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frogfactory
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« Reply #75 on: February 18, 2010, 07:50:45 PM » |
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Not a victory as such, but I thought this was pretty cool.
Today's lab was centred around setting up an experiment on plant growth, the details of the experiment and the hypothesis to be decided by students. I had them write the introduction section of their lab report (in good draft form) before the lab so that they would actually have done some reading and research in advance.
One group of lads stumbled across some information about pH and plant growth and, despite the fact that materials for altering and measuring pH were not listed as available in the manual, thought the topic was so interesting that they actually went out and bought bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice, and 'borrowed' some litmus paper from a chemistry professor so that they could set up the experiment they really wanted to do. I thought this was completely delightful.
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At the end of the day, sometimes you just have to masturbate in the bathroom.
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anakin
Most snarkily lightsabered
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,478
Goes to 11
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« Reply #76 on: February 19, 2010, 11:01:45 AM » |
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Not a victory as such, but I thought this was pretty cool.
Today's lab was centred around setting up an experiment on plant growth, the details of the experiment and the hypothesis to be decided by students. I had them write the introduction section of their lab report (in good draft form) before the lab so that they would actually have done some reading and research in advance.
One group of lads stumbled across some information about pH and plant growth and, despite the fact that materials for altering and measuring pH were not listed as available in the manual, thought the topic was so interesting that they actually went out and bought bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice, and 'borrowed' some litmus paper from a chemistry professor so that they could set up the experiment they really wanted to do. I thought this was completely delightful.
YAY! Are these awesome dudes in your dream section?? "Here, let me stand back and get out of your way." Love it! |
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Dr. Anakin sits high and mightily in her office while she condemns students to lives of misery and drudgery, washing out their husbands' underwear in filthy water. In addition, she is a horrible teacher. She welcomes you to Introduction to Biology!
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frogfactory
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« Reply #77 on: February 19, 2010, 01:23:07 PM » |
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Of course they were. Still loving this section!
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At the end of the day, sometimes you just have to masturbate in the bathroom.
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anakin
Most snarkily lightsabered
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,478
Goes to 11
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« Reply #78 on: February 22, 2010, 01:57:52 PM » |
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I tried a new approach for a lesson on classification and it went great! My second section went off into another direction and I resisted them for a while ("Okay, let's get back on track...") but I realized they were learning what they needed to and having a great time, so I listened to the little voice in time to change gears.
At the end of the lesson - the part where I would have shown them a method - almost half the class spontaneously suggested the method.
AND...get this...I ran four minutes over and no one noticed until I did!
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Dr. Anakin sits high and mightily in her office while she condemns students to lives of misery and drudgery, washing out their husbands' underwear in filthy water. In addition, she is a horrible teacher. She welcomes you to Introduction to Biology!
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #79 on: February 22, 2010, 09:18:51 PM » |
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AND...get this...I ran four minutes over and no one noticed until I did! Boy, this part is telling, isn't it? Yay, Anakin! |
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!> |
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reesespeanutbutter
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« Reply #80 on: February 22, 2010, 09:29:17 PM » |
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Not really my victory, but definitely a small classroom victory:
All of my students have turned in their first two assignments. All of them.
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The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 23,199
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #81 on: February 24, 2010, 02:16:06 PM » |
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Similar jump for joy to Reeses's: my large second-year class, who'd never done a paper proposal before last fall, turned in their second proposal yesterday. Bless their hearts, they've all improved so much - I've never truly enjoyed marking an assignment before now. It's so gratifying!
<brushing away a tear>
They just grow up so fast!
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This place stinks like a pair of armoured trousers after the Hundred Years' War.
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yellowtractor
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« Reply #82 on: February 24, 2010, 02:45:06 PM » |
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I taught the best single class I've taught in maybe three years this morning.
I'm still in shock. I have no idea what caused this. I was lecturing on a topic I normally dislike, and somehow I got carried away.
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i think is good for every one only the think is that we will always scares about that. |
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 23,199
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #83 on: February 24, 2010, 10:20:57 PM » |
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I taught the best single class I've taught in maybe three years this morning.
I'm still in shock. I have no idea what caused this. I was lecturing on a topic I normally dislike, and somehow I got carried away.
Honestly, you can never tell. I gave an absolutely rocking lecture a month or so ago, thinking it was going to be a major snooze. |
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This place stinks like a pair of armoured trousers after the Hundred Years' War.
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rockclimber
Cliffhangin'
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« Reply #84 on: February 24, 2010, 11:57:33 PM » |
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Not a victory as such, but I thought this was pretty cool.
Today's lab was centred around setting up an experiment on plant growth, the details of the experiment and the hypothesis to be decided by students. I had them write the introduction section of their lab report (in good draft form) before the lab so that they would actually have done some reading and research in advance.
One group of lads stumbled across some information about pH and plant growth and, despite the fact that materials for altering and measuring pH were not listed as available in the manual, thought the topic was so interesting that they actually went out and bought bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice, and 'borrowed' some litmus paper from a chemistry professor so that they could set up the experiment they really wanted to do. I thought this was completely delightful.
