Direct Quotes from the Text | My notes, thoughts, reflections, and questions for further study. |
| "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." | I love quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe! I use his quotes in my classroom on my before class PowerPoint often. This perfectly fits my philosophy of teaching. Do not lower your expectations because of the level of the students. Set your expectations at the point you want your students to be. In fact, I had a personal example of this with one of my advisory students who was in my Physics class two years ago. I distinctly remember her saying, "This is too much! Why do you expect so much out of us! This isn't a college class. You expect too much and we just can't do all of this!" I explained (probably not in so rational of a voice as I had wished) that I set expectations high of all of my students. I said, "If I set the bar way down here, everyone achieves the goal. But, if I set the bar way up here, not as many reach the goal, but everyone achieves more!" I'm not sure she got it that day, but after she had time to process she did. I know that because she came and talked to me later and said "we sure had some rough times but I remember doing more because you expected so much." She went on to add, "I didn't really think I'd be successful in your class, but I did and I really think its because you set the expectation so high." Goethe's quote really hits home because of this specific situation. |
| "A second reason is that many who enter the teaching profession may take literacy skills for granted, not being aware of how they themselves acutally acquired the abilities to read, write, speak, listen, and think critically." | I'm not really sure where I fall on this category. I mean I don't know if I take (took) this for granted or not. In theory, I should not have, due to the intimate relationship I have with an English Teacher. However, in reality, I don't think I ever really thought the process of "learning to be literate" before I started teaching and began having conversations with said English Teacher about specifically using reading in my classroom. I knew teaching reading and writing across the curriculum was the right thing to do, but putting that stuff into practice was another animal completely. I've learned (in no small part due to this class, already) some really good strategies for engaging students in text and writing. I think I do a reasonably good job of having students write, but I'm still learning a lot on how to implement good literacy strategies in my classroom. Critical thinking? Oh yeah, this is one of my pet projects. I love working on critical thinking skills. Most students think this means "thinking outside the box". They've got a lot to learn about thinking critically! Fortunately, my English Teacher wife has taught a class which was centered on critical thinking and she is more than happy to share activities which guide students through the critical thinking process. |
| "All effective teachers use some form of the three steps that comprise MAX. At the beginning of class, most teachers use some form of "anticipatory set" to get students thinkings about the subject matter." | I really struggle with this. I'm not sure I always do this. I have worked towards doing this, but according to my peers, I've been identified as an effective teacher. Does this mean I can be effective without doing this? Or does this mean I'm doing anticipatory sets without realizing it? I'm not sure. I haven't specifically written this down anywhere in any plan book so honestly I'm not sure if I am doing this or not. That said, I am definitely going to be much more cognizant of using anticipatory sets so that hopefully I can be even more effective! Other than asking students what they know, I'm not sure exactly what other kinds of A.S. I can do. I'm certainly going to have to do some serious contemplation on what I can do to make this happen in class. |
"Three essential steps must be incorporated for real cooperative learning to occur:
| While my thoughts may be completely off-base, all I can think about here is my second period class this year. I am going to have both AP students (who have had my Physics 1 class already) and Pre-AP students (who are just now taking Physics 1). I think about my AP students acting as coaches for my Pre-AP class. I think of them as teachers who are going to learn so much more because they are going to be teaching for me! I'll simply act as a mediator. Definitely not content delivery on my part! I'll be sitting back and making sure students teach correctly while doing continual formative assessment on all students to make sure they are grasping the concepts at the level at which they should. Physics 2 students should certainly be at a much deeper level than the Physics 1 students, but they should also be gaining some understanding of the basic concepts of Physics. Does anyone think this is a good idea? A bad idea? I'm thinking the 1st 9 weeks is a good time to give this a trial run. In fact, I might even let them look at the P.A.S.S. and see what their pacing should be. Problem-solving exercises with AP student leaders. I like it. What do you guys think? |
Showing posts with label AP test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AP test. Show all posts
15 August 2010
Quotes and Notes from Forget
No, that's not pronounced "four-git". It's pronounced "Four-Zhay". If you didn't know that, I doubt you'll ever "forget" it again! Ha. That's an educational joke. Mark Forget is a well-known educational researcher. He wrote a book called "MAX Teaching with Reading and Writing" which is a textbook for my class, Reading Comprehension. I'm required to do two entries of what are called "Quotes and Notes" for each chapter of my reading. In typical fashion, I've decided to do my stuff here. I have no idea where the "notes and quotes" format comes from but I intend to reproduce it here, if possible. So here's my first attempt:
11 May 2010
why should students take ap classes anyway?
