February 9, 2011
On The Joys of Lesson Planning, and other things:
Planning lessons with very clear objectives, that offer information presented clearly enough to overcome the language barrier here, and that are also engaging and light-hearted and fun is something toward which I find myself devoting more and more time. I'm teaching 9th and 10th grade Biology now, following a list of learning standards that I've pulled together from US A– state education standards, GCSE, and the AP and SAT II-Biology* tests (*Both Ecology and Molecular SAT II-Biology subject tests.) Fortunately I also have a few fairly good textbook resources here, (one edition with enough copies for each student to have his/her own text! What a relief!) and I've found a few helpful online resources too (thank you, Mrs. Dempsey!) But I am still working to find the right equation of lecture-based instruction and interaction in my classes.
I feel a personal pressure to consistently bring an entertaining physical demonstration into each lecture, which requires a bit of resourcefulness and scheming, as our lab equipment has not yet materialized. (More on that later.) But no amount of demonstration and “edu-tainment” can overcome the fact that our students must learn to read, first, and then learn how to read science texts, before they can have any hope of performing well on standardized science tests like the SAT subject tests.
My current teaching formula is this: Assign several readings from the text book each week, requiring students to submit written responses to critical-thinking questions based on the readings. These written responses must be presented with grammatical polish up to my (subjective!) standards, or will lose points. (The grading-time required to enforce this is always longer than I would like, but is probably worthwhile?) Then in class we will re-read certain important and difficult sections together, pulling out the information by defining each new word, and drawing relevant sketches and diagrams. I include walking-fieldtrips to places around campus, or demonstrations when I can think of them, and pull in readings from other sources, worksheets, or hands-on group activities as I find them. I hold vocabulary quizzes weekly – for words clearly biology-based, yes, but often general words too.
From student assessment so far it seems my kids have learned a few things. Maybe even a lot of things. The 9th graders, only into their 4th week of science, never having had a science class before – can explain what an atom is with its 3 subatomic parts, they will tell you how atoms are aggregate into elements, how combining atoms chemically creates molecules, and will explain the types of chemical bonds that hold these molecules together. They will explain how the periodic table is arranged, and can recite 8 of its elements with their symbols and atomic numbers. They know about isotopes and ions, they know the fundamental chemical properties of water, and how that relates to the pH scale. Next we are moving on to the chemistry of carbon – so that we will understand why biologists say that all life on earth is carbon-based.
The 10th grade students have already had a full year of physics, and a semester of chemistry, so I introduced them to biology with a unit on environmental ecology. Having progressed through the standard topics under that umbrella – everything from ecosystems to nutrient cycles to population growth, in sufficient detail as to cover SAT II standards, I think – we are now zooming in for a close-up unit on cells, the biochemistry of carbon-based macromolecules, cell membranes and the associated concepts of diffusion, osmosis, active transport, and will soon move into the idea of energy synthesis.
As I keep pushing through this, creating a curriculum as I go, I would appreciate input and ideas from anyone out there – hardcore scientists, intrepid educators, and anyone with a random idea about how to convey Bio concepts in a meaningful way – please write!
Lab Equipment: I'm finalizing the orders! But putting together a list of basic lab needs was both easier and more difficult than I had expected. On the one hand, there are many resources online from the world's premier sources of technical equipment as to the basic stock lists of any lab. On the other hand, how do I anticipate the quantities of specific chemicals to order for our purposes? How regularly will we be able to expect re-stocking shipments? And another question – do I trust the whole-saler/general distributor in Dubai who offers equipment from India at an unbelievably cheap rate, or do stick with another highly-trusted but much more expensive Western-based company? The western-based company has a branch specifically for Africa, but they have been a bit more difficult to work with – in terms of email responses and arranging shipping logistics – than the Dubai firm.
So I'm going to work with both sides: chemicals from the western-based corporation, and nearly everything else from Dubai/India. Buying from the distributor in Dubai means that each item costs literally 1/10 – or less – than it would from the Western supplier. The reasons behind that cost difference merit a discussion all their own – in the style of the MBA classes I'm auditing as part of Abaarso Tech's Executive MBA program.
*Brief Chicken-Coop update: Now 10 baby chicks. Have assigned students the jobs of chicken-coop care. Investigating ways to keep jealous and aggressive hens from pecking at each-other's young, would value suggestions on that.
*New project on my horizon: Organizing a Spring Open House for AT. My students need an audience for their science fair, and have so much more to showcase in the way of academic skills – Quran-recitation, Debate, Academic Quiz Bowl, and athletic talent – that I think we need a day in which to allow them to share all of these skills they've been developing with such verve. I think we also need every opportunity we can get to invite the Somaliland public into our school, to see what we do, and get to know our staff as well as our students. So in short, the idea of a science-fair has grown into a vision for a full Open House, an afternoon for families and students.
The main logistical hurdle I foresee: communicating this vision effectively between the school's parent committee/Board of Directors, staff, and students to organize the event. Even without a language barrier, and even while living in such close-quarters with one's coworkers here, we find that open communication isn't always a natural step. Every day it seems I am sensitized to more ways in which the slightest nuance in communication can lead to either great synergy or alienation that requires much work to undo.
So I hope that in each step of organizing this event I can keep all parties communicating openly, eyes focused on our common goal. Which is really the challenge of our whole mission out here: looking beyond the many obstacles of living in this developing place to stay focused on what really matters – the students, the people we are working for, and building an educational establishment here.
1 comment:
My grandfather had a chicken breeding farm that I considered home whilst being raised there and several other places. It was a commercial/research operation but may have some lessons for your bird raising.
The agression you describe varies with the breed. White Leghorns were very aggressive,even to the point of being cannibalistic. With Rhode Island Red chickens it was not a problem. However, our hens never met their progeny. Likely made for neurotic hens but it saved eggs and peeps. The eggs were removed within hours of being layed and were placed in an incubator until they hatched. The peeps were then kept in a warm "brooder house" (under a radiant hood until they began to explore outside it on their own. The chickens were raised in cohorts so they were all the same age and size all the time.
Perhaps a bit of a biology class! And, the eggs that are squibs are lab experiments. We eventually developed the presently most common breed in the world, the White America, for the government of Brazil but it has become the leading breed throughout N. America and Europe. It was a cross between a Barred Rock (a gray and white striped bird) and a New Hampshire Red (a solid red bird). After a few generations they were pure white. I do not know what Mengel would have thought about that. Perhaps another bio experiment.
See, I do know something other than old airplane engines.
Bill
Post a Comment