The Infection Spreads!

Last week an infection got introduced to my classroom. How to what it was, how to catch it, how it spreads - none of that was known. Throughout the week students completed problems to receive clues as to the nature of the infection. 

This past week it was revealed: the infection is a virus which affects the midichlorians. When infected, the virus turns the midichlorians to favor the dark side. By the time this was known, half of the class was on the light side and half was on the dark side. There is also a ‘secret agent’ on the light side: someone that is infected, but that does not show any signs. There is also one student in the class that is immune to the infection. 

Both of those came out randomly based on the cards students drew from a deck last week.

 For the past week students have continued to push their cause's side by earning points to win mini-challenges. Students had probability challenges, number challenges, and other games. Light side students got a chance to retry, while dark side students were ‘tossed’ into the Pit of Sarlak. The most recent one was a kahoot battle. Students signed into kahoot as normal, but labeled their side: 

Sides have been set. 

Many of them wanted to name themselves “Darth”, but I told them there are only two sith lords, and they are currently held by the two teachers in the classroom. I also told them they were welcome to challenge us in a math competition to take the title. None have done so yet. 

During the game, students saw the top 5 but also knew EVERY point mattered so they focused on getting answers right.  They reminded each other that getting answers right is better than answering fast and incorrectly. 

Light side leads, but the force is strong with the dark forces. 

When the game was over I totaled the dark and light sides and averaged their scores. That became their points for “final” kahoot (just like final jeopardy.) The leader from each team (the one with most points) got to decide how many points to risk. Other students could help, ask, and beg, but ultimately that student decided the wager. 

From there, students were told one random person from each team would represent their answer. Collaboration during that question could not have been higher as teammates checked in with each other about both the process and the final answer. 

In the end, the light side won this battle, but the war is not over yet.

How will episode II end?

Meet My New Baby, Neon!

I have a new baby!  I adopted one of the elements last night!

Confused? Want to know more?  So did so many of my students - and that is the beauty of using hooks when you teach.  Students want more information - they crave it.  It's torture to NOT give them knowledge.

Here is how a typical science lesson can go:

Teacher - "OK, we've been studying about elements.  We know how to arrange the electrons in the first twenty elements pretty well, and I'm pretty sure you know how to calculate the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons, so now you will all become an expert on one element.  You'll have to pick an element and do research on it.  You need to find out the key components of that element - the ones we have been talking about: melting and boiling points, period, group, as well as some interesting facts about the element.  Be sure to also include a Bohr's model.  You'll put everything on a poster and present it on Monday. I'll give you some class time today to get started."

The teacher is giving the information, telling the students what they know, and letting them know what the expectations are.  Picture what the students are doing while this information is being disseminated.  Are they focused? Are they interested? Are they engaged?  Are they looking interesting  facts up before you even tell them to do so?

Would you want to be in this classroom?

Most students in this classroom tuned out by the word "research."  Nobody is engaged, unless they have a strong internal desire to learn about the properties of elements.  The teacher is assuming knowledge that may or may not be there.  And the poor elements are literally all around them - in the air, the paper, the drool on the desk from the student that fell asleep -  thinking, "Is this what we've become? How drab!"

(Drab is elemental for "boring and non-pirate-esque")

In the book Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess, you get dozens of great hook ideas, ways to transform lessons, and a chance to reflect on your pedagogy within the classroom.  I always felt I was a pirate-type teacher, but his presentation at The Association for Middle Level Educators really tied it together for me.

Here is how my science lesson looked:

First, as the students came into the classroom they saw me in the back of the room around a small doll bed.  I look down at the bed, smile, say I've gotta go teach now, cover up something in the bed, and head to the front of the room.

Props - one of the keys to teaching like a pirate!

I load up Kahoot and we review concepts presented in the past  couple of weeks.  I get some great formative feedback, including the fact that my students need more practice calculating the number of neutrons in an element, but I'm really happy with how well students have internalized the learning objectives.

A girl named Lauren was the winner, pulling ahead on the final question, and got to do her victory lap dance around the classroom as we applauded.

This was the final question that gave her the win. There were massive protests.

The students - now fully engaged in the class - are told a bit about my evening.  I got approval to adopt a new baby.  His name is Neon and he's gorgeous - a beautiful orange red baby!  I show them the adoption papers and explain that the adoption agency allowed me to let students also adopt elements that weigh between 3 and 20 AMUs.  

Students are directed to their notebooks.  They look at what elements this might include.  They connect that these are the first 20 elements except for Hydrogen and Helium.  My class is only 16 students, so I tell them that each baby element can only be adopted once.  I also told them I'm not giving up my baby, so Neon is also out!

We then use instant classroom to hold a 'draft' as to which element they get to adopt.  After a student makes a selection, I give them their new 'baby' - with artwork designed by Kacie D.  

From there I shared both my example adoption paper as well as a template for them to create their own paper.  Students already had links to resources to complete the assignment.  I explained that adoption papers were due by Monday.  It didn't matter - many of the students wanted to get started right then.  

Now, this lesson wasn't without issues.  Upon reflection, I didn't do as well as I could have during the 'draft' portion.  Students were choosing elements that they knew other students wanted, and at times were laughing at how some of the elements looked.  I did address this the next day, but  I could have done a much better job of community building by addressing these issues immediately. 

However, this lesson got every student EXCITED to have a deeper understanding of one specific element.   Students were asking if there was a limit to how many fun facts they could research - can they do their own art work - could you make a bigger poster?   Teaching like a pirate changes student engagement WITHOUT changing content.  In fact the content tends to go deeper and becomes more intrinsic because of the thrill that comes with the learning.

Teaching like a pirate transforms your classroom - what pirate stories do you have?  How do you hook your students?