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Kristi Moody

UNITED STATES


Joined August 28th 2009

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Inquiry Lab & School Politics....

September 2nd 2009 00:05
So today I taught the inquiry lab, and then afterward went to a department meeting (for science). Both were excellent experiences for me as a student teacher.

First, the lab. I was really nervous because of course with inquiry labs they can be hard to implement, since it depends on the student's reaction and involvement. But once I got the kids going they really got into it. (I described this lab in the post right before this one if you want to know what I'm talking about.) They did well with the discussion, figuring out how to test, and how to do it. They were very concerned with trying to make it as scientific as possible, and kept bringing concerns of conflicting the variables up. I was glad to see them thinking very thoroughly about it. Toward the end of the lab, one girl was supposed to leave early and said that she was having fun and didn't want to go. This made my heart feel happy.

The meeting afterward was very interesting to sit in on. I got to see some of the politics that go on, and hear some discussion about things such as IPI, RTI, and the school report card, keeping up standards, etc. I've been a little frustrated lately with all the hoops I have to jump through with student teaching, and I realized today that those hoops don't end - they just change. Oh well, I've gotten rather good at hoop-jumping lately...

After the meeting the teachers discussed things like the dress code, students who were busted for drinking and their punishments, and then a new teacher and I asked some questions about tornado, fire, and earthquake policies, as well as about the discipline policy at the school. These were important questions and discussions to have especially for me, being home-schooled, but just good in general. I have a fairly resilient personality when I know how to deal with things- that is why I wanted to be prepared for the worst behavior because then at least I know how to respond.

Even after this, my teacher and I discussed the meeting, the policies, and she told me about being part of the union. She believes that teachers no longer need the union, but advised me to join it because I would most likely stand out if I didn't. I wonder if it is better to go ahead and stand out and not be attached to something you aren't sure of, or to go ahead and join and just get out when you've established yourself?

The most exciting thing was after all of this, my teacher gave me some great feedback on my teaching, which made me feel good. So yay, I am totally feeling like I can do this... finally. I had my doubts. But now I am thinking, I really could enjoy this profession.
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Monday and inquiry

August 31st 2009 23:16
The days are starting to pass faster, that is for sure. Before I know it, the bell is ringing that school is out. I am sure it will only go faster as I begin to take on more teaching and more classes.

Saturday night my roommate and I were watching The Prestige, and I looked at her and said, "Hey guess what? No homework!" What a nice feeling - to come home from work and not have anything else to do. I know once I begin to teach more there will be things to do when I get home, but for now it is nice.

Today in Chem 1 and Honors Chem we did a chromatography lab. I've did this lab last semester, and if you are science education you most likely have heard of it- it is using paper chromatography to separate ink and discover what pigments are in it.

At the high school last semester, I saw it done where the basic concept of chromatography was told to the students, and then they were provided with the materials and were told to test six different markers in two different solutions. This technique was somewhat in between inquiry and "cookbook" or a directions lab. In Chem 1, they were shown how and given the procedure, a typical follow-the-directions lab, but they had to identify an unknown. Then, my teacher tried something new in Honors Chem, this lab in inquiry form. The students were required to come up with the procedure to test the markers. She gave them a sheet outlining a fake company that wants them to test and design the lab with markers and paper chromatography.

The students actually did quite well with it. They came up with seven or eight things to test, and upon implementing it, did fairly well testing it. They also seemed very engaged, and were trying to do their best. Tomorrow I will be teaching it, and am currently spending a little time researching considering how to present it to my class. I will most likely do the same exact thing, but maybe start the discussion differently. It has been interesting to see this lab three different ways, and to see the benefits and the shortfalls of each.

One benefit of the inquiry lab is that I thought the students enjoyed the freedom a bit more. In Chem I during this lab, a student asked me if he had to do a certain difficult question and I told him yes. He replied with "Man it's like a PRISON here!" I didn't show it, but this comment hurt my heart a little, because I know how that feels. Since when did learning become unwanted and despised? When did school begin to feel like prison, and that you were just biding your time? How can we as teachers make school feel less like prison?
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Funny students and teachers

August 31st 2009 02:44
My students are pretty awesome. I have a section of AP Chem, two sections of Chem 1, and two sections of honors chem. I taught my first full class on Friday, and we discussed homework of physical and chemical changes. Then we discussed lab, and I gave them some feedback on how they were doing with safety and cleanup in the lab. Then I introduced the physical and chemical change lab, in which they move from station to station. We talked about how to write observations, and I told them to be concise and to use scientific language, such as dissolved and precipitate. I made a joke about how this isn't English, and so we use scientific words to be concise and to the point, instead of writing a poem about their beaker.
So then, when I got their sheets back from them, one of the comments was that the burning magnesium "glowed with the intensity of a thousand suns." Smart aleck... but it did make me laugh. Another student wrote "burned with an array of beautiful colors."

