Before You Assign Another Lab Report...

As a science teacher, I regularly assign lab reports as a way to incorporate writing skills and science process skills into assessments. However, I often assigned lab reports as traditional reports. While this format definitely has its place, allowing students to submit lab reports in more creative formats may increase engagement and keep students focused on the goals: increased content knowledge and process skills.

Examples of innovative lab reports include:

Booklet
Booklets are simple and low-tech, but allow students to draw and use color.

Foldable
Booklets and foldables are especially helpful if most assignments are submitted online.


Google Presentation
Students can make Google Presentations instead of traditional PowerPoints.


Prezi
While PowerPoints and Google Presentations present content in a linear format, Prezis integrate several media types, but allow the reader to choose their path through the information.


Screencast
A screencast incorporates audio into an online presentation so students may explain the steps of the lab report.


Google Site
Students can create a website dedicated to their experiment or research project.

Hopefully, at least one of the ideas will work in your classroom!

Tweet of the Day!

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"Apps for Professional Development"

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Standards-Based Grading and the Flipped Classroom

This week I am attempting to incorporate aspects of Standards-Based Grading into my Biology class.  Here are some of the details:

1. I am introducing a standards-based rubric. 
2. I am providing the students with a learning plan of activities for them to complete throughout the week.  Activities include performing inquiry projects, finishing vocabulary activities, watching relevant videos, and completing online activities.  Students will have to demonstrate mastery by writing open-ended responses to questions about the content as well as take quizzes and a unit test.
3. Students will have the opportunity to retake an assignment to demonstrate increased levels of mastery.
4. I will also create an online standards-based gradebook on Google Docs.

I believe standards-based grading is consistent with the flipped classroom movement because:

1. Allowing students to watch videos outside of class gives them more time to develop and demonstrate mastery in class
2. The additional activity time gained by flipping a classroom should provide additional time for teachers to help students attain mastery.
3. Flipped classrooms should be classrooms with evidence of student work linked to content and process standards.

I will write about how this process worked in this unit during future posts!

Screencasting!

In my attempt to create my own flipped classroom, I have begun making screencasts to deliver content to my students. After reviewing several screencasting websites, I settled on http://www.screenr.com.  So far, I made videos about base pairing rules, types of chemical reactions, and types of mutations.

Listening to myself talk and getting used to the microphone have been very helpful for me as an educator.  Listening to my screencasts helped me get a sense of what my students hear when I speak.  As a result, I want to demonstrate even more enthusiasm and use more voice inflections when I speak.  Whether listening to me in class or online, I want to make sure students are engaged in the learning process.

There are several other screencasting sites.  Pick one you like best. Other screencasting sites include:

• http://www.screencast-o-matic.com
• http://www.screencast.com
• Jing
• Camtasia

There are also screencasting apps for the iPad.  With these apps, write on the screen using a stylus or your finger.  This might be helpful when showing students how to perform calculations.  However, to my knowledge, iPad screencasting apps do not allow users to access content outside the app (websites, documents, etc.).  iPad screencasting apps include:

• Explain Everything
• ShowMe
• ScreenChomp
• http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/replaynote/id419786855?mt=8

Block Scheduling

This year is my first year to teach in a block schedule. Overall, I find that block scheduling works very well in science. With the longer class period (1 hour and 20 minutes), my students can complete multiple activities in one class period. Also, students are more likely to complete an experiment within one class period and have time remaining to process what they have learned from the experiment. However, instead of teaching a group of students each day, I teach a group of students every two days. Ultimately, I am very excited about the opportunity to teach in a block schedule this year.

Flipped Classroom

This year I learned about flipped classrooms and I made an effort to try to flip my classroom as well. I began recording videos of myself explaining content for students to watch on my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/edwardslearninglab .

 However, while I enjoy making videos, I know that there are many great videos already on YouTube. I began creating playlists with these videos for students. However, some students did not have Internet access and others were not able to watch the videos. To encourage more students to watch the videos, I created online assignments with embedded videos. The students have to answer questions about the content in the video. To accommodate students with limited Internet access, I give students a week to complete the assignment. While this is not a true flipped classroom, I have found this works well for my students. I try to make watching the videos an active process by assigning a few questions with the videos, but use class time for practice and hands-on activities. I realize that "the flip" is a long-term process and I am giving myself permission to learn and grow.