Comfort vs Respect

I mentioned this my discussion board post but it has intrigued me all week so I am writing about it again. Earlier this week, my coworker sat down across from me and began talking about how frustrated her seniors were becoming. This was mostly due to the comfort level they had after having the same teacher for two years in a row. At this point, the comfort was become outright disrespect towards her. There were complaints whenever work was assigned, challenges of her authority and comments made that were upsetting. I, on the other hand, was dealing with a much more passive disrespect where the seniors were walking in out of dress code, addressing me as if they were my friend, and not doing anything I assigned them. This coincides with break coming up, seniors beginning to be admitted to college, and workload burnout.
What is most interesting about this discussion is that my girlfriend noticed the same complaint from me the last two years regarding how much easier the juniors are to teach than the seniors. During this upcoming department meeting, this other teacher and I are going to brainstorm with the rest of the department about the possibility of a switch after the first year. The other class is a science class that I could easily teach, and the other teacher has taught environmental science in the past. This could be a very interesting solution. However, I am going to attempt to manage my seniors in a bit more of a structured setting over the next two weeks to see if the students will change a bit. This will take significantly more planning on my part, but I am hoping for the best.

Accountability

Over break I have been talking to my significant other, who is also a teacher, about school philosophy. We had an interesting discussion about the line between student accountability and curriculum modification. The question was asked, "at what point do we focus on teaching students to be accountable for the work at the risk of failing if they fall behind?" and "At what point do we modify our curriculum to fit where a portion of the class is?" These are both challenging questions as a teacher.

 We were discussing our frustrations in the length of the teaching time in December, and how we will fit everything in with such a short amount of time. The topic came up that some of the material was still missing in the classes. These classes are typically not as strong academically, and very low motivation. We are both combating the feeling that if we do not complete the scheduled material, in a way we are buckling under the copious complaining that we both get from these students. The complaining was especially amplified this week, while the students were on the brink of a 5-day vacation. As a teacher, I think that it is important to teach the importance of completing work, even if you do not want to do it. Some students push back in any way they can in order to avoid the completion of the workload. However, I have explained to these students that this is a life skill, and something that they will encounter after high school or college, and especially in the working world. This is where I have a serious problem ratcheting back the work in class.

But then there is the other side. At what point is the course going to start snowballing, leaving those weaker students behind? That would be equally catastrophic and also demoralizing to them. My significant other suggested the "tough love" approach, which is really just a balance of accountability but also a flexible workload. If a good chunk of the students are showing that the grasp of the material is simply not there, than it may be worth it to do some sort of encouraging activity related to the topic at hand. However, there also needs to be a system of accountability where the students take complete ownership of the work they produce, especially as juniors and seniors. This coming week we are having department meetings and I look forward to sharing this with them.

Before the Flood and Learning how to fail (and succeed)

This week was interesting in a few ways. First, it was the week after the election. At first, there was a lot of tension between the teachers, who were most unanimously against Trump and the student body, who were almost all rooting for him. While students tried to poke out of me who it was I votes for, I decided rather than soap boxing that I would take a class period for each class and allow the students to talk about their thoughts. I encouraged them to stay on the topic of the country's environmental future, which they did. Through these conversations, it became clear that the students did care about the environment enough to realize that Trump's current plan for conservation and fossil fuel usage did not sit well with them. I was impressed with these findings because I only listened to them talk, with an occasional redirection of the conversation. With this in mind, I bought and showed the students a new documentary, Before the Flood. This documentary is narrated and hosted by Leonardo DeCaprio, as he was elected a UN peacekeeper and who then took it upon himself to raise awareness to the current environmental crises for our planet. The film was also made during the making of DeCaprio's film, The Revenant, which my students thoroughly enjoy.  The overwhelming opinion after watching the film was that it was "depressing" and "eye-opening", which was what I was hoping for.

This week was also the time in which grades and comments were released to students and parents, which is followed  a few days later by parent-teacher conferences. I was lucky enough to have very successful students in my homeroom, which made for very happy parents. Needless to say, the conferences went great! However, in my classes, there were a number of students who felt their grades were lower than they should be. It is never an easy conversation to have with students as they realize where the gaps in their work for a quarter were. It is almost like the stages of grief, where there is denial, bargaining, anger and then finally acceptance. In the majority of these meetings both the students and I came out of the meetings feeling as if there was a plan to succeed and that we could both move forward with a much brighter outlook for their success this year. Often times it came down to organization or bringing by an assignment finished early so that we could make sure it was on task. For some students, it can be hard to accept that once the low marks had happened, there was nothing they could do retroactively to bring it back. However, I have pointed out to these students that they need to focus on the work ahead, rather than the mistakes in the past in order for them to succeed.

Classcraft: Week 2

The classcraft saga continues. My students now are trying to do everything in their power to earn gold. They have cleaned my classroom, found articles, and completed assignments early. Students are so focused on "helping me" that it actually has become a bit annoying. Too much of a good thing I guess? However, this was the first week that I introduced the website to my seniors. They are starting their major research papers, which the IB calls the internal assessment. This IA is basically their term paper. They must either research a topic and accumulate data from primary sources, or they need to conduct an experiment and report on their findings. Last year I struggled to keep the seniors on task and motivated. This year, with the help of classcraft, I have turned their IAs into a game. At each checkpoint, assuming they have adequately completed their assignments, they will gain a level. At each level, students are able to equip their character with new get and collect new pets. The motivation in the first week alone is significantly higher than it has been for the last two years. 

The other new classcraft endeavor this week were the "boss battles". In my junior classes, the students were given a pop quiz. They were to work in teams to answer questions. However,  there was no competition between the teams. They were all working together to defeat the "boss". Every time the students answered a question correctly, the boss took damage. However, if the students answered incorrectly, the boss did damage to their whole team. It became very high stakes when there were no longer enough questions to defeat the boss. However, there was a random chance that when damage was done to the boss, it would inflict a "critical hit", doing double damage. On the second to last question, there was a crit! The whole class when wild. There were students jumping out of their seats and running around the classroom. On the next question, the students defeated the boss and each student was awarded gold and experience. It was an outrageous success.

My only wish for the Classcraft program is to have that same quizzing platform, but allow individual students to take the quizzes on their own screens. As of right now, the only way to have "boss battles" is to put them up on the projector screen. They are continuing to roll out new updates, and I am hoping this is one of them! 

Classcraft!!

