Semester Synthesis

How will you incorporate comprehension instruction into your discipline?

I think it is really important to be able to read and comprehend difficult scientific text. Even though reading a textbook can be boring, it is an important skill to acquire before college. That is something that I had to learn on my own in college. I wish I had a teacher that taught us how to analyze scientific text. With that in mind, I plan on selecting small segments from scientific text, such as research articles, textbooks, encyclopedias, etc.We will read it together and we can interpret it. I will also have them do small research projects so that they can immerse themselves in scientific literature. 

How will you support your students in writing texts and producing other representations in your discipline?

Like I mentioned, I would like to have the students do small research projects. One idea i had, is to have them research about a scientist and talk about their accomplishments. I also think it is important to have lab write ups. Often times, students need to explain what is happening to really understand the basic concepts. It's not always enough for them to do the lab without explaining it.

How will you integrate digital technologies?

There are a lot of ways to integrate technology into the classroom. First off, I am a huge fan of PowerPoint lessons. They are such a help for me. In the PowerPoint you can have all sorts of aids that enhance the lessons, such as pictures, videos and simulations. You can also have games like jeopardy, which I have used. It was fun. I have considered making a class webpage or maybe a blog. That way I am integrating social media, which is prevalent in the students' lives.

What kinds of texts will you make available to your students? 

After making the text set, I realized there are a lot of different types of books that can be made available for students to read. I really like autobiographies of scientists, so I will probably have a lot of those. I also like books with pictorial representations of concepts. I want to have books that break down hard concepts into small simple principles. Lastly, I would like to have a book for projects/ experiments. That way they can use it for formal projects in the class, and fun activities that they can do on their own.

Thanks for the great class!

Oral Language

Physics is a really hard subject to have full discussions. In fact, most of my classes have mostly been lecture-based. I have had a few really good teachers who manage to ask good, thoughtful questions that allow for some dialogue. I am not very good at remembering specific lectures or concepts that really drew me in, however I remember a teacher that I have had that consistently involved more student interaction. Her name was Professor Davis and she taught physics at BYU. The class was so fun. I could have listened to her for hours. She asked a lot of questions and was dynamic. She did demos and asked for volunteers. 

Her discussions weren't the same as a regular conversation, where one person bounces off the other. But she asked a lot of questions that sparked a lot of questions. She created a good "questions source" as the article would say. The best questions come from the students and that is where the real learning happens. We all became interested because she asked good questions. She asked "authentic questions" herself. She wasn't looking for a particular answer. Most of the time she asked us for predictions of what was going to happen and why. She would also ask clicker questions, then have us turn to our neighbor and explain why we chose our answer. Then we would re-pole our answers.This was good "uptake". When we would answer the second time, if there were still questions she would continue to cover the subject instead of moving on. She would change her lesson plan according to the needs of our class. 

She implemented the 5 elements of effective discussions, but she did especially well on those three. She was inspiring to me to be a teacher because of how well she involved and intrigued the class. Physics was so fun because she made it fun. She implanted desire in our hearts by asking great questions. She was a great example to me.