Hey Guys,
I am sorry I haven't told you anything new for a while. We are very busy here wrapping up senior year. However, I have a lot of great news to share about our research!
Last time we spoke, I was telling you all about how Mrs. Redmond was letting me help with her seventh grade logic class. It was so much fun to teach the kids for a whole fifty minutes. It was definitely a big commitment though, teaching takes a lot of planning and preparation. The good news is that i was able to collect a lot of data because I ended up teaching every seventh grader. Working with Mrs. Redmond was one of the last times that I collected data. Now I am working with Mr. Bayer and all our previous data.
Our final presentations are approaching fast. Since we only have about a week left in our projects, I have created a power-point to display all of my data points. Mr. Bayer and I are discussing whether or not to give his students a whole new set of quizzes in order to determine the long term effect of the different lessons. We considered giving the kids the same quizzes that they took before, scrambled of course, but we are not certain. The AP Euro kids already took the final exam, and the AP World kids take their test this Thursday. I feel like if we were to give them quizzes now, the data would not be accurate because the kids have either mentally signed out of history class, or they are so focused on the AP test that they won't take the quizzes with the same mindset as they would on a normal day. But we are still discussing it.
This will be a shorter post, because we are all wrapping up our projects. My presentation is for the most part done, but I still have to do some polishing and fine tuning. Tomorrow I will present my draft power-point to the administrators here in order to be approved for the final presentation in front of the community. I will try and see if I can somehow post my presentation onto this blog in case any of you wanted to see it.
I'll keep you all updated on how my data interpretation goes. Till next time!
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
MORE DATA!
Hey Everyone,
Things are very busy in "planet history" as Mr. Bayer likes to call his classroom. We are still collecting data from his AP students. Due to the fact that the AP tests are approaching soon, we have concluded the student centered portion of our collection. Now we are finishing up the teacher centered. My next task is to organize and bring together my presentation for the SRP review board. This week I need to finish my presentation as if it were the final demonstration. Once we have our drafts complete, we will run through a practice presentation to ensure that we will be ready for the big leagues. Word on the street is that we might have some big BASIS executives come to watch our presentations in May. Aside from that, I have also been working with other teachers here at school.
As I discussed in my last post, I have been receiving data from Mrs. Stogsdill. I am really glad I have the chance to see some other demographic research on a group other than the four AP classes that Mr. Bayer has. I am also glad that it is a history class so the dynamic of the learning/teaching is similar. Another awesome opportunity I have is my chance to work with Mrs. Redmond. She teaches the seventh graders rhetoric and logic. Currently, they are learning about mock trial. So you could say that it was a perfect storm because I have done mock trial for years, and I am working on education for my SRP. So Mrs. Redmond asked if I would like to teach the classes myself! So far, I have taught four classes of seventh graders. It is such an awesome experience. I'm very thankful that I have teachers like Mrs. Redmond, Stogsdill, and Bayer to help me with all my research. Granted, mock trial is much different from history; however, I believe that I can still get a lot of good information about how kids learn. Due to the fact that I only have about a week with the logic kids, I have decided to only teach instructor centered lessons. And I have a lot of new data points. Mrs. Redmond has four classes of seventh graders(the entire grade here) and there are at least 15 kids in each class.
So now that we are starting to conclude the data collection period of my project, I have begun the process of interpreting and organizing all the data. Hopefully, I have obtained enough to conclude something about my research. I will let you all know how my practice presentations go. Till next time!
Things are very busy in "planet history" as Mr. Bayer likes to call his classroom. We are still collecting data from his AP students. Due to the fact that the AP tests are approaching soon, we have concluded the student centered portion of our collection. Now we are finishing up the teacher centered. My next task is to organize and bring together my presentation for the SRP review board. This week I need to finish my presentation as if it were the final demonstration. Once we have our drafts complete, we will run through a practice presentation to ensure that we will be ready for the big leagues. Word on the street is that we might have some big BASIS executives come to watch our presentations in May. Aside from that, I have also been working with other teachers here at school.
As I discussed in my last post, I have been receiving data from Mrs. Stogsdill. I am really glad I have the chance to see some other demographic research on a group other than the four AP classes that Mr. Bayer has. I am also glad that it is a history class so the dynamic of the learning/teaching is similar. Another awesome opportunity I have is my chance to work with Mrs. Redmond. She teaches the seventh graders rhetoric and logic. Currently, they are learning about mock trial. So you could say that it was a perfect storm because I have done mock trial for years, and I am working on education for my SRP. So Mrs. Redmond asked if I would like to teach the classes myself! So far, I have taught four classes of seventh graders. It is such an awesome experience. I'm very thankful that I have teachers like Mrs. Redmond, Stogsdill, and Bayer to help me with all my research. Granted, mock trial is much different from history; however, I believe that I can still get a lot of good information about how kids learn. Due to the fact that I only have about a week with the logic kids, I have decided to only teach instructor centered lessons. And I have a lot of new data points. Mrs. Redmond has four classes of seventh graders(the entire grade here) and there are at least 15 kids in each class.