At the beginning of the week, I was browsing through the list of suggested tech tools for the classroom. As someone who plays a bit of video games, I was immediately intrigued by Classcraft. Classcraft is a learning platform based off of role playing and fantasy video games. It is branded as a classroom management tool, but in my first week, I have figured out that it is much more than that. The program has a gradebook, an online quiz function, and a rudimentary discussion board. The entire program is based off of rewarding students for most things in the classroom.
Students are placed into teams and then choose to be a warrior, mage or a healer. Each character type has different "powers" that either help each other in the game or benefit class related goals. Class related goals are things like extra credit on tests and quizzes or turning in an assignment a day late with no penalty. Students can use "Ability Points" to use these skills. If a student does something that is frowned upon, like talking too much in class or turning in an assignment late, the students are docked Health Points, or HP. Finally, extra assignments or achievements in class like answering a question end up earning either experience points to level up so they could use more skills, or gold which they can use for gear for their character.
I was hesitant to see how students would like the program. However, after I had set up the first class, it was apparent that students were very enthusiastic about the game. By the end of the day, I had students from all over school coming to my classroom to ask me about Classcraft. Now I have all four of my classes set up, and students are all competing to answer any questions I pose to the class. I have actually had to settle arguments between students because they are so motivated to answer questions. I am curious to see if the glamour of the game wanes thin after a couple of weeks but for now, it is a huge success!

Open Mindedness

This week, I learned a valuable lesson in open-mindedness. Since the beginning of our classes at Stevenson, we have kept Carol Dweck's growth mindset in mind as we write our assignments. This week, I was definitely caught up in my other work, and was frustrated with an assignment. We are learning about new and innovative ways to implement technology into our classrooms and I had convinced myself that I already have all of the useful technology that I need at my disposal. I was frustrated with the provided list that was given to us, and I had already written about the other media aids that either I use or assign the students to use.
As I was sitting at my computer Wednesday night, I realized that I had never heard of SWAY, a Microsoft Office presenting tool. Watching the tutorial video, I went into it wondering how it was any different than PowerPoint. After the video I had resigned that I was going to write about it. However, this all changed the next day.
During homeroom, I decided to show an example of SWAY (the red panda example) to my advisory. I was surprised to find that the students were very interested in it. They immediately began searching for other examples and a couple of students downloaded the program, which is provided through the school's Office Suite for the students. The students unanimously agreed that they liked SWAY better than PowerPoint. They especially enjoyed how easy it was to transition between slides and that one could organize the navigation and text box direction in any way they pleased. Because of my homeroom, I will be organizing a new lesson plan for reports on Nutrient Cycles using SWAY in November.
Reflecting on this week's assignment, I learned the hard way that I need to be much more open about allowing new materials and lessons into the way I teach. It is super easy for me to get into a groove, especially since I have been teaching the same material for four years now. However, because I still a relatively new teacher, and one who is now taking my first education classes in this program, I need to be mindful that there are resources that may be new and different that can seriously benefit the way my class and lessons are conducted. It also makes me excited to learn about more resources for my classroom in as this class progresses.

Grades

This week, I was part of a two day professional development conference over grades at my school. It was eye opening. One of the reasons that the conference took place was over accusations from outside sources that there had been grade inflation at some of the local private schools. This sparked a necessary (in my opinion) conversation with our faculty regarding the overarching question: What are grades at this school? For state standards, this may be fairly straight forward. However, because this school does not need to follow any specific guidelines for curriculum, this is a much trickier question. In my group, we looked at the overall system first and figured out quickly that grades are there to represent mastery. We also have an effort grade system per semester to recognize the students that may not do well on summative assessments but have put efforts into pursing the best of their abilities. This is interesting because the effort grades do not show up on official transcripts.
One of the more frustrating aspects of the grading aspect in our school are our grade books. While we have a grade book system integrated into our LMS, there is no option for the students to track their grades. It is a closed grade book. Because of this, as well as a lack of requirement for a specific grade book, some teachers use other programs such as Haiku or Engrade online to allow students to track their own grades. There are arguments on either side of the open/closed grade book issue. For closed grade books, some teachers would like students to have a conversation with them if they would like to know their own grade. This is a great strategy for some students, as it increases the ability of the student's communication with a teacher. On the other hand, there are some student that are not doing well in a class and will not inquire about grades, allowing them to "slip through the cracks". For open grade books, it allows the student to keep track of their own work in terms of grades, tardiness on assignments and assessment averages. It also allows for parents to see their child's grades. This can be a blessing or a curse. Some parents have been know to inquire about every assignment that is below what they consider an acceptable grade for their child (sometimes this is as high as an A-). This obviously creates much more work for teachers, especially since the student should be the one asking about how to improve their own grades.
As one can imagine, this is a complex issue, and one among many. However, I am excited that this is a conversation that we as a faculty are having. I am actually looking forward to our next professional development opportunity at school!

Higher Level Thinking

This week, I had some cool breakthroughs in the classroom. This week we read about questions that promote higher level thinking. What was refreshing was that most of my students already ask those types of questions. Upon reading about higher level thinking, you would expect that the higher achieving students to ask the critical thinking questions. However, this is mostly not the case. I have found that the majority of the deeper questions come from average or weaker students. Most of my higher level students simply would like to know an answer so that they can memorize it, write it down on a test, and move on. My other students often would like to know how something works or how it relates to their own lives. I asked some students about this last year, and they told me that it is easier from them to create a relatable story about a concept in order to remember it. I will also say that this is a generalization, and there are definitely exceptions to this in my classroom.

To this end, I try to use as many local examples for things as I possibly can. It is important to have photos or to be able to take students outside so that they are able to actually experience topics or concepts themselves. The other week, students learned about ecological footprints. With this, the students learned that each person in the world on average should have 2.2 hectares of arable land to live off of (resource wise). When a student inevitably asks what a hectare is, I take them all outside and have 4 students mark out a 100 by 100 meter hectare plot. Students see how large just one is, and get excited about the prospect of having two and a quarter of those plots. However, when I tell them that they must live off of that land for any resources they need, they realize how small that land is. I then have them reference a calculator they have already taken (the class average is 10-14 hectares per person of resources used) and ask them to imagine how much resources each of them actually uses. The students draw many important conclusions from just staking out how large a single hectare is.

