Creative Ways to Review

The end of the year is always full of review before cumulative assessments.  The challenge for teachers is how to make the review fun and interactive for the kids yet still beneficial for them to review on their previously learned topics.  I am not a worksheet kind of teacher, so here are two of the ways I reviewed with my students before the big AP Biology Exam...(keep in mind they don't just have to be used for the advanced classes...it can be applied to any content area).

1.  Pretty Colors
For some reason...kids are always impressed with pretty colors, especially against dark backgrounds.  So I let them draw on the tables.  I have the black lab tables in my room and we used the Expo Window Markers. 

 Then I told them to draw a plant and animal cell on one side of the tables and a phospholipid bilayer on the other side.

 

  This is what they came up with!  Then we walked through everyone's drawings and fixed mistakes, added missing things, labeled and discussed functions.  It really led the kids to actively discuss and interact with each other.  We did this for several days with many different topics and every day the kids were highly engaged and had fun.

*I do give credit for this idea to a colleague of mine, Cassie Miller.  She came up with it is fantastic!*

2. Vocabulary Puzzle
For genetics, there is a lot of vocabulary and working out problems.  My kids had no problem with the example problems but kept getting the vocab confused...so I developed a little game. This is the idea...

 
Where you have shapes that have either terms, definitions or descriptions on all sides of a piece.  Then they match up with another piece to link a term and its description and then pair up all sides.  So i decided to make one with our genetics terms. Here is a picture of my kids working on it....

 

I told them it will make some sort of shape......and when they finish they get this! 

Its supposed to be a dog...they said it looked like a cat.  But it was a fun way to review vocab terms. Fair warning, it is a bit of work to but it all together, but i thought it was a lot of fun and the kids liked it. 

Good luck reviewing!

Stem Cell Research Project

My latest successful lesson from my A&P class came from our unit over Stem Cells/Tissues.

The scheduling with this unit was quite chaotic for me because of half days, lack of computer access, Senior Josten's meetings and it was the crazy week of homecoming at OG.  So here is what I did

Day 1 - watch the HHMI video over stem cells
It was the second lecture over regeneration because the kids always relate better to it compared to lecture 1.  Found here.

Day 2 - Talk about the project, get the points of view and start researching
I had the kids pull out slips of paper that had major politicians and people who have an interest in stem cell research and this is their person that they have to portray for the duration of the project.  I found the various points of view from this website  starting on page 7. I told the kids that they couldn't trade and even if they didn't agree with the person they were given and their views on stem cell research; they still have to present their ideas in a convincing way.    

Day 3 - No computers...so did a point of view activity
Since I couldn't give them access to computers - I had them talk to  each other about their ideas they planned to present in their paper.  I had them come up with 3 or more reasons why they either supported or did not support stem cell research with a group of other kids that had the same point of view.  Then I had them meet with peers who had opposing points of view and listen to each other tell their opinions - this gave them ideas for how to develop a counter argument.  Even though this was a filler day because of no computers - it actually worked out pretty well and I think it helped the kids develop their ideas more and point them in the right direction for the rest of the researching days. 

Day 4 - Research
On research days, I basically left them alone to work and just answered questions or clarified things for them if they didn't understand the procedures and such associated with stem cells. 

Day 5 - Research - papers due over the weekend
I have my kids turn in their papers via dropbox - so the entire project is paperless.  Go green! :) Let me know if you want to set up your classroom like this as well - it rocks!  I would be happy to share my system.  Below are some sample essays of what two of mine turned in.  I thought they did exceptionally well with this project...especially when I found out later that most of my kids did not agree with the point of view they were given.  I told them to be convincing - and I think they accomplished the goal.
Sample Student Essay #1
Sample Student Essay #2

Day 6 - Class Discussion day
This is after they had turned in their papers to me about stem cell research.  I had them discuss the topic as a class from their person's point of view.  I specifically told them many times throughout the unit that I did not want to know their own personal point of view until the entire project was over...every thing they presented was as if they were the person given to them on their paper.  To get everyone involved I had them all grab 5 poker chips.  When ever they wanted to talk or add to the conversation; they had to turn in a poker chip.  Once they ran out - they couldn't talk anymore.  So it helped encourage all the shy students to speak up and all the outspoken kids to choose their words wisely.  Once that conversation kind of died down; I had them restock on poker chips and they were finally able to give me their opinion.  We really got into some good conversation and it was obvious that they had learned a lot about their research. 

