encourages "blended learning" and I have toyed with the idea for some time. After following Alice Keeler's tweets and blog I found this article on student centered classroom and this presentation by Caitlyn Tucker

What has held me back is my two years teaching for an online charter school that was part of a for-profit company. This was such an unsatisfying way to teach, I have never felt less like a teacher than when I did this. But, my first master's thesis was on designing online learning for student engagement. I spent hundreds of hours reading all the research available about online learning and developed some solid ideas. So with the support of a principal who really does mean it when he says "try new things, I revisited my thesis and started.

Now which class? I teach three upper division science classes, two that are AP. I decided to really try this with my AP Environmental Science Class (APES), this is a small class of pretty motivated students who would be tolerant of my experiment not going perfectly.

The unit was "Land Use", a straight forward topic that allowed for a lot of discussion and debate. Here are the directions I gave for the entire unit. Essentially, there were two modules (from the text book) each with a couple of big ideas.  I was not content to just "flip" or "blend" my classroom-- oh no! I wanted more something I always do! I wanted this to be student led.

Here's the basics of my experiment:

1. Students pick a module, decide which module to start with, let me know via google form and they decide how to learn it.
2. Students find resources, or create their own and post to the class website here. I set up the basic format, made them all editors, spent about 5 minutes showing them and turned them lose. 
3. I gave deadlines for assessments for each module. Students could show me they learned it any way they wanted. I had no idea how I was going grade but I figured I'd cross that bridge later. Procrastination is not just for students.
4. Final assessment was answering a couple of "AP" style free response questions.
5. During the unit I gave them topics we would discuss in class. The idea was they would research the topic, pick a side or point of view and later in class they would discuss.
6. I also gave them two days a week they didn't have to be in class but they had to check in on google classroom. I had a number of students in my room on those days working on their own or just talking to me about what they were doing.

Btw, I let students know at the start that this would be an experiment, and results were not set in stone. I asked for patience and feedback to help me adjust as we went along.

Results:

• First thing that became apparent was that I started off way to vague and should probably have started with more concrete instructions. But, I didn't want it to be MY product, I wanted THEIR product. So this may have been the best way to reach that goal. Students are used to being told what, how, and when to learn. Giving them free rein was uncomfortable for all of us.
• Students did stuff! They found cool resources to add to our class website. I found myself excited to see what new things had been added each day! 
• The creativity was awesome. Some students created slides and docs. Others created quizlets, kahoot quiz,  and infographics. I was introduced to Canva.com. Which is about the coolest thing I've seen in a while.
• Students enjoyed this unit, they learned a lot. They learned to build a google site, work collaborative, and they learned stuff about land use. 
• Our in class discussions were great! Instead of me talking and trying to engage students, they were talking to each other. I interjected a few questions to keep it going, but they STUDENTS were talking  to each other!
• Some students did better at this than others and put in more effort. But even my less engaged students did more than normal.
• I got so much more from the students in terms of quality of work. It was really gratifying to grade-- when was the last time you felt that about grading? Been a while for me.
• We communicated more than when they sat in class each day being spoon fed. Between comments on assignments, emails, and my abuse of the bitmoji app there was a lot going on.

Future Ideas:

1. Better organization of google classroom. I've found some good ideas that I'm going to try.
2. Create a chart or checklist of activities and deadlines to help with no. 1
3. Take this class with Alice Keeler.
4. Share what I've tried and learned.
5. Keep trying new things!

First Draft: Teaching Memoir

I have often thought of how I'd write my teaching memoir. The stories I'd tell.
The funny ones, the sad ones, the unbelievable ones, and the humiliating stories. Then I think about how I'd change names of people and places to protect the innocent, not-so-innocent, and the jerks.

I would hope it would be entertaining and informative. Maybe something like a cross between "Bridget Jones Diary" and the "Nanny Diaries". Two books I have read more than once and enjoyed immensely.


Rough outline so far:

1) Why I became a teacher, my 7th grade teacher.

2) That first job, sure I'll teach _____!

3) Less like "Dead Poets Society" more like "The Substitute"

3) Thumbprints

4) "Oh they didn't tell you ____" stories of students with extreme needs, issues, etc.

5) Teaching in gangland

6) Unconventional classroom management strategies: "the long stand" and others

7) Sexism at it's finest, or call me "Little miss science"

8) Teaching: the amazing, ultimate sponge!

9) Online teaching and learning, so easy anyone can do it

10) Lessons from my students                                                       (16 yrs ago, 1st teaching job)

11) Advice from current teacher me to past teacher me.

12) Keep on learning and growing

13) Weathering the doldrums

Time Managment

Time Management.
Who doesn't want to learn better tips and tricks to make the most of each day?

