Motivation

We had an online discussion in my class the other day regarding student motivation.  What an outstanding topic!!!  In education, we spend millions of dollars and hours on the newest crazes. Here is a list of some education buzzwords, old and new:

outcomes-based education                         
common core
National standards
flipped classroom
graphic organizers
authentic assessment
formative assessment
ACT
SAT
Block scheduling
rigor and relevance
portfolios
Standards-based grading
multiple intelligences
cooperative learning
rubrics
NCLB
IPADS
accomodation
constructivism
IEP
EDP
manipulatives
etc, etc, etc

Very few of these in my experience (20 years! now) have made our job any easier.  I have been able to spend a couple of days in the last month with 14 VERY motivated learners.  They are all 11-12 grade students who are interested in research for science.  Teaching them is easy.  It would not matter if you used SBG, OBE, IPADS, or if they had an EDP or IEP because they WANT to learn and love to learn. 

Today's education focuses on things like learning targets and standards.  So, I have for the first time put all of our "learning targets" on the board.  They stay there for the whole unit.  Our test is now ONLY over those learning targets.  In fact, each LT has it's own question or set of questions that are grouped together on the test.  So, this should make education so much easier, right?  All students know what we are doing each day, what we are doing it for, and what the test (sorry, summative assessment)  will be about at the end of the unit.  They should all have no problem getting an A in the class and for sure passing the class.  I have done all of this extra work to help them INCLUDING ALLOWING THEM TO REDO ANY PART OF THE TEST THEY NEED TO!  So, this should make education easier right? 

No, unfortunately, no.  All of this has not really changed grades in 9th grade biology, 11th grade anatomy or AP biology much at all.  Maybe a hard-working student who needed direction learns more because they study and redo the test but that is about it.  In our school, we had just as many 9th graders fail first semester as we did last year before all these changes.  We have had just as many students fail anatomy (an ELECTIVE!) as before.  Why?  None of all of this gobbledy-gook has changed the real problem in education (a problem that has been present since the beginning, I am sure!).  Unmotivated students.  I spend 90% of my time trying to "help" students who really dont want help but need to pass to move to 10th grade.  So, what is the answer?  Our politicians threaten us with NCLB and reduced funding if we don't get unmotivated students to pass. 

Where is the outcry from teachers for PD on motivating students?  Where is the outcry from administrators to provide PD on motivating students?  I have not yet found a university class on student motivation and ideas for doing this.  Much of our PD is on motivating TEACHERS!  We dont need motivation. We need to motivate students.   If we can find a way to motivate them, all other problems go away.

Game day and teaching

It's game day!!

Not sure what life would be like without coaching.  Coaching makes every day more interesting.  You never know how your kids are going to perform in games or practice.  Practice is fun because you can interact with students at such a different, personal level.  You get to know the whole person (and sometimes whole family!).  They also see you in a different light.  They see me not only as a biology nerd but someone who is passionate about basketball and has a life outside of the classroom.  I spend weeks in the summer with them helping them improve at a game we both love and getting to know them without the specter of playing time over their heads. 

Game day is an entirely different animal.  Players are engaged in class because they are excited by the prospect of performing tonight.  They feel like they are important and are given the task to wear the school colors and perform for something bigger than themselves. 

When I was in college, I was told that I should not coach my first few years of teaching so I could "learn how to be a teacher first."  I have asked student teachers and new teachers in my building if this is still told them and it is!  This is a huge travesty of misinformation. 
I coached 3 sports my first 3 years teaching, gave up one for about 15 and am coaching 3 sports again now.  I have learned more about how to interact with students and how to "read" their emotions and feelings on the field and court than I ever would have if I did not coach.  I have been able to get to know hundreds of people in a way I never could have if I did not coach.  I encourage all new teachers to coach something...even if you don't feel like you are qualified.  You can learn enough every day to "stay ahead" just like you do when faced with a new teaching hour you have never done.  You will get far more out of being a coach of middle or high schoolers than you ever realize.  The relationships you build last a lifetime.

It's game day!

BLENDING SEMESTER 2

So my AP class is in the second semester of the great blended experiment.  A couple of seniors are behind because they decided to take the weekend off.  What they are finding is that with a few hours of work they can kind of catch up but they miss any discussions we have because they dont understand the questions.  I am hoping that they see the error of their ways and fix it soon (although the fact they are seniors may have something to do with it.)

One other interesting thing is that I find that they are much more social during face to face class than they used to be.  I think they like coming to class and seeing the others.  They also have developed relationships in the online world that have made it to the real world.  I am not sure this would have happened if I didn't have them online so much.  I think that being in class everyday limits the voice of certain students who are very much willing to voice their opinion and ask questions online.  This has made them feel free and now they will speak more in class and kibitz with other students that they feel they know because of the online nature.

I still worry that they are not "getting" the  material because I did not tell it to their face.  However, their summaries of the notes and their work on daily quizzes seems to show otherwise.  The proof will be in the pudding in May when they take the AP exam! 

If you read this, feel free to respond in any way!

Twitter is AWESOME!

I used to hate twitter!  I thought tweeting was for people that had nothing better to do.  Now I realize the power of short communication.  I realize that I can learn from people around the world without having to leave home.  If you have not tried twitter yet (although if you are reading this post, you are probably on it!) you need to now!  For teachers #edchat#edtech are just two of the areas where you can learn a ton in a short period of time. 
This morning I was looking for a fun way to intro my circulatory system unit.  On twitter someone posted an article which two clicks later led to this.  I now have a GREAT intro and a critical thinking piece to start off my unit.

Blending Biology

So I feel like I am a loner.  I check twitter, I check blogs, google, etc. and there is NO ONE posting regarding blended instruction.  I think we are on the cusp of a revolution, not where #flipclass is going but one where students will NOT be in school or in your class everyday but one where they will have the freedom to be elsewhere working on your class.  This year I have implemented (with the blessing of my principal) a blended learning AP class.  The reason for AP was:

1. students are intrinsically motivated in AP
2. all of the students are comfortable with computer use and have all had at least one online class
3. the time of day the class meets is conducive to attempting this.

We started on October 14 with a note to parents about what we were attempting.  They were all on board with the trial.  We meet every other day in class (with exceptions made for labs and other things).  The in class day is spent reviewing any material we need to, doing labs and other activities to enhance understanding of the material from the particular unit.  Since we started this, there has been no discernible difference in their test scores either from the first test (pre-blend) or past years.  The rubber will meet the road in May when they take their AP test. 
For me, the biggest issue has been maintaining the amount of work that they have to do.  At first, I would not give them enough to do because I was thinking in terms of meeting days and not in terms of all days.  I felt like I was overloading them when in actuality, I was underloading them.  I spent ( and still spend) all of the online day making lesson plans for the next rotation and trying to come up with new ways to help them learn online.  I am making recordings of all "lectures" that I would be giving in class and having them take notes and then summarize the notes to hand in electronically (thank you @crystalkirch for the idea!)
For the students, there have been a couple of issues:

1. time management-they tended to slack at first and not use the online day wisely
2. not using the online vehicle of forums to ask questions but rather waiting until f2f meeting when we had the quiz over the topic
3. difficulty in keeping track (using provided information) what was due. 

I had to help them by providing a monthly updated google calendar and have just recently started weekly updates which they REALLY like. This has also helped me organize my thoughts in this new way of doing things. 
All in all, I think this has been a successful foray so far.  I would appreciate any questions, comment,  thoughts you have on the idea of blending instruction.