Blog 5, Media and Technology

1.       Overall I really enjoyed Dr. Roberts’ presentation.  He was entertaining, engaging, funny, and informative. One of the most relevant parts of Dr. Roberts’ presentation was the amount of media exposure and use kids have.  I felt like kids now need to have all this exposure to music or television while doing other activities.  While he was talking, I was wondering if my students NEED to have some sort of music or other stimulus during class to make it more normal for their life.  I also found it interesting that television time goes up and down, and up again depending on the school level they are at.  I never thought about the amount of free time away from school as more opportunity to watch television.  Questions I would have for Dr. Roberts would be finding out how much family time kids have and if that has any relation to the media exposure and use and also if the increase in media exposure changes how the average kid’s attention span or interest in non-media related activities.  And also the effects of multitasking, whether it stimulates more of their brain, or less of their brain because you are not totally focused in only one media source.  I would also ask him how things like music videos get categorized since it includes two medias coming from one source.

2  .     3. After reading the article “More Pupils Are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality”, I felt like k-12 classes should not be online.  I think that online programs can help students improve in subjects, but the entire class should not be given online.  Classes online allow for plagiarism to be accessed easier, Googling answers on a potential online test or essay, and even students not doing the work they are supposed to do.  Since no teacher can see who is doing the work, a high achieving friend could be doing the work for a student who doesn’t have the skills to read, write, etc. There are also social problems that I can see developing with students who attend online school, or even home school for multiple years.  They won’t have access to the social interactions, communicating with others, and eye contact.  Something else I wonder about is what makes the online classes easier to pass than the standard class? Why would allowing online classes increase graduation rates? There has to be a lower standard or easier to pass the online class than the tradition class.  If it is a problem with students waking up and going to class, then online classes are not teaching them responsibility for their own life.  If they want a job, and they only want to work at certain hours, it’s going to be too bad because you are probably not going to be given a choice in work hours. 

I know that at my school, there were some students who the school is responsible for, but they do not attend the school.  I don’t know if these students are homeschooled, or online school, or what kind of schooling they were receiving, but they are definitely missing out on content and interactions that in class school provides.  I do think that practice and education in computer and online skills are necessary for kids now.  My elementary school does have a computer lab and there are one or two computers in each classroom.  I do not think that my students should be taking classes online, but maybe there could be online components to the class to help improve their computer skills.

Something I can do in the future is to try to have my students use more technology in the classroom and use the computer lab more.  Computers are the future, and without computer skills life will be much harder for them when they grow up.  Something I should also try to teach them about computers is that everything online is not true, there are sites that can give you good information, and that things you put online can potentially stay somewhere online forever.  I could also try to include interaction with medias other than paper, but at the same time I wonder if they need to have more interaction with paper media.

4. One link I used was http://www.dropbox.com/
I could use this by doing some lessons on one computer, finishing them up on another computer without emailing or using a flash drive.  This way I would not need to bring anything at all, all I would need is the internet and a device to access internet.  I can see this being useful to with collaborating with other teachers.  We could all share a lesson or document and be able to use it and make small changes if we wanted also.  Depending on where I work in the future, I can see this being useful potentially for high school students to use in a group project for all the members to have access to files and update or change them.
http://www.superteachertools.com/

This website has a lot of tools.  One that I looked into with some detail was the seating chart maker.  Last year I made my seating chart by using word and making a bunch of squares and writing names in each square.  This tool would make creating seating charts so much easier and more time efficient.  It also has a print button to print out what I have made.  If I wanted to change the seating arrangement, all I need to do is drag the desk to a new area and I would be done. 
http://teachertube.com
This site is pretty much the youtube of teacher videos.  There are some quality educational videos, as well as some student project videos.  Some of the videos I can see using in my class to give my students more access to technology as well as visuals and information in another voice and in other words than the way I would present it.  I know youtube is not allowed at my school, but hopefully teachertube is not blocked.

http://prezi.com

I have seen Meg use this program a lot this summer, and the format always looks so cool.  I remember the first time I saw it I thought of it as a better power point.  I tried playing around with it a little bit, and to make it look really nice I need a lot more practice using it.  There are so many things to add and other options to how you would like your presentation to be.  I could definitely use this to show some pictures and small amounts of information, but the program is so engaging while watching it, I think a lot more students will be engaged just from observing the cool transitions from slide to slide.   

Interdisciplinary activities

One subject in biology that I really like and find very interesting is ecology.  It is a key concept in understanding a balance in populations of producers and consumers.  I could integrate ecology in other subject areas that would enlarge and broaden my students' understanding.
An easy subject to incorporate into ecology is graphing.  You could show populations growing, shrinking, and how the consumers and producers populations change in relation to one another.  Below are two other subjects that can incorporate ecology.

