Jeopary-style review game

Finals for first semester will be at the end of January, and the biology final will be comprehensive. Today I prepared a Jeopardy review game for the students. The categories were "Ecology," "Acids & Bases," "Respiratory System," and "Health;" all of the categories except "Health" will be included on the final. I added in this category to get a feel for what they know. Overall the game went well, the students liked this review format. From this mini review, it seems more people in first hour will have difficulty with the final; they had difficulty with some of the questions. Second hour, on the other hand, thought my questions were too easy which is a good sign that they are prepared. Second hour also wanted a round of double jeopardy and final jeopardy, which I may include for the full review for the final. I gave both classes the option of negative points for a wrong answer or no points for a wrong answer; they chose not to receive points for a wrong answer. The game was played in groups and the group with the highest point total received extra credit.

Decision

There's only so much that I can do; I can encourage, I can cajole, I can try to persuade, and I can learn the student's perspective. Ultimately the student makes the decision. And if it's not the one that I was hoping for...what do I do with this student?

Improvement

Since progress reports came out, there has been significiant improvement in attendence and class participation for some students in first hour. Hopefully these students will continue coming to class and participating (asking/answering questions, doing the labs). The next step is for these students to do their assignments (e.g., projects/lab reports) because this is what will have the most impact on their grade. One student in particular has shown marked improvement; however, she didn't submit one project and it had a severe impact on her grade. We have talked about what she needs to do for the rest of the semester, and she seems committed to turning in the rest of the assignments.

At times it is easy to forget that some students have to deal with a myriad of personal issues which make schoolwork an extremely low priority in their life.

Interactive Whiteboard

My faculty affliate is one of the teachers who is using new classroom technology: the Promethean Interactive Whiteboard and Activotes.

"Interactive whiteboards enable anything that can be seen or done on a computer screen to be projected onto a whiteboard. . . Hide, reveal or highlight text and images to stimulate discussion. Encourage active participation through measuring tools, such as interactive rulers or protractors. . ." (http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.15)

The students like the new technology because they get to use the activotes to answer questions; it's a more interactive experience for them plus they get to use the new technology. So far the whiteboard and activotes have been used to go over a quiz and to take an extra credit quiz. During these activities the students are more engaged and are taking an active interest in what is going on. The also get to see immediate results. Once everyone has selected their answer to a question, the results are tabulated and displayed in a bar graph so that everyone can see how the class answered a question.

The whiteboard is a great way to make lessons more interactive for the students.

Mid-semester grades

Grades for the first marking period (first nine weeks of the semester) have been released. For those students doing well in biology, there are no worries; they just need to keep up the good work. However, for those students not doing well in biology, things are starting to look discouraging. I gravitate towards these students and try to encourage; their first semester in biology is not lost. Just because they didn't earn a "C" or better doesn't mean that they are going to fail; it just means that they are going to have to work harder than they have been to improve their grade during the second marking period (second nine weeks of the semester) and do well on the final. I know it can be done, but I must convince them that it can be done. They have to believe that they can improve their overall grade by put more time and effort into their school work this point forward.

There is also a new extra credit opportunity every week, and I will walk students over to the board to try it. Some of students will tell me that they can't get the extra credit, but they haven't even read it yet; for these students I say lets try it and once they read it (I may have to re-state it) and think about it, they get it.

First Presentation

I presented my first presentation; the topic was environmental engineering with a focus on water quality engineering. This presentation was about me and what I do. My goal was to convey how engineers use science and engineering to provide water that protects human health and the environment. My main concern was being too technical. I needed to be able to explain what I do without using a lot of technical terms. Somethings the students didn't understand because they haven't learned it yet, so I was able to expose them to some terminology that they will learn later in biology.

I think the presentation went well, although next time I need a demonstration. The students were paying attention and asking questions. I started off explaining how I arrived at graduate school and why. The students asked questions about how I paid for college and graduate school, why I came to Michigan (from California), and how I became interested in this field.

Science in everyday life

I want the students to see how the science that they are learning relates to their lives. Next week I'm giving a presentation on my research, biological wastewater treatment; drinking water treatment and wastewater treatment is not something that most people think about but it is very important to our health and the way we live our lives. Hopefully I'll be able to convey this during my presentation.

Work ethic

I've been interacting with the two classes of biology for three weeks now; some students are doing well while others are not. The difference between the two groups of students is that those who are doing well are making a sincere effort and doing their work.

From many of the students who aren't doing well, I hear that the class is boring or that they don't like the subject; it is not that they cannot do the work, they choose not to do it. All students in Michigan need to pass biology to graduate from high school; however, that doesn't seem to be enough motiviation to get these students to do the work that need to do to pass the class...

This mentally is different from the one that I had in high school. I didn't like my high school bio class either, but I still earned an A in the class because my goal was to attend UC Berkeley or UCLA. I needed to do well, B or better, in all my classes to reach my goal; I knew this when I started high school. It doesn't seem like the students are thinking about their long-term goals when the decide not to do their work. Right now I'm wondering how do I reach the students who aren't turning in their assignments.

How can I convince a student that failing a class because he/she doesn't like it only hurts the him/her?

First Week

9/15/08 (Day 1)
My day started bright and early at 7:20 am for first and second period biology. There was a quiz today on classroom policies; most of the students were not prepared. Then a review of the hydrologic cycle, river flow paths, hurricanes, and floodplains. The students have been learning about the scientific method, and last week went out to the nature area to make observations. Several of the students in first period were tired, while the students in second period had more energy. Some students are already showing patterns of excessive absenses and/or tardies.

9/17/08 (Day 2)
The students are learning the scientific method, and today they started "testing a hypothesis" or doing experiments. This was a simple lab; measure the mass of a rubber stopper, paper clip, air inside a balloon, 40 ml of liquid A, and 40 ml of liquid B using a triple beam balance and graduated cylinder. Some of the students progressed through the lab quickly while others struggled with the balance. A few of the students, in both classes, were bored with the lab and wanted to do cool experiments (e.g., dissections). None of the groups finished all of the measurements.

9/19/08 (Day 3)
The students went to the nature area to collect soil samples to measure the moisture content of the soil. Some of the students didn't want to participate; they let their lab partner(s) do all the work. Some of the students in second period weren't paying attention to the instructions; their was lots of side conversations. One of the students was upset because his lab partners didn't help him take measurements outside or collect the soil sample.

General Impressions
Most of the students are in ninth grade, so they're making the transition from middle school to high school. This biology class is a project/lab based course; however, some of the students haven't taken an interst in the labs yet. They say they are bored, and they complain about having to make measurements (mass and volume) or get their hands dirty. They don't see the point of these beginning labs, and they don't want to take the time to learn basic lab skills. They'll soon learn that these beginning labs are leading to their class projects, which will hopefully spark their interest in the labs that they're doing.