So now that we are starting to conclude the data collection period of my project, I have begun the process of interpreting and organizing all the data. Hopefully, I have obtained enough to conclude something about my research. I will let you all know how my practice presentations go. Till next time!
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Observations
Hey Everyone,
This is my first post for a while. We have returned from Spring Break and have started up with a little data collection once again. However, it looks like Mr. Bayer and I will need to be slowing down the quizzes and worksheets until we are sure that we will be able to get the classes through the textbooks before the AP exams. So for the next few weeks I plan to do some more observations of other teachers in order to learn more about teaching and how lecture/hands on activities factor into real-world teaching.
Just the other day, I had the great opportunity to observe one of the history teachers, Mrs. Stogsdill. She teaches sixth grade world history here at BASIS. I sat in and watched her class go through a worksheet. It was very interesting to see the dynamic of a sixth grade class versus what i am used to seeing in eighth or tenth graders. I have concluded that the sixth graders work on their own much better than eighth graders.
In this post, I'll go over a lot of what I have learned about a more hands on approach to teaching history. The first thing I noticed in observing Mrs. Stogsdill's class is that the teacher is still very important to the lesson. My adviser Stefano had explained that students use the teacher as a guide to keep them on track. Mrs. Stogsdill was constantly walking around, explaining what a question was asking, or directing the students to the correct page in the book. I think that as the kids get younger, the teacher needs to be more involved in nudging them towards the right answer. Like I said, I saw little discipline issues, rather, I saw that many students just had trouble understanding the reading.
Another thing I noticed in the lesson is the clear explanation of the lesson goals and consequences for not reaching those goals. Everyone that I have spoken to regarding hands on lessons has told me that it is essential to make it clear to the students what their job is, what the teacher expects from them, and how to do said task. Considering that the students have a lot of leeway in terms of accountability with an activity lesson, it is very important for the teacher to clearly state what needs to be accomplished by the end.
Something interesting that both Stefano and Mrs. Stogsdill did was that they reviewed the answers to the worksheet or the activity. Unfortunately, Mr. Bayer's classes are strapped for time and we were unable to incorporate an answer portion aside from returning the activity with the correct answers. This prevented the kids from asking any understanding questions. It appears that going over the answers with the teacher is very helpful in terms of learning the lesson.
While I observed Mrs. Stogsdill's class, I asked around to see what the student opinion on worksheets was. I definitely received a mixed range of answers. Some found the activities helpful, while others said it didn't really help. Some said that the worksheets help if you utilize them for later studying. Granted we can't accept every opinion a sixth grader has, I do agree that the worksheets cannot be seen as a busy chore to do and be done with, they need to be used more than once in order to be helpful.
An important skill that came out of a hands on lesson that I did not expect was the basic student skills gained. Outside of the scope of history or language, these activities help the kids on a personal level. Mrs. Stogsdill told me that in the worksheets, kids work in small groups. She said that the groups teach kids how to help each other or how to learn from each other. The more advanced kids develop skills to help those who have difficulty reading the book. And those with difficulties learn how to work with a classmate in order to find the answer. The students I work with don't experience this because Mr. Bayer and I don't allow them to work in groups. I think that group work on an activity is more helpful for younger kids.
It was very interesting to have the chance to see how another teacher implements the student centered lesson. I am glad Mrs. Stogsdill gave me the opportunity. Additionally, she was nice enough to offer to contribute data to my project. I already have a stack of pre-quizzes to grade, and soon I will have some post quizzes as well. Additionally, I am speaking with another teacher here at school about working with her class. I am so lucky to have so many resources here at school that I can use for my research. And everyone here is very helpful. I plan on making a trip or two over to Flagstaff High School in order to do some observations there. I will let you guys know what I learn. Till next time!
This is my first post for a while. We have returned from Spring Break and have started up with a little data collection once again. However, it looks like Mr. Bayer and I will need to be slowing down the quizzes and worksheets until we are sure that we will be able to get the classes through the textbooks before the AP exams. So for the next few weeks I plan to do some more observations of other teachers in order to learn more about teaching and how lecture/hands on activities factor into real-world teaching.
Just the other day, I had the great opportunity to observe one of the history teachers, Mrs. Stogsdill. She teaches sixth grade world history here at BASIS. I sat in and watched her class go through a worksheet. It was very interesting to see the dynamic of a sixth grade class versus what i am used to seeing in eighth or tenth graders. I have concluded that the sixth graders work on their own much better than eighth graders.
In this post, I'll go over a lot of what I have learned about a more hands on approach to teaching history. The first thing I noticed in observing Mrs. Stogsdill's class is that the teacher is still very important to the lesson. My adviser Stefano had explained that students use the teacher as a guide to keep them on track. Mrs. Stogsdill was constantly walking around, explaining what a question was asking, or directing the students to the correct page in the book. I think that as the kids get younger, the teacher needs to be more involved in nudging them towards the right answer. Like I said, I saw little discipline issues, rather, I saw that many students just had trouble understanding the reading.