Confession: I am a really busy teacher. I have a lot to do.

               And I waste a lot of time. 

I can get lost in the rabbit trails of Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube so easy. It starts off as a just a quick "I'll check what's new" and a long time later I realize I've just wasted valuable time that could have been spent grading papers. Or folding laundry.

On one of my YouTube trips I went on a Ted Talk spree and found this promising one on "Time Management" by Laura Vanderkam



It turned out to not be what I thought it was. No tips, no tricks, no ways to squeeze an extra 10 minutes from each day. Instead it was so much better. Here are my key take aways from her talk:

1. "Time is a choice." We make room for what has priority. When we say "I don't have time for ___" what it really means is this thing is not a priority. I say I don't have time to put away the mountain of clean laundry, but really I just don't want to.
2. "Fill your life with things that deserve to be there". I have a pleaser gene that is quite dominant and active. I have to actively work to suppress it otherwise I end up volunteering for everting. (More on that later)
3. For professional and personal life) Imagine you are at the end of next year: what are 3-5 things you would have done that would have made this an amazing year for you. These are your goals for the next year. 
4. Give these goals priority, schedule them first. 
5. Plan for next week on Friday. Interesting because I follow Joe Duncan on Instagram who is big on planning your next week on Sunday. Which I never do because Sunday I'm still procrastinating and avoiding thinking about next week. Laura says Friday works because you're excited for the weekend but you're still thinking about what to get done.
6. Have three categories: Career, Relationship, and Self. There should be something from each category for the week.

This Friday I'm going to work on next week's goals. And I'm going to think beyond the job. 

Fingers crossed

EH

Online Teaching and Learning

My current school district really likes and encourages "blended learning" and I have toyed with the idea for some time. What has held me back is my time teaching for an online charter school that was part of a for-profit company. This was such an unsatisfying way to teach, I have never felt less like a teacher than when I did this.

Over 7 years ago I spent two years teaching for an online charter K-12 school that was part of a for-profit company. This was my first job after staying home to raise my twins. They were 4 1/2 when I went back to work full time. I thought this would be a good way to move back into the classroom, no lesson planning, no curriculum to design, and possibly some work flexibility. I was right, and wrong in many ways.

The curriculum was built into the LMS (learning management system). Students progressed through it at their own pace and set their own attendance hours. 

I got to know some amazing students and families from all over the state of Idaho. Students who spent a lot of time traveling for horse shows, club sports, theater groups, a gymnast group, and students who traveled with their parents who were over the road truckers. I would host "live lessons" using Adobe Connect and I could have students from the far corners of the state. They could chat and ask questions of me and each other. It was fun and a social time for some students. 

As teachers we were also given the job of traveling to the main areas of the state to proctor the various standardized tests to our students. These were great opportunities to meet families that I'd only communicated via email or phone calls. I also met some of the most reclusive families who's children rarely if ever spoke to other adults. Surprisingly more of these families lived in or near the largest urban part of the state.

                                                                                         (my "classroom" aka cubicle)

My workload was very different from a standard face-to-face job. I "taught" 8-10 science subjects to approximately 400+ students. I was the science department for the high school. As an online teacher the FTE (full time equivalency) was calculated much differently. Honestly, I have no idea how it was figured, it's possible there was no calculation as the school took everyone.

Here were and are my main concerns: number of subjects and students, motivating students, online cheating, science labs, and at risk students.

Students and Subjects

How effective can you be with that many students working at their own pace in that many subjects? Students would call in for help in biology, for example, the pacing might say they should be in chapter 8 and I would have students who were way past that goal and students who hadn't even started the course. It was a scramble to figure out where the student was and how to help them.

Call Center and Cheating

It was how I imagined working for a large call center would be like. Instead of calling adults to pay some bill or upgrade their cable I would call students who hadn't started working to get working. Super effective way to motivate students-NOT! Students took tests and quizzes that were timed and once submitted they could not re-do. Many of the questions ended up posted online with answers (from the curriculum) and students figured out how to work around the time and saving constraints.

                               "Hi, this is Mrs. Hoadley, can I help
                                motivate you to learn?"

Science Labs

As a science teacher who loves doing labs, online learning was rough. Students had a variety of virtual labs (some better than others), and received some science stuff to do experiments with as part of their curriculum. These were pretty simple labs, using stuff found at home. Again, not terrible but not what a chemistry student or AP science student should be doing for lab experience.