Finally, the next day I had them write a reflection that told me their own opinion on stem cell research and what they had gotten out of the project.  Overall - I was impressed with my kiddo's work - nothing new.  :)

Instruction Page found here
Grading Rubric found here
Reflection Form found here

We Are...A Get to Know You Activity

In our school, we have our regular classes and then we have an Advisory.  We see them everyday at least in passing, but we have lessons with them once a week and then SSR one day a week. 

This year I have Juniors for Advisory and the lesson that was presented to us was a "Superhero" lesson...and knowing the kids I had in Advisory - I didn't think it would go too well.  So I found this idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  Here was the inspiration:

This was a two day activity; on day one the kids did "speed dating."  I set them up across from each other and gave them 2 minutes to really get to know each other.  I told them they had to 'sell themselves' and what their best qualities and interests are.  Then I had them rotate to the next person until they had talked to each person in the advisory.  I was a little worried they wouldn't buy in, but they really got into it after the first few rounds and talked a lot to each other.

On day two, they came in and i explained how they were going to use the information they gained about their peers.  One at a time a student would go up to the whiteboard and stand facing me.  Then their peers would go around them and write characteristics about the person.  *I kept an eye out to make sure they stayed school appropriate* Then I took their picture.  I had a student erase the words around them before the student at the board could move.  So no one was able to read what others wrote until the picture reveal.  We repeated this process for all the kids, finally when we had done all of them - they wanted to do it for me.  I let them - but you gotta give these kids some credit, because standing up there all vulnerable was actually pretty scary.  But I was impressed with their willingness to participate and work together as a group.

Here are pictures of my kids and what others said:

When i printed them, I had to go back and add sharpies to the writing because it was kinda hard to read...but overall; they turned out pretty good.

The last step was that I made a bulletin board in my room with all of their pictures and with the help of Facebook and Edmodo - we came up with the title as "We are..."

The kids really enjoyed the reveal and had a good time with the activity.  I was proud of them!

Beating Memorization Monotony

We all know that memorization can get quite boring within the classroom; which is why there is such a push for higher level thinking questioning and teachers pushing the kids outside their boundaries...but when teaching a course like Anatomy, some basic memorization is a necessary evil sometimes!

In class, we have covered body cavities, now we are moving on into body landmarks.  There are about 82 terms that they have been introduced to in the first 4 days of school so I wanted to take yesterday and today to do some activities to reinforce the terms they were learning. 

Yesterday we did a new activity with the kids that I developed on a whim this summer. I made cork boards for the kids (I made a class set of 20 with scrap wood at my house and $15 worth of cork from Hobby Lobby)

As you can see, they are just made from 3/4" plywood and the thin corkboard that comes in a roll.  I cut the wood and cork, sanded it to prevent splinters and glued them together with woodglue.  It worked really well. 

When I got to school I printed out smaller (each board is only like 6"x8") pictures of the face, anterior view of the body and posterior view of the body. 

So when the kids came in; their bell work instructed them to pick up a board, one of each picture, and a handful of thumbtacks and wait for further instruction. 

I modeled how I wanted them to use the boards by having them work in partners - one partner would mention the body landmark and the other would mark it on their board, or they could do it together - i kind of left it up to each group and what worked for them.  They had to go over all the landmarks/body cavities and use all the pictures.

Then I had them switch it up to battleship mode.  One partner would put in a bunch of thumbtacks and then give clues to their other partner trying to get their partner to get the same locations on their board. 

Finally we took it a step further and instead of the clues being solely "Place one at the mental landmark" they had to use directional terms.  So the clue turned into "Place one at the landmark that is directly inferior to the nasal landmark."  It made it that much more difficult and they really liked it. 

I could also see this working for many other things where the kids have to recognize the term/location/functions - I'm excited to see what all I use the corkboards for throughout the year.

Today we kept with the reinforcement theme and did my classic Veggie People Activity! 