Another thing I noticed in the lesson is the clear explanation of the lesson goals and consequences for not reaching those goals. Everyone that I have spoken to regarding hands on lessons has told me that it is essential to make it clear to the students what their job is, what the teacher expects from them, and how to do said task. Considering that the students have a lot of leeway in terms of accountability with an activity lesson, it is very important for the teacher to clearly state what needs to be accomplished by the end.
Something interesting that both Stefano and Mrs. Stogsdill did was that they reviewed the answers to the worksheet or the activity. Unfortunately, Mr. Bayer's classes are strapped for time and we were unable to incorporate an answer portion aside from returning the activity with the correct answers. This prevented the kids from asking any understanding questions. It appears that going over the answers with the teacher is very helpful in terms of learning the lesson.
While I observed Mrs. Stogsdill's class, I asked around to see what the student opinion on worksheets was. I definitely received a mixed range of answers. Some found the activities helpful, while others said it didn't really help. Some said that the worksheets help if you utilize them for later studying. Granted we can't accept every opinion a sixth grader has, I do agree that the worksheets cannot be seen as a busy chore to do and be done with, they need to be used more than once in order to be helpful.
An important skill that came out of a hands on lesson that I did not expect was the basic student skills gained. Outside of the scope of history or language, these activities help the kids on a personal level. Mrs. Stogsdill told me that in the worksheets, kids work in small groups. She said that the groups teach kids how to help each other or how to learn from each other. The more advanced kids develop skills to help those who have difficulty reading the book. And those with difficulties learn how to work with a classmate in order to find the answer. The students I work with don't experience this because Mr. Bayer and I don't allow them to work in groups. I think that group work on an activity is more helpful for younger kids.
It was very interesting to have the chance to see how another teacher implements the student centered lesson. I am glad Mrs. Stogsdill gave me the opportunity. Additionally, she was nice enough to offer to contribute data to my project. I already have a stack of pre-quizzes to grade, and soon I will have some post quizzes as well. Additionally, I am speaking with another teacher here at school about working with her class. I am so lucky to have so many resources here at school that I can use for my research. And everyone here is very helpful. I plan on making a trip or two over to Flagstaff High School in order to do some observations there. I will let you guys know what I learn. Till next time!
Friday, March 13, 2015
Update before vacation
Hey Everyone,
Haven't posted for about a week. In that time, we have slowed down our data collection. Due to the fact that Mr. Bayer is responsible for four classes of AP students, we have to make sure that our data collection doesn't interfere with their usual instruction. So we are doing some ordinary teaching work for the time being. But that has not put my project on hold. This is the part where I get the chance to observe first hand what being is a teacher is about, without forcing it into a scientific model. And don't worry, we already have plans to start up with some lessons and quizzes a week from this Monday when we all return from Spring Break.
Being a teacher is a lot of hard work. Maybe I should say that being a good teacher is a lot of work. In my time with Mr. Bayer, I have seen the time, energy, and emotional commitment it takes to be a really great instructor. While some of my jobs do include running down to Subway to pick up food for myself and Mr. Bayer, the real work still happens on his end. Being a teacher is a full time commitment that requires work around the clock. My own experience with grading has shown me that teachers often have to use their evenings at home to grade work, especially things like essays which take huge amounts of time.
In teaching, there is not only a work component, there is also an emotional component. I can see the effort that Mr. Bayer puts forth in order to give the students the best possible education/preparation for the AP exam this May. When a student doesn't understand the process, Bayer takes time to explain it to them until they understand. I have come to see that this is the sign of a good educator, someone who takes a personal interest in the student's success. Even when the students don't seem to care, Mr. Bayer keeps giving his best effort to show them what they need. Even when they don't deserve to be taught, which I have seen often, he still does it.
The data collection in this project is fascinating, but the thing I love about my SRP is experiencing being a teacher. What makes it even better is that I have one of the best ones around to show me what a truly devoted teacher does.
I will prepare some materials over break for research, but not much will be going on. So till next time!
Haven't posted for about a week. In that time, we have slowed down our data collection. Due to the fact that Mr. Bayer is responsible for four classes of AP students, we have to make sure that our data collection doesn't interfere with their usual instruction. So we are doing some ordinary teaching work for the time being. But that has not put my project on hold. This is the part where I get the chance to observe first hand what being is a teacher is about, without forcing it into a scientific model. And don't worry, we already have plans to start up with some lessons and quizzes a week from this Monday when we all return from Spring Break.
Being a teacher is a lot of hard work. Maybe I should say that being a good teacher is a lot of work. In my time with Mr. Bayer, I have seen the time, energy, and emotional commitment it takes to be a really great instructor. While some of my jobs do include running down to Subway to pick up food for myself and Mr. Bayer, the real work still happens on his end. Being a teacher is a full time commitment that requires work around the clock. My own experience with grading has shown me that teachers often have to use their evenings at home to grade work, especially things like essays which take huge amounts of time.