At Risk Students

Commonly heard from parents:

• how their child wasn't getting the attention they needed
• that they were really behind on graduation credits and needed an easier way to graduate
• teachers wouldn't accommodate child as they felt they should
• parents work a lot, don't have time to get child to school, easy way to fix this
• they've tried x number of schools and they just don't know how to teach their child
• graduate faster and easier

Common theme was: easier, faster, not getting what student needed. There were some cases of students who really were not getting the 1-1 help they needed and with parents eager to work with their child and be their "learning coach" this was a good option. I had students who worked full time to help support their family, learning at their own convenience allowed them to work more.

BUT, here's the reality, bottom line: Students who are independent and self motivated learners do well in online school just like brick and mortar schools. Students who have parent support and involvement do well in both environments as well. On the flip side, students who are not motivated, self directed learners struggle even more online. Students who are behind in graduation credits will struggle. There is no magic button that makes school easy. The same skills a student needs to be a successful online learner are the same ones needed to be successful period.

If you think accommodating IEP's is rough in a traditional classroom, imagine doing it online. The parent or grandparent becomes the para-pro, the 1-1 aide. Teachers can adapt some things but the curriculum is meant to be used directly out of the box. No assembly or changing required or available. When parents realize their new role in their students' education it's a shocker. Again, I saw families who could make this work for their child, it just required an active role by the parents.

The heartbreaking thing was to have struggling students enroll in our school, struggle, get even more behind and parents become frustrated and pull them from the school. For some students this online high school was their last chance to figure things out and get caught up on credits. Where did these students go? Some went back to brick and mortar, some went to another online school, and some went on to be "homeschooled" by their family. I'm not bashing homeschooling, I have known families that do it and have done it very well. And I have known families that there is no "schooling" in their homeschooling.

Don't get me wrong, online learning works for some families and it's great to have that option. I completely reject the notion that online learning and/or charter schools are the answer for fixing education.

My first masters degree was mostly all online and my thesis was started during this time of teaching, focused on online learning: designing learning experiences, how students learn, how to engage, and how to increase learning and engagement online. My research reinforced that this model of online learning was not an effective model and reinforced my own experiences with my online students. Online learning can be great, if implemented with some understanding of how students can learn online.

Asking dumb questions: Sometimes not a dumb thing!

Sixteen years ago I started my first teaching job. I had a student who was in my "basic" (read last resort type of class) science. She was deaf, worked with an aide when she'd cooperate, but spent most of her time in the resource room because of her abilities and her behavior. I was told she was very low and had awful outbursts.

She was about the sweetest girl I had ever met and I didn't see the bad behavior. In the stockroom (where my "office" was I found a coup of a Spanish physical science glossary. When I gave her the glossary she started doing so much better. She started to try more. She started to participate. I worked with her a lot because I just didn't believe she could be as academically low as I was told. I tried everything I could to communicate with her and she responded.

At her IEP meeting it was noted that she was doing well in my class and I explained what I was doing with her. Nothing really amazing, honestly. Then I asked a dumb question about sign language: is there a Spanish version and couldn't we try it with this student? I honestly didn't know. I found out there was such a thing and they decided to try it.

After that she had much more success and started being in regular classes. I wrote her note and asked her why she was a behavior problem in her special ed classes, she told me she was so mad about being in resource room--with some pretty low kids with pretty severe disabilities. When she described the students she was with, I thought I'd be pretty mad too if I were her.

Why was this successful? I think the fact that I was trying to communicate with her had the biggest effect on her doing well in my class. I showed her I cared if she learned, I wasn't willing to just let her sit passive in my class.

I admit I'm not the most patient or politically correct with my colleagues at times. Hearing a teacher say they've tried everything, tends to rile me up and I ask "have you really?"

I'm am not a teaching expert. The only sign language I know is inappropriate to share, and the only Spanish I know can order me a beer or find a bathroom. But I was willing to find something to help this student.

It's not about the nail

January 23, 2017
Today's deep thought was inspired by a conversation with a co-worker, which inspired this tweet: https://twitter.com/mrshoadley/status/823706310134943744

"Ts ask me for advice &dismiss it. I don't know all there is about teaching. I'm passionate, always learning, improving. You should try it."

No really, if you don't want advice, please don't ask. If you are just looking to vent, I can understand that. Sometimes we all just need to vent. 

But do not start a conversation about some topic, ask for opinions and then completely disregard the opinions you asked for. 

First off it's annoying to those around you. 

Secondly, it's rude.  

And third, it makes people less likely to listen to you. 

I know I am not an expert teacher. But I am always learning, always looking at how to improve. I can't help it, that's how I'm wired. And when I don't know something or have a question, I start researching on my own! And not as part of some professional development goals, or some class I'm taking. There are great resources online, just go to the all knowing Google. Look up stuff, read, learn to decipher what's legit. 

Another idea might be to listen to those you ask questions of. 

And remember, it's not about the nail.