Apr30

Motivation

It seems like it's getting harder to motivate students. What can we do?
-- Roseanna, Beaverton, Oregon

I've found we cannot motivate others; motivation comes from within the individual. We can threaten, cajole, plead, or reward students into doing what we want, but the ultimate decision on how much to participate is made by the student. A professor of mine would say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink… But you can salt the oats."

That's what teachers can do - salt the oats so students will want to be engaged in the class, not just busy and compliant (or off-task). I asked several science teachers what they do to "salt the oats."

  • Share your own interests, experience, or passion for the topic. I asked a teacher what she does if the topic is not of great interest to her. She said because we never know what will spark something in a student, we have to at least pretend to be interested ourselves. So teachers who say, "This next unit is pretty dull, but we have to cover it for the test," are not setting the stage to engage students.
  • Use a theme or big idea to connect the topics in a unit. For example, in a unit on animals, a life science teacher might posit, "Animals respond to their surroundings in a variety of ways." She connects each lesson back to this theme and students use their science notebooks to record their observations, thoughts, and drawings.
  • Help students relate the lesson to current events, to their own lives, or to other subject areas. This is easy to do in science with topics such as DNA and heredity, forensics, simple machines, weather and climate, and environmental issues. Some students see these connections immediately; others may need guidance and examples.
  • Incorporate a variety of teaching strategies. Science lends itself to hands-on activities, inquiry, cooperative learning, projects, using graphic organizers, multimedia presentations, and games or simulations. Even if a student is not interested in the content of the lesson, the types of activities may be motivational.
  • Use formative assessments to gauge whether students are "getting it" or if you need to adjust your instruction. Once students get lost or confused, it's hard to get them re-interested in a topic. If they know a topic, you could move on to a higher level of learning.
  • Give students feedback on their work, especially if they're learning new concepts and skills. From a nod, a smile, or a high-five to a comment on written work or class participation, our recognition of students' success and progress can be motivational to them. Some teachers have students chart their progress and reflect on their work using rubrics and science notebooks. Many students are also motivated by grades and prizes for successful work. Some teachers use rewards to get students hooked on a topic initially. However, an overemphasis on extrinsic rewards may thwart our efforts to help students ultimately become independent, self-directed learners.
  • Differentiate between being "busy" and being "engaged" with a task. A teacher once told me, "My students are so busy in science class they don't have time to think." I'm hoping she was exaggerating, because students need time to think about what they're learning and connect it to what they already know or to other concepts. If you ask students to color a page, copy definitions verbatim, watch a video with no preliminary or follow-up discussion, do a low-level word puzzle, or do a simple follow-the-directions activity, ask yourself what the purpose of the activity is (beyond being busy) and at what level the students will be engaged.

If students are used to being passive learners, it may be hard for them to assume responsibility for learning, adapt to a variety of learning strategies, and develop their own interests and passions. The teacher's role would be to model self-directed motivation and learning and provide scaffolding for students to build these skills.

It's ironic: when I asked students what good teachers do to spark and keep their interest, they said many of the same things! The students said the worst thing to do in class is copy notes from the board. They felt they learned best from class discussions, working together, and projects that allowed them to use their problem-solving skills and creativity. I also asked if they ever thought a topic in science was going to be boring, only to find that it was really interesting or compelling. I asked what changed their minds. Virtually every student said it was something the teacher did that "salted the oats" for them.

If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to add them!
Published: Apr-30-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Apr15

Science Partnerships

Have you had any experience with partnerships between K-12 teachers and higher education faculty? We're thinking of writing a grant proposal for this type of project and we're open to suggestions.
-- David, Springfield, Massachusetts

I've been involved with several K-16 professional development projects with various "partnership" arrangements. In one case, it was very traditional: the teachers attended workshops or courses conducted by the university. The university staff structured the content and the course schedule specifically to meet the needs of the teachers. The courses were on-site and on-line. The advantage was teachers updated their content knowledge while becoming more familiar with technology and lab equipment. In such a project, it is important to describe and measure what the teachers are learning and determine how this new knowledge will affect their classroom instruction.