In teaching, there is not only a work component, there is also an emotional component. I can see the effort that Mr. Bayer puts forth in order to give the students the best possible education/preparation for the AP exam this May. When a student doesn't understand the process, Bayer takes time to explain it to them until they understand. I have come to see that this is the sign of a good educator, someone who takes a personal interest in the student's success. Even when the students don't seem to care, Mr. Bayer keeps giving his best effort to show them what they need. Even when they don't deserve to be taught, which I have seen often, he still does it.
The data collection in this project is fascinating, but the thing I love about my SRP is experiencing being a teacher. What makes it even better is that I have one of the best ones around to show me what a truly devoted teacher does.
I will prepare some materials over break for research, but not much will be going on. So till next time!
Friday, March 6, 2015
More Updates
Hello Everyone,
I have some good news to report. Since I last posted, I have done a lot of student centered work. And I have worked some with my community adviser. Some problems have arisen, however we are making great progress.
Just as a quick reminder, student centered lessons are formed around the student(who knew). A generic example of a lesson I have made is a basic worksheet made form the textbook. The worksheet will have questions that are clearly answered in the textbook. The students work with each other and by themselves to answer the questions. They have only themselves, and a book. Mr. Bayer and I only answer questions regarding the way to answer the question, never the question itself. A student might ask, "What does this question want me to say?" and as a teacher, I can tell them "this question is asking about the economic affects of the war, look in the section labelled Economic Effects." The student is their own teacher during this lesson, they have to think about the question, analyze it, and then find the answer in the text. Ideally, once they complete the worksheet, they will have learned the lesson. This method is difficult because the students knowledge is completely defendant on the students effort.
So far, I have made two worksheets for Mr. Bayer's students. And so far, the data supports the idea that the students are learning from themselves, to a point. I still give them a baseline quiz before they learn anything about the topic, and then I give them a post-quiz after the worksheet. The students have almost all improved their grades; however, the improvements are very small, approximately 1-3 points higher than the pre-quiz.
I have discovered several problems with this method. As said before, the students who generally give more effort in class do better, and those who merely did the worksheet to get it done with did poorly. In terms of teacher centered, every student at least hears the same information from the teacher, the note taking does create some variation still between the higher achievers and those who give less effort, however the space between is smaller. The data indicates that with less supervision over the lesson, students give less effort. Another problem I have found is ensuring that the lesson the students learn from the worksheet is the lesson that will help them understand the quiz questions.
Yesterday I had the chance to observe Mr. Coaloa teach his class at NAU. It was very exciting to see a college-level student centered lesson. It was notably different from Mr. Bayer's lectures. I got a lot of good ideas on how to proceed with the students in the future with more student-centered lesson plans.
We are busy lesson planning and quiz writing here, which is very very difficult. Grading worksheets is also difficult(I just found that out) Apparently giving the students a three-page worksheet actually means giving yourself 75 worksheets to grade. But nonetheless, we are making serious headway with our data collection. Till next time!
I have some good news to report. Since I last posted, I have done a lot of student centered work. And I have worked some with my community adviser. Some problems have arisen, however we are making great progress.
Just as a quick reminder, student centered lessons are formed around the student(who knew). A generic example of a lesson I have made is a basic worksheet made form the textbook. The worksheet will have questions that are clearly answered in the textbook. The students work with each other and by themselves to answer the questions. They have only themselves, and a book. Mr. Bayer and I only answer questions regarding the way to answer the question, never the question itself. A student might ask, "What does this question want me to say?" and as a teacher, I can tell them "this question is asking about the economic affects of the war, look in the section labelled Economic Effects." The student is their own teacher during this lesson, they have to think about the question, analyze it, and then find the answer in the text. Ideally, once they complete the worksheet, they will have learned the lesson. This method is difficult because the students knowledge is completely defendant on the students effort.
So far, I have made two worksheets for Mr. Bayer's students. And so far, the data supports the idea that the students are learning from themselves, to a point. I still give them a baseline quiz before they learn anything about the topic, and then I give them a post-quiz after the worksheet. The students have almost all improved their grades; however, the improvements are very small, approximately 1-3 points higher than the pre-quiz.
I have discovered several problems with this method. As said before, the students who generally give more effort in class do better, and those who merely did the worksheet to get it done with did poorly. In terms of teacher centered, every student at least hears the same information from the teacher, the note taking does create some variation still between the higher achievers and those who give less effort, however the space between is smaller. The data indicates that with less supervision over the lesson, students give less effort. Another problem I have found is ensuring that the lesson the students learn from the worksheet is the lesson that will help them understand the quiz questions.
Yesterday I had the chance to observe Mr. Coaloa teach his class at NAU. It was very exciting to see a college-level student centered lesson. It was notably different from Mr. Bayer's lectures. I got a lot of good ideas on how to proceed with the students in the future with more student-centered lesson plans.
We are busy lesson planning and quiz writing here, which is very very difficult. Grading worksheets is also difficult(I just found that out) Apparently giving the students a three-page worksheet actually means giving yourself 75 worksheets to grade. But nonetheless, we are making serious headway with our data collection. Till next time!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Materials
Hey Guys,
I'm busy at work over here. Writing quizzes and worksheets is difficult; however, grading hundreds of those quizzes and worksheets is even worse. While I was grading, I realized that you guys probably have no idea what my teaching materials look like. I will post below a few of the quizzes and assignments that I have made for my research. Till next time!