Tech and techless

I am writing this blog post from my tent on the Appalachian Trail. Through a great amount of effort, I convinced my school to allow me to lead weekend backpacking trips over the next two months. Despite the day being rainy, the 4 boys that came along have had smiles on their faces all day. The trip has been difficult. Not physically for me, but mentally. I have had to switch from the leader who does everything to the instructor who sits back and gives advice. Backpacking is something that I have been doing since I was 12, and for the last 10 years, something that I have been comfortable doing on my own. Now I am in the role of teaching these high school juniors and seniors the same skills I learned at there age. The problem is, I have them on autopilot and when I have to instruct, it slows everything down immensely. Navigating takes longer, dinner takes forever and cleanup happens after sundown (which is terrible when you have to do it by headlamp.) However, I am here to teach these boys why it is fun, and that it isn't such a technical, challenging experience that some people make it out to be. I need to work on sitting back and putting my confidence in these guys. After all, we've been prepping for this stuff after school for the last two weeks. This trip has been a huge wakeup call to me and my teaching skills.
On a technological note, I had a very successful class using laptops in a productive manner. Most importantly, I got the students to have their laptops open for the whole period and kept them so busy that they didn't have time to be distracted. The assignment was to work in groups of four and build one to three slides on a specific type of pollution. The students sit in groups of four, so I asked each group to designate a scribe. Most groups immediately pointed at the highest achieving student at their table, thinking the rest of them would not have to do any work. I had expected this, so once I had the list of scribes on the board, I then announced that the scribe was in charge of designing and arranging facts , but was not allowed to do research. I emailed a link to each of the scribes for a Google slides presentation and assigned each group a type of pollution. Their handouts had criteria for what the slides should contain and a warning that messing with other slides or posting inappropriate things in the slideshow would result in an automatic 40% reduction. This is because in the past the students have used Google docs for study guides to post strange pictures of their peers in my class.
The lesson went perfectly and the students were excited to share what they had found on their pollutions. They were also excited that they had just built a great study guide. I'm glad that I am getting useful ideas and strategies from this class.

Blog for week 5- Observation

This week was my first observation and I was extremely nervous. I have been observed by my coworkers before, but this was the first time since I had applied for my job that I was observed by someone that I was not very familiar with. The last time I had been that nervous in front of a class was the day that I taught a lesson in front of the entire science department for my interview. However, once I had started on the the actual lesson, I was back into the swing of things. The lesson was one of my favorites from the introductory chapter. The students are learned a day before about modeling systems. To get them on their feet I had the students walk around school to find something they could model as a system. After an extensive refresher on the components of a system, the students wandered around school for 10 minutes and came back with examples drawn on a note card. Each group was required to have a different answer, and they did wonderfully. The examples were diverse and accurate, and overall the class did a great job.
At the end of the lesson, I was actually happy to have constructive criticism. Because of some shifting around of jobs in the science department, it has been an entire year since I had had someone observe my classes, and Ann did a great job in finding areas that I could improve in.
One thing that I would like to do more of is scheduling out the class on the board for the students. Ann suggested that I write very detailed layouts of the class before the students walk in so that they know exactly what to do, but also so both the students and I stay on track for the entirety of the period. The observation was also gratifying in that Ann pointed out a number of things that I had learned from the program that I am implementing in my lessons. I had not realized that I was doing that! Now, I am actually looking forward to my next observation and I cannot wait to see what the final outcomes of my studies will be.

Technology in the Classroom - Blog Post 4

                Technology in the classroom is a tough subject. Our students are required to have a laptop every day for school, and with it come huge advantages and disadvantages. For one, if the students are losing interest, a great way of getting them engaged with a lesson is for me to ask them to find a video or example of the topic they are learning. This often gets students sharing and back on track in a quick five-minute activity. We also have a fairly comprehensive LMS. However, the students have learned to use the LMS too much as a crutch. Often, they will not study or complete assignments if they are not listed on their calendar. This has made for some particularly infuriating situations regarding assignments and assessments. Last year, when it was first implemented at our school the excuse “but it wasn’t on FinalSite” set me off pretty quickly. We have now developed an Upper School planner for the students to try to keep them more reliant on their own planning rather than checking online. Overall, the LMS is great. It allows us to edit papers, give and grade quizzes online, post documents and resources and has an integrated gradebook. From a teacher’s standpoint, it is great as a resource.

                The big disadvantage of the laptop is the obvious distraction that it provides the students. I find it incredibly frustrating when I am teaching at the front of the classroom and students’ eyes are glued to their screens. At the beginning of my third year of teaching, I was fed up with students playing games and managing their fantasy football teams during class. I made a new policy that notes would be hand-written unless the student had specific accommodations for computer use for writing. The students weren’t happy with my new policy, but the true pushback came from the parents. Despite my citing of journals about retention of written information over typed, the parents were very upset on Back to School night. They argued about “Why buy the laptop in the first place?” among other issues. The arguments soon moved to my department chair and principal and the policy was shut down. Once again I am back to the challenge of trying to get my students to pay attention to me at the front of the classroom rather than their screens.

                I can see the appeal of the technology in the classroom. It has distinct advantages in many ways. However, I would like to challenge myself and my students that they can learn just as well through interacting and experiencing things over learning it from a screen. Everyone today, including me, has too much screen time in their life, and I would like to figure out a way to get the students engaged without media.

                Blog post: Week 3- Technology/ No technology

                This week is my favorite week of the year at my school. It is the week of the 10^th grade trips. For 3 days, the entire tenth grade chooses to hike, bike, or canoe (or a combination of the three). For the past 2 years, I have co-lead the canoe trip, paddling 25-30 miles from Antietam Creek to Point-of-Rocks Park via the Potomac River. It is a great way for the students to be out of their comfort zone and to bond with each other and the faculty leading the trip. This is an interesting experience for us as faculty. There are some teachers that complain that it wastes valuable class time and does not contribute to students’ learning. Others, including me, argue that it is a unique experience that teaches the boys something that most would not be able to experience. Very few of the students have experience camping outside of car camping, if they have camped at all.

                What does this have to do with Technology? It doesn’t. That’s the point. It was three days of unplugging students and getting their hands dirty. Oftentimes students are so plugged in, they forget to look up. This canoe trip was a perfect way to get them to learn about themselves and each other. While we were on the river, students asked about geology, the history of the area, and why certain plants grew in certain places. They learned about the invasive and destructive Blue Catfish, and that they should try to fish for them as much as possible. They also learned that going without a shower for 3 days is not the end of the world.

                We have learned about DOK this week, and what better way for a student to bring context to something learned than to have the students find it in nature and ask questions about it. Or, if there is not a planned curriculum, find ways to take that experience and tie it back into the topics you cover after the trip. Sure, I am biased because I love the outdoors, especially when I can make students enthusiastic about being outside. But I believe this is one of the most important aspects of learning that a student can experience.