I have my own opinions on the matter and plan to share them here. In case I forget to ask, I'd love to hear what you have to say. I'll admit, my opinion won't be the popular one, but it is, after all, just an opinion and is not based in research or even very much experience (this is my 3rd year to teach).
I teach AP Physics. Wait, let me go back a little further. AP classes are supposed to be taught at a college level. The AP stands for Advanced Placement and is designed to prepare students for a test that can gain them college credit in the class taught, i.e. psychology, calculus, biology, spanish, etc. I'd love to hear input from some college freshmen that took AP classes their senior year and then took an equivalent class during their first year of college. Was it on the same level? Was it harder? Easier? Was the workload the same?
So, whether you are ready for my opinion or not, here it comes. Students taking AP classes should not be trying to take the class to get credit in college. Sure. College credit is a great benefit of taking the class, but should it be the primary objective? When I asked student in my AP physics class to tell me why they were taking the class, the overwhelming majority of them told me "so I can get college physics credit". However, most of these students will be entering college as a science or math major. My class is probably not (quite) up to the rigor of a college class, because of that fact, I am constantly trying to improve it and make it more like the post-secondary level it should be.
Bear in mind there are students in my class who have never made anything less than an "A" on their transcript. The parents of these students call and complain when they are making a "B" or (heaven forbid) even a "C". This is the argument I hear, "my student has NEVER made less than an "A", why are you not teaching them well enough so that they can be successful (meaning get an "A") in your class?" I hate to break it to you parents, there are a lot of students who go to college and don't make all "A's"! There is a serious problem called grade inflation and probably needs to be addressed in a separate post.
In my opinion, the purpose of my class is to prepare students for the appropriate class at the college level. If I am teaching physics, they should be able to continue their studies of physics in college and be successful (maybe even make an "A"!) Would I love to have all of my "precious ones" make 5's on the test? Of course! Since that won't ever happen, would I at least love to have them all pass with at least a 3? Yes! But honestly, I could care less about the test. Because the College Board says I have to teach to the test I do (which screwed us all this year since typically rotational motion is supposed to be about 20% of the test and my class is designed as such, but this year probably 50% of the test was rotational). But in reality, my underlying (sometimes not so subtle) goals are to increase student's problem solving abilities and prepare them for college.
That's it. If you are mad about that, too bad. However, I hope I have taught students something and given them a glimpse of what they will see in college. At least in their introductory classes. I think many students will be surprised at the amount of independent study will be required of them when they enter freshman-level classes. If memory serves (I only just graduated 3 short years ago and am currently working towards my master's) the professor doesn't spoon feed the information to students. They are supposed to be studying 2 hours for every hour they are in class each week. That means more than going over the notes the professor gave. In fact, most will give you their PowerPoint, so what's the use in taking notes, right? Maybe students should just read over the PowerPoint and then skip class? If I give the benefit of the doubt, and say students should only study an hour, not wait, a half hour for every hour they are in my class, then there should be about 8 hours per week of independent study going on. Oh and this does NOT include homework. Students are supposed to be studying that much in addition to the homework given by the instructor. I wonder how many of my students did that? Even on average? I dare say none.
I guess I didn't foster an environment that encouraged independent study. I think I started out doing pretty well at that, but then for some reason gave the idea that it would be okay just to get the notes in class, do the homework, and everything would be okay. The great thing about teaching is that there is always next year to change up what you are doing and try to make things better.
I teach AP Physics. Wait, let me go back a little further. AP classes are supposed to be taught at a college level. The AP stands for Advanced Placement and is designed to prepare students for a test that can gain them college credit in the class taught, i.e. psychology, calculus, biology, spanish, etc. I'd love to hear input from some college freshmen that took AP classes their senior year and then took an equivalent class during their first year of college. Was it on the same level? Was it harder? Easier? Was the workload the same?