A.
Steel Mills
B.
Steam Power
C.
Chemical Products
D.
Shipyards
I'm busy at work over here. Writing quizzes and worksheets is difficult; however, grading hundreds of those quizzes and worksheets is even worse. While I was grading, I realized that you guys probably have no idea what my teaching materials look like. I will post below a few of the quizzes and assignments that I have made for my research. Till next time!
AP European
History
Quiz:
Chapter 15 Pt. 1
1. Which
of the following industries were NOT associated with the second industrial
revolution?
A.
Steel Mills
B.
Steam Power
C.
Chemical Products
D.
Shipyards
2. What
social dilemmas faced European society during the second Industrial revolution?
A. Women’s
rights
B. Economic
failure
C. Worker’s
rights
D. Both
A and C
3. Where
did Europe obtain the resources to fuel the industrial revolution?
A. The
rest of the world
B. Western
Europe
C. Eastern
Europe
D. Russia
and the United States
4. What
happened during the revolution with respect to Britain’s industrial power?
A. Britain
became the global industrial leader
B. Britain’s
economy was crushed due to competition
C. Britain’s
economy was matched in power by the rest of Europe
D. Britain
and many powerful European nations joined their industries in order to mutually
benefit each other
5. Why
did the second industrial revolution cause people to migrate on such a large
scale?
A. The
living conditions worsened for the lower class
B. Much
of the profits from the industry flowed to the upper class, making the other
classes struggle
C. It
didn’t, it merely gave people the opportunity to migrate
D. Over-harvesting
and poor weather led to multiple famines throughout Europe
6. What
made it possible for so many to migrate during the revolution?
A. Innovations
in transportation
B. More
legal freedoms to minorities
C. Relaxed
migration laws
D. It
wasn’t possible, many were unable to move due to the high prices
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Beginning of student-centered
Hey Guys,
Great news! I have made my first
student-centered lesson plan. With the assistance of my two awesome advisers, I
have made both a quiz and an activity for the AP World History class to take
tomorrow.
Mr. Bayer and I had some difficulty coming
up with a way to adapt his very lecture-based lessons, but Mr. Coaloa gave us
some good insight. We will still utilize our collection method of giving the
subjects a baseline quiz beforehand, and then the same quiz after the lesson.
The
difference here will be the lesson itself. Instead of Mr. Bayer or myself
giving the students a PowerPoint lecture, we will give the students a worksheet
that they must use the textbook to complete. Now, the information will be
found, processed, and ideally retained exclusively by the students. They may
work alone or in a group. The instructor’s role in this style is only to keep
the students on track. The kids can ask clarifying questions or ask the meaning
of something, but they must find the information without the teacher feeding it
to them.
In terms of student-centered classes,
tomorrow I also plan on observing a college level class taught by Mr. Coaloa
which utilizes a lesson wherein the students teach themselves.
Writing an entire worksheet was difficult,
but I think that I was able to write it in a way that the students must process,
at least once, the information needed to learn the lesson and to take the quiz.
We will grade these quizzes tomorrow, and I will let you all know how it goes!
Till then!
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
More good news
Hello Everyone,
I have some good progress to report with my research. A few days ago, I met with my community adviser, Mr. Coaloa. We discussed his teaching at N.A.U. and how he can help me with my project. His teaching style is very heavy on student centered, meaning that the teacher is no longer the main source of information, rather a guide to keep the students on track. This week I plan on going to observe his class in order to get a better idea of what a student centered lesson looks like. Mr. Coaloa said he would also share some of his lesson plans so that Mr. Bayer and I can create some student centered lessons here at BASIS.
Teacher centered testing is going well. Between Mr. Bayer's four AP classes, we have countless quiz scores from lecture style lessons. Mr. Bayer has allowed me to teach a couple lessons as well. So between the two of us, we are collecting a lot of data points.
Hopefully by this Friday I will be able to make a student centered lesson plan for some classes here at school. I am also exploring some opportunities to observe teachers at Flagstaff High School. While my schedule is not working out as well as I would have liked, I have come to realize that being a teacher means you often times have to adjust your time table due to unforeseen circumstances. Nevertheless, we are making significant progress with the project. Till next time!
I have some good progress to report with my research. A few days ago, I met with my community adviser, Mr. Coaloa. We discussed his teaching at N.A.U. and how he can help me with my project. His teaching style is very heavy on student centered, meaning that the teacher is no longer the main source of information, rather a guide to keep the students on track. This week I plan on going to observe his class in order to get a better idea of what a student centered lesson looks like. Mr. Coaloa said he would also share some of his lesson plans so that Mr. Bayer and I can create some student centered lessons here at BASIS.
Teacher centered testing is going well. Between Mr. Bayer's four AP classes, we have countless quiz scores from lecture style lessons. Mr. Bayer has allowed me to teach a couple lessons as well. So between the two of us, we are collecting a lot of data points.
