Chapter 9 - Science Teacher Talk
Describe your typical process for designing instruction.
Alexia Bultman
I go through the state standards and determine what I am required to cover. Next I list out the basic information that the students need to know and what things I feel are necessary for them to know. Then I will determine what labs and/or activities fit into the curriculum and are appropriate for the grade level. Finally, for each unit, I map out and create the objectives, notes, activities, labs, quizzes, and tests
Angela Gula
Instruction design is done through a collaborative process. I will meet with my subject-alike teachers every other week to plan and discuss instruction. We begin by looking at the standards and use them to determine what content should be taught. From there we select activities that we feel support the standards. We will also use these activities as a base and then supplement based on the needs of our individual students.
Michael O'Brien
The starting point for instructional objectives is often defined by the curriculum. This may be AP, IB or the school's own curriculum. Keeping the curriculum in mind I then develop the main large ideas I want the students to develop their learning around. These "big" ideas are expressed in conceptual terms and are the main parts of the skeleton in which I build the details of the specific instructional objectives. Just as the bones in a skeleton, these big ideas are connected. It is important for me as a teacher to keep these big ideas and how they are connected in front of the students at all times as we go through the specific detailed instructional objectives. For example, in learning physics, I believe it is important to link the big ideas of Energy, Force and Motion. By linking them throughout the learning of Physics students hopefully will begin to think like physicists in a conceptual framework instead of getting bogged down in memorizing the formulas and vocabulary. Also it is important to link these specific instructional objectives to the world outside the classroom. By making this link the students hopefully understand that the big ideas and the specifics apply in a practical way in their lives.
Elizabeth Petrie
Typically, the team of chemistry teachers at my school will get together to plan a unit. It helps if we have all of our brains together to design some of the activities. We tend to come up with more ideas this way, and several of them end up being new things. We always like to try a new lab or activity or way of delivering content, to try to do something differently that may help more students.
Henley Sawicki
I know that ideally instruction should be in a "backward design" fashion, but that has never formally worked well for me. Of course, I begin with the end in mind and know what concepts and topics are going to be assessed, but I do not formally design the final assessment at the beginning of the unit (unless I am using a project or performance based assessment). I map out the concepts that I want to introduce, decide on labs and activities that will most effectively illustrate the concepts, and create/ modify any additional activities that are planned. I always have several projects (like the Nobel Prize Articles) that are planned from the beginning of the semester that are incorporated into each unit. These activities are non-negotiable and are included no matter the circumstances.
What tips would you give beginning teachers in planning and preparing lessons?
Priscilla Cheek
Planning and preparation are not just helpful, they are mandatory. This next piece of advice may sound like heresy to professional "educators" but do not spin your wheels writing fancy "behavioral objectives" or even worry about the hierarchy's seven levels etc., etc. Do, however, decide what is worth spending an hour trying to get your students to know or do, then plan minute by minute how you will accomplish your goal. Prepare all the materials or equipment you will need well in advance of the day needed. Always plan more than you can finish. This gives you options from which to choose depending on how your kids respond to other parts of your lesson. Include frequent checks to see how you and your students are doing. Long -range outlines are also essential, but do not mandate strict adherence. Use your plans as a guide, but let your students understanding dictate how closely you stick to it. Make sure that when you "cover" material that you don't just bury it!
Ben Boza (Botswana)
Effective teaching takes careful planning and preparation. As such, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of both. A teacher should always prepare a lesson guided by the syllabus. Time allocation should be done in such a manner that a lesson is introduced, discussed, and concluded all within the given period. Each lesson you carry out should have an objective and a goal to reach by the end of it. Therefore, the planning should focus around achieving it. A well-planned lesson should end by informing the students from whence the next lesson shall commence. In this way, it provides a flowing of the subject matter being taught. A lesson well planned is thorough, comprehensive and easily understood.
When planning to carry out practical experiments and illustrations, go over them before hand to ascertain that all works out well. It is important to be sure of intended results. In this way, as a teacher you portray mastery of the subject matter and this boosts the confidence of your students in you. Students perceive their teachers as perfectionists who should not get it wrong. There's nothing as unbalancing as to abandon an intended practical or illustration because it "backfires" on you as a teacher. By that I don't mean that occasional mishaps may not occur in the event of teaching, but it should not be so as a result of sketchy planning and preparation.
An important consideration to make during planning of the lesson should be the diverse capability of the students. It should be accommodative enough to absorb the capacity of the weaker students and slow learners such that they are not left out in the progressive teachings. On the same note, plan on how to have the fast learners occupied within the lesson to avoid them being distracted and/or becoming bored or edgy as you pull the weak ones along.
Rachel Zgonc
At the beginning of this year I would spend hours planning lessons. While this helped me feel more comfortable getting up in front of the class, I think at times it hindered my creativity. In class, I would often concentrate so much on following what I had planned for that lesson that I missed some great opportunities for getting off track and talking about topics that the students wanted to focus on. The lesson I learned from these experiences is flexibility. Just because your lesson plan says that the students should be at a certain point by the end of the period, this does not mean that the students have learned more or even as much as they might have if you had followed some of the unplanned avenues that presented themselves to you in class. After all, if the students are interested and involved, they will always learn more and remember it for longer.
Jerry Pelletier
The first tip I would give any new teacher is that they must have good classroom management. Students must understand why they are in the class and what the teacher expects of them. When planning a lesson teachers must always keep in mind who their audience is. The lessons must be geared to the level and understanding of their students. They should never assume that students have mastered a skill. For example, if students will be measuring distances with rulers a teacher should never assume that the students fully understand how a ruler should be used. These skills should always be integrated as part of the lesson. Reinforcement of key skills and concepts should always be made part of any lesson. It is also important to have closure in order to summarize the main ideas developed during the lesson.