Pedagogy in Practice

CAST 2021: LESSONS LEARNED

I attended CAST in November of 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. The most valuable sessions that I attended are described below.

Formative Assessment Strategies

The 2021-22 school year has been challenging for me specifically because my students do not have the same amount of skills and knowledge to build on as they have had before, are having more trouble learning new concepts, and most feel shy and uncomfortable in class. For this reason, I have shifted my teaching to provide more opportunities to spiral review information, process new concepts, and to interact with one another and talk about science. I attended 3 sessions that focused on formative assessment strategies and now have a list of about 50 new strategies to try! Here are some of my favorites so far:

My Favorite No: Students answer a question on index cards. The teacher sorts the correct answers and the incorrect answers and shares her favorite incorrect answer with the class.
Make Your Thinking Visible: Students draw and explain a concept from a microscopic level and explain their thinking.
Analyze a Photograph: Students answer specific questions about a photograph that is shown to the entire class.
Tug of War: Students grapple with a dilemma to consider multiple perspectives. Students generate reasons on both sides of the argument and place them on sticky notes on a rope, determining the strength of each argument.

Group Test Corrections

I just tried this strategy with my AP Biology class today and LOVE it! Students received their grades on their Unit test, but did not know which questions they got right or wrong. In their table groups, students had 45 minutes to take the test again, as a group, in order to discuss the questions and explain the concepts to one another. The group grade is then averaged with the student's initial grade on the test. The goal is to have students discuss the concept and learn from their mistakes while giving them an opportunity to bring up their test grade. I was skeptical at first, but the conversations that students were having were fantastic! They were thinking, discussion, and debating with one another how to interpret the questions. This is a strategy that I will incorporate consistently now because it allows students to continue to learn and to grow even after a unit test is completed.

THE INQUIRY INSTITUTE: 2019

During my first summer as a TLIIST Fellow, June of 2019, I attended the Inquiry Institute. There were three activities that resonated with me that I have used or will use in the classroom: The Standards Circus, Ice Balloons, and I Notice, I Wonder. I explain each activity below.

STANDARDS CIRCUS

The Standards Circus is a series of inquiry activities set up for students as stations. Each lab station asks students to use a process skill (observe, ask, graph, interpret, analyze, sketch, etc..). I used this activity during the fall of 2019 in my 9th grade Biology class. The stations that I set up were: Bouncy Ball, Dye Drops, Toy Car, Paper Towel, Cartesian Diver, Flames, Water Molecules, and Graphs. I loved the activity because every student was doing science and discussing science for the entire class period and it was only the second week of school! Observing students with this activity showed me that my students need many more opportunities to do hands on science in order the practice the process skills. I plan to use this activity each year, but I would also like to incorporate versions of this activity for students to experience with each unit of study over the course of the year.

ICE BALLOONS

I have not had the opportunity to use this activity with my students yet, but in the summer of 2020 Marina Rodriguez, another TLIIST Fellow, and I made a video for teachers introducing them to the activity. Making the video convinced me that this is a fabulous activity and inspired me to do this activity with students as soon as we are back in the classroom and it is safe to share lab materials again. Essentially, students are given a sphere of ice (fill a balloon with water, freeze the water balloon, and remove the balloon) and are asked to come up with questions that they could ask about the ice balloon. This is followed by a discussion about the difference between investigable (scientific) questions verses non-investigable questions. Students are then asked to come up with 1investigable question that they would like to pursue and given tools with with to investigate.

I Notice, I Wonder

The 2020-2021 school year began with 100% of students and teachers remote. It has been challenging to incorporate inquiry into 100% remote classes. One strategy that I used every day is to show a photo or video clip and ask students to comment in the chat one thing that they noticed and one thing that they wondered about the photo or video clip. This has worked well to keep the spirit of inquiry alive even when we can not do science together.

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