The Evolution of a 21st Century Educator -- post #37

Anyone that is involved in education has heard the phrases “21^st century education” and “21^st century learners” ad infinitum. I don’t know their origin but these words, and more importantly, their meanings slowly crept up on us during the last decade or so.

There are a wide variety of educational, and other, resources which attempt to define and expand on what 21^st century education is, or should be. One of the most succinct and comprehensive is Learning for the 21st Century: A Report and Mile Guide for 21st Century Skills , an American publication from the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills.              

It is outside of my purpose for writing this blog post to argue for definitions around any of the “21^st century . . . “terms. If you are unsure of what I am referring to by these terms, this publication is a good overview of what I understand them to be and I am using this as my standard reference.

This summer I started purging all the paper I have accumulated over my ongoing career as an educator. This included filling recycling boxes with dozens of obsolete Ministry, Board and School publications but much more interesting was the walk-through-time that my own personal binders provided. I have taught many courses over the years; suffice it to say that my binder portfolio included 90% of every science course that ever existed in the province of Ontario along with a smattering of courses from completely unrelated subject areas. Being the type of person I am I have always kept beautifully organized binders for each of these courses, and the more times I taught the course the bigger and more numerous the binders became.

So here is what I observed as I purged through my personal binders. At the beginning of my career I used a lot of material that I photocopied from other educators. These included worksheets, projects, assignments, and even tests. The notes for the students were long and detailed, I would write them word by word onto the blackboard and they would sometimes spend entire periods copying them down. In fact, I remember the advice of my mentor, a master-teacher, gave me during my first year teaching when I had a particularly unruly class, “Just keep them copying out notes all period and they won’t have time to cause any trouble.” Now, I am horrified to think that I actually took this advice and relished in its effectiveness!

Over time the work in my binders became more and more my own. Beautifully designed and produced worksheets, text book activities and lab assignments. All the labs were strictly “cookbook” labs with the purpose, safety, materials, procedure all precisely laid out step-by-careful-step. Observation tables and questions were purposely designed to keep the student tightly focused on the task, analysis and discussion questions flowed one from the other and the conclusion was not even always present! Oh, how magnificent these labs were! The preparation for them, although time consuming, was a very exact affair and I would often leave my classroom at night with everything methodically set up for the next day’s lab -- exactly the right number of beakers, and other required equipment laid out next to my carefully measured and prepared solutions of which I would have neither too much nor too little because I knew exactly what would happen during the upcoming lab.

Do not think, dear reader, that I was alone in my anal ways of teaching high school science. My techniques were widely admired and my resources eagerly sought after by colleagues both near and far. I was well respected for never asking the students a question whose answer could not be found on a specific page of our current text book, for integrating literacy and numeracy throughout my curriculum (before it was cool) by the use of teacher guided practice, for running carefully controlled labs whose outcome was never in doubt and which never took longer than the allotted time. Oh yes! I would proudly share my work with anyone that was interested and even gave workshops and made presentations highlighting my wonderful skills. Imagine how flattered I was when publishers took an interest in my magnificence!

But that was then and this in now. As I continued purging my beautiful binders I could see how my teaching had gradually shifted over time. Some of the change was prompted by the powers that be but most of it was in direct response to what worked and what didn’t work, a little thing we like to call “personal reflection” in the teaching field. Lessons that at one time worked like a well oiled machine had to be tweeked as the nature of the learner changed. Rather than stress myself out because the students no longer carefully read the cookbook lab prior to doing it, sketched out the equipment set up and even answered the analysis questions prior to lab day it was much easier to meet them where they were.

At the time I would have described my evolution as “choosing my battles”, after all one has a finite amount of energy, but in retrospect I see it now as being respectful of who the learners were and what worked for them. Gradually I learned to release control yet facilitate the learning occurring. As the years passed, my binders became less dictatorial and more loosey-goosey. Instead of going from day one to day ninety with rigid lesson plans for each and every day they started to reflect the unit we were working on the “big ideas” that we needed to cover on a weekly basis.

My classroom labs changed from being teacher-directed and controlled as well. Over time I started producing lab handouts with less and less detail filled in thereby allowing the students the opportunity to think about what we were doing. I did, however, keep control of what the lab purpose was; but I expected them to do more of the design, observations and analysis themselves.

Luckily for my students, as the 21^st century progressed I became familiar with the Smarter Science way of teaching science. This approach is strictly inquiry based with the students not only designing and conducting the labs themselves but also coming up with the purpose, or question. Through brainstorming the students generate a list of questions that they are wondering about. Then, they answer the ones they can through research. Due to having 21^st technology in the classroom this research component can be incredibly quick, even as short as five minutes, depending on what the questions are and what strategy the teacher employs. No more booking the library, searching through vertical files, card catalogs and encyclopedias for this generation! Instant access to quality information is the order of the day. The advent of the Internet has truly been a game changer in our quest for knowledge.

