Final presentation-Teaching student with L.D.

Here is my final presentation in power point.
I do learned a lot about special needs through this lifelong learning researching and reading. There are so many scenarios in classroom beyond what I can imaging. There are endless strategies we need to learn and to apply at right time to the right student. I think it will take practice (experience) to apply different strategies to different circumstances, to get it become second nature.
http://portal.sliderocket.com/AIVBH/Teaching-Student-with-LD_4

LEARNERS FIRST BLOG PRESENTATION

FOR MY VIRTUAL PRESENTATION, I DECIDED TO PREPARE A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION THAT SUMMARIZES MY RESEARCH AND BLOGS.  FOR THE RECORD, I PUT FUN ANIMATIONS IN THE PRESENTATION THAT DO NOT TRANSFER UNLESS I APPARENTLY PAY ONLINE SUBSCRIPTIONS.  MAYBE SOMEDAY....

PLEASE FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING LINK....

ENJOY....

http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=learnersfirstblogpresentation-101124195927-phpapp02&stripped_title=learners-first-blog-presentation-5897254&userName=MBernadette

Science and standardized testing blog 8

Here is a link to my final presentation which I created with Prezi. I really learned a lot about standardized testing and how it relates to teaching science. I also learned a lot about how to use technology in teaching eventhough I fought change every step of the way! I now have a better understanding of what it takes to change a current way of thinking!

teaching student with AD/HD-lab

I was always fascinated by story about how students with ADD, ADHD success in learning. Especially science with lots of lab experiments. Keep in mind that these students are most of time restless, even have trouble remain seated, short attention span, easy to be distracted interrupt others, difficulty to follow instruction. Since inclusive teaching , no child left behind, and IEP programs is in practice. I think it will be useful if we learn some techniques to help ADHD students. this website provide lots of strategies for teacher to use. some are very similar to other general strategies to general disability students, some are specifically designed for ADHD students. Some of the techniques include: be flexible to the planned activities so that less difficulty exercises can be directed with similar learning goals; providing AD/HD students a visual model and a verbal description of directions; starting lab with some questions or activities that normally student can accomplish so that ADHD student gain confidence; giving AD/HD student extra assistance to make sure all students comprehend the instructions before beginning their tasks; help them feel comfortable to ask for assistance ; modify assignments as needed; since AD/HD are easily frustrated, when an experiment does not turn out as expected, stress and fatigue may lead to poor behavior. We need to make sure they understand it is common in science that experiment does not always end as expected. As always, extra patient and work is required to work with special needs.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/faq/science.html

teaching student with behavioral disorder

Teaching student with behavioral disorder----in group activity and discussion

Behavioral disorders is caused by some sort of mental health issue. The population of students with behavioral disorder is substantial, that is 2-6% in K-12. In the science classroom, we need to be prepared. Some examples of behavioral disorder behaves are: initiating and reacting aggressively towards others, bullying, lack of feeling guilt, destruction. In researching some strategies in teaching science to students with behavioral disorders, I find this website to be very useful. http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/behavior.html#sect1
Group interaction and discussion is a big part of a science class. Managing behavioral disorder individual become a big part effective teaching. Here are some strategies discussed: acknowledge the contributions from emotional disorder students; encourage the student to be a group spokesperson; gradually increase the challenges in the student's participation in group exercises while providing increased positive reinforcement; sometime they may experience social strain adjustment in a group context, it may be necessary to work gradually toward group activities; ensure that the normal students do not dominate the discussion or detract in any way from the successful performance of the behavioral disorder student. This all sounds theoretically reasonable. no doubt the disorder individual will benefit from it, but in reality, how to make balance on both normal disorder student get fair attention might be tricky. It takes practice, I guess.

teaching science with technology to students with LD

To prepare student ready for the 21st century, more and more technology are being used in the classroom. Teaching science is not exceptional. This present both opportunities and challenges to students with a broad range of abilities and disabilities. Specifically, I learned a few opportunity to apply technologies in the classroom to accommodate student’s specific disability to gain knowledge:
1.student with visual problem may have trouble reading standard text or viewing graphic images. In this case, large print would help. So access to adaptive technology such as computer that provides enlarged print will be useful.
2.student with hearing issues may need presentations and instructions with FM system; interpreter; printed materials; facing student for lip reading or sign language interpreter.
3.student with specific learning disability may have difficult to understand concepts. Accommodated with visual, aural, and tactile demonstrations incorporated into instruction will be necessary or extra time and access to materials via a computer equipped with speech and large print output and Internet access.
4.student who has difficulty taking notes in class because of mobility or visual impairment can be accommodated with in-class access to a computer with adaptive technology and a word processor.
5.student with difficulty to see demonstrations; viewing lab experiments because they are seating in a wheelchair can be accommodated with adjustable-height tables and flexible seating arrangements.
6.student who has difficulty: completing an assignment or lab because of a health impairment can be accommodated with: flexible scheduling arrangements.
7. for student who has difficulty to do research, information accessible on computer (e.g., disk, Internet) with adaptive technology can be helpful.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/faq/science.html

