Kids never cease to amaze me…

Alright, so I am going to be the first to admit that I am not very knowledgeable on the topic of physics. Granted, my undergraduate degree is practically in Biology and I have difficulty with math, so I am probably not the best candidate to be educating the youth of Sarasota on Newton’s laws, force and acceleration. I am actually probably doing them a disservice by even attempting to tackle word problems to produce some random number with the unit of joules attached. (Or Newtons or m/s² for that matter.)

So I decided to try something new. I decided to jigsaw the physics portion of the curriculum by dividing it up into 6 topics – magnetism, kinetic & potential energy, Newton’s laws, simple & compound machines, force & acceleration and work & power. Ok, so the concept of jig sawing is not a new technique but I have truly been apprehensive in the past because of class dynamics, constructing set guidelines or expectations and, for lack of better terms, lack of teaching experience. I just didn’t feel like I had enough know-how to implement a jigsaw activity AND have it be an effective learning experience for my students.

I really wasn’t able to put it all together until Monday. I had my assessment in mind (the kids were going to create 2 low, 2 medium and 2 high level questions) so I knew what I wanted them to cover. I then made a rubric, a self evaluation form, a peer evaluation form, a student checklist and the project description sheet. The students had a set of guidelines they needed to follow in order to earn full credit. They had to present a 40 min lesson to their peers and had to include the following: essential vocabulary, equations, practice problems, visual aides, a demo, a hands-on activity, use of technology and an in-class assessment. I was trying to get my students to hit as many of the learning modalities as possible, as well as getting them to work effectively together within a group.

So on Tuesday, I introduced the project, went over the rubric and answered questions. I had at least 3 different textbooks on the desks and I put all of the laptops away. The first 2 days consisted of gathering information and teaching themselves on their topic. One of my students commented to me after looking through the books on the first day, “This is going to be tough! We have to learn the material before we can teach it!” I smiled and asked my students if the lights were getting brighter in the classroom, because I saw the light bulbs going off above their heads. I was still concerned though. I was worried my 4 day time line for research and presentation construction wouldn’t be enough. Don’t get me wrong, I am ok with extending deadlines IF (and it is really a big if) the entire team is experiencing difficulty.

I allowed students on day 2 to work on the computers to gather more information and to begin putting their presentations together. I even showed them how to save pictures and place them into the backgrounds of the Power Points (PPT). I also reminded them on how to hyperlink websites to their PPTs and for a moment, they looked at me like I was the most intelligent human being they have ever seen. I have to say that it was one of those few times that I felt more knowledgeable about technology than they were. The really great thing was, my kids were working. They were working together to accomplish the same goal. They were focused. And I was bored. During a few periods, I wandered from raised hand to raised hand to clarify directions or to say “Yes, you can use the restroom.” It was a rather dull and uneventful day.

Day 3 was even more amazing. I showed my students how to download video clips from United Streaming and then hyperlink them into their PPTs. They were so ecstatic!

And the boredom continued to worsen. I was no longer needed, with the exception of a few questions such as “How does this look?” or “What if we did this…” or “We want to do this demo. Do you happen to have iron filings?” I brought my laptop in with me every day to help kids locate sample worksheets or video clips or information. But they didn’t need me. I guess I should be proud of them, like a momma bird pushing her fledglings out of the nest, my students were learning on their own. The thing was, they really didn’t struggle and have difficulty like a baby bird would – they were efficient, strong and ready. Almost too ready.

Day 4 was even better than day 3. My kids polished up their presentations, practiced demos, and even practiced giving their presentations by using stopwatches to see how long they were presenting for. They looked through the textbooks for sample problems and ideas for hands-on activities. They perused the Bill Nye DVD collection I have, in hopes of finding a 3 min video clip that could supplement their lesson.

I was so proud. My kids were finally there. They were independent learners, the objective I had been trying to accomplish all year long. You would think that I would be excited and relieved. And I was. I really was. It’s that Catch 22 thing – I was proud but I was also bored.

Next week, the kids will be giving their lessons to their classes. I am already impressed with their work ethic and their excitement with this project. I cannot wait to see how it goes. Yes, some will flounder, but so did I.

And I think I turned out ok.

Anxiety and the Classroom Walk-throughs

A few weeks ago, I was visited by several individuals from our district office. They were conducting “walk throughs”, an activity that is exactly as it sounds: administrators, board members, and superintendents walk through classrooms to observe what is happening within the classes of the school. They will sometimes ask students what they are learning about on that particular day, or they sometimes just slip into the classroom quietly, whisper to one another in a very conspicuous way, and then slip out again as quietly as they arrived. When you revisit those moments in your mind, you often ask yourself if they were even there – as if they were part of a mirage or a group of specters.

It can be a little intimidating to teachers, when superiors arrive with an entourage of people to showcase your classroom and you feel like you are under the microscope. Many times, there aren’t formal introductions because these individuals don’t want to interrupt your instruction, even though you feel like these people are getting to know you and your classroom somewhat intimately. More times than not, I might only recognize 1 or 2 people within the group of observers and I am left feeling like I was just involved in a one night stand. And you often wonder what they thought of you and your kids – were they impressed? What do I need improvement on? Were they completely appalled? Having a summary meeting with them all might be a beneficial venture because I am all for constructive criticism. Alas, there is no official (or unofficial, for that matter) wrap-up session because I can only imagine how overwhelmed these observers must feel after being chauffeured around campus into dozens of classrooms throughout a school day.

Most of the time, the administration will alert you to the district’s presence on campus, sometimes the day before or the morning of. They remind you to make sure specific actions are taken which not only makes you look good, but it also makes the school look good – and c’mon, don’t you want to look good to the people who make the executive decisions?

I think it is important for those “higher-ups” to visit schools and actually observe what is happening within the district. I hear people mutter all of the time, “What do they know?! We’re down here, in the trenches, working our butts off and they keep asking more and more of us!” Yeah, we might be where the action is (the trenches, so to speak – albeit air conditioned and technology equipped trenches), but you can’t tell me the administration and the personnel at the Landings don’t work their butts off too. I think visitation is important, but I also don’t believe that a walk-through can provide a clear picture to what a school is all about.

A 5 minute visit (at most in some cases) only provides a snap shot of a teacher, their philosophy, their methodology and the interactions between students. And they’re lucky to see just one of those! What if a group of administrators walked in to see me working one on one with a student who has Tourette’s – but they wouldn’t know this just simply by looking at her. Or what about the amount of time it takes to hand back graded papers?

What I am trying to convey is that yes, walk-throughs are essential but always not reliable or should we even venture to say VALID?