First Day of School Legos!

 

The first day of school is important on so many levels. Your first chance to establish relationships. Your first chance to foster a class culture. Your first chance to set the tone.

Do you want the first impression of your class to be lock-down procedures, syllabus reading, and rule recitation?

Heck no!

We want our students, after the first day, to want to come back the next day. We want them to talk about what they did with their friends and family. Not just that, we want a chance to get to know our students. Personally, I want to try and have a conversation with each student by the end of the week. If I can do it on the first day; even better!

The lesson I use the first day is an adaption of one described by Dave Burgess in Teach Like a Pirate. Check a description here. 

There really is nothing like kids walking into the room on the first day and seeing Play-Doh or Legos on the desks. Below is the Google Slide I use for the activity. 

I have students write a reflection about what they made in their science journal (see second slide). This enables those students who might be reluctant to share a chance to collect their thoughts. I can also read the reflection if I can't quite figure out what their build represents.

When doing this activity I give plenty of time during the last part of class to have students share stories about their summer, family, and really anything. Just get the conversations going and establish a rapport. You will quickly learn which students share and what interests are. It is so important at this point to be supportive and affirmative. I use the improv "yes and" strategy. Don't shoot down student passions and ideas.

Student: I play video games.

Teacher (DON'T SAY): Those are a waste of time.

Teacher (DO SAY): Neat. What is your favorite to play?

Remember be honest and true to yourself. Most importantly, HAVE FUN with this activity. No work involved here other than setting up the activity and breaking it down.

Featured on: https://sites.google.com/view/teacherandstudentprojects/home

COVID Science Teaching is Frustrating

Here I sit wondering what's going on in my classroom. Thankfully, today at least, I know the teacher that is covering my class. At least for today I know the room won't be destroyed. I am home for the week since I tested positive Sunday night and had symptoms. Spend the previous week and weekend intending to be in class. The new reality of science teaching with COVID is that you always need to be flexible and have two sets of plans in mind: remote and in person.

The planning is made more complicated with the implementation of new standards. By now most science teachers in the US are at least familiar with the idea of 3D lessons based on NGSS. Storylines are an increasingly popular topic of conference sessions and workshops. As storyline is essentially a unit plan based on a phenomena or series of related phenomena. Personally, I use the 5E instructional model often meshed with ADI (Argument Driven Inquiry) to plan out my units. Done properly this requires specific timing of lessons, student engagement, and scaffolded learning. With COVID interrupting schooling I sometimes feel like throwing the whole mess out the window.

With either myself or students absent for key aspects of the Storyline that scaffolding just does not happen. Often the phenomena are "You had to be there!" moments in my classroom. A video or picture is good but just does not have the same pop. Fighting the good fight in science education is challenging in good times and beyond frustrating now. I keep telling myself (or lying to  myself) that I am doing it right and my best efforts will have to do. 

What's beyond frustrating is that as a science educator I know that doing science in person, with scientific equipment, with your peers, is the best way to learn science. Science requires discussion of ideas and proposing ideas and explanations in a dynamic way. Students need engagement with the material in a deep, meaningful way which is almost impossible remotely. 

Onward I trudge, through the muck of COVID education.