Week 2 Teaching Blog

Blog post: Week 2.

                This week was the first full week of school for our students, as well as parents’ night last night. Needless to say, I am pretty exhausted. This week I focused on activities that could “warm up” students to my expectations. For both my junior and senior classes, I began the week with an APA workshop. In class, students were to find a primary source on JSTOR, the school’s subscription-based primary source database, and write a 150 word summary about it in proper APA format. The assignment also had to include a title page, a running head, and a reference page. To simplify the assignment for the sake of time and for future use, I created a template for APA formatting on Word and assigned that they create a JSTOR account for homework before the workshop. Upon arrival to the class, I had the assignment on the overhead as well as the LMS. Students were able to quickly go to their assignments and begin after a brief explanation. The class went very smoothly and the students were thrilled that JSTOR has a “cite paper” feature where they can copy and paste the correct citation. It was a really successful class because the students went from looking at APA as a cumbersome task to something that is very manageable. During the assignment, I was able to sit down with students that were struggling with either their computers or the work and give them individual attention as needed. This also allowed me to take some notes at the end of the period on who would need a bit of support in some of the larger assignments that the class will do later this year.

Today we have also finished the first complete “cycle” of our schedule. This year is the first year that we are trying a two-week cycle for classes. We have also added an extra block to the schedule. This allows students that would like to take extra classes to have a free period throughout the week. The schedule thus far has been well received. However, there is one major drawback.  Some classes do not meet for up to 5 days, depending on the block and the week. For example, I might see a class on a Wednesday for week A, and then the next time I would see them in week B is Monday. To prevent students from forgetting everything they have learned from the last class, I have taken a page from my online classes at Stevenson. Students will have a small reading assignment and then either have an online quiz or a ~250 word response to a question. Amazingly, all 31 of my students turned in the assignment after the 5-day gap. I was thrilled. To assist students that may have trouble on these styles of assignments, I have allowed the two learning specialists to enroll in my LMS page so that they can see the assignments, and I have posted my free periods on the door of my room so that students can come by for extra help. The learning specialists and I have already helped a number of students.

Lori's Accommodations from Somebody Else's Kids

Three years ago, I began my career as the IB Environmental Systems and Societies teacher at St. Paul’s School for Boys. Over the past few years, my class has taken a shape of its own. My first year, the students were the most gifted academically, despite the course being listed as a Standard Level course. These were the kind of students that argue over one or two points on a paper or test because they are terrified of earning any sort of B (or even an A-) on their report card. The last two years have diversified academically in an enormous way. This is mostly due to three additional honors classes being added to the course roster, but also because I requested more diversified achievement from the academic dean in the school. I have figured out that I much prefer a class with a wide range of capabilities. If I may generalize a bit, most of the high achieving students want to know an answer for a test, while some of the students that need to work harder for high marks take the time to ask good questions and understand processes. Lori is one of these latter students. She works extremely hard to understand the concepts that are presented to her, and is obviously a critical thinker. However, there is one quality about Lori that sets her about from her peers: she currently lacks the ability to read or write (Hayden, 1981).

Due to an abusive father she previously lived with, Lori sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and now has what is called a Visual Processing Disorder (VPD). Specifically, she has problems with visual discrimination. Visual discrimination is the ability to tell objects or symbols apart from one another (Arkay, 2015). Because of the TBI she sustained from the abuse, Lori completely lacks visual discrimination and may not ever learn this ability. This means that she currently cannot tell the difference between letters and numbers. Thus, Lori currently lacks the ability to read or write anything at all, despite being in First Grade. It should also be mentioned that Lori lives with her adopted father, where she is in extremely improved, safe and supportive living conditions(Hayden, 1981).

This student continues to struggle with her VPD severely, to the point where she still cannot write her name. Aside from that, however, Lori is extremely proficient at retaining information(Hayden, 1981). When material is read to her, she is able to solve math problems, carry out science experiments, and draw pictures of objects she has seen before, including birds. Lori is also an extremely sweet girl who has an infectious cheeriness that rubs off on her peers. Currently, we are working with the frustrations related to an incident at school in which a teacher forcibly made her read to the class against her will, making her the laughing stock and causing her to vomit. There has been progress in rebuilding her confidence by teaching her to memorize simple stories, but she is still hesitant when it comes to reading other materials.

It has come to my attention that when other students are reading in class, Lori has been known to become restless, distracting other students (Hayden, 1981). It is obvious that Lori is bored because she is struggling to absorb the material, let alone identify words. I have also found that she has become the target of ridicule from many of her peers, and is avoided immediately when students are asked to read in groups. This causes Lori to become frustrated and resentful, which is why it is critical that accommodations be developed for her as soon as possible.

Outside of my classroom, I know that Lori is currently working on tactile sensations as a method to become with letters and numbers (Hayden, 1981). She has used blocks and sandpaper in the shapes of the letters in her name to actually feel out the letters. Unfortunately, due to her TBI, she cannot recognize the letters when she is asked to identify them. After a year of working with Torey Hayden with these methods, it may be time to change them and attempt to help Lori through other means. One of these methods could be a digital writing pad hooked up to a computer through a USB port, or depending on the school, a tablet such as an Apple iPad or a Microsoft Surface. There, Lori would be able to use an app to trace letters with her hand or a stylus to familiarize herself with the letters to promote muscle memory. The advantage of the apps would be that they are games, and ideally she would be extrinsically motivated to improve her score.

In the same thread of technology, Lori could use websites like “Eyecanlearn.com” to practice visual discrimination between symbols. This does not have to include numbers and letters. It could begin with matching shapes familiar to the student, like animals, household items, or playground objects. This may help her in visually processing images and symbols before her, ideally establishing new connections in her brain around the cracked and damaged tissues (Morin, 2015).

Due to Lori’s disability, the key to her success is through oral instructions and having her dictate her answers to either me or the special education instructor. Until Lori has some grasp of reading and writing, it is absolutely essential that she continues to receive accommodations for her disability. This could be done by allowing her to step outside of the classroom to speak to the co-teacher, if there is one, or go into a more secluded area in the classroom. A more technology driven approach for an accommodation could be for Lori to utilize a speech-to-text program to write, as well as a text-to-speech application on a computer, with assistance, to help her with her readings (Morin, 2015). The risk with either of these programs is that they are not 100% accurate, and Lori would not be able to check her own work for accuracy. Another issue behind this accommodation would be that Lori will first need to get help from either a teacher or a peer to assist her in opening the program and the reading, due to her disability. There also may be issues with her using the controls for the programs, due to the symbols. Although, if the buttons on the computer were colored, she may be able to use the program without assistance of others.

