Spring break!

So much for writing regularly!  Looking back its been a year since I've last posted. For some reason this is the time of year I get inspired again.  The fall is always hectic and then it is easy to get in a rut in the winter. As the weather starts to get nicer everyone's energy and enthusiasm seems to return.

A lot has happened in a year...
During the fall semester I spent a lot of time on a committee writing new curriculum for Earth Science. We have new standards and as a district we are in the process of converting curriculum into all project based learning units. Its been quite the process! We will implement the new curriculum this coming fall. In the meantime I've been trying to pilot a few of the new units.  Here are some highlights of various activities  I've done this year. Some for Physics 1st and some for Earth Science:

For Earth Science I started the year with my biosphere project, where students design a model of a sustainable biosphere. They are introduced to how the spheres (biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere), work together and interact. This unit will be used as the first project in the new curriculum. I did the project similarly to how I did it last year, but instead of painting on boards I had the students build their biospheres in the cabinets under the lab tables.  Overall this went better than last year, but of course there are still some improvements. Each time I implement a PBL I think I do a better job of increasing the content. The first time time doing a unit is always a struggle to figure out how to balance the content and the project.

 When we did minerals for Earth Science I had my students create documentaries about Conflict Minerals and think about "who owns Earth's minerals?" The project was really eye-opening for students. With the new standards this unit doesn't fit into the curriculum. And although I think the students got a lot out of thinking about where minerals and natural resources come from, I think the actual content about minerals was hard to fit into the unit. 

Volcano Board Game

I just finished a pilot for next years unit on plate tectonics/volcanoes/earthquakes etc.
The students created board games for 6th graders. The 6th graders will be starting their unit on plate tectonics so this was an introduction for them. We had a game day where the 6th graders came and played our games. It turned out really well and I will definitely do this again next year. Some changes I might make would be to try to cover more content. I had the idea that I would do mini-lessons/conferences for specific groups. I would like to try to make that happen when I do this project again. What I really liked was that since it was new content for the 6th graders, my students had to come up with a game but then also information so that the kids would be able to be successful at the games.  I think next year I will push the presentation of  information as a part of the grade.

My next project is going to be re-painting my classroom and doing a new geologic timeline. I received a grant so I can paint over my walls white and then have my students create a timeline. I have some ideas to showcase more content this year. I am going to be sure it is in order and give each class one wall. I plan to have students use an overhead projector so they can project better images and one of the requirements will be to include dates and labels.  If this one turns out well I will leave it and do the project a little different. I had an idea to coordinate with the FACs teachers and create quilted geologic time wall hangings. Students could pick out some cool fabrics but also use fabric markers or crayons to write on quilt squares. This is just an idea...but hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of a really cool timeline mural by sometime in May!

Here's a few things in Physics 1st that I've done. In the fall I wrote a grant with two other teachers to do a generator project. We combined with an Environmental Science class. The students got to tour a coal plant, make generators with kits, and design wind turbine blades. The project was really successful in that it was engaging for the students! In terms of content they really connected with the trip to the coal plant and I will definitely try to do that trip again. I think they could still learn about generators, but I don't think I will build them again. I don't know that they got enough out of it for the cost and the amount of materials needed. I think I will revise and pull pieces from the project, but not all of it. I learned that implementing a unit with another class when the sections don't line up, is really difficult to coordinate. I'm not going to give up on cross-curricular activities, however when I do another project like that I will make sure to focus on the organization part of the planning.

 I am also finishing up the force unit I did last year with the games. Another teacher took the project a step farther and had a local gaming business do a game night for the community and some of the student games were played there. I would like to add in this piece for next year. I did revise how I did the project in that I separated the-building/designing of the game and the video about the game. This helped to get better quality games and allowed the students to better showcase the content they learned about Newton's Laws and forces. I plan to do this project again next year.

This is a long post, but I am making up for lost time! And taking advantage of a clear/relaxed mind on spring break! I'd like to end with a few reflections  on successes and notes for what I want to improve.

Every time I do a PBL project I get better at ensuring the students get the content. The authentic audience piece also gets easier as I make connections. The first time doing a project, you are never exactly sure what the students will come up with and the final result. Every time you do the project again, it gets easier to anticipate students and what directions they need.

One thing that I would like to go back to, is to get back on track with incorporating reading and writing into the projects/content.  When I started teaching and writing this blog, that was one of my main focuses. When I started really emphasizing and trying PBL some of my reading/writing focus has slipped. I would like to add that back into the projects/content. As I do the projects multiple times this should be easy to incorporate back into my lessons!

That's all for today. I plan on relaxing recharging the rest of the break. I will go back recharged and ready to take on the end of the year craziness!