Hopefully by this Friday I will be able to make a student centered lesson plan for some classes here at school. I am also exploring some opportunities to observe teachers at Flagstaff High School. While my schedule is not working out as well as I would have liked, I have come to realize that being a teacher means you often times have to adjust your time table due to unforeseen circumstances. Nevertheless, we are making significant progress with the project. Till next time!
Friday, February 13, 2015
Back on track
Hello everyone,
Today is an exciting day for my research project! I have finally made headway with data collection. I have also developed a scheduled plan for the future.
Today, I handed out the very first baseline quizzes to the AP European History and the AP World History students. I compiled/wrote these quizzes last night, and today the students took them. None of the kids have learned this material, at least not this year. I intentionally chose to test them on material that they did not know in order to legitimize any results I later obtain. Now that I have a baseline, the students are ready to be taught the material. I had the opportunity to teach AP World today after their quiz, and on Tuesday, they will take it again. I will teach AP Euro their lesson on Tuesday and give them the second quiz as well.
I plan on alternating teaching methods in the future. But the basic schedule is as follows: hand out baseline quiz, teach using X-method, give same quiz at a later date, compare the two quizzes.
Today, Thursday, marks the official one week mark of my project. The beginnings were a bit shaky, but I believe that this project is running at almost full speed. I have dozens of quizzes from just one day, My teaching will require much work, but if today is any indication, this project is going to be very successful. Till next time!
Today is an exciting day for my research project! I have finally made headway with data collection. I have also developed a scheduled plan for the future.
Today, I handed out the very first baseline quizzes to the AP European History and the AP World History students. I compiled/wrote these quizzes last night, and today the students took them. None of the kids have learned this material, at least not this year. I intentionally chose to test them on material that they did not know in order to legitimize any results I later obtain. Now that I have a baseline, the students are ready to be taught the material. I had the opportunity to teach AP World today after their quiz, and on Tuesday, they will take it again. I will teach AP Euro their lesson on Tuesday and give them the second quiz as well.
I plan on alternating teaching methods in the future. But the basic schedule is as follows: hand out baseline quiz, teach using X-method, give same quiz at a later date, compare the two quizzes.
Today, Thursday, marks the official one week mark of my project. The beginnings were a bit shaky, but I believe that this project is running at almost full speed. I have dozens of quizzes from just one day, My teaching will require much work, but if today is any indication, this project is going to be very successful. Till next time!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Problems
Here is a quick update on the project,
I have found that many of the bugs are starting to come out of this project. On Tuesday, my speech and debate teacher, Mrs. Tucker, was sick. She told me that on that day I could teach the class a lesson and use the class as a part of my project. Initially, this was a very exciting prospect for me. I made a lesson plan, and I wrote a short quiz for the students after the lesson.
I decided to teach the class using the interactive method, since I had little time to plan out a lecture style class, wherein the entire class has a discussion on the topic. I gave them a quiz, and the results were very impressive, everyone did well. However, after I taught the class and quizzed them, I realized that I was unable to compare the quiz results to anything. So I was unsure of what to do, because I did not think to establish a baseline for their knowledge before I taught them. So I had to figure out what to do.
The next day, Wednesday, Mrs. Tucker was still sick. So I was able to make a second attempt to collect data on a method. After I consulted a few teachers and my adviser, I decided that in order to establish a baseline knowledge before the lesson I needed to give the students a pre-quiz. I wrote out a quiz, gave it to them before the lesson, and then I gave them the quiz again after the lesson. I thought that I had fixed the issue, however, turns out I did not.
Mr. Calhoun, the English teacher at school was supervising my lesson yesterday.(I am not able to teach without a faculty member for liability reasons) He explained to me many of the issues with my lesson, and long story short, I did not teach correctly. The quizzes were short answer, which makes empirical grading more difficult(at least for me) and the goal of the discussion was not made clear(my fault) so both of those days yielded no data, yet they did help me. If you're wondering how, I found 99 ways not to research teaching methods.
In the end, I realized that with the time and resources I have for this project, I will need to scale back the experiments scope. I will throw out the interactive method, and now I will be examining teacher-centered learning and student-centered learning. Interactive method, when done correctly, is in itself difficult to examine, and many of my test subjects who are history students do not really have opportunity to use that format. I am optimistic about the future of this project. Now, I can write more multiple choice quizzes based on the two methods left, and I can get a clearer image from the students.
Even though I have not gained data yet, this week has not been for naught. I have been watching and learning from my adviser, Mr. Bayer, all week. And starting tomorrow, I will distribute a baseline quiz to the AP World and European History students. Also happening tomorrow, I will teach the AP World class a lesson and I will hand out the post-lesson quizzes. Tomorrow I plan on getting the first official data. Till then!
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Method 1: Teacher Centered
Hello Everyone,
This weekend has been full of power-point making and lesson planning. While I was busy copying and pasting images of the Industrial Revolution, I realized that I never told you about which methods I would be comparing in this study. Sorry to have left you all hanging, I will tell you now.