It is interesting at my school right now because there is a study hall at the end of the day for 30 minutes, and it is only for freshmen and sophomores. Also - the honor sophomores become exempt afterward. To a homeschooler, this is about the most pointless thing ever. Most students are fried by the end of the day, and so who really wants to work on homework? The teachers are basically babysitting. And then there are a bunch of issues with subbing, and teachers wanting to leave early, and switching with other teachers. Why not just let the students all leave? It has been interesting to observe, anyway. My teacher doesn't have a class for that, so we usually use it for prep, which is quite nice.

Anyway tomorrow is Monday, here we go again. I will teach Tuesday and Thursday, and may take yet another class by the end of the week, the second section of Honors Chem. My feet are finally getting used to heels.
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Block Scheduling - Pros and Cons

August 30th 2009 00:24
Okay, the way I see it so far, I rather like block scheduling. I did a little mini-student teaching last spring and remember being very frustrated with the fact that there is hardly any time to do anything. By the time the students get in their seats and class gets started, you have really only forty-five minutes to get everything done. If as a teacher you are having a bad day and don't get things started, then the kids run out of time, they are late to their next class, and you have to write a bunch of passes. Block scheduling eliminates this rush, both on the student's part and the teacher's part.

Block Scheduling also limits the amount of information/homework a student has in a day. No longer does a student have six or seven different subjects to attend to every day, but rather three or four. As a previously home-schooled kid, I really feel sorry for the student who has to switch gears that often in their brain every day. I had a hard enough time in college going from a theology class to a science class. I love to learn, and so I would be distracted in lab because I was thinking over the implications of a previous theology concept. I can imagine that other students could have this same problem.
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Block Scheduling

August 28th 2009 03:39
I have decided that Block Scheduling lends itself to student teaching. Tomorrow I will take over one section of Honors Chem 1, and I won't have to teach again until Tuesday. My co-op teacher will teach the other section, and I will get to watch. This way, I get to kind of Monkey-see, Monkey-do, if you will. Then I can take over the next section with ease once I get the hang of it.

I've only ever seen the traditional 50-minute classes, and so it has been interesting to see block scheduling. As far as science, it is extremely profitable. It is nice to be able to teach a concept, do a lab, and then have time to discuss it before the bell rings. 50 minute classes simply aren't long enough to get labs done, and even if you explain it the day before, it seems that the students have already forgotten it. So the 85 minute classes work very nicely for science, in my opinion


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Student Teaching

August 28th 2009 03:23
Welcome. This is a blog where I intend to write and reflect about my student teaching experiences. I am a Chemistry Education major, and am fulfilling my student teaching at a mid-sized high school in the Midwest. I was actually homeschooled, and so this is quite the experience for me, as it is the most time I've spent consecutively in a high school. So read along with me as I learn to teach Chemistry, and please post your own strategies, funny stories, tips, encouragements, and experiences as student teachers, new teachers, and experienced and seasoned teachers.
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Recent Comments

Comment by kmoody
on New Moon Review

November 20th 2009 01:23


Chemisme
Good to know. Maybe I will see it. Someday.

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Comment by Chemisme
on Learn What Most Interests You

August 31st 2009 03:04


Chemisme
Yes, I agree with you. People will learn so much more when they care, and will research what they want to know! It is of course important to provide relevance to a student. And it seems our society has become so shallow that we decide that certain subjects are not worth learning- and that some are. For instance, grammar rules and spelling are not important, but the lyrics to the new Miley Cyrus song or the latest Hollywood scandal is most definitely worth knowing...

I often feel frustrated because I feel like as students progress education gets more and more boring, and by the time they've hit high school, they just don't care any more - just serve their time in their own personal prison.

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