So, whether you are ready for my opinion or not, here it comes. Students taking AP classes should not be trying to take the class to get credit in college. Sure. College credit is a great benefit of taking the class, but should it be the primary objective? When I asked student in my AP physics class to tell me why they were taking the class, the overwhelming majority of them told me "so I can get college physics credit". However, most of these students will be entering college as a science or math major. My class is probably not (quite) up to the rigor of a college class, because of that fact, I am constantly trying to improve it and make it more like the post-secondary level it should be.
Bear in mind there are students in my class who have never made anything less than an "A" on their transcript. The parents of these students call and complain when they are making a "B" or (heaven forbid) even a "C". This is the argument I hear, "my student has NEVER made less than an "A", why are you not teaching them well enough so that they can be successful (meaning get an "A") in your class?" I hate to break it to you parents, there are a lot of students who go to college and don't make all "A's"! There is a serious problem called grade inflation and probably needs to be addressed in a separate post.
In my opinion, the purpose of my class is to prepare students for the appropriate class at the college level. If I am teaching physics, they should be able to continue their studies of physics in college and be successful (maybe even make an "A"!) Would I love to have all of my "precious ones" make 5's on the test? Of course! Since that won't ever happen, would I at least love to have them all pass with at least a 3? Yes! But honestly, I could care less about the test. Because the College Board says I have to teach to the test I do (which screwed us all this year since typically rotational motion is supposed to be about 20% of the test and my class is designed as such, but this year probably 50% of the test was rotational). But in reality, my underlying (sometimes not so subtle) goals are to increase student's problem solving abilities and prepare them for college.
That's it. If you are mad about that, too bad. However, I hope I have taught students something and given them a glimpse of what they will see in college. At least in their introductory classes. I think many students will be surprised at the amount of independent study will be required of them when they enter freshman-level classes. If memory serves (I only just graduated 3 short years ago and am currently working towards my master's) the professor doesn't spoon feed the information to students. They are supposed to be studying 2 hours for every hour they are in class each week. That means more than going over the notes the professor gave. In fact, most will give you their PowerPoint, so what's the use in taking notes, right? Maybe students should just read over the PowerPoint and then skip class? If I give the benefit of the doubt, and say students should only study an hour, not wait, a half hour for every hour they are in my class, then there should be about 8 hours per week of independent study going on. Oh and this does NOT include homework. Students are supposed to be studying that much in addition to the homework given by the instructor. I wonder how many of my students did that? Even on average? I dare say none.
I guess I didn't foster an environment that encouraged independent study. I think I started out doing pretty well at that, but then for some reason gave the idea that it would be okay just to get the notes in class, do the homework, and everything would be okay. The great thing about teaching is that there is always next year to change up what you are doing and try to make things better.
21 May 2009
What should the goals of my class be?
Should I be preparing students for college physics? Or should I be preparing them just for a comprehensive final exam (an AP test)? The following is a response I gave to a student who was "irritated at the lack of new material" covered in the class (this is a second semester high school physics class) and possibly disappointed in the lack of calculus teaching I did. Little does he know that Calculus IS a prerequisite. The test was much more calculus heavy this year than in previous years (according to the scuttlebutt on the physics teacher forums). So without further adieu, here is my response to this student(s):
I appreciate the obvious thought you put into composing the comments which will count as your final exam for AP Physics II. First, I would like for you to look at the title of the course. Should it be challenging? Should you have to put in hours and hours of practice and study to be successful in the course? Were you at a distinct disadvantage by missing 90% of the lecture due to the fact that you were not actually attending the class? Was that compounded by the fact that you sat through all of my lecture to Physics I again? Could that be what caused you to feel that "While the basic concepts are extremely effectively conveyed, they were somewhat lacking after the basic level"? Would it be possible that since you got a double helping of the basics, while being required to go beyond into more basics, you felt slighted by my lack of explanation "thoroughly in depth toward the end of the class"?