 Along those same lines, it would be helpful if Lori could also be given a recording device to record class lectures every day(Morin, 2015). This would allow her to review the material gone over in class, rather than relying on notes. Again, it would depend on the use of symbols on the device and whether or not Lori would be able to use them. For assessments, Lori may be able to draw pictures for the answers of questions, such as short answers and essays, which may help her prompt her memory. This may end up becoming more of a modification, as Lori may not be able to draw as accurately what another student may write, but it could help in some way. Finally, if possible, it may be advantageous to use pictures in instructions for worksheets. An example of this is when Hayden gave her a book of science experiments that was designed for students with low reading abilities (Hayden, 1981). It was proven that Lori was able to carry out the experiments this way with minimal assistance.

Overall, a combination of these accommodations may help with Lori’s learning, especially if it is alongside an IEP. However, there are some disadvantages to these strategies as well. The largest disadvantage that Lori would have would be simply be time. Depending on the class’s pace and Lori’s workload in other classes, it could take a considerable amount of time to listen to the assigned readings. This could apply for work at home as well as work in the classroom. Lori should also have a co-teacher in the room so that she would be able to dictate her answers to them for recording. This may be limited depending on the resources of the school. However, this is critical because, as her instructor, I would prefer to listen to her answers when I could give her responses then and there to her answers. An alternative to this would be to allow a trusted peer to read and record her answers for her. This could possibly make her feel more included. The drawback is that she may also feel alienated because of the extra attention. A solution to this could be, as mentioned above, that she could be paired with a responsible peer or placed in a group that works with a special education teacher, rather than Lori and the teacher one-on-one.

On first impression, it may seem to a teacher that Lori is not a high achieving students. However, it is quite the contrary. Lori has proven that in many subjects, when given the right resources, she excels beyond some of her peers. With proper accommodations and time, Lori will go on to be a very successful person. On a personal note, I have now worked with students with very severe dyslexia and while it was not close to Lori’s disability, it did greatly increase the amount of time spent on assignments. However, two of these students in particular are the hardest workers I know, and because of that, were hired to work with me recently at a camp. They were by far the most reliable employees I have ever worked with in a camp. It is because of them that I chose Lori as my subject. Just like my students, Lori’s reading ability very rarely impeded her enthusiasm or ability to get a task finished. It is truly inspirational to see that.

References

·         Arky, B. (2015) Understanding visual processing issues. Understood.org. USA. Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/visual-processing-issues/understanding-visual-processing-issues#item7

·         Hayden, T. L. (1981). Somebody else's kids. New York: Putnam.

·         Morin, A. (2015) Classroom accommodations for visual processing issues. Understood.org. USA Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-visual-processing-issues

IEP's vs 504's

 Both IEPs and 504 plans are made to provide accommodations for students in an academic setting. However, the similarities stop there. An IEP is a specific framework and legally binding paper that dictates the academic goals and both physical and academic accommodations for a student. The student also must have at least one or more disabilities listed in IDEA.
A 504 is made to accommodate a student's physical or cognitive ability in a general classroom setting or school related activity. This document is non-binding and are mostly recommendations to be followed by the teacher to assist in making a student's achievement in school less cumbersome.

A History of Special Education in the United States

As seen above in the timeline, the U.S. Education system has made leaps and bounds in the acceptance and assistance of students in need of both physical and education accommodations. However, as in many things, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done to improve the current system. Skiba, et al. states points out that there are many flaws in the system (2008). The statement is made that often times, students are diagnosed as needing special education when there are other factors in play such as socio-economic status and cultural upbringings. There are also problems in the school themselves, some needing the most amount of funding having more students in need of special education. According to Skiba, et al., this drives the modern inequalities even further.

References

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA). (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2016, from http://www.isbe.net/spec-ed/html/idea.htm

Martin, E., Martin, R., & Terman, D. (1996). The Legislative and Litigation History of Special Education. The Future of Children, 6(1), 25-39. doi:1. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1602492 doi:1

Mead, J. F. (n.d.). Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia. Retrieved July 17, 2016, from http://usedulaw.com/438-mills-v-board-of-education-of-the-district-of-columbia.html

Skiba, Russell J.; Simmons, Ada B.; Ritter, Shana; Gibb, Ashley C.; Rausch, M. Karega; Cuadrado, Jason; Choong-Geun Chung. (Spring 2008).  Achieving Equity in Special Education:  History, Status, and Current Challenges.  Exceptional Children (Vol. 74  Issue 3, p264-288. 25p.)

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2016, from http://www.pilcop.org/pennsylvania-association-for-retarded-citizens-parc-v-commonwealth-of-pennsylvania/

Polleverywhere.com as a Literacy Tool in Class

In terms of learning, the internet is the biggest double-edged sword that we have. The obvious advantage to allowing students to use online texts is the diversity of resources a student may have to learn that topic. A student can supplement a text by following links from an article, looking up a YouTube video to gain a visual, or simply search for another article online for a new explanation. The disadvantage to the internet, as McLaughlin writes in her text, is the massive amounts of data, which is possibly unreliable, that is at a student’s fingertips. As I have seen in class, it is very easy for a student to become overwhelmed and discouraged when confronted with a blank search bar. Part of a student’s technology literacy is that ability to search through a source and to evaluate a source effectively and efficiently for credibility. In my opinion, the best way to do this is through small groups or class discussion, where the students are able to show me and each other some of the “red flags” of questionable articles. This is where I think the website polleverywhere.com would be excellent. With poll everywhere, a student could find an article to share with the class. The article could then be shown on the projector or as a handout, and students could work in groups to decide if an article is based on scientific evidence, opinion, or a combination of the two. They would then ask students to vote, using a text message which is given on a screen, and the students can then watch the answers pop up live on the screen. Each article could be discussed as a class following the poll results. An activity like this could be useful because it would teach students to research articles properly, how to quickly tell if an article is biased, an opinion piece, or founded in scientific evidence, which is an important aspect of today’s technological literacy. If a student is unable to differentiate between fact and opinion efficiently and confidently, it could get them into a lot of trouble. Polleverywhere.com is a great tool for the live polling. However, I have run into problems in the past where students are able to display their interactions anonymously in the classroom. Google Docs have become a medium for “trolling” in my class before, and are now no longer allowed to be used during class time. I could see something similar, although limited to two or three multiple choices. However, if a student is purposefully choosing the wrong answer during class, that could quickly become a problem. I also am hesitant to allow the students to have their phones out during class. That could be a major distraction while the students are trying to work.