The kids make a person out of veggies, get their picture taken, then make 'flags' with toothpicks/paper/tape and they label 20 body landmarks/body cavities.  I went over their labeling to make sure there weren't any mistakes and then I injured their veggie person.  By injure, I mean I tell them where they got hurt and they then have to develop a story of how they got hurt (you'd be surprised how creative they can get!), what organs/organ systems would be affected, what doctors would worry most about fixing and any long term effects on the veggie person.  The story is homework for over the weekend and i'm excited to see what they come up with.  Here are a couple of the kids veggie people - don't they look super cool!?!?!?

I love teaching A&P!

What Stuck?

All of us have really good lesson days and today was one of mine!

With teaching Anatomy & Physiology, I normally start out with notes of the basics of the body systems, homeostasis and then we talk about the orientation to the body (body cavities, landmarks and directional terms).

This year I made a goal to get away from regular PowerPoint notes with lots of information and make the move to a lot more pictures and leading discussion with the class instead.  In my first years of teaching, I relied on the notes on the PowerPoint to make sure I taught everything I needed to to and to help me remember it all since I was practically learning it all with the kids. Since this is my 3rd year with A&P, I think by now I pretty much have the material down...so I decided to switch it up.

Today was the second day of school and we did some housekeeping tasks first, then I put up my PowerPoint. Found Here. We only focused on the first 3 slides and spent the rest of the hour focusing on the terms, anatomical position, cranial cavity, vertebral canal, dorsal cavity, ventral cavity, thoracic cavity, diaphragm, abdominal cavity, pelvic cavity, abdominopelvic cavity, ventral/anterior, dorsal/posterior, superior and inferior. We would talk about where the terms were, what they contained, what the directional terms meant and then in sections we would repeat it all.  I would say them and do hand motions, they would say them back with the motions, then they would take turns sharing with their partners, then back with me, with partners and finally some brave kids did them all by themselves in front of the class. They received an applause from the rest of the class.

It was an awesome class!! All of the kids were participating and they did great. It was a lot of repetition but I think they really got something out of it! To finish up the class, I used my new bulletin board!  Each kid took a sticky note, wrote their initials on it, and "what stuck?" With them from today that they will remember on Monday for sure.  I had many kids say to each other "what if I will remember a lot more than one thing?!?" " I don't think I could see a better response!

On their way out the door, they posted their sticky notes on the bulletin board and got their traditional high five.  It was a great way to end my week.  Their enthusiasm for learning just makes me thrilled for this year!

Using QR Codes to Show-off Student Work

I am currently on round three of my Mastery Level lesson plans with my students!  (If you don't remember - check it out here).

So far here is the significant data conclusions I have formed

1. 40% of my 105 students improved their average test scores!
2. My number of POIs (<70%) decreased by 7%
3. My average test score remained relatively the same
4. My chronic POIers still got a POI, but their scores were significantly improved! 

Overall, I love how effective it has been.  My lower kids love that they get to work at their own pace and take their time and my upper level kids love that they get to work faster and have more freedom.  

I have learned to relinquish control! Any one who knows me, knows that I am an uber control freak!  Well, this lesson design forces the kiddos to become the leaders, teachers, students and creators. 

 One of my favorite parts have been the creative assignments my kids have done to showcase their knowledge over the concepts in the units.  They have had the options of making cartoons, blogs, raps, and write-ups over phenomenon or interviews they conducted.  In the grading process, I was able to appreciate and rave about their work....but I wanted to share it with their classmates as well....this is where the QR Codes came into play since the majority of student work was linked with the Internet.  So here is what I did: 

• I created a word document that had the name of the students and what they made as seen here
  
• I copied the URL of their blog/cartoon/paper into the QR Code generator found here
  
• I then copied/pasted the QR Code into the word document....space it right....print....make a bulletan board and voila!!!! I now have a way to show off the upper level work that the kids put so much work into! 

If you have a separate mobile device that you can scan the codes with, take a look at their work!  I'm proud of all their hard work!!!