Science and standardized testing blog 7

There are many concerns about standardized testing that people have. These concerns are nothing new to education, but with the NCLB act in place more people are speaking out about standardized testing's failures. To be fair I am also looking at the pro arguments of standardized testing.

Positives of Standardized tests:

practical

• less time consuming
• easier to administer
• easier to grade
• easier to track progress of students by group and subject

objective

• A machine is unbiased towards the test taker

Negatives of Standardized Tests:

Bias

• tests are biased in favor of students whose culture and upbringing closely resemble that of the test makers: white middle class males

over all purpose

• to rank students, teachers, and schools
• requirement to label successes and failures
• measure learning in just a small time frame

references: http://homepage.eircom.net/~seaghan/articles/10.htm

https://www.msu.edu/~youngka7/testing.html

Higher Education in Science and Engineering

I have spent a lot of time researching why other countries have higher academic achievement than the United States. My research focused on Elementary, Junior High, and High School.  In researching the topic a little further, I stumbled upon the following website:

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c2/c2s4.htm#c2s4l1

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics
Science and Engineering Indicators–2002
Arlington, VA (NSB 02-01) [April 2002

In the website there were many interesting and eye-opening charts and graphs.  Figure 2-25, below blew my mind.  We know that we don't do as well at many other countries, but we are extremely below the curve when it comes to university degrees in science as compared to Asia and Europe. 

What is interesting, however, and perhaps a saving grace, or saving face... is it seems the United States gains a little when it comes to a Doctoral degree, as the following graph demonstrates:

These graphs create a lot of speculation and wonder.  Why does Europe have so many natural science degrees?  Asia seems to be behind in social and behavioral sciences.  Why would this be?

The website cited a disturbing trend of a declining interest in the United States to study engineering and physical science.   From the years 1975 to 1998, about 33% of all bachelors degrees were for science and engineering degrees.   In comparison an average 40% of all bachelors degrees in Europe and Asia were for science and engineering degrees. 

We have a uphill battle, but with new methods for teaching and a slowly changing attitude toward higher learning and math and science, I believe the United States can achieve academic excellence.

Standardized Testing in the Science Classroom Blog 6

Race to the top is a $4.35 billion competative grant authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to encourage and reward states implementing comprehensive refoms across four key areas as described in the ARRA:

1. Adopting standards and assessments that prepare sutdents for success in college and the workplace
2. Recruiting, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals
3. Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and prinicpals how they can improve their practices
4. Turning around the lowest-performing schools

Race to the Top has and overarcdhing goal of:

• Driving substantial gains in student achievement
• Improving high school graduation and college enrollment
• Narrowing achievement gaps

Time line for the Race to the Top

Phase 1

January 19, 2010 application deadline for phase 1

April 2010 winners announced for phase 1 and feedback provided to applicants who do not win

Phase 2

June 1, 2010 application deadline for phase 2

September 2010 winners announced for phase 2

Winners of the grant have 4 years to spend down the grants. Winners are also required to submit a yearly report to the Secretary of the Department of Education describing how the grant money is being used.

resources: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/faq.pdf

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index/html

Standardized Testing in the Science Classroom Blog 5

Pros and Cons of NCLB
In 2006 Lihshing Wang along with a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati brought a third eveidence based perspective to the debate of NCLB that was published in a peer reviewed journal. They looked at four issues:assessmentpdriven reform, standards-based assessment, assessment-centered accountability, and high-stakes consequences. I will look at two of the four issues.
Pro arguments for assessment-driven reform point out the need to counter the declining trends in SAT and ACT scores of American students, also pointing out our poor standings in international rankings as found in the TIMSS study. Assessment-driven reform can be a powerful driving force between curriculum and reform.
Con arguments for assessment-driven reform point out that the decline in SAT scores during the 1970's and 1980's are a result of more students taking the test than in the past not because of perfomance factors. They also point out that there was an upward trend in scores during the 1990's and 2000's. Fault is place on "the fundamental mis design of schools, lack of qualified teachers and the instability of families and communities."
Pro arguments for Assessment-centered accountability point out that standardized testing is the best alternative available to compare student perfomance across the educational sytem.
Con arguments for assessment-centered accountability argue that important learning outcomes are not being measured with the current standards testing. They would like to see a variety of sources to measure student performance. It is also pointed out that the current standardized tests measure little more than a student's SES.
references http://nces,ed.gov/timss/
http://www.ernweb.com/public/892.cfm

