Week 3 - Astro. Review & Chem. Lab

The week was a big step for me. I got to lead the Astronomy class (1st period) in a review and then got to help the Chemistry classes (3rd-6th period) with their labs. I could tell that I was getting more comfortable with the classes and they were getting use to me. There are still a lot of disciplinary problems, students still have to be called out into the hall to settle them down and there was a point where the assistant principle had to come down. From the sounds of it, that wasn’t the first time this week.

Any how, I thought my Astronomy review went over well. A friend had passed on a Jeopardy style power point, which I used as a review framework (if anyone wants to use the template just email me abrecht@umich.edu and I will be glad to share). This works for almost any subject. It was originally created for a Math class. I did fear that the whole class would not participate. So I created a crossword puzzle for them to work on when it wasn’t their turn and for them to take home for practice. The rules I created to help the participation went something like this:

1. – Split classroom up into three teams (could be as many as you want)
2. – Have each student write their name on a piece of paper and put into a jar (should be three, one for each team)
3. – Start with Team 1, pick a name (keep the name out of the jar until everyone on the team has gone) and then let them pick the topic and question
4. – Give them 60 seconds to answer the question (they were allowed to use notes and they could discuss with their teammates, but the person whose name was called has to be the answerer)
5. – If they answer it correctly they get the points and move on to the next team and start back at Step 3. If they answer incorrectly they get zero points and you pick a name from the next team’s jar. If the second team answers correctly they get the points and Team 3 would start everything off again.

Obviously there are many ways to carry out this type of review, but I found the Astronomy class responded very well. The only problem I did come across is two of the teams were very close in points, while the third was way behind. That third team lost interest and stopped trying. Some how I would try to find a way that would keep all the teams focused.

For the Chemistry class, they were doing a lab that investigated reaction time and different factors that may influence it. The lab required at least two people and no more than four people. One person held a meter stick while the second person’s hand is at 0.0. The meter stick would be dropped and caught. The students would then write down the number at which it was caught. The number represents the reaction time; the longer it takes to catch, the longer the reaction time. Along with the lab was a lab work sheet that helped them utilize the scientific method. Before they started they had to come up with a treatment, formulate a hypothesis, and write down the experimental design. After that they would go through the experiment, write down their results, graph their results, and then write a conclusion and discussion.

This lab did not seem to catch anyone’s interest. A lot of students were going through the motions and even copying off other students. The concept of a controlled experiment versus a treated experiment did not seem to be grasped during this lab. Part of the students just did not care and the other part tried to understand but gave up and tried coping down what I was saying for their answer. It appears that the teacher needs to give counter examples to the lab before hand to show the importance of what they are doing; however Mr. Ambrose has discussed most of these concepts earlier in the week and right before the lab but he usually has to discipline more than teach. Maybe labs just have to be two days long.

Next week I will be teaching/lecturing in all five classes for the whole period. Mr. Ambrose and I discussed that it would be helpful at this time to explain:
1) Student Teacher vs. Teaching Fellow
2) How I got to where I am today
3) How what they are doing in class can be used in many places in the world, if they are not already using it

During this time I will try to get the class involved as much as possible (e.g. how many plan on going to college? how many know what they want to do?....) Basically, I will be giving a motivational speech.