Designing Classes that are Challenging with out Losing Creativity

This year was my second year teaching a weighted Anatomy & Physiology class.  Now, before I share what I found that worked - you need to understand what class structure/difficulty level when I imagine when teaching a weighted course.  (weighted = an extra point gets added to student's GPA to compensate for choosing to take a challenging class)  I designed my A&P course to be a lot like a college course with more enrichment activities.  I wanted to help my junior/seniors develop then note taking skills, study skills and have a foundation of A&P that would help them when they got to college.  The majority of my students were the top of their class, incredibly intelligent, and willing to work (although some were more stubborn than others).  :D

Not only did I want to help my kids learn the information and be challenged, but I also wanted them to enjoy the class. I am a firm believer that the kids learn more when they are interested in what they are learning.  Most of my ideas have stemmed from an online resource from various websites and then I took what I found and melded it into what I thought would work for my group of kids.  Normally - this turned into a craft project.  I am a selectively crafty person - meaning when I have a good idea, I am all gung-ho about it but I don't just do it to do it.

Some of my favorite projects are these listed below.   I have only included activities that I have pictures for - but if you want ideas/instructions/lesson plans just email me (mrs.weiss1213@gmail.com) and I will be happy to share anything you need.

Pipe Cleaner Neurons

Bone Paper Mache

 

Planes of the Body Model

 

Transparency Man

 

Vege People (for body cavities/body landmarks)

 

 

Flip Man Digestion
 

And my personal favorite that we did this past week (thus inspiring the blog :) )  Floor Path of Blood.  To start out this activity, I have the students take notes over the path of blood through the heart.  I purposely don't go slow, the goal is to get it on paper to serve as a reference for later.  Then I give them the path of blood worksheet and ask them to come in the following day with it labeled the best that they can - just try.


So they come in confused - so the next goal is to unconfuse them and have them walking out the door (in a 50 min class period) able to relay the path of blood with out any resources!  We start out by checking their labeling.  I do this on my iPad via the doceri app.  Then we color code the path of blood, blue for unoxygenated blood, red for oxygenated blood.

Then its time to move to the floor.  This is a picture from college at an NSTA meeting where I first attempted this activity.  I tape down a VERY ROUGH outline of the heart and the four chambers. Since college I have adapated it - there are not veins/arteries connected to the heart, we have to 'imagine' them.  I also make sure that the size of the walls in the ventricles are more realistic with the left side being thicker than the right.

Then I walk through the heart via the path that blood would take.  I do this multiple times and have the kids recite the following with me.

Superior Vena Cava -> Right atrium -> Tricuspid Valve -> Right Ventricle -> Pulmonary Valve -> Pulmonary Arteries -> Lungs to drop off CO2 and pick up O2 -> Pulmonary Veins -> Left Atrium -> Bicuspid -> Left Ventricle -> Aortic Valve -> Aorta -> Rest of the body

Then each student takes a try.  We make it a little more interactive with the whole class because the other students provide the student walking a body landmark that the blood is coming from (so they have to decide inferior/superior vena cava or the coronary sinus)  and a body landmark for where the blood is going (ascending/descending aorta)  Each students has to be able to do it all the way through with out making a mistake, or they do it again.  Of course we make this a very light hearted atmosphere.  By no means is my intention to make them embarrassed - just to make sure that when they walk out the door, they know the path of blood.

This activity is by far my favorite out of the year.  I look forward to doing it every time we start the cardiovascular system. I promise you - it works!  I also have it as an essay question on the test and I rarely have a student not get it 100% correct.  I normally see mini drawings of what was on the floor that they drew on their test as a reference.  Definitely an activity to keep doing for years to come!

As you can see, I love being creative in my classes.  I think that you can cover challenging material with your classes as long as you provide a way to remember all the key information in a creative way.  Not only does it make the class more enjoyable for the students - but they remember it!  As a side note, normally all the craft activities that I do with the kids have some sort of writting assignment that goes with it.

I have had numerous students from last year (seniors that have already graduated) that have contacted me saying that their experience in A&P has really helped them be successful in college!  Some say that when they took A&P outside of high school, they knew so much of it and it was a great starting place vs their classmates who had no background knowledge. 

Nothing is better as an educator when a former student comes back to say how much you helped them be successful after high school.  All the effort/work/creative lesson design suddenly seems like a piece of cake.