Breadth vs. Depth

As I look over the last several years of teaching in the classroom, I always wonder if I was able to make a difference in the lives of my students.  Did they take anything from my class?  Had they met or exceeded my expectations?  Were they thoroughly prepared for science in high school?  I consider self-reflection a key characteristic of professional growth.  One thing I find that doesn't help self-reflection for the purposes of perfecting your skill is placing blame on other teachers and grade levels.  This won't be one of those conversations.  Instead, I want to revisit this idea of breadth versus depth in science education and address its impact on our students.

Each year students go over the scientific method.  The idea is that if they memorize the steps that they are sure to remember it for next year, right? WRONG! In fact, taking this approach is quite a disservice to our students.  I understand that there may be times that we are trying to keep up with pacing guides and curriculum maps, but why sacrifice depth for breadth?  The only thing breadth of content is good for is ensuring that students will ask you, "Ms., How does that go again?"  Breadth doesn't support critical thinking and application skills.  

If we want our students to understand the scientific process, we must make the time to go IN DEPTH from the very beginning.  We need to help students analyze each step and apply each step to different situations.  We need to provide our students with more opportunities for discovery and exploration and stop feeding them all the information.  THIS IS A DISSERVICE TO THEM.  I don't have time to point fingers at anyone else to felt breadth was more important the depth, but instead this is a great learning moment for me to capitalize on.  I want my students to delve into the inquiry process and not limit them by a pacing guide that tells me how long I need to address a topic.  A pacing guide doesn't serve learners' needs.  

What do you want your students to leave with when they move on to the next grade level.  For me, I want them to love and understand the scientific process.  For this to happen, I must want them to do more than just memorize steps. 

Sharing with Stupeflix

Stupeflix is an online tool that you or your students can use to create videos. Similar to Windows Movie Maker, you can add images, audio, and title slides. The greatest advantage is that I find Stupeflix much easier to use than Movie Maker. The only setback is that you don’t get much for free; however, this will definitely help students learn how to summarize visual presentations by extracting the essentials to present ideas, concepts, stories, summaries, and so forth. Below is an example of my former students’ hurricane house project.



Application in Science
1. Photos demonstrating the science process during labs
2. Gathering and sharing visual data from labs
3. Photos of Parent Night, Open House, Science Night

A Beautiful Answer Garden

In an age of formative and summative assessments, teachers always need ways to gather data to drive instruction. Now I may not have a green thumb, but I have found one garden that even I can create and use to enhance learning and assessment techniques. Answer Garden is such a great and easy tool to use to gather snapshots of information. It is flexible enough to use before, during, or after a lesson. To create a garden follow these easy steps:

1. Type a task or question into the topic box.
2. Determine if you want to gather unlimited answers.
3. Create an admin password (for editing purposes).
4. Include an email to receive the password and link.
5. Click create.
6. Check your email; copy and paste the link to your website. You can also choose to share or embed.

Here is what an Answer Garden BEFORE it starts to bloom with answers.

Share one thing you've learned about renewable energy.... at AnswerGarden.ch.

Advantages:
1. No login required
2. Very easy to integrate
3. Provides quick feedback to drive the direction of instruction

Applications in Science:
1. Gather information on prior background knowledge on science concepts (erosion, geocentrism, motion, etc.)
2. Share the link on a social network to crowdsource responses outside of classroom on a topic so students can see outside perspectives.
3. Use as an exit slip after a lecture.
4. Use during a lesson as a Think-Post-Share.

Cramberry - A Yummy Way to Study

Do your students need another great way to study? Well, try Cramberry.  You can create online flashcards for free, which is definitely a handy tool for science education.  Students can create flashcards or you can create flashcards for them.  It’s actually quite easy to create a set of cards. 

1. Login to Cramberry.

2. Create a title for set.

3. Decide if anyone can use and edit the set of cards.

4. Create set.

5. Type in information for the front and back of your cards.  (You have an option to create your own backmatter or take from the premade options.)

6. Click Finish.

7. Review your set, then select Study Now or Export.

8. Share the URL with student.  Here’s my quick sample: http://cramberry.net/sets/68309-scientific-process

Your sets can be tweeted or liked.  However, the greatest feature is that students can type in answer and do a self-check.  There is no time limit so students can review words until they are satisfied.  

Application to Science:

1. Create a set of cards for building academic vocabulary.

GoAnimate4Schools

GoAnimate4Schools
Can you remember waiting for the Sunday paper so that you could read the comics section? I do and that’s because I loved the characters and the story lines. The comics grabbed my attention and I looked forward to reading each story. Comics in education can have the same effect as reading the comics at home. GoAnimate4Schools is a great tool for integrating comics into your classroom, especially a science classroom. What are others saying about using comics in education?

“The most frequently mentioned asset of comics as an educational tool is its ability to motivate students.” –Gene Yang
“Introducing comics as a new form of literature will bring their education to the next level.” –Sarah Winifred Searle
“Comics…are an especially effective medium in the context of brain-based teaching, which emphasizes hands-on, manipulative-based activities.” –Nancy Frey

Here is my first GoAnimate4Schools comic strip:
GoAnimate4Schools.com: Reference Point by Monique Prince

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate4Schools. It's free and fun!

Application in Science:
1. Review big ideas.
2. Address student misconceptions.
3. Demonstrate the scientific process.

Virtual Study Groups with CoboCards

Cobocards is an online flashcard site designed to allow users to create and share flashcards for any subject.  You can create your own flashcards or browse through the available library of premade cards.  Cobocards supports mobile learning because you can access your cards from your iPhone or Android.  Another cool feature is that your flashcards can be printed or exported for students who don’t have access to mobile technology.  This video reviews the basic process:

Applications to Science:

1. Students can work in groups to create flashcards for a current unit of study.

2. Let students provide peer commentary on all student-created flashcards.

3. Create a library of flashcards for your students to retrieve from the class website.