Science and standardized testing blog 4

For this blog I am looking at the Assessment Framework for Science, a portion of the WKCE test. The Assessment Framework for Science is derived from Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards for Science. The Assessment Framework is a resource to ensure your curriculum includes the knowledge base measured by the WKCE. The state of Wisconsin tests their sutdent in grades 4, 8, and 10 with this science framework. The test itself is 80% selected response, multiple-choice, and 20% constructed response.
There are 8 reporting categories for the WKCE science framework, which are also the same 8 categories included in the Science Content and Performance Standards outlined by the WI Model Academic Standards for Science. With each of the 8 standards I have included an example standard for each from the 8th grade level.
A. Science Connections

• A.8.1 Develop their understanding of teh science themes by using the themes to frame questions about science-related issues and problems

B. Nature of Science

• B.8.1 Describe how scientific knowledge and concepts have changed over time in the earth and space, life and environmental, and physical sciences

C. Science Inquiry

• C.8.1 Identify questions they can investigate using resources and equipment they have available

D. Physical Science

• D.8.1 Observe, describe, and measure physical and chemical properties of elements and other substances to identify and group them according to properites such as density, melting points, boiling points, conductivity, magnetic attraction, solubility, and reactions to common physical and chemical tests

E. Earth and Space Science

• E.8.1 Using the science themes, explain and predict changes in major features of land, water and atomspheric systems

F. Life and Environmental Science

• F.8.1 Understand the structure and funciton of cells, organs, tissues, organ systems, and whole organisms

G. Science Applications

• G.8.1 Identify and investigate the skills people need for a career in science or technology and identify the academic courses that a person pursuing such a career would need

H. Science in Social and Personal Prospectives

• H.8.1 Evaluate the scientific evidence used in various media ( for example, television, radio, internet, popular press, and scientific journals) to address a social issue, using criteria of accuracy, logic, bias, relevance of data, and credibility of source

The framework can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/oea/wkce.html

What does a research based classroom look like? final blog

My final presentation is a shared google presentation and it is located here.

Please review and let me know your thoughts on what I found during my research.

Management in a science classroom

Something that we often discuss briefly in our methods course is classroom management.I used to believe that classroom management was about about punishment. Gaining Professor Kruse's insight has lead me to a differnt insight over classroom management. Here are a few conclusions I’ve come to for successful classroom management...

-Set realistic, but reachable expectations for you and your class.
-The Learning Behavior theory is a driving factor in determining management (You fix what you can observe).
-Follow through with intended consequences.
-Use the entire classroom space/environment for management.
-Use passive nonverbal Cues (walking by a group that’s talking, putting your hand on their desk).

I found this website http://www.science-house.org/CO2/educators/tips.html and it offers some great suggestions for tips in the classroom. The tips range from materials used in the class to procedures; all of which pertain to classroom management strategies.

Tips: Inquiry in the Classroom...
Invest time in activity design and creating questions.
Be a facilitator.
Invest in preparation time. Use your resources.
Label and reuse materials.
Make your own. Think cheap.
Think mobile. Think safety.
Let students help clean.
Try it yourself.
Have extras.
See the positives in "failure.

I really think the point of being a facilitator is so important. In order to maintain the way your classroom is ran, it’s important to model it to your class. It’s also important NOT to over facilitate things. You want your students to be independent, as well and take active leadership roles in the classroom with their peers. If we allow students to continually depend on us as teachers, we are allowing them to become helpless.


http://www.science-house.org/CO2/educators/tips.html

Glog

http://jay87shot.glogster.com/

Here is the link to my glog. Hope that it is helpful.

The importance of assessment in a science classroom…

The importance of assessment in a science classroom…

I’ve been discussing a broad range of topics throughout my blog posts. Most of these topics come from the ideas we discuss in our science methods classroom. I’ve looked at science from a whole new perspective since taking this methods course. As a student going into education, I feel that I’ve been drilled about assessment; how important it is, what to do, what not to do, how to make an assessment, what types, when to use them, ect.