Due to the limited time I have, and the fact that studying which method of teaching is best is in itself difficult, I have narrowed my methodologies down to three main types. I will examine teacher centered, learner centered, and interactive methods of instruction.
This week I will begin with what I have found to be the simplest method: teacher centered. This method is known as lecture style, didactic instruction, and many others. My research of this method tells me that the flow of information is essentially a one way street. The teacher takes the information, processes it into a lesson, and then feeds it to the student. This style will be, in my opinion, the easiest to start out with because Mr. Bayer utilizes it a majority of the time he teaches. Also, the work he has me doing for him, making presentations, fits perfectly into the model for teacher centered.
Some of my books on teaching have outlined this style of teaching a little more. Didactic is definitely one of the oldest and most common forms of education. For those of you who took lecture classes in college, don't worry, I will not force my test subjects to endure that kind of teaching, I'll make it more enjoyable. Many describe the pupils in this style to be passive, and the teacher to be active. One issue I anticipate will be a lack of focus due to the fact that the students don't actually have any incentive to pay attention. Another criticism I have heard about this method is the fact that some students cannot learn as well in a strict lecture, some need to interact and discuss the topic at hand.
I still have much more research to do before I am ready to enact the teacher centered method, but I thought that I would keep you all updated on the project. Till next time!
This weekend has been full of power-point making and lesson planning. While I was busy copying and pasting images of the Industrial Revolution, I realized that I never told you about which methods I would be comparing in this study. Sorry to have left you all hanging, I will tell you now.
Due to the limited time I have, and the fact that studying which method of teaching is best is in itself difficult, I have narrowed my methodologies down to three main types. I will examine teacher centered, learner centered, and interactive methods of instruction.
This week I will begin with what I have found to be the simplest method: teacher centered. This method is known as lecture style, didactic instruction, and many others. My research of this method tells me that the flow of information is essentially a one way street. The teacher takes the information, processes it into a lesson, and then feeds it to the student. This style will be, in my opinion, the easiest to start out with because Mr. Bayer utilizes it a majority of the time he teaches. Also, the work he has me doing for him, making presentations, fits perfectly into the model for teacher centered.
Some of my books on teaching have outlined this style of teaching a little more. Didactic is definitely one of the oldest and most common forms of education. For those of you who took lecture classes in college, don't worry, I will not force my test subjects to endure that kind of teaching, I'll make it more enjoyable. Many describe the pupils in this style to be passive, and the teacher to be active. One issue I anticipate will be a lack of focus due to the fact that the students don't actually have any incentive to pay attention. Another criticism I have heard about this method is the fact that some students cannot learn as well in a strict lecture, some need to interact and discuss the topic at hand.
I still have much more research to do before I am ready to enact the teacher centered method, but I thought that I would keep you all updated on the project. Till next time!
Friday, February 6, 2015
Teaching is actually a lot of work.
Welcome back!
Day two of my senior research project has begun! Already, I have been given multiple assignments to work on. I have also started lesson planning for the AP European History class. This coming Monday, I need to have a completed presentation on chapter 15.(Mr. Bayer tells me to have the power-point be 65-80 slides, if you were wondering) By Wednesday, we hope that the class will be on schedule to begin chapter 15 and I will be able to teach the first lesson on that section.
Today, I had the opportunity to learn an important lesson. Mr. Bayer allowed me to take over the class for the last fifteen minutes of his AP World History class. Being tossed into the trenches like that definitely showed me the importance of knowing the lesson plan. Mr. Bayer and I have been discussing the vitality of being personally involved in the planning of a lesson. Working with his power-point with minimal time to prepare made it much more difficult to instruct the class on the subject at hand.
While being in front of twenty-something eighth graders was intimidating, my short lecture went well. The students responded positively. There were few issues with discipline, and the students did not exhibit much hesitation when it came to questions. Mr. Bayer did need to interject every so often, for the purpose of filling in the kids on additional information I missed. On that note, I also learned that an effective teacher needs to know what the students need to know. Today, I was not sure just how much information they needed from the chapter. I will need to learn how to separate the important facts of the subject from the fluff.
Another assignment I received today was to supervise student hours. After school today, I will stay in Mr. Bayer's room for an hour or so in order to help students who come in for extra assistance with their work. Students can come to student hours for anything from homework help, to getting the notes of the day, or even to take a quiz they missed.(Of course I will only be able to help them with notes and homework questions.)
Undoubtedly, this weekend will be a busy one. Between making a power-point presentation of chapter 15 and writing a 15 question quiz on the material in that chapter, I will have time for little else. However, I must say that the past two days have been amazing. Not to say that I did not enjoy my capstone classes, but it is very nice having three formal classes a day. Now, I can focus my energy on my few classes and my research project. I will also meet with my community adviser this weekend in order to plan out the logistics of meeting and observing him teach. Till next time!
-Noah Creek
Day two of my senior research project has begun! Already, I have been given multiple assignments to work on. I have also started lesson planning for the AP European History class. This coming Monday, I need to have a completed presentation on chapter 15.(Mr. Bayer tells me to have the power-point be 65-80 slides, if you were wondering) By Wednesday, we hope that the class will be on schedule to begin chapter 15 and I will be able to teach the first lesson on that section.
