Developing theory of practice
As I believe that each student should feel that his or her ideas are valued in my classroom, at the conclusion of each activity, we did a whip around the room so students could say one word that they used to describe cells. We compiled these words into a Wordle graphic so that students could visualize both the discussion as a whole and the individual variable perspectives represented in the discussion. As I explain in my journal reflection on this activity, "students seemed very excited to see their ideas pop up on the screen and appeared surprised at how diverse their own ideas and perceptions were." Sometimes students would stop the discussion along the way to question each other about why they chose this word or that word. While I found these interruptions distracting to the flow of my lesson, I have slowly begun to discern between productive sidetracked conversations and simply tangental conversations. As I have discussed with my classroom mentor, this ability to discern whether or not to pursue 'in the moment' discussion is a skill that I will need to work on over time in my future years as a classroom educator.
As a class, the Wordles allowed us to revisit our initial discussion as we progressed through the unit on cells. When we discussed the cytoplasm of the cell (the area inside the cell, surrounding the organelles, composed mostly of water), I returned to the Wordle to reference the terms 'gooey, 'dense,' and 'wet' that students had suggested. When we discussed protein synthesis, students described the process as 'complex,' 'organized,' 'cooperative,' 'active,' 'busy,' and 'structured,' words that they had previously included in their Wordles. I felt that completing this activity and entertaining the discussions that followed helped to anchor the unit for students. They had a personal, creative, fun experience on which to reflect when challenged with new material." Overall, students demonstrated a fair performance on the summative assessment for the cells unit. In my 4th period class, more than half (16 of 29) of the students achieved scores in the B or higher range; however, five students failed the exam.
As a class, the Wordles allowed us to revisit our initial discussion as we progressed through the unit on cells. When we discussed the cytoplasm of the cell (the area inside the cell, surrounding the organelles, composed mostly of water), I returned to the Wordle to reference the terms 'gooey, 'dense,' and 'wet' that students had suggested. When we discussed protein synthesis, students described the process as 'complex,' 'organized,' 'cooperative,' 'active,' 'busy,' and 'structured,' words that they had previously included in their Wordles. I felt that completing this activity and entertaining the discussions that followed helped to anchor the unit for students. They had a personal, creative, fun experience on which to reflect when challenged with new material." Overall, students demonstrated a fair performance on the summative assessment for the cells unit. In my 4th period class, more than half (16 of 29) of the students achieved scores in the B or higher range; however, five students failed the exam.
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