After finding the answers they can by research, the students are now left with maybe one or two outstanding questions. Following the Smarter Science framework and 21^st century educational philosophy it is time for them to design their lab investigations to answer the questions they are wondering about. This means they have already established a purpose for doing the lab.

Developing hypotheses often flow from a combination of knowledge acquired during their self directed research and ensuing lively classroom discussions. The teachable moment here is the concept that all hypotheses are acceptable, proving them right or wrong is the point of the lab investigation. Literacy is also naturally built in as the teacher demonstrates the correct method of wording a hypothesis. Since each student “owns” their hypothesis they want to learn how to state it correctly, there is nothing rote or boring about it.

In my binders, which I am now thinking about as historical archives, I actually had activities where I gave the students the crux of the hypothesis and they had to phrase it correctly and even worse than that, labs with the hypothesis given! No wonder there wasn’t any critical thinking happening in their poor little minds.

Once the students have determined for themselves why they are doing the lab (purpose) and what they think the outcome will be (hypothesis) all that  is left for them to do is the fun stuff –design, perform and analyze the lab. This is where it is essential that the teacher is an expert in their field because they are the ones ultimately responsible for the safety of their students. They must ensure that nothing the students propose could potentially cause any harm. They must also be prepared to advise student on various techniques in a just-in-time teaching manner. This means that we teach the technique when the student needs to use it, not when it is on the next page of the text book.

In my binders I had an entire lesson plan with the objective of learning to use a graduated cylinder! I used overheads to show a picture of a meniscus and distributed worksheets with diagrams of graduated cylinders for the students to read the volume level. No actual graduated cylinder was ever in play! I am so embarrassed! And this was a lesson plan I really liked and shared widely!

As I conclude this blog post the recycle truck is actually rolling up my street. Three recycle boxes full to over flowing are being heaved over the side of the truck; all my 20^th century teacher “gold” is being hauled away. It was fun while it lasted but nothing compares to the excitement of teaching the 21^st century way! I wonder what great discoveries my students will make this year, and in the years to come?

Assessment and Evaluation -- Post #24

Currently I am working as a judge in the first ever Google Science Fair. This experience has lead me to reflect more on assessment and evaluation in my own classroom practice. It has given me one more avenue to consider when determining marks for my students’ report cards. In general this year, I have been guided by both my professional judgment and the document Growing Success Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010) from the Ministry of Education. I have also had to consider how using the collaborative inquiry based Smarter Science framework has influenced the students’ approach to science.
A. Judging the Google Science Fair
Entrants to the Google Science Fair are given a very strict set of guidelines to follow when preparing their entry. The student uses the scientific method to design, research and perform a science experiment of their own choosing. They then enter all their information and findings online using a variety of Google tools. The end result is a well organized entry with tabs for the judge to click on when evaluating each component of the entry. In addition to a 2 minute video or a 20 slide presentation the tabs, or categories, are:
1. “About Me”,
2. “The Question”,
3. “Hypothesis”,
4. “Research and Works Cited”,
5. “Experiment”,
6. “Data”,
7. “Observations”,
8. “Conclusion”,
9. “Bibliography, References and Acknowledgments”.
The contest entry form clearly spells out what is expected in each of these categories in order for an entry to be judged as excellent. Furthermore, entrants are informed that the judges will score all eligible entries on the basis of their 2 minute video or 20 slide presentation, “About Me”, “The Question”, “Hypothesis”, and “Conclusion”. Only those who excel in these categories will go through to the next round of judging.
In effect what Google has done is spend a considerable amount of time determining what is expected from each contestant. The onus is on them to do the work and present it in the manner specified. The judges’ job is then very quick and easy. We are provided with a simple rubric to evaluate each of these categories. By simply clicking on the appropriate tab an experienced marker (ie. Teacher) can easily determine where the work would fall on the predetermined rubric. The appropriate numerical mark is then entered into a spreadsheet and the world of technology takes over crunching and averaging the numbers to determine who comes out at the top of the heap.
It is only those students who score highly in these five categories that make it on to the next round of judging! Thus, Google and the judges, have determined which entries are the best without even assessing the “Research and Works Cited”, Experiment”, “Data”, “Observations”, or “Bibliography, References and Acknowledgments”. Thinking as both a scientist and a teacher one can see how this makes sense – if the experiment is not set up with a suitable beginning (question and hypothesis) which leads to a logical ending (conclusion), it doesn’t really matter what happens in the middle. By spending our time making it clear to the student what criteria we are looking for and how they will be marked a teacher can cut down the time they spend marking.
By further extrapolation of this logic to the science classroom setting one can appreciate the importance of guiding the student while they are determining what they are going to test (question) and what they propose will happen (hypothesis). Over the years I have spent in the classroom I have frequently witnessed students who want to wait and make a hypothesis after their experiment is over! It is a very difficult concept for them to realize that disproving our own hypothesis is perfectly valid science and does not result in a failing grade!
B. Assessment and Evaluation using the document Growing Success Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010)
This document instructs teachers in the province of Ontario ”to focus evaluation on students’ achievements of the overall expectation” of a course (page 38). In secondary school science we call these overall expectations the “big ideas”. They are all well defined and documented for us in a variety of Ministry documents. I would like to argue that all teachers base their entire curriculum on these big ideas and therefore evaluating based on them happens naturally. It would appear, however, that I am wrong and many teachers set their own agendas, even going as far as using marks as rewards or punishments for classroom behaviour, and other factors that have nothing to do with what a student has achieved in a course.
If you recognize yourself in the description expressed in the preceding paragraph I encourage you to reflect on your motivation. Bear in mind that teachers are educational professionals. Our primary role is to help the student learn. There are other avenues available for you to express your joy or disappointment in an individual’s behaviour. One avenue is the “learning skills” section of the provincial report card, but more powerful than that is a heart-to-heart talk with the student and possibly, a phone call home.

