I taught science for the past twelve years until this past May when my family moved closer to my husband's family ranch. The system that my colleague, Kelli Allen, and I developed over time, ended up in the following form upon my departure from the HS classroom:
1) Pre-assess students
2) Identify the big 3 (what students must know) and plan unit based on pre-assessment
3) Use formative assessments after each big idea is taught
4) Students that pass the formative, go on to enrichment - research, posters, blogs, partner presentations, self-designed lab, etc.
5) Students that did not pass the formative, go on to a choice-based "menu". We started out with 4 assignments students could choose from (based in 4 different learning styles). These assignments were for remediation and were done with explicit instruction. We made them in a way that when the student chose the assignment, they could guide themselves through it well. We called it "individual work time". Students would choose one, work on it, work with the teacher as needed, and then have a reflective conversation with the teacher at the end. If the teacher and student felt ready, another formative assessment would be given.
6) In the end, all students were working towards mastery the whole time and then given a summative assessment (in multiple forms - many times project-based).
1) Pre-assess students
2) Identify the big 3 (what students must know) and plan unit based on pre-assessment
3) Use formative assessments after each big idea is taught
4) Students that pass the formative, go on to enrichment - research, posters, blogs, partner presentations, self-designed lab, etc.
5) Students that did not pass the formative, go on to a choice-based "menu". We started out with 4 assignments students could choose from (based in 4 different learning styles). These assignments were for remediation and were done with explicit instruction. We made them in a way that when the student chose the assignment, they could guide themselves through it well. We called it "individual work time". Students would choose one, work on it, work with the teacher as needed, and then have a reflective conversation with the teacher at the end. If the teacher and student felt ready, another formative assessment would be given.
6) In the end, all students were working towards mastery the whole time and then given a summative assessment (in multiple forms - many times project-based).
I taught 9-12 grades in a 4A school with over 55% free/reduced
lunch. My classes were always full. Kids loved being able to choose
and felt empowered to do their own projects. They wanted to get to
mastery to be able to research parts of topics they were intrigued
about.
It is a lot of work - if you try to do it for every unit all year long. I taught 4 preps and so did my co-worker. We just aimed for one unit at a time to change up. In my trainings, I tell teachers to pick one per semester. Then those are done for the most part for next year, when you can pick a couple more.
It is a lot of work - if you try to do it for every unit all year long. I taught 4 preps and so did my co-worker. We just aimed for one unit at a time to change up. In my trainings, I tell teachers to pick one per semester. Then those are done for the most part for next year, when you can pick a couple more.
Once created, we
only tweaked things for the next year - always looking for fresh
activities the kids would enjoy. My colleague and I wrote two books (Yes ! Can and Understanding Learning Styles) that feature
our system and have traveled for the past 7 years to schools/conferences
to teach others how it can be used for all content areas.
If you'd
like a sample of a science unit, I can forward one to you to look at.
JS
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