Teaching students to use technology PROPERLY!!

When I look at the Maryland standards for technology use, a number of things come to mind. I am lucky enough that our school lends itself to the state’s technology standards more than usual because each student is required to have a personal laptop. A program that I use regularly to integrate learning and positive use of personal technology is Remind.com. Remind is great. It is a program that allows teachers to communicate with students via texts to their phone, but everything is done through the app, which removes the need to exchange personal phone numbers, which in my opinion is unprofessional for a teacher to do. The program on the computer allows you to send messages at specific times, and also allows students to send messages to you, which you can choose to delay receiving during your preferred hours. There is even an option for parents to opt in on the texts from the teachers by scanning a QR code or logging a passcode into their phone. This program allows students to use their phones in a constructive, scheduling manner and prevents them from making excuses about forgetting critical assignments. One challenge that I have with students is their expectation that information should not need to be researched and that it should be instantly easy to find (such as on Wikipedia). Students complain that they cannot find answers to questions, mostly because they type in two or three key words, never phrases, and then give up when they cannot use Wikipedia. Proper research techniques are critical to the success of any modern course, and it is incredibly frustrating to have the students give up so easily. This is where the WebQuests quickly become useful. A WebQuest is a series of questions that lead a student to find resources and then report from those sources on a particular subject. In my class, students would be citing evidence from scientific and technical readings from our subscription based databases such and JSTOR. To do so, they would also have to outline what the papers and journals highlight, ideally using the abstract to gather the most essential information and applying it to the key terms and ideas to class in an abstract manner.

The Return of the Venn Diagram

Text Frames: Cause/Effect, Concept/Definition, Extending Thinking

Strategy: Venn Diagram Graphic Organization (2015, McLaughlin)

         

   This assignment, Tommy decided to focus on the human interactions in all of our readings, so I chose to focus on how the ecosystems interact with each other. This works with well in conjunction with my class’ current subject on water resources, the readings on human and water pollution from Rachel Carson, and the Colinvaux reading on the ocean. This is also a perfect time for a quick recap because the students are a bit checked out at the end of the year, and I think are a bit confused as to where and how these reading fit into their current unit

For my assignment, I decided to use a Venn diagram to join together my readings. A Venn diagram is an excellent method of displaying these interactions and relationships between the readings and the current knowledge that my students are learning. According to McLaughlin, a Venn diagram consists of two or more interlocking circles, each representing a main idea. Where the circles overlap is where the main ideas share common ideas. Outside of the overlap, in a single circle is where ideas unique to a main idea belong (2015). These diagrams have also shown to help with inquiry, summarization and problem solving (2003, Broad). I decided that written Venn diagrams can get messy with crossing out and/or erasing, so a digital medium may suit the students better. This is when I found the site www.creately.com. Creatley is a website that allows students to create different types of graphics and a free account allows up to 5 different graphics to be shared publicly. It has many different templates, but I was easily able to find a Venn diagram with three circles to represent the three ecosystems that I wanted to focus on: humans, terrestrial (land) and ocean. I was able to quickly figure out the controls and easily created a diagram to adequately display my brainstorming. It is an easy enough program that I would be comfortable assigning the students to use this in my lesson.

            My Venn diagram is below:

Readings:

Carson, R. (1962). Chapter 10: Indiscriminately from the Skies and Chapter 12: The Human PriceSilent spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Colinvaux, P. (1978). Why big fierce animals are rare: An ecologist's perspective. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

References

Broad, J.. (2003). The art of Venn!. Teaching Geography, 28(1), 34–35. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23756450

McLaughlin, M. (2015) Content Area Reading:  Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness.  Boston:  Pearson

Guided Reading Activity #3 Consolidating Understanding through Guided Imagery: DVD selection Drawings!

Reading Chapter 12: The Human Price in Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Text Frames: Concept/Definition

Strategy: Guided Imagery (Buehl 2014)

Tommy and I initially discussed using another reading that I have been on the fence about for a while. It was about nitrogenous waste deposition in the Chesapeake Bay. However, that reading has so much integrated ecology information that it requires in-depth prior knowledge that the students wouldn’t necessarily have until much later in my senior class. We decided to take the other reading that I had chosen from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

I chose this reading because it shifts from the environmental perspective to a more human-based approach of pesticide use. It illustrates that often times, something that harms the environment harms our bodies as well. It also explains that long term effects are a distinct possibility and that they have just as dangerous effects on the human body over a longer amount of time. This can sometimes be a very unrealistic scenario to my students.

Buehl describes the Guided Imagery activity as enabling students to mentally visualize their assigned reading and then place it on paper enhance their understanding of the assignment (2014). First, it is suggested that each student is given a small object to look at and then draw to a partner, without telling them what it is. They should be able to do so accurately through their drawing. It is important to write what worked and what did not on the board so that they are able to have a structure for the actual reading exercise. Next, they will take a worksheet (see my drawn example below…excuse the messiness!) and write a “DVD” scene selection using the text that the read the night before. They will also need captions to describe their scenes, using the language that the author uses (2014).

My DVD Scene Selection for Carson's Silent Spring chapter on health effects of pesticides

In the past, I have used drawing images to enhance learning and the students were extremely receptive to it. This reading is difficult to both read and digest because of how grim it is. I think that guided imagery will help to bring a visualization to the information in this final chapter of Silent Spring. Buehl also writes that this activity is for “imagery rich short texts” which this most definitely is (2014). It is important with a reading like this that the students are able to establish a personal connection, as I think it helps then establish how detrimental environmental problems can be to someone’s life. This is a great activity to promote discussion and interpretation of the reading after it is assigned. It will also help them in summarizing the main ideas of a reading with a lot of information. Finally, this activity requires students to use observational skills to accurately and thoroughly explain what they have gathered. This is a tool we are currently working on in my class through field observations.

When I conducted this activity myself, I found myself rereading the chapter sequentially without even realizing that I was doing so. (It was pretty cool!!) I also found that this was the first activity that actually had me doing what the text described, which was to improve my depths of knowledge of the reading through drawing pictures. I am most definitely going to use this for one of my reading activities in my classes!