Writing and acting out a skit
One example is http://www.creative-writing-ideas-and-activities.com/science-writing-prompts.html
There are multiple examples here, but I chose the activity about the ecosystem plays.  By students creating a short skit, students have an opportunity to show how producers, consumers, and decomposers all play a role. This could be an introductory lesson for a unit.  By using a given script, they could read it over and would have a basic understanding of the concepts.  It could also be done as a final activity, where the students would write their own script, using the knowledge they have gained from previous classes.
Writing a skit and acting it out could be used in other science concepts like writing and acting out the process of DNA replication, jobs of organelles in cells, molecular movement in solids, liquids, gases, etc.
I think a challenge might be for students who do not have the tools to write out a short skit. Another challenge might be for students to feel comfortable acting out skits in front of their classmates.

Plant and animal economics
Another example is http://www.proteacher.org/org/a/133444_Economics_Unit.html
This was a lesson activity done with sixth graders doing an economic lesson.  You could use this lesson, and relate it to plants and animals in nature, or even change the resources to specific plants, animals, water, shelter, etc. that animals would need to survive.  Instead of tables with ads, it could be areas for the animals to live, and how much water, food was located in each area.  This would show students competition of animals for resources, which is the same as humans competing and trading for resources throughout the world.

Overall, I think interdisciplinary teaching and learning is a great strategy to incorporate into your class.  If there are students that are not very motivated in science, but love to write, incorporating writing assignments could draw these students into the science content more.  It can also allow your students to participate in a different type of class than you would normally have.  A big challenge for a lot of schools is that they have pacing guides where thy are supposed to cover certain materials in a certain way. This limits your ability to try to incorporate this strategy.

I replied to Ashley Dever
http://adventuresinmait.blogspot.com/

Mind the Gap session 2

1. "One need not know anything about children or education." page 11

It is pretty ridiculous that you can have an educational reform when the change is being created by people who do not know children or education. That is like having someone run a business with no business knowledge or experience. In order to have an effective reform, I think it should be done by people who are in the classroom, people who were in the classroom, and college/ university professors collaborating on what students are expected to know, and then find a way to reach the goal.

"I concluded that curriculum and instruction were far more important than choice and accountability." page 12

I agree with her statement here because as teachers, we know that instruction is one of the most important things. If you are not prepared, have knowledge in your content, and know your students, your class will not run well and will not be very effective. The curriculum is key, without a well thought out curriculum, what are your students going to know? or what are they supposed to know by the end of the class? Accountability is important, but it is not more important than instruction or curriculum. If schools are going to be held accountable, it should not be based on standardized multiple choice tests. I do not believe that multiple choice tests show what students know or do not know. Reading and English skills always play a large role in multiple choice tests which makes it hard for ELLs to even understand the question or answers during these tests. Students, teachers, and schools should be held accountable for their work, but it should not be from test scores alone.


2. A well-educated person should be able to problem solve, think for themselves, and be able to explain their ideas and views in words or writing. They also need to be able to act properly in public and speak to others with respect. I do not think they necessarily need to be educated in all fields of study such as history, science, math, literature, art, politics, etc. but I do think they should have some experience and exposure to each subject area, and have one or two areas that they are fairly strong in. A well-educated person in today's society also needs to have some sort of computer skills. Everything has to do with computers whether it is email, internet, or other computer related skills. Without these skills, a very well educated person can seem very uneducated.


3. Something that stood out to me during our Ravitch discussion was about the school length and homework. I heard someone say that homework doesn't need to be given in elementary school, and should just be in the higher grades. I respectively disagree with this. I think that homework should be given to all levels. I do agree that homework may not be as effective with the content gaining in elementary school, but even if it does not help very much with learning content, it still teaches responsibility and gives them the idea that homework is given and you are supposed to do it. If students do not receive homework until sixth or seventh grade, when they do get homework, it will be more responsibility on them to manage their time to get the homework finished, put back in their backpack, and turn it in the next day. I am currently employed at an elementary school, and homework is mandatory for all students. It might not be very difficult, but it might be something like handwriting practice, practice math problems, or something else.

Someone also said that having a longer school day would be beneficial. I do think that more school hours would be beneficial, but I do not think a longer school day would be the best way for that. I think that at the end of the school day, students and teachers are exhausted and need to rest a little bit. A longer school day would make students and probably teachers even more tired and probably less productive. I think more days in the school year would be a great way to give students more school hours without extending the school day.


4. One gap of my content knowledge is remembering and understanding the synthesis of ATP. A great website I found was http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/biology/animation/ATPSynthesis/ATPSynthesis_bc.html
It has a video showing the loading of ADP and the release of the ATP and the processes taking place.

An article that helps with understanding of the ATP synthesis is Increasing Conceptual Understanding of Glycolysis & the Krebs Cycle Using Role-Play written by Ross, Tronson, and Ritchie, published in the American Biology Teacher.

A book that helps is Biology written by Neil Campbell and Jane Reece. In this book, there are diagrams showing the movement of molecules needed to produce the ATP. It also includes a written description about what is happening and why it is happening. This is the biology text book that I used in college and it was helpful during the class. But since I do not use this information regularly, the content gets lost.