I am disheartened that you feel I didn't follow through on my end of the bargain to help you be successful in Physics II (if you measure success in your understanding of the concepts covered). It seems that you and I discussed what would be required for you to be successful before you ever enrolled in your sports class instead of attending Physics II. I believe we discussed EXTRA study time, coming in for EXTRA face time during tutoring, and me extending my Facebook policy to include those of you in my class for EXTRA help through Facebook chat or messaging. I ask, which of those did I not do? Which of those did you not do? How often did you ask for extra help OUTSIDE of class? I can only think of one time in which you came for tutoring. There may have also been one time you came in early or stayed late for EXTRA help.
I appreciate that you and "many a student within the Physics II C (mechanics) class were extremely irritated by the high amount of review, and low amount of new content, citing an extreme lack of in-depth, thorough explanations of the mathematics required to solve the problems past conceptual applications. Many students have brainstormed ideas as solutions for the problems that surface in the class, ranging from simple solutions such as asking the teacher". Why then did no one ask? Could it be that many a student in the class cared more about what was going on outside of class and expected to "get it all" within the very short hour and a half we are able to spend together? If you all were irritated at the high amount of review, maybe I did my job too well last year? (please forgive that, I was a new teacher) I believe we covered all of last year in the first nine weeks of this year (par for the course based on the syllabus schedule). So everyone was irritated at that? Maybe we should go back and review test scores over that first nine weeks. If everyone was irritated at the lack of new material then they should have made an "A" because they already knew it. I don't recall everyone being THAT successful, but maybe my memory fails me. I guess I should look back at the gradebook. *pulls up first nine weeks scores* No. My memory does not fail me. The class average of all 6 tests we took during the first nine weeks was a 78.8% with a high of 86 and a low of 67 for the class averages. Hmmm that doesn't sound like our high school's best students reviewing what they did last year. It sounds like our high school's best students blowing off time meant to study by thinking they aren't learning anything new and then brainstorming about it! It might also indicate a teacher who expects students to think a bit more and dig a bit deeper within the "basics that are required to understand more advanced" concepts.
Just to be clear, other than String Theory and my brief mention of quantum mechanics and a brief mention of relativity, we have never done anything other than the basics in Physics I. You are correct in thinking that you must have an understanding of the basics to be able to grasp more advanced concepts. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the basics. There is a whole semester of basics yet to cover. It's called AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism. What you got in my class was a true glimpse of college physics. Contrary to what the college coordinator will tell you, my class is NOT designed to take the place of College Physics. It is designed to prepare you for college physics. Let's think back to Monday, when last year's Physics II students visited to talk about their experience this year..."you guys shouldn't worry about physics, this class has prepared you well" is one quote off the top of my head. Let's look at the data...of last year's students who took college physics (7 total) 6 made an "A" in college physics and 1 made a "B". I'd say just from looking at the data that this class is accomplishing its goal.
All of this to say, if "many a student" had frustrations and lack of understanding, why did no one speak up? Why brainstorm together instead of brainstorming with the one person who could change the direction of the class (the teacher)? Learn a lesson now...if you have questions, don't ask another student! Ask the teacher/professor! They know more about the subject than anyone else in the class. If there is a student who knows more about the subject than the teacher, drop the class. The teacher is not doing their job. If you feel I didn't fulfill my part of our contract, I apologize deeply for that. It was not my intent. I did my best to adequately prepare you for a test which is designed to validate your knowledge (or lack of) of a particular subject. I worked toward a goal BASED ON MY PAST EXPERIENCE of the AP tests. Many people felt that the test was calculus heavy when compared to previous years. I can only imagine since I have so little experience. Another quote by a previous Physics II student "we didn't even use calculus this entire semester". So I ask you, should I prepare you for one test? Or should I prepare you for a semester of college physics?
I welcome your thoughts and comments on this post.
I appreciate the obvious thought you put into composing the comments which will count as your final exam for AP Physics II. First, I would like for you to look at the title of the course. Should it be challenging? Should you have to put in hours and hours of practice and study to be successful in the course? Were you at a distinct disadvantage by missing 90% of the lecture due to the fact that you were not actually attending the class? Was that compounded by the fact that you sat through all of my lecture to Physics I again? Could that be what caused you to feel that "While the basic concepts are extremely effectively conveyed, they were somewhat lacking after the basic level"? Would it be possible that since you got a double helping of the basics, while being required to go beyond into more basics, you felt slighted by my lack of explanation "thoroughly in depth toward the end of the class"?
