The other day I had a meeting with one of the assistant principals at our school. This person was concerned because of the results on the recent PLAN test our sophomores had taken. Our goal is that at least 70% of our students answer each question on the exam correctly. I don’t know how it was decided that 70% was the number to shoot for. There were 11 questions on the exam that seemed to be a problem. Of those, 5 had rates of 64-69% correct, only two were below 50%--the lowest being 26%. Seven of the eleven questions were in the “Earth Science/Physics” passages. We do not offer Earth Science, and sophomores have not taken Physics. The assistant principal seemed to think that the problem was the content we were teaching.
The PLAN Science test covers topics in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth/Space Science. By their sophomore year students have taken Biology and a quarter of Chemistry. There is no way to cover all possible topics that could be on the exam in five quarters, but the PLAN test is not a content based test—it is a reading comprehension test. Students do poorly on some of the questions, not because they haven’t covered the content in class, but because they haven’t learned how to acquire information by reading.
My solution to the problem was to help students to acquire this essential skill, rather than to force them to take Earth Science.
My feelings are that some required material in every chapter should be learned by reading only—independent study. Students must be held accountable for this material, and teachers must fight the urge to lecture on it. Classroom tests could routinely contain passages from outside sources that introduced new material related to the main ideas of the unit. Test questions should be asked about this material, requiring students to read and understand it. Students should not be allowed to get their “A” by regurgitating what they are spoon feed.
Some of the best activities that help students acquire these skills were part of the BSCS Biology curriculum of the 1970’s. There were several “dry labs” in the text that challenged the students to read with comprehension and develop an understanding of a concept. The experiment about why oat stem tips bend toward the light is a classic, as well as the peppered moth and natural selection activity, and bacteria that cause pneumonia experiment. Every science student should be required to complete each of these activities sometime during their schooling.
The students will complain. “This is unfair; he/she never taught that ” But please understand, what is really unfair is to cheat students out of the opportunity to master these skills because they are difficult to acquire.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Two Points to Think About
Anthony was a good friend of mine when I was in college 30 years ago. He came from an all boys Catholic high school in New Jersey. Anthony was very bright, but not so motivated to work and study. At the end of his freshmen year, Anthony was asked by the college to leave for poor grades, but convinced them to give him another chance. He spent the summer taking three classes he had failed over again. After much hard work and a changed attitude, Anthony was able to catch up to his classmates and graduate on time. He now owns a small business back in his home town, has a family, and does quite well for himself.
When he purchased the business, the previous owner promised to train him on the equipment used and help get him started. The previous owner was from a foreign country and, as soon as the papers were signed, left, never to return and provide the promised training. Needless to say this left Anthony in quite a fix; his life savings used to purchase the business, but no way to use it to make a living.
Later he told me that he decided not to let this ruin his dream. “I graduated college.” he said “I can read.” So he picked up the owners manual that was left with the equipment and trained himself.
This little anecdote illustrates my first point-- If you can read you can learn anything.
One of the ways southern plantation owners tried to keep their slaves ignorant was to make it illegal to allow slaves to have books. It is rather sad that if the slaves had the attitude of present day high school students, it would not have been necessary to keep books from them in order to keep them ignorant.
A few years ago, one of my advanced placement students came to see me after school. I had assigned a section of the text book to read; there would be a quiz the next day. This student asked if I would “explain” what was in the section—not because they read it and didn’t understand, but because they didn’t have time to read it. I said no, and told them to read the assignment. The student was quite mad at me and accused me of not “teaching” the material. Apparently I “only” teach when I lecture.
This anecdote illustrates my second point – If I tell you to read it, I have taught it.
Imagine a real life situation where your boss hands you a file and tells you to “Read this and tell me what you think.” Would your response be, “I don’t have time to read it, could you assign someone to tell me what is says?”
The, “I don’t have time to read it”, excuse is a lie, and most students know it. They are incompetent at learning by reading because no one ever requires them to do it.
When we try to make them read the students do poorly on the exam, and we resort to “spoon feeding” to get them through the material. This makes them look like good students; us look like good teachers, and everyone more stupid.
When he purchased the business, the previous owner promised to train him on the equipment used and help get him started. The previous owner was from a foreign country and, as soon as the papers were signed, left, never to return and provide the promised training. Needless to say this left Anthony in quite a fix; his life savings used to purchase the business, but no way to use it to make a living.
Later he told me that he decided not to let this ruin his dream. “I graduated college.” he said “I can read.” So he picked up the owners manual that was left with the equipment and trained himself.
This little anecdote illustrates my first point-- If you can read you can learn anything.
One of the ways southern plantation owners tried to keep their slaves ignorant was to make it illegal to allow slaves to have books. It is rather sad that if the slaves had the attitude of present day high school students, it would not have been necessary to keep books from them in order to keep them ignorant.
A few years ago, one of my advanced placement students came to see me after school. I had assigned a section of the text book to read; there would be a quiz the next day. This student asked if I would “explain” what was in the section—not because they read it and didn’t understand, but because they didn’t have time to read it. I said no, and told them to read the assignment. The student was quite mad at me and accused me of not “teaching” the material. Apparently I “only” teach when I lecture.
This anecdote illustrates my second point – If I tell you to read it, I have taught it.
Imagine a real life situation where your boss hands you a file and tells you to “Read this and tell me what you think.” Would your response be, “I don’t have time to read it, could you assign someone to tell me what is says?”
The, “I don’t have time to read it”, excuse is a lie, and most students know it. They are incompetent at learning by reading because no one ever requires them to do it.