Buehl, D. (2014). Classroom strategies for interactive learning (4th ed.). Newark, DE. International Reading Association

Guiding Comprehension Overview Blog Post

Text: Colinvaux, P. (1978). Why big fierce animals are rare: An ecologist's perspective. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Text Frames: Cause/Effect and Concept/Definition

Strategy used and resource: Science Connection overview (Buehl 2014)

            Out of the long list of guiding comprehension activities in our text, the natural choice for my next assignment was the science connection overview (Buehl 2014). This strategy involves having the students work with a partner to preview a chapter and fill out a worksheet by first writing down the words and phrases that seem familiar to them. They then look for material that has already been covered and take notes on that. Using the past two questions and what they have picked up in the skimming, they then formulate questions that may be answered in the text. Finally, they predict what the author will try to convey in the reading. This strategy is great for difficult readings and, depending on how the class receives this activity for Why Big Fierce Animals are Rare, I may use the same activity for peer-reviewed journals as well.

I am excited to use this strategy in the upcoming assignment of this particular reading, mostly because the students were given a previous chapter from this book and struggled with it. The chapter is focused on the ocean, and while it gives great examples of why the ocean is a less efficient ecosystem than a terrestrial system, the author assumes that the reader has a good grasp on basic ecology at this point in the book (it is chapter 9). Before reading, the activity required me to skim through the chapter to look for phrases and ideas that were familiar to me before I read the chapter. Quickly looking through the paragraphs, I jotted down anything that my students have already covered this year. Even doing that, had me less nervous about assigning this reading. Next, without going back to the text, I used the previous questions to formulate what questions this chapter may be asking. This is interesting because if there are some questions that students ask that are not answered in the chapter, we may be able to have an extended discussion for deeper learning. Finally, I took a guess as to what the author may try to answer in the ten pages of the chapter.

When I finally go to reading the chapter, I was able to organize my thoughts and was able to highlight much more efficiently than when I had read previous chapters from this book. I think that I would like to do this activity in class and then assign the reading for home, and ask for annotations. A follow up discussion could be framed around whether or not students’ questions were answered and whether or not their predictions were correct about the author.

Below are the science connection questions and the notes I took before reading.

What’s familiar? Skim the chapter for things that are familiar and that connect with your life and world.

•  Deserts have low nutrients
• Calories
• Productivity
• Measuring plant tissue
•  Nutrient cycles
• Dams
• Pollution
•  Rule of tens
• Food chains
• Overfishing

What topics are covered? After skimming, what seem to be the main ideas of this reading?

• ·         Productivity in the ocean
• ·         Nutrients in the ocean

What are you wondering? What questions do you have about the material that may be answered in the chapter?

• ·         Why aren’t there a lot of nutrients in the ocean?
• ·         Where do the nutrients come from?
• ·         How does the sea life get the few nutrients?
• What will the author tell you? What is the structure of this reading?
• ·         Ocean is a desert
• ·         There is not a lot of plant life
• ·         Nutrient cycles in the ocean
• ·         Humans taking food from ocean is bad

Buehl, D. (2014). Classroom strategies for interactive learning (4th ed.). Newark, DE. International Reading Association

Save the Last Word for Me

Text: Chapter 10: Indiscriminately from the Skies in Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Engagement Strategy: Save the Last Word for Me
Resource: McLaughlin, M. (2015) Content Area Reading:  Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness.  Boston:  Pearson

The text I chose for this assignment was roughly 8 pages from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The chapter is titled “Indiscriminately from the Skies”, and describes the broadcasting of DDT via retired WWII planes. I chose this reading for a number of reasons. First, Carson’s writing style is extremely clear. She does not bog down the reader with technical terms and when anything is mentioned that involves a deeper understanding, she makes sure to explain it in a few sentences. On a personal note, I believe this was the reason that Silent Spring became such an incredibly popular book upon its release. Regarding the particular chapter, the theme goes from explaining how the DDT was broadcasted to a brief history of how gypsy moths arrived and spread to the US, and then finishes with the effects of the DDT in New York. In 8 pages, it covers a large amount of information that the students have learned about in my class. It is also the text that some say started the outcry to form the EPA, which adds a huge historical component to the reading as well.
For an engagement strategy, I will be using the “Save the Last Word for Me” activity. In this activity the students will write a passage from their reading and the page number on the front of an index card. On the back they write why this quote stood out to them and what it means to them. When they get to class, they will get into small groups (four or five) (2015 McLaughlin). One student will begin and read their chosen quote. After that, each student around the table will explain their thoughts on the quote. Finally, the student that started reads their written thoughts on the back of the card. I would add extra time at the end of each student’s round so that they can compare their written thoughts to those of the groups. I would then have the students share any interesting occurrences with the rest of the class to wrap up the period.
 I chose this particular activity because there are a few components that add to successful comprehension of this reading. First, each student is asked to share with each other in small groups. This adds an extra aspect of motivation to the assignment, so that students do not let their peers down by skipping the assignment. Also, while in small groups, they may be more comfortable sharing with only a few students rather than the entire class which can promote the exchanging of ideas. Finally, it may allow for students to clarify sections of the reading that one of their peers did not understand.

My Literary Infographic! (Zoom in to see all the details)

Loading...

Mini-Research Project: An Analysis of Critical Thinking in STEM Classes

Link to presentation: http://prezi.com/hpziypt9owqn/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

An Analysis of Critical Thinking in STEM Classes

Ted Watson

Stevenson University

Abstract

 This study is an analysis of critical thinking skills in 9th grade science and recommendations for improvement regarding enthusiasm and skills in critical thinking. Thirty students’ tests regarding STEM-themed knowledge, using a mixture of selected response and open-ended questions, allowed for analysis of Critical Thinking skills.  A formative assessment was administered to students to gain insight in the topic of critical thinking. A description of critical thinking questions was included with the assessment to bring clarity to the subject in question. The results of both the test results and the formative assessment show no strong opinions either for or against critical thinking problems. Upon analysis, recommendations have been made to implement a section of curriculum devoted to critical thinking and analysis skills to encourage use and enthusiasm for real-life scenarios in the classroom. 

Introduction

Critical thinking can be defined as using intellect to synthesize and extrapolate into a concepts that are of “a higher order and abstract nature.” (Shaw 2014). Critical thinking in the classroom removes the single correct answer and demands that students use their knowledge to create a solution on their own that best suits a scenario. Dr. John Barell writes that it is a 21^st century skill, because problems that arise in everyday life and in careers hardly ever have a single, concrete answer (2010). By teaching students to look for an answer in an unconventional manner, teachers are preparing students to be creative and effective when a challenge arises. It is a life skill as much as an academic one. Students can do this by raising questions, gathering information, analyzing their research and then communicating that research to others (Scott, 2008). This can be related to the scientific process, but also applied to producing factual reports and solutions.

