SciTech 9th Grade
From Pblwiki
SciTech 9th Grade
Contents |
Team Members
| Name | Subject |
|---|---|
| Elizabeth Lonnecker | English |
| Kara Potter | Math |
Projects
Students start the semester learning about themselves. The focus is on their own thinking, feeling, and learning in different life situation as they study and write about books and articles. The second part of the year turns to more teen issues and students take a leadership role in training younger students how to deal with teen issues.
As a small school, SciTech focuses on science and technology across all subjects. This project incorporates statistical analysis of scientific research found in related articles, as well as the use of technology at all stages of the project. Students will use laptop computers to research and create presentations, reports, and brochures. As a small school, SciTech is also focused on getting to know students on a personal level and allowing them to realize that what they do individually is important, and this project supports that small schools goal.
Students will work in groups to prepare their final exhibition. They will chose a prevention topic (pregnancy, depression, cutting, etc), write a lesson plan and presentation and create a brochure on their topic. Their projects will be targeted at a middle school age audience.
Curriculum Map
[Click here to view curriculum map]
Blog
Summer Institute Update
Insert Blog Entry
Media:SciTech_TeenIssues_FinalPresentation.ppt
First Quarter Update
1. What challenges did you encounter while trying to launch the project? If the project hasn’t begun: What challenges are you expecting to encounter as you prepare to launch the project?
Challenges we have encountered include: guest speaker cancellation the day before the presentation (without rescheduling) running out of time getting everything in that we planned realization that we'd like some way to link our separate units about "me" into a culminating project for 1st semester figuring out how to coordinate our lessons between math and English, perticularly because not all of our students have both of us
2. How did you overcome the challenges? If the project hasn’t begun: How do you expect to overcome the challenges?
Guest speaker - working with other people, trying to figure out who's going to keep the schedule and make an impact on the students. Time - just plugging along cutting things that are less important and trying to fit in as much as possible. 1st semester project - working together as teachers to plan something (still in progress).
3. What revisions have you made to the project since the Summer Institute?
We've decided to create a first semester project. We've rearranged the order of units. We've solidified lessons based on students' levels and class dynamics.
4. Summer Institute participants: What is it like working with your PBL team?
Wonderful! We love each other. We haven't spent as much time together as we would have liked. Finding time to meet has been a bit of a challenge.
5. Has the plan for the Culminating Event/Public Exhibition changed? If, yes, please explain.
Not yet. Plans are going ahead to visit and present to Rosevelt. Initial contact has been made, and they're planning on having us.
6. What has been the students’ response to the project?
They are really interested in the subject matter. They also really feel how much their teachers care about them and their life learning (not just their academic learning).
2 more photos coming on Thursday 11/13
Second Quarter Update
1. What are your doing to address the diverse needs of your classrooms of diverse students? We scaffold assignments so that difficult tasks are broken into manageable steps. Also, we incorporate a wide range of activities into our lessons so that all different learning styles are addressed. Some examples include: pair-shares, power point presentations, gallery walks, forced choice, jigsaws, role-plays and group work.
2. What do students say have been the most difficult parts of the project?
The writing assignments that require students to understand and explain abstract concepts have been the most difficult activities so far. We have been working with current articles from a variety of sources, such as Forbes magazine and The New York Times, and some students have struggled with the reading level and the content of this material.
3. What are the students doing that demonstrates to you that they are also having fun while working on this project?
The topics that we cover are relevant to the student's lives and we do a variety of different activities, so there is a high level of student engagment. Also, the students are making connections between the lessons and their own lives, and some of them are actually starting to apply these concepts-like making weekly goals- to their own lives.
4. Of the 6 A’s, which one has been the most difficult to incorporate into the project?The most difficult concept to address has definitely been "Active Exploration". The way that we envisioned meeting this goal was to make it into a career exploration type of activity that would relate to our course topics. That has turned out to be a much bigger undertaking than we thought, and we have not been able to do it along with all the other components that we have to cover.
4A. What are you doing to solve the difficulties encountered with incorporating that particular A? We are changing our focus and starting to plan activities that enhance our student's understanding of the concepts that we have covered, instead of trying to include career exploration along with it. Finding places to go that correlate with our lessons has also been challenging.
Third Quarter Update
Insert Blog Entry
Final Update
Teacher Reflection
This project signaled my return to science teaching in a partnership with our art teacher, Jeff Robin. The project allowed me to improve upon my early attempts, long ago, to have students create multimedia projects in science. Additionally, I delivered traditional science instruction and assessment through lecture, weekly tests, lab dissection of a fetal pig and cat, a midterm, and a final. The combination of traditional and project-based instruction offered both the breadth and depth required for college level science. Knowing that the art would be exhibited at a gallery served as excellent motivation for the students, and the well attended event was a community showcase for the school.
Student Reflection
My classmates and I didn't just learn the crude essentials to create a movie, or learn the rules of mixing and conserving paint. We learned about the astounding life that blood brings to society. It travels through our heart, oxygenates our brains and bodies, protects us from disease, simply keeping us alive. At the same time, we had the oppurtunity to share its message with our community. Without it we cannot strive, live, or even have the oppurtunity to give. When there are flaws, we have epidemics such as AIDs, or leukemia, or anemia. At the same time, blood is prevelant in entertainment. Without so much as a drop in action or horror movies, there would be no Hollywood. This oppurtunity was nothing like I have ever had, and looking back, it was the most work, but the most fulfilling project I've done in high school.
