Classroom Strategies
My Physiology class is a hub of busy students, activities, conversation, and movement. At times, I wonder if the controlled chaos I call a high school Anatomy and Physiology classroom is productive. Then, I am reminded that it’s not how neat your classroom space is that matters when it comes to learning. Riley and Terada, in a January 2019 Edutopia article assert that when it comes to learning, “relationships matter deeply, learning happens when the brain feels safe and supported.”30 In establishing environments where this is the norm “no child is a lost cause.” Because my students want to be in my classroom during school hours and beyond, I know the lessons, labs, demonstrations, activities, projects I have created and crafted have fostered a welcoming, challenging, and engaging space for my students.
Having multiple hands-on activities is one strategy to engage students. Another strategy is to promote meaningful connection, communication and social skill through kinesthetic activities. One type of kinesthetic activity described in the section Classroom Activities involves modeling radioactive decay through movement. Students participating in the activity will need to read the background material on alpha, beta, and gamma particles and decide on the movement that will best show the concept. Kinesthetic activities like this allows students to engage in the problem and cooperate with their peers in a more meaningful and structured manner.
Finally, a direct case method will be incorporated through the unit.31 In order to do this, different medical conditions will be introduced to the class through mock case files. Through the profiles in their mock-case files, students diagnose their patients based on a series of symptoms and descriptions revealed over the course of several class periods. In this manner, students must problem solve, analyze, connect, make claims, and defend their assertions to their peers. In this way, the teacher becomes more of a facilitator rather than a lecturer, assisting students as they progress through their case profiles.
It is important to note that these strategies need not occur separately, rather kinesthetic and hands-on learning should drive students understanding as they compile information for their case file.
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