5. Moore, R., Brooks, D., & Cotner, S. (2011). The Relation of High School Biology Courses & Students' Religious Beliefs to College Students' Knowledge of Evolution. American Biology Teacher, 73(4), 222-226.

This is the second article written by Moore that I have read. A study is conducted to examine how evolution content relates to religious beliefs and the evolutionary content taught in their public high school biology courses. This is an article that is almost exactly the kind of information I am looking for. Conclusions of the research show that there is a close relationship between religious views and lack evolutionary content knowledge and that their high school instruction did not play a major factor in this lack of knowledge. Students who had liberal religious beliefs scored significantly higher on the test. Students who had no religious beliefs passed the exam 150-200% more than their classmates. Since these were all students from a public high school, I wonder what a similar study might show from students who attended a Catholic High School or another religiously based private high school.

Mackenzie, J. (2010). How Biology Teachers Can Respond to Intelligent Design. Cambridge Journal Of Education, 40(1), 53-67.

This article suggests ways that biology teachers can try to protect their views about evolution when confronted by students or parents who believe intelligent design should be taught as part of the science program.  He feels strongly that intelligent design is not a science, and should not be taught.  But he does think that all theories should not be excluded, but they might not be a lesson that relates to science.  I feel that Mackenzie is pretty convincing in his opinion because he is not disregarding intelligent design or other theories, but if there is not scientific evidence to support them, they should not be taught in a science class.  This makes sense and seems to be an easy way to avoid this argument.


6. Hi Meg,

My question is about experiential sources for my focus. So far my focus has been about the religious impact it has on science knowledge/ acceptance. I'm going to do an interview, but I was wondering what you thought might be a good experience to visit, listen, watch or anything else like that. Thanks, have a great weekend!


I responded to
Marcy Place  MarcyPlace1.blogspot.com
Christina Mignano  mat-smc-mignano.blogspot.com
Alana Scott  mademoisellescott.blogspot.com

gaps in content knowledge

The framework that is written before the standards are listed, has a lot about the science content standards for all levels, subjects, and grades.  It has ways to make science classes effective and how to help teachers help their students with strategies to make the content accessible.  Also ways to help teachers with assessments, assessing experimental and investigation skills, monitor progress, and other ways to help teachers.  The CSET overview does not have any information on it other than subject content knowledge.
There is also different information in the standards than on the CSET overview.
The standards are all listed as "students know" while on the CSET is has each part as diagram, describe, explain, compare, etc.

The order they are listed in is different as well.  The standards have Physiology as its own domain, while the CSET has physiology included with cells.
The CSET includes information on the scientific method and analysis, science inquiry, scientific ethics, historical relations, science literacy, safety, all of which are not talked about in the standards specifically for biology/ life science.
The subject content is almost the same.  Some descriptions of concepts are made in the standards, while the CSET has the name of the concept included.
In my teaching experience, I have aligned my lessons very close to the standards.  I have deviated multiple times.  Around the time of Earth Day I did some environmental activities for the kids, which was not directly related to a specific standard, but is important information for the kids to have.  I have done other things science related, but not closely related to a specific content standard for the grade/ subject.


I chose high school biology/ life science as my first subject to look at my gaps in knowledge.

Standard 1:

Cell organelle functions.         

The synthesis of ATP.

Standard 2:

The pathway ribosomes synthesize proteins, tRNA translate information in mRNA.  The process of semiconservative replication and transcription of info from DNA to mRNA

Standard 5:

Bio technology uses and tools.

Standard 7:

Hardy- Weinberg equation and application

Standard 10:

Roles of phagocytes, B-lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes

The following are gaps in grades 7 and 8 where I have gaps in knowledge.
GR. 7
Standard 1
- meiosis and mitosis and how the cells begin to be differentiated into their own specific type of cell/ job.
Standard 4
 developments and extinctions of plant and animal life on the geologic time scale
Standard 5
-the function of the umbilicus and placenta
- reproductive structure of flowers.
Standard 6
- angle of refraction and angle of incidence
- comparing joints of the body as simple devices.  It is hard for me to view some of the joints as the standards suggest I do.
Grade 8.
Standard 2
- Forces, this has been a concept that I often have to review about how forces are acting on each other, what forces are being applied
- how the force of gravity  keep planets, stars, and the solar systems shape
Standard 4
- review of astronomical units
Standard 7
- metals, non metals, inert gases located on the periodic table

One big gap that I would like to bridge in standard 4 is about the developments and extinctions of plant and animal life.  In order for me to have a deeper understanding of this, I will have to learn more about life thousands- millions of years ago.  To help close this gap, I plan on studying more about temperature, oxygen in the air, what made up the air, and anything else that would give me more information on the conditions of times dating back in time.  I will also need to study the history of Earth and learn about major earthquakes, meteor collisions, and other things that may have drastically changed life on Earth at that time.  I can use old text books, the internet, visit space stations, visit the planetarium presentation at the Academy of Science, visit he Chabot Space Station, visit museums with archaeology displays that will show what conditions were like on Earth.