9_16_09

Did the Benedict's solution lab, without too many modifications from our original plan--I think it was complicated enough for the students at this point, when they had only had their intro to carbohydrates the day before, and many of them simply do not have the ability or more likely the motivation to follow directions on their own, they just sit there waiting for you to come by and explain it to them step by step...if this is one thing I can get them to do, to explore the lessons on their own without fear of failure or "writing down the wrong thing," for them to get the confidence and motivation, that would be a huge accomplishment. Perhaps no one has expected them to work independently before. Shelley came by, and talked about even though one has to battle apathy, sometimes the right course of action is to at least set higher (but attainable) standards, and perhaps you can reach some of them, the effects are often intangible and not seen until months or years later.

9_9_09

We did the Bird Biodiversity lesson designed by a Socrates fellow last year. The activity was a little lackluster, I don't think the kids were too into it. On the other hand, it is extremely hard to do a hands-on, exciting, activity on biodiversity in a classroom in 50 minutes--it's a hard topic to teach.

I don't agree with the school's philosophy that, regardless of starting point, the teacher should be able to bring everyone to the same level...that's just ridiculous and unrealistic. And so we find ourselves in this situation--do we try to cover the standard, or do we spend a lesson trying to teach them how to take an average, or graph some data?

Next week I'm looking forward to an inquiry based biochemical macromolecules activity--I think the kids are more into "experiments".

9_2_09

Today went pretty well, I think--did a predator/prey lab, went around to the lab stations, interacted with the students, explained the concepts/mathematical parts of the worksheet to them...when they got it, I could see the gleam of satisfaction in their faces! But a note of warning: found that sometimes, Spanish-speaking-only students will nod and give the impression they understand even when they don't! I need to go back a few minutes later and make sure they really get it, that they're not just trying to please or to nod because they don't want to admit that they don't get it...
Learning more of the names, which is helping.
Given my "low" from last week, I decided to (and Victor generously agreed to accomodate me) give a short anonymous survey to the students, asking what their life goals were, what their favorite high school subject was and why, and issues they thought were really important. Turns out that >90% want to go to college (not sure if community or 4 yr) afterwards because they "want to be somebody" and "want to get a good job." Also, those that really liked biology did so because they got to do experiments. I think this allows us to know the students better (as you suggested in your comment) and engage them more, hopefully. Also puts good pressure on us to come up with good experiments!!
Victor and I are starting to plan what we want to do during week 5. Some of the things require lab kits, which the companies I have spoken to so far don't want to give for free or discounts, even though it's going towards high school education. Victor has a small grant, but I don't want to use all of it in one fell swoop (Kit for immunostaining: $300, Primary antibody: $200). Maybe it's worth it, since it will last us a while...