After hearing out Professor Kruse’s ideas about assessment, I’ve decided it’s important but not as important as I was initially taught. Professor Kruse emphasizes on the process, and if learning is actually taking place. As teachers though, we do have to use assessment to make out decisions (Berger, 2003).

I found a website that offers some pretty good examples of science assessment. I like the idea of using graphics to demonstrate knowledge. I don’t think a student should be penalized if they are unable to show what they’ve learned through words. I would not hesitate to ask the students to draw a graphic for a test question. I also like the idea of oral interviews/tests. Although, I’ve heard they can be time consuming. Perhaps an oral quiz would be more time appropriate.

i think it's important to emphasize the process of learning, not necessarily the assessment. Assessment is important, but the learning process takes precedent over assessment results.

http://cse.edc.org/products/assessment/assesshome.asp

Berger, C. F., & Czerniak, C. M., & Krajcik, J. K. (2003). Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School Classrooms: A Project-Based Approach. New York, New York: Mc-Graw Hill.

How can technology be used to support learning in a science classroom?

How can technology be used to support learning in science in the classroom?

First, technology must be looked at as a tool that can help. I feel a big reason students don’t take advantage of technology (especially for school) is because they don’t know how to use it. Learning how to use it can provide so many advantages for students. It’s particularly important in a science classroom to have as many available resources as possible. Having available resources gives students the opportunity to learn ideas concretely first. Cognitive dissonance should also be exercised in this case. Students must be dissatisfied with their previous way of doing an activity or acquiring information.

Example: If students are shown the range and possibilities of activities through the use of technology, they may become upset that they didn’t know this previously; technology tends to make things easier. If students chose not to use technology, their workload may increase.

Here are a few of the potential benefits from using technology:
Increases communication, engage students in the learning process, help students create models, provide ways to illustrate abstract activities, allow for exploration that isn’t possible in the classroom (Berger, 2003)

Overall, I think technology would support and facilitate the learning cycle when used in a science environment.

Berger, C. F., & Czerniak, C. M., & Krajcik, J. K. (2003). Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School Classrooms: A Project-Based Approach. New York, New York: Mc-Graw Hill.

Learner's First Presentation

Below is the link to my final presentation on science and standardized tests.  I decided to make a powerpoint presentation in Google docs.  It was easy to use and I liked that I could give the presentation a link, rather than using a Microsoft powerpoint format that would need to be uploaded.  I learned a lot about what has been happening in school systems regarding standardized tests and what could happen in the future.  Enjoy!
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dj5ttqx_0ghndzdhh

Final Presentation

For my final presentation I wanted to create something I haven't done before so I decided to try the prezi.  I enjoyed doing this and I hope you enjoy it too!

Motivating Students In The Science Classroom

Recap For Making Science Engaging and Fun

For my last blog I wanted to recap how you can make science fun and engaging for students. I found a blog that I really enjoyed by Kari Byron, she writes a blog called GeekMom.  She is the wife on the show Mythbusters.  Her blog icluded ways that you can make science fun for kids.  She first talked about how science for kids can be boring and nerdy at times.  She says that when you ask students to draw a scientist they usually draw and older man, white lab coat, big classes, and in a lab. This is where students are wrong about science.  They need to understand that science is happening everywhere and can be really fun. We as teachers need to teach our students that science is fun and can be engaging. 

Kari gives great ideas for parents to help their students enjoy science more because it happens everyday all around us.  She talks about dropping Mentos in a bottle of Coke and you can introduce Chemistry.  Or taking a walk in the park and take pictures of animals.  Then students study their eating habits and where they live and that's biology.  I thought this was a great blog and can be beneficial for teachers as well as parents.   Kari's blog

Science and standardized testing blog 3

In this blog I am looking at the Wisconsin Student Assessment System as a whole. As a way for students to demonstrate their progress towards the standards in English laguage arts, mathematics, science,and social studies is through the Wisconsin Student Assessment System, WSAS for short. WSAS currently consists of two tests; the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinination, the WKCE and the Wisconsin Alternative Assessment for Students with Disabilities, the WAA-SwD.

As of the 2005-2006 school year the NCLB act required all students to be tested in math and reading in grades 3-8 and again in 10th grade. WKCE scores are used as one of several criteria for advancing students from 4th to 5th grade and 8th to 9th grade. The other factors looked at are academic performance, teacher recommendations based on academic perfomance, and any other criteria chosen by the local school board.

references: http://www.dpi.wi.gov/oea/wkce.html