Teaching Strategies
Extended Constructed Response (ECR)
Extended constructed response questions provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate the extent of mastery within a given content area while building capacity for sustained critical thinking. Students will be provided an essential question (i.e., Why do darker materials feel warmer on a hot day?), every two weeks, that complements an observable phenomenon or data driven inquiry lab. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) heavily emphasize students’ ability to rationalize phenomena with supporting evidence. Last year, during distance learning students dramatically enhanced their capacity to articulate complex and nuanced ideas by either developing a written response or producing a video clip in FlipGrid. To encourage a growth mindset, multiple iterations are required prior to final submission. This process provides numerous opportunities for students to refine their content mastery and improve the mechanics of their responses. The process must be done with fidelity with opportunities for students to peer-review. By the end of the year students often see their own growth in writing or critical thinking about a specific content area and want to help each other. This process takes great patience, but the rewards are well worth the wait.
Synthesized Notes
From my experience at Woodrow Wilson High School, students associate notetaking with simply copying down information or formulas. Last year through distance learning a substantial amount of reference material was provided to students to help bridge the any gaps in content mastery, with limited success. This year the physics department will be utilizing a new model of note taking which emphasizes content synthesis and identify misconceptions. At the end of every lesson, students will be required to write for ten minutes about the activity, lab, or information that was introduced. Several prompts will be provided; however, the goal is for students to record their struggles, successes, and content connections made during class so that they can go back for review later. To support this growth mindset and cultivate a culture of information synthesis I will be meeting with each student during lunch or office hours twice a month to monitor the fidelity of the system. It is my hope that his new model may allow questions about content to arise as well as promote information retention for future lessons.
Station Rotation with Heterogenous Groups
Station rotation facilitates the engagements of students through several concurrent activities throughout the class period or week, depending on the model. This instructional strategy allows students multiple opportunities to refine conceptual understanding and mastery by participating in activities. Students will spend approximately 20-30 minutes working independently or in groups. Students will share findings, observations, and misconceptions that persist once every student has rotated through each station.
The unit will concentrate heavily on deconstructing energy transformations from a myriad of observable phenomenon. Thus, it is imperative that students take detailed notes and effectively communicate their thoughts to peers. Students will be expected to take notes, ask questions, organize information, and summarize key ideas. Student groups will be compiled from pre-assessment data, attendance, and behavioral from the first 2-3 weeks of the year. At the conclusion of every marking period the groups will be reassessed. The number of stations may vary based on the number of students and classroom dynamics. In my experience station rotations have shown to be an effective strategy for students to maximize their learning and to develop skills of independent problem solving.
Comments: