I think student teams are a great idea. The reason why I like doing group projects is because it makes the students learn to work together which is something they are going to need before entering the real world. Also, by having them present their findings to the class they are working on another key skill, presenting and talking in front of larger groups. Any student that is college bound will definitely need to practice these skills!
I'm glad that you found the short readings in the writing activities useful. You point out two effective ways to use writing in your science classroom. Have you thought about how you might capitalize on the writing process in your class--in other words how to use writing to facilitate thought rather than to just present it. Using writing to present what we know is useful. We just don't want it to be the only way we use writing. Writing is an excellent way for students to make their thought visible--to uncover thoughts they may not have known they had had they no written it down. Additionally, if a teacher creates a process-oriented writing environment, writing can be used to identify student misconceptions--which can be especially useful in science.
After reading about how we more likely to get into writing when it has meaning to us, did you reflect and notice that when we are passionate or interested in a topic we seem to ramble on when typing something up. I have definitely seen myself do it in some assignments within the classes so far. Will lab reports be appealing right away to students? Or will they need to learn how they are useful and helpful first?
I think student teams are a great idea. The reason why I like doing group projects is because it makes the students learn to work together which is something they are going to need before entering the real world. Also, by having them present their findings to the class they are working on another key skill, presenting and talking in front of larger groups. Any student that is college bound will definitely need to practice these skills!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found the short readings in the writing activities useful.
ReplyDeleteYou point out two effective ways to use writing in your science classroom. Have you thought about how you might capitalize on the writing process in your class--in other words how to use writing to facilitate thought rather than to just present it. Using writing to present what we know is useful. We just don't want it to be the only way we use writing. Writing is an excellent way for students to make their thought visible--to uncover thoughts they may not have known they had had they no written it down. Additionally, if a teacher creates a process-oriented writing environment, writing can be used to identify student misconceptions--which can be especially useful in science.
After reading about how we more likely to get into writing when it has meaning to us, did you reflect and notice that when we are passionate or interested in a topic we seem to ramble on when typing something up. I have definitely seen myself do it in some assignments within the classes so far.
ReplyDeleteWill lab reports be appealing right away to students? Or will they need to learn how they are useful and helpful first?