the image is upside down but … Stage 1 Physics class three groups each looking at a different aspect of electrical resistance and then placing their findings on the board for those who hadn’t done that investigation. Good to watch them work out how to express their findings. Hard work getting them to use the variables on the axis when writing a linear equation. Have to remember this when I next teach Maths.
Lots of walking around the Hallett Cove Conservation Park. There is a great record of the Adelaide area ancient geological history from around six hundred million years ago. Unfortunately only a tiny fossiliferous layer. So I am organising an excursion for the year nines. I am planning to do the excursion without paper or pen where students get instructions from iPods – so I have to create the videos to do this. Students will do large scale group type tasks at different points on the trail. Putting lots of my imagination into those because they will have to be engaging and organised around small groups. I plan the first groups will go in week 4 next term so I have a few weeks to go.
First session a review of unpacking the Australian Curriculum. We looked at how to organise tasks although lots of unanswered questions in my head and the assessing of a standard/criteria but then doing this at different levels seemed to be a strange fit. However, I need to move on from this we’ve already created tasks and part created our own rubrics. Probably the biggest issue is that tasks need to be necessarily deeper and fewer, this is not a good fit with the quite large proportion of our clientele and their particular attendance patterns. So in actuality need more and smaller tasks….
Literacy / Strategies. Antony Yeats.
Emphasis of time with the student.
Film in the background (not sure about this in a science lab) the idea is to provide a slight distraction. Limits students own distractions.
Guide lines for working through a task.
Suggestion of music as another way … I’ve used on and off, depends on how teacher directed the learning method is at the time.
Grouping strategically – which we do around the task. Provides someone else to give attention.
Streamlining feedback. Generic feedback sheets and rubrics. Highlight comments that applied. Sending out example sheets.
Numeracy..
Where is your dot?
Tamara and Chris.
Nice activity. For creating a need. Example how do you know it is acidic?
The bulk of the day is developing our programmes along aus curriculum.
An incredibly busy time of late. The Science Faculty put on a great event for Science Week. We looked mostly at sustainable food with a few food preparation things thrown in and had all the 8s, 9s and 10s through during the one day. I didn’t take any photos because I was flat out. My own contribution involved fruit but the highlight was seeing students eat some of the roast crickets etc that Sally, Leah and Kirk had orgainsed. I tried a few too. All in all the student response was positive and the staff seemed to enjoy it too. Well done to Sally who marshaled us all and kept us on track. I know how much hard work that is as I organised events when Astronomy was the theme.
I’ve had to send the last couple of tasks back with my stage 1 Physics class as they were just not up to standard. I rescaffolded one to give them a clearer idea but most didn’t come back in. A little disheartening. An unusual bunch this year.
With my year tens we’re recycling some copper. We’re through the two dangerous parts of dissolving in nitric acid and then using conc sodium hydroxide to form copper hydroxide. I did the dangerous parts for them which they seemed quite happy about. They are coping with the level of questions so far.
My year 8s are still creating good slides. Stained onion and cheek cells over the last two lessons and we’ve been looking at the parts of the cells and their functions. Next up we’re going to create a stop motion animation about mitosis. I have used stop motion with other classes but I haven’t done mitosis so it will be interesting to see the results.
The year 9s finished off a very scaffolded report into energy in an ecosystem. We looked at energy transfer by carrying water in leaky cups – well done to Zoe for finding and modifying the investigation. Most of our classes thoroughly enjoyed the activity. We had to weed out a few who thought throwing the water was the best thing to do with it.
Last faculty meeting we all demoed various activities we do with classes. Of course we didn’t have any special time to prepare. I showed the inertia demos I do like a magic show where the students think I’ll hurt myself by pulling a 2kg weight on to my hand or fling a 10 g weight across the room (there are some others too). My favourite was Prear’s starburst rock cycle. A must do with my year 8s.
I’m planning a big set of year 9 excursions to Hallett Cove Conservation Park – great geology there. My plan is that they won’t carry paper but will do a variety of tasks at stations including video making with iPads, large scale drawing, arguing with the teacher on that particular station and so on. The instructions will be on a series of videos which I’ll make and upload to the school iPods and make available to anyone with a smart phone if they want to use their own device. This weekend I’ll be doing some of my own video making at the park.