It felt wonderful to be finished delivering a series of lessons to two eighth grade classes. It felt like a huge accomplishment in part because I learned more of the students names which allowed me to connect and help them through an investigative lab, and also because I had the first-hand experience of implementing curriculum that had none of the cooperating teachers could remember having used. Thank goodness for my partner who was full of great ideas, and thank goodness for an experienced teacher when we felt "stuck."
The primary learning task has been to study properties of matter--specifically, density of solids, liquids, and gases. Students also practiced writing instructions/procedures because it is essential to generating "good" lab write-ups.
On the final day of our teaching, students wrote procedures and conducted their own investigations that answered the question, "How does volume effect the density of carbon dioxide gas?" Students had to first write a hypothesis to test, write procedures and check them with a teacher, then begin the experiment using three trial, and record data.
My partner and I ran the experiment earlier in the morning during our planning period and noticed, as was the case with another lab, that our measurements were nowhere near what we expected them to be. We decided that there were several flaws with the design of the experiment. First, a balloon is not spherical, and we were using a formula to find the volume of a sphere. Secondly, air and water vapor were mixed with CO2 (we were not working in a vacumn); and thirdly, measuring the circumfrence of a balloon is not an exact science and can be difficult to find the widest spot of the balloon. These things considered, the density of the gas was much less than we expected it to be--somewhere in the ten-thousandths place, whereas the real measurement of CO2 gas is .00195 g/mL. Oh well...a few flaws, but the important part was whether or not the density of the gas was consistent. To the ten-thousandths place it was. All things considered, .0001 is very little difference.
We were given several good tips and suggestions about ways we would improve our teaching in the future--less of this had to do with accuracey or knowledge of content. On the other hand, the more comfortable we are with content (the less time we spend developing curriculum) the more comfortable, relaxed, and enthusiastic we will be about teaching the material which will allow us to interact with the students. However, our teacher was encouraging and let us know that we are very good about telling our students what the purpose of the lesson is and where we are headed. She also said we were good at explaining the concepts in a number of ways that would make sense to a number of students with different learnign styles. She is board certified and knows all about differentiation! That makes me feel slightly better. And I love analogies, so I think I'll stick with this strategy!
Lastly, I had a great learning moment, something that probably should be highlighted in its own entry. We learned that several of our students are struggling. It is sad--but a reality. One is suicidal. One comes from a family life that values relationships over education. This student has a new baby brother or sister at home who is only a few weeks old. Our teacher addressed the issue of reaching these individuals and about being concerned whether or not they are learning and absorbing the information. A good point was brought up--it's best that they are in school than somewhere else harming themselves. The point to be emphasized is that things could be a lot worse, but being at school is a good place for them to be, a place to start, a place that grounds them when the real world cna be much more harsh. Before they can concentrate and focus on learning, however, they must first overcome these issues that they are dealing with. I don't know that a student will overcome a "value-set", but the teacher will not give up her value of the importance of education. And the teacher will not give-up on youth! I'm glad they are at school, and it gives me a much different appreciation of the baggage that we can all carry around. I am reminded that adolescence is never an easy thing for us all!
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