When we try to make them read the students do poorly on the exam, and we resort to “spoon feeding” to get them through the material. This makes them look like good students; us look like good teachers, and everyone more stupid.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
My Day!
If you ever wondered what the day in the life of a teacher is like read on.
This morning my alarm went off at 5:45 am. I woke with a bad sinus headache. After taking two sinus tablets I showered quickly and turned on the coffee maker, then dressed. I took a cup of the coffee with me and left the house at about 6:30. The drive to school is about 30 minutes so I arrived at just about 7:00.
I teach at a Catholic high school and on Tuesdays and Thursdays there is mass in the chapel at 7:05. I attended this morning, along with about 75 others, 20 or so teachers. The school president was present as well as an assistant principal. About a dozen students I teach were among the others. Morning mass is quick and we were finished at about 7:25. When I got back to my room there was a student waiting; Mike was a senior and my student last year. He had one of those university application forms that needed to be filled out by a teacher. It is November 1st today and the form needed to be mailed and postmarked today. Many other teachers would have refused the request, it coming so late and needing immediate attention, but Mike was a good person–if not a great student–and I excused his procrastination and took care of it for him. I then had just enough time to start up my laptop and begin class when the bell rang.
First period begins with a prayer and the Pledge over the PA system. After the attendance was recorded and submitted, I began my lecture on “Types of Chemical Reactions” for the first of my 4 Honors classes. I finished about 2 minutes before the bell rang to end class. In the last two minutes I passed out left-over Halloween candy from last night. This was repeated for the next two periods.
Fourth period began with announcements over the PA followed by a power point on the”Kinetic Molecular Theory” in Advanced Placement Chemistry. Class ended with me answering questions about tomorrow’s exam and the homework assignment that was due. Fifth period is when lunch is scheduled along with home room. My freshmen home room students arrived for their 25 minute holding period–then were released to the lunchroom. I then had 55 minutes off before my next class.
During that time I ate lunch in my room (left over pizza from last night) and stapled the AP exams for tomorrow. After a quick trip to the office to get my mail and a washroom stop I was back in my room and ready to begin 6th period Honors Chemistry, my last class of the day.
When 7th period began I checked in with the office, telling them that I was going to the hardware store nearby to get some materials. I was gone for about 25 minutes, returning with some wood glue and a box of deck screws. When the bell rang to end the day I recruited two boys from the hall to help me turn one of the lab tables over. I used the wood glue and screws to repair one of the legs on the lab table. These tables are over 40 years old and getting maintenance to fix one may take two or three weeks–not because they don’t work hard, but because they have too much to do and are short staffed for a building our size. The repair took about 15 minutes. I had a conference with a department teacher about an up-coming field trip, worked for about an hour in preparation for class tomorrow, then left school at about 3:45.
I have two students I tutor on Thursday afternoons so I got home at about 7:00–12 and a half hours after I left this morning. After dinner I sat down and wrote this. It is now 9:00pm and I am going to bed in about 15 minutes.
This was a very typical day.
This morning my alarm went off at 5:45 am. I woke with a bad sinus headache. After taking two sinus tablets I showered quickly and turned on the coffee maker, then dressed. I took a cup of the coffee with me and left the house at about 6:30. The drive to school is about 30 minutes so I arrived at just about 7:00.
I teach at a Catholic high school and on Tuesdays and Thursdays there is mass in the chapel at 7:05. I attended this morning, along with about 75 others, 20 or so teachers. The school president was present as well as an assistant principal. About a dozen students I teach were among the others. Morning mass is quick and we were finished at about 7:25. When I got back to my room there was a student waiting; Mike was a senior and my student last year. He had one of those university application forms that needed to be filled out by a teacher. It is November 1st today and the form needed to be mailed and postmarked today. Many other teachers would have refused the request, it coming so late and needing immediate attention, but Mike was a good person–if not a great student–and I excused his procrastination and took care of it for him. I then had just enough time to start up my laptop and begin class when the bell rang.
First period begins with a prayer and the Pledge over the PA system. After the attendance was recorded and submitted, I began my lecture on “Types of Chemical Reactions” for the first of my 4 Honors classes. I finished about 2 minutes before the bell rang to end class. In the last two minutes I passed out left-over Halloween candy from last night. This was repeated for the next two periods.
Fourth period began with announcements over the PA followed by a power point on the”Kinetic Molecular Theory” in Advanced Placement Chemistry. Class ended with me answering questions about tomorrow’s exam and the homework assignment that was due. Fifth period is when lunch is scheduled along with home room. My freshmen home room students arrived for their 25 minute holding period–then were released to the lunchroom. I then had 55 minutes off before my next class.
During that time I ate lunch in my room (left over pizza from last night) and stapled the AP exams for tomorrow. After a quick trip to the office to get my mail and a washroom stop I was back in my room and ready to begin 6th period Honors Chemistry, my last class of the day.
When 7th period began I checked in with the office, telling them that I was going to the hardware store nearby to get some materials. I was gone for about 25 minutes, returning with some wood glue and a box of deck screws. When the bell rang to end the day I recruited two boys from the hall to help me turn one of the lab tables over. I used the wood glue and screws to repair one of the legs on the lab table. These tables are over 40 years old and getting maintenance to fix one may take two or three weeks–not because they don’t work hard, but because they have too much to do and are short staffed for a building our size. The repair took about 15 minutes. I had a conference with a department teacher about an up-coming field trip, worked for about an hour in preparation for class tomorrow, then left school at about 3:45.
I have two students I tutor on Thursday afternoons so I got home at about 7:00–12 and a half hours after I left this morning. After dinner I sat down and wrote this. It is now 9:00pm and I am going to bed in about 15 minutes.
This was a very typical day.
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