I am disheartened that you feel I didn't follow through on my end of the bargain to help you be successful in Physics II (if you measure success in your understanding of the concepts covered). It seems that you and I discussed what would be required for you to be successful before you ever enrolled in your sports class instead of attending Physics II. I believe we discussed EXTRA study time, coming in for EXTRA face time during tutoring, and me extending my Facebook policy to include those of you in my class for EXTRA help through Facebook chat or messaging. I ask, which of those did I not do? Which of those did you not do? How often did you ask for extra help OUTSIDE of class? I can only think of one time in which you came for tutoring. There may have also been one time you came in early or stayed late for EXTRA help.
I appreciate that you and "many a student within the Physics II C (mechanics) class were extremely irritated by the high amount of review, and low amount of new content, citing an extreme lack of in-depth, thorough explanations of the mathematics required to solve the problems past conceptual applications. Many students have brainstormed ideas as solutions for the problems that surface in the class, ranging from simple solutions such as asking the teacher". Why then did no one ask? Could it be that many a student in the class cared more about what was going on outside of class and expected to "get it all" within the very short hour and a half we are able to spend together? If you all were irritated at the high amount of review, maybe I did my job too well last year? (please forgive that, I was a new teacher) I believe we covered all of last year in the first nine weeks of this year (par for the course based on the syllabus schedule). So everyone was irritated at that? Maybe we should go back and review test scores over that first nine weeks. If everyone was irritated at the lack of new material then they should have made an "A" because they already knew it. I don't recall everyone being THAT successful, but maybe my memory fails me. I guess I should look back at the gradebook. *pulls up first nine weeks scores* No. My memory does not fail me. The class average of all 6 tests we took during the first nine weeks was a 78.8% with a high of 86 and a low of 67 for the class averages. Hmmm that doesn't sound like our high school's best students reviewing what they did last year. It sounds like our high school's best students blowing off time meant to study by thinking they aren't learning anything new and then brainstorming about it! It might also indicate a teacher who expects students to think a bit more and dig a bit deeper within the "basics that are required to understand more advanced" concepts.
Just to be clear, other than String Theory and my brief mention of quantum mechanics and a brief mention of relativity, we have never done anything other than the basics in Physics I. You are correct in thinking that you must have an understanding of the basics to be able to grasp more advanced concepts. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the basics. There is a whole semester of basics yet to cover. It's called AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism. What you got in my class was a true glimpse of college physics. Contrary to what the college coordinator will tell you, my class is NOT designed to take the place of College Physics. It is designed to prepare you for college physics. Let's think back to Monday, when last year's Physics II students visited to talk about their experience this year..."you guys shouldn't worry about physics, this class has prepared you well" is one quote off the top of my head. Let's look at the data...of last year's students who took college physics (7 total) 6 made an "A" in college physics and 1 made a "B". I'd say just from looking at the data that this class is accomplishing its goal.
All of this to say, if "many a student" had frustrations and lack of understanding, why did no one speak up? Why brainstorm together instead of brainstorming with the one person who could change the direction of the class (the teacher)? Learn a lesson now...if you have questions, don't ask another student! Ask the teacher/professor! They know more about the subject than anyone else in the class. If there is a student who knows more about the subject than the teacher, drop the class. The teacher is not doing their job. If you feel I didn't fulfill my part of our contract, I apologize deeply for that. It was not my intent. I did my best to adequately prepare you for a test which is designed to validate your knowledge (or lack of) of a particular subject. I worked toward a goal BASED ON MY PAST EXPERIENCE of the AP tests. Many people felt that the test was calculus heavy when compared to previous years. I can only imagine since I have so little experience. Another quote by a previous Physics II student "we didn't even use calculus this entire semester". So I ask you, should I prepare you for one test? Or should I prepare you for a semester of college physics?
I welcome your thoughts and comments on this post.
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