Week Two –Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend

This week brought a lot of unexpected occurrences to the grade nine applied science class that I teach including an unprecedented number of new students which has put the total at 27 and over the tipping point, an ugly bullying incident, an allergic reaction (to boys’ cologne) and an exciting field trip up to the school’s roof to observe the newly observed solar panels (more on this next week).
1. Initiate and Plan
On Tuesday, I decided to engage the students by pulling out my bag of magic beads, aka beads that react to ultra violet light, and we investigated some of the aspects of scientific inquiry – starting with predicting. Each student was given what looked like an identical white plastic bead and as a large group we addressed the question; “Predict what will happen to these beads when we go outside?” Suggestions ranged from:
“Nothing”
“They will melt.”
“They will disappear.”
“They will start to hop.”
“The colour will change.”
After this brainstorming session we went outside and stood with the beads on our outstretched palms for a couple of minutes of sun exposure. Of course, we could have done this in front of the classroom windows but this is an energetic class that benefits from controlled movement throughout the 75 minute period. There was a certain amount of excitement amongst the students as the colour change in their beads was almost instantaneous but naturally some were too cool to react much.
Here is a picture of what the bag of beads look like when exposed to UV light.



Upon returning to the classroom it was quickly observed that despite the fact that a variety of colours had occurred while we were outside everyone’s bead had now returned to its original white colour.
We then moved into hypothesizing. After a brief discussion of what a hypothesis was the students were each given a post it note and asked to jot down their hypothesis of why the colour change occurred. Random students were called upon to share their answers once the post it notes had been jotted upon. As the students shared their ideas I recorded the key word from their sentence on the board, ie. temperature, wind, sun, etc.
Next the students all brought their post it notes up to the board and stuck them under the appropriate category heading.

This gave us a quick visual of the breakdown of each hypothesis into the categories that had been determined by the students. From there it was very easy to count up the number of individuals who shared the same hypothesis. (This had also allowed for another opportunity for some controlled movement.)
2. Perform and Record
Next we moved into exploring which of these hypotheses were correct by doing some simple experimentation. Wind was quickly ruled out by the process of blowing onto the beads. Temperature was ruled out by holding the beads tightly in our fists while they warmed up. Sunlight was determined to be the correct hypothesis when one of the disengaged girls at the back of the room held her bead up to the window to use it as a mini telescope. Much to her surprise the colour changed and as soon as she exclaimed on this fact everyone else rushed to windows to confirm her report! (Resulting in a disengaged girl daydreaming at the back of the classroom became our science super star!)
3. Analyze and Interpret
Now that the mystery had been solved we reviewed how we had predicted, observed, hypothesized and experimented. Discussion of the importance of making a testable hypothesis, even if it ultimately proved to be wrong, ensued. Because we had so many lovely hypotheses categorized so neatly on the board we turned our attention into making a bar graph of them as a method of conveying the information without having to do a lot of writing.
This was my opportunity to lead them through the process of drawing a bar graph as a way of explaining the scientists’ ideas.



4. Communicate
As a final extension to our exciting day we discussed the use of having beads that changed colour in UV light. One of the girls quickly came up with the idea of making jewellery to sell at tanning salons’ that would be “so funky” to wear while you were in the tanning bed. Other girls quickly jumped on the designer bandwagon and shouts of: “bracelets, necklaces, belly button rings” were ringing out when the bell rang and I sent them on their way!


Coming next week: Our field trip to the school roof and the resulting photo-essays on solar power.