During my last three years of teaching, there has been one stand-out problem that I have encountered over and over again: lack of critical thinking. When I present a class with open-ended questions, more often than not I am met with groans and blank stares, regardless of what grade it is. The students get flustered and say things like "Why can't there just be one answer?" or "Can't you just tell me what it is?" They continue a downward spiral when I explain to them that there is no single answer, and that it is a matter of research and opinion.

Problem solving in open-ended situations is something that my 9^th and 11^th graders often face as new things in my class. An example of this is a recent project I gave my seniors. The scenario was as follows:

You have been contacted by a lawyer from northwest Vermont stating that a long-lost relative has willed you their dairy farm. Regardless of your desire to keep the farm, the lawyer has stated that there is a dangerously eutrophic pond on the property. The pond is at risk of flooding and running into Lake Champlain via a nearby river, and will be subject to enormous fines and penalties if it does. Your task is the following: using the chart below, develop a plan to contain, clean up and prevent future eutrophication to avoid penalties. You may use your text and research methods of clean up and testing for lake health.

This was a "group quiz" where the students were asked to work in pairs to use their knowledge of our last unit on pollution and pollution management to come up with a strategy to fix their farm. After the students had read the directions, the blank stares and push-back started with statements like "but this wasn't in the book!" and "I can't find anything online that can help with this assignment!"

Research question: What is students’ level of enthusiasm for critical thinking and how can that enthusiasm increase in the classroom and in work?

Variables Measured: The study will also analyze student’s scores in the critical thinking (open-ended and ill-defined problems on the test) as a gauge of critical thinking skills in the 9th grade science class. The study will also analyze student’s enthusiasm for critical thinking problems, as gathered from a Likert scale self-assessment.

Controls: Interviews and self-assessment questionnaire with the instructor(s) to gauge the amount of open-ended questions and critical thinking skills that are promoted in class. Analysis of the exact same test in two different classes (same 9th grade science course taught by 2 different teachers).

No control group will be used.

Sample size: 30 students

Data Collection

Thirty (30) tests were collected from two different classes. The test was a summative assessment focused on lab design in the “Doing Science” section of a 9^th grade Introduction to STEM course. It contained mostly short answer questions with a few multiple response in the middle of the test. The short answer were ordered in a manner that asked for a single answer for the first question, and ended with open questions at the end of the section, asking students to extrapolate on the information they had learned previously.

            The open-ended questions were analyzed for accuracy in the students’ ability to correctly answer what was asked of them. Out of a percentage scale, it was found that the average score was a 9/15, or a 60%.

Immediately following the test, students were asked to fill out this self-assessment:

Directions: Place a check mark in the box that best describes YOUR opinion. There is no right or wrong answer, so please answer truthfully!

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
1. I enjoy questions that do not have a single, concrete answer
2. I feel frustrated when I encounter a question on a test that I have not seen in my book or in class
3. I feel challenged by questions that do not have a single correct answer
4. I find an open-ended question helpful when they have related questions preceding it

Figure 1. Self-Assessment given to the students after their test.

Results and Discussion:

The data was answered as follows:

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Question 1	4	18	7	1
Question 2	2	4	9	15
Question 3	0	0	19	11
Question 4	2	9	11	8

            Through the responses to the self-assessment, it is clear that a majority of the students do not enjoy open-ended questions. Common responses when asked why were: “I just want to study a definition and write it down” and “it makes me think too much during the test”. Interviews with the instructors indicated that there is not curriculum in place to promote or explain why it is important to use critical thinking in the classroom, on tests, or while learning the required concepts.

Figure 2. Bar graph depicting responses to the self-assessment

There are a few different reasons that could explain the outcome of this data. First, I realize that at this age, cognitive development can differ from student to student, which means that some students will have to work very hard to take an abstract scenario on paper and apply concepts from earlier in the week to solve an issue. This is especially true of 9^th graders. The next issue that could be conflicting with this type of question could be a lack in practice in this type of question. Second, it became very apparent from the interviews with the two teachers that there has been almost no preparation in regards to answering critical thinking problems, be it in formal instruction or graded assignments.

Suggestions for Improvement

            There are a number of solutions that stem from the data and information collected. First, it is important to implement a lesson or lessons devoted to instructing students on how to solve critical thinking problems. Possible methods for instruction can be carried out by providing a flowchart (Barell, 2010) or framework (Scott, 2008) to guide students through the somewhat daunting idea of addressing an open-ended question. Along with this, the same Likert scale assessment given previously to the Introduction to STEM class could be issued by the teacher to re-assess the class in order to gauge possible changes in the students’ attitudes towards critical thinking. In a model based off of SUNY Binghamton, feedback from the self-assessments could be analyzed by the department and assignments can be adjusted to prepare students more effectively for critical thinking scenarios using a flowchart to efficiently go through steps for improvement (McKitrick and Barnes, 2012). Also possible is a project for the students to work on where they address a current issue in today’s world that can be solved using concepts learned in their STEM class.  Ideally, students can pick their own subjects to ensure enthusiasm for the project (Barell 2010).

Conclusion

Critical thinking is an essential part of success in modern society. However, students are disheartened by the amount of work involved in successfully answering critical thinking problems. My survey found that students are not very successful, nor enthusiastic about the concept of open-ended, critical thinking problems in the classroom. To counteract this lack of enthusiasm, it is important to formally teach these students the both the proper way and importance of answering critical thinking problems so that they are prepared for real-world scenarios and their future careers.

References

Anonymous and Anonymous (per interview request), personal communication. March 3, 2016

Barrel, J. (2010). Problem-based learning: The foundation for 21^s century skills. In Bellanca, J. & Brandt, R. (Eds.), 21^st century skills: Rethinking how students learn. Bloomingon, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Mckitrick, S.A. & Barnes., S.M. (2012). Assessment of Critical Thinking: An Evolutionary Approach. Journal of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness, 2(1), 1–29. http://doi.org/10.5325/jasseinsteffe.2.1.0001

Scott, S. (2008). Perceptions of Students' Learning Critical Thinking through Debate in a Technology Classroom: A Case Study. The Journal of Technology Studies, 34(1), 39–44. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43604224

Shaw, R. D. (2014). How Critical Is Critical Thinking? Music Educators Journal, 101(2), 65-70 DOI: 10.1177/0027432114544376