Today, I had the opportunity to learn an important lesson. Mr. Bayer allowed me to take over the class for the last fifteen minutes of his AP World History class. Being tossed into the trenches like that definitely showed me the importance of knowing the lesson plan. Mr. Bayer and I have been discussing the vitality of being personally involved in the planning of a lesson. Working with his power-point with minimal time to prepare made it much more difficult to instruct the class on the subject at hand.
While being in front of twenty-something eighth graders was intimidating, my short lecture went well. The students responded positively. There were few issues with discipline, and the students did not exhibit much hesitation when it came to questions. Mr. Bayer did need to interject every so often, for the purpose of filling in the kids on additional information I missed. On that note, I also learned that an effective teacher needs to know what the students need to know. Today, I was not sure just how much information they needed from the chapter. I will need to learn how to separate the important facts of the subject from the fluff.
Another assignment I received today was to supervise student hours. After school today, I will stay in Mr. Bayer's room for an hour or so in order to help students who come in for extra assistance with their work. Students can come to student hours for anything from homework help, to getting the notes of the day, or even to take a quiz they missed.(Of course I will only be able to help them with notes and homework questions.)
Undoubtedly, this weekend will be a busy one. Between making a power-point presentation of chapter 15 and writing a 15 question quiz on the material in that chapter, I will have time for little else. However, I must say that the past two days have been amazing. Not to say that I did not enjoy my capstone classes, but it is very nice having three formal classes a day. Now, I can focus my energy on my few classes and my research project. I will also meet with my community adviser this weekend in order to plan out the logistics of meeting and observing him teach. Till next time!
-Noah Creek
Thursday, February 5, 2015
First day on the job!
Hello and welcome!
Today is officially the first day of my senior project. I am very excited to begin working on my research. For those of you who are wondering about my project, I plan on examining the effectiveness of different teaching methodologies. I will research several major methods, and I will teach classes at my school using those methods. Towards the end of class, I will hand out a short quiz on the lesson, and grade it as data collection. Hopefully, I will have sufficient data at the end of this project that I will be able to arrive at a conclusion regarding my investigation.
I am especially excited about working with my in school adviser. Mr. Bayer, my adviser, has allowed me to use his students as the majority of my test subjects. During my research, I hope to not only investigate my experiment, but also teaching in general. What attracted me to this project was my interest in teaching. While performing this experiment, I will also function as Mr. Bayer's teaching assistant in order to understand more about being a teacher in a general sense. Additionally, I will be working with Mr. Stefano Coaloa, my community adviser from Northern Arizona University. He will also help me better understand how to execute my experiments with the students. I am very happy to have so many resources available to me during this project.
Today I observed Mr. Bayer teaching his AP European History class. I am excited to start working with the students. I was introduced today, and many of them had positive reactions, probably because I am good friends with them. I did notice that the second hour class might prove to be difficult test subjects. I think that classroom discipline will be a challenge to handle. I feel that with time, the classes will get to know me as a "teacher", and they will be more responsive to my instruction.
Overall, I believe that this project is off to a good start. Starting tomorrow, I will begin lesson planning with the first method. If all goes well, I will be able to teach my first lesson in the beginning of next week. No doubt, I will need the help of both of my advisers throughout this project, but I am very optimistic about getting to teach. Till tomorrow!
-Noah Creek
Today is officially the first day of my senior project. I am very excited to begin working on my research. For those of you who are wondering about my project, I plan on examining the effectiveness of different teaching methodologies. I will research several major methods, and I will teach classes at my school using those methods. Towards the end of class, I will hand out a short quiz on the lesson, and grade it as data collection. Hopefully, I will have sufficient data at the end of this project that I will be able to arrive at a conclusion regarding my investigation.
I am especially excited about working with my in school adviser. Mr. Bayer, my adviser, has allowed me to use his students as the majority of my test subjects. During my research, I hope to not only investigate my experiment, but also teaching in general. What attracted me to this project was my interest in teaching. While performing this experiment, I will also function as Mr. Bayer's teaching assistant in order to understand more about being a teacher in a general sense. Additionally, I will be working with Mr. Stefano Coaloa, my community adviser from Northern Arizona University. He will also help me better understand how to execute my experiments with the students. I am very happy to have so many resources available to me during this project.
Today I observed Mr. Bayer teaching his AP European History class. I am excited to start working with the students. I was introduced today, and many of them had positive reactions, probably because I am good friends with them. I did notice that the second hour class might prove to be difficult test subjects. I think that classroom discipline will be a challenge to handle. I feel that with time, the classes will get to know me as a "teacher", and they will be more responsive to my instruction.
Overall, I believe that this project is off to a good start. Starting tomorrow, I will begin lesson planning with the first method. If all goes well, I will be able to teach my first lesson in the beginning of next week. No doubt, I will need the help of both of my advisers throughout this project, but I am very optimistic about getting to teach. Till tomorrow!
-Noah Creek
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