In another project, university professors worked with teachers over the summer on special topics aligned with the state science standards, and then the professors visited the schools to interact with the K-6 students. Spending one day each month in an elementary school was a new experience for the university faculty. They learned what challenges the teachers face, including the variety of students (and size of the classes), the obligation to address state science standards, the type of equipment available in the schools, and the emphasis on testing in reading and mathematics. But they enjoyed the students’ energy and enthusiasm and were impressed by their questions and interest. The students in the rural communities served by the project had the opportunity to meet real scientists. (The physics professor was very flattered when some 4th graders asked him to autograph their science textbooks.) The disadvantage of this type of project is that a "special event" atmosphere can occur. For lasting impact, this should be an ongoing collaboration between the teacher and the professor, not just a few gee-whiz demonstrations while the teacher watches from the sidelines. In this project, however, it was interesting to see the elementary teachers and the professors exchange roles as the year progressed.

At the 2009 NSTA conference, I attended a session in which two secondary science teachers described a mentoring project. They spent a summer working as research assistants at a nearby university. They had to learn the content, the lab procedures, and the research model being used. The teachers actually assisted with collecting and analyzing data. In the fall, they returned to their classrooms with new content knowledge, a new sense of accomplishment, and insights into scientific research. They have stayed in communication with their mentors, and because of their relationship with the university, they can borrow specialized equipment for their students to use. This required a long commitment over the summer on the part of both the teachers and the professors, and the professors had to provide background information and training for the teacher "newbies."

In both of the projects described, the K-12 teachers and the university faculty were compensated for the time they spent beyond their normal teaching duties. Although the compensation was certainly appreciated, the real value was in the new opportunities for collaborative teaching and learning.

There are partnerships providing teachers access to higher education facilities: nature centers, museums, laboratory tours, library resources, special lectures or presentations, and field trip opportunities for students. Some higher education institutions have traveling science specialists who visit schools for demonstrations or assemblies.

Regardless of what your partnership project looks like, it will be important to ask "What happens at the end of the project? What knowledge, skills, and self-confidence will the teachers have to continue to improve student learning?"
Published: Apr-15-09 | 1 Comment | 0 Links to this post

Apr07

Walk-Throughs

Our principal has started doing 5-minute "walk-throughs" in our school. What can she learn from such a brief classroom visit? How should I prepare?
-- Rose, Burbank, CA

While principals have always been out and about in their schools, "walk-throughs" or "learning walks" are becoming an accepted strategy to learn more about what is happening inside the classrooms. According to the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, a walk-through is a "brief, structured, nonevaluative classroom observation by the principal that is followed by a conversation between the principal and the teacher about what was observed." A recent (2009) issue of Principal describes walk-throughs as contributing to a "schoolwide picture made up of many small snapshots." The literature usually describes principals as the observers, but walk-throughs can also be conducted by central office staff, instructional coaches, department chairs, project directors, teachers, or teams.

These brief visits could be seen as checking the vital signs of a school. The principal gets an overview of what is happening in the classrooms across grade levels or subject areas, not just by walking in the hallways but also by stepping into classrooms on a frequent, regular basis. These walk-throughs differ in format and purpose from the formal yearly or biannual observations in which the principal focuses on a single teacher for a longer period of time. Some schools refer to walk-throughs as "visits" to differentiate them from the more summative or contractual "observations."

You can compare walk-throughs and formal evaluations to your own behavior when students are working in small groups on projects or reports. As the teacher you circulate around the classroom, briefly visiting each group, observing how they work together, checking their progress, answering questions, and providing encouragement and feedback. You probably do not "grade" these informal observations and interactions, but you do learn a lot about your students and what they are doing. When the students have finished their projects, you then formally evaluate the project with a rubric and give a score or grade.

Does your principal communicate whether she is looking for anything specific in her visits? For example, if your school emphasizes strategies such as cooperative learning, writing in the content areas, classroom management, higher-order questioning, or technology integration, she may visit classrooms with these strategies in mind. Most of the principals with whom I've worked were not science teachers, so it might be helpful if you and your colleagues helped the principal to understand what to look for in science classes: inquiry, safe lab practices, student engagement in teams, science notebooks, the use of technology, and authentic assessments.

You do not have to do anything special to prepare for these visits; continue your lesson while the principal is in the room. If she does not provide feedback in a timely manner, I would ask her about what she saw and whether she had any questions or feedback.

I know a principal who puts time for walk-throughs in his weekly planner. He views this time as an essential part of his day and visits each teacher several times every month. The key element of walk-throughs is not just doing them, but in the reflective dialogue between the teacher and principal soon after the visit. These conversations can become opportunities to improve teaching and learning.

Published: Apr-07-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post