YAY! Are these awesome dudes in your dream section?? "Here, let me stand back and get out of your way." Love it! Chime for a section of macroeconomics! Up to this point I've felt I have to unzip their heads, pour in the knowledge, and then apply cattle prods. Today was a short video on the business cycle and planned lecture/activities. At end of video, student A asks what are the possible solutions for current recession...B pipes in with the already-in-progress fiscal stimulus...C responds no, what about monetary policy...D,E,F begin a well reasoned discourse on fiscal vs. monetary...and the rest of the class catches fire with various thoughts on GDP, unemployment, public policy, etc.! As Anakin says: I stood back. got out of their way, and said nothing for 26 minutes! Amazing! |
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"the golden dance life could be"
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anakin
Most snarkily lightsabered
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,478
Goes to 11
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« Reply #85 on: February 28, 2010, 01:49:30 PM » |
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I'm reading through lab reports for an experiment that students designed, beginning to end, with very very little direction from me. Instead, I gave them a "process of science" cycle (I hate that linear representation) and an organism. As you can imagine, there was some flak from them about this: "How are we supposed to know we're Doing It Right...?" Part of this lab report was a personal reflection of their own process: what worked, what didn't, what you learned. Okay, so first of all, every single report is fairly- to very-well written. Glaring typos: none. Glaring misspellings: none. Margins: one inch. Font: 12 point. Sentences: good to great. Style: good to great. Figures: computer-generated with variables on the right axes. Appropriate scales. Sure, there are errors - they are errors of inexperience, not application. I'm so grateful for these things I could stop there and die happy. But NOOO. Then they go and write stuff like these reflections: In the end, I learned that the process of science isn’t nearly as rigid as I had thought for many years before now. Back in middle and high school, we were always told to follow the scientific procedure in a step-by-step manner, where you couldn’t skip or come back to any of the steps; you were instead to continue on to the next one until you reached an ending result even if you knew half way there that it would be wrong. It was refreshing to see a visual graphic representation of the scientific method containing no set steps; but instead a continuous flow to and from each area. When first printing this graphic out, I wasn’t quite sure how and if the way it was set up was even going to work in an experiment and make sense. But after doing the experiment and running into some problems with our hypothesis, it was nice to see that we could jump around from area to area, in whatever order that made the most sense to our specific observations, questions, and experiment. I thought when I saw that graphic you gave us that making science a cycle instead of a step-by-step process was really messy and disorganized. Boy was I wrong. We had a hypothesis that was way too general and we realized about 5 minutes into it that we had no idea what to measure, so we had to go back and change our hypothesis. You can’t do that if it’s a line. It was then that I looked at the cycle as being fun and creative, and that has never happened for me in science. Instead of doing it wrong and having to start over, we could fix our mistakes as we went along and our experiment was better. You never could have convinced me that [creature we used] could be fun because they have way too many legs for my taste, but I was truly excited to be learning. I did not think of the initial observation period where the student creates the questions that they are wondering about would be part of the process. This discovery part of the process seems to be one of the important parts of the process. The interpretation section of the process is also important. I did not realize as we started this process how important that it really is. The conversations that occur and the knowledge that the group has put together regarding the subject of pill bugs is amazing. Learning that the discovery and interpretation is the important part of the process to me and my other group mates was important to me. I want to remember this so when I'm the teacher in a classroom, I open kids up instead of shutting them down. And those are from three reports of eight total reports in the first section. I still have two sections to go but I'm not sure I can hold it together, I'm so touched. |
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Dr. Anakin sits high and mightily in her office while she condemns students to lives of misery and drudgery, washing out their husbands' underwear in filthy water. In addition, she is a horrible teacher. She welcomes you to Introduction to Biology!
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kedves
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« Reply #86 on: February 28, 2010, 01:59:35 PM » |
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Anakin, you well deserve the personal satisfaction these reports give you, but they are evidence of your teaching skills as well. Be sure to preserve copies or excerpts for your teaching portfolio.
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dr_alcott
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« Reply #87 on: February 28, 2010, 08:11:00 PM » |
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Anakin, you well deserve the personal satisfaction these reports give you, but they are evidence of your teaching skills as well. Be sure to preserve copies or excerpts for your teaching portfolio.
Chime. And for your "Happy" folder too. (Does everyone have one of those--for those days when you need to be reminded of why you entered your profession in the first place?) Truly, that's inspirational, Anakin. Thanks for sharing. |
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I am an insanely elegant, super classy poor white, for the record.
I love everyone here!
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peppergal
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« Reply #88 on: February 28, 2010, 08:24:44 PM » |
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Wow, anakin, that is awesome! And definitely keep copies of these reports for you own personal "happy file", and for your portfolio.
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #89 on: February 28, 2010, 08:29:48 PM » |
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That's so cool, Anakin.
Nice one!
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!> |
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