I build class environments with the intention of making each student curious, collaborative, and safe. For students to be any of these three, it is imperative that students feel comfortable interacting with their peers. Setting class norms is a first step to building this culture. In addition to class norms, I set standards for engagement and technology.
Classroom Standards
At the beginning of each year, I ask my students to work together to build a list of expectations to which they will hold each other accountable. These standards usually include most of the following: listening to their peers speak, giving credit to partner’s ideas, assuming best intentions, being free with compliments, being kind with criticism, keeping the classroom tidy, getting work done on time to respect other’s class time, participating in discussions, and not being afraid to ask for help.
Engagement and Technology Standards
Student engagement in learning is critical for lasting memory formation. I cultivate a culture of content engagement in my classroom with a variety of ways.
For students to feel comfortable engaging in a classroom-level environment, I begin the year emphasizing small group “pair and share” activities. Small group activities give my students time to think through their ideas and verbalize them before sharing out to the entire class. This activity also allows me to check in on the groups and hear their thoughts without their pressure of answering questions as a performative act.
I also give students opportunities to use art to represent their thoughts. Science is full of ideas to be drawn, and I encourage students to draw what they’ve learned. One of my favorite activities is to have students individually draw and label something they’ve learned about (a cell, a DNA strand, and food chain, and so forth), then we rotate students, who then add or edit the drawing. We then share out the drawing completed as a team, discussing what was accurate.
As the year progresses, students grow more comfortable contributing directly to the whole class. I increase cold-calling and class discussions start moving quicker. By this point, students are also more adept at note-taking. I’ve encouraged them to take notes on paper for a few reasons. Most convincing for the students are open-note quizzes or group quizzes that are entirely on-paper (no internet). Some students continue to take notes on their laptop, but the need to regularly print their notes convinces them to start just using paper. I encourage paper pencil due to the evidence that handwriting promotes more effective learning than typing.
Teamwork
Group projects are everywhere in the workforce. Whether in a construction crew, law firm, consultant team, or tech team, working together is vital. I cultivate teamwork through the aforementioned small “pair and share” activity. I also find assigning posters as group projects works well. The group project with the largest impact therefore the most engagement are group tests and quizzes. When building my own courses, I put into practice my teaching philosophy: school should prepare students for the future. While the future can be hard to predict, I am certain that it will be an extension of the present. Presently, we have an overabundance of information at our fingertips. Students need to learn how to decide what information to know, what information to find, and how to find it.
Offline open-note group tests allow these skills to develop in a controlled environment. Questions are designed to test three skills; creative thinking, critical thinking, and information seeking. Creative thinking must be utilized to take information they have and apply it to novel situations. Critical thinking must be used to examine new information and show mastery over it. The final line of questioning in these assessments asks questions about precise mechanisms learned during class; students must be familiar with their notes and their organization to find those details in a time-efficient manner. When I first test-ran this assessment technique, I was concerned that the open-notes combined with groups of 4 would render the exams too easy. I was pleased to find that scores had a median grade in the mid 80s, consistent with other classes of similar student composition with individual closed-note exams.
Technology
Technology is a wonderful tool in the classroom. As stated above, we have an overabundance of information at our fingertips. This proves to be distracting to students time and time again.
Phones appear to be the largest distractors. My policy for ninth grade classes is that phones belong at the edge of the classroom by default. They are still used in many classes and labs as cameras, plant and bird identifiers, and internet hotspots when doing observational activities that require internet far from the school.
In classes with upperclassmen, I don’t mind where the phone is if it’s not a distraction. I let each student decide where their phone needs to be to minimize distraction. Some leave it in their bag, others put it facedown on their desk.
Laptops also prove to distract. Texting is available on any laptop if you work hard enough to get the right software, and online games or soccer feeds are only a four-finger swipe away. Ninth graders are discouraged from using laptops for notes, and I monitor usage by moving around the classroom as I guide activities or lecture. If a student proves to be distracted twice in a class period, I quietly close the laptop and hand the student a piece of paper without interrupting my lecture or instructions.
Upperclassmen are either more adept at paying attention to my wanderings or are less prone to distraction. If the former, that means they’re paying more attention to class, if the latter, all the better.
Example Syllabus
Brain Explorations –Trimester 2
Instructor: Mr. Bathurst
Contact: abathurst@pingree.org, or come see me in the Science Department office!
Course Site: Canvas will be used for all course communications. Students should turn on course notifications for announcements, emails, as well as for discussion posts and replies to posts.
Student Responsibilities:
- Respect yourself and others.
- Arrive for class on time.
- Check Canvas daily for updates.
- Be prepared and ready to participate.
Students must come to class every day prepared with:
- Pen and/or pencil
• Completed Presentations
• Brain Explorations notebook:- I recommend a 3-ring binder that can hold loose leaf paper divided into two sections (class notes & presentation notes), and a pocket folder in which to keep any additional handouts/readings/other printed materials.
- X -1 device
Grading Policy:
Assignment categories will be weighted in this class as follows:
Quizzes = 23%
Presentations/Papers = 23%
Final Project = 34%
Note: This proved to be too heavy at the end of the year. Bringing all formal assessments to 26% seems reasonable for round 2
Notes/daily work = 10%
Homework = 10%
Assignment Descriptions & Expectations:
Homework & Pop Quizzes:
All assigned homework is to be completed before the start of the class in which it is due. Feel free to collaborate with each other on your individual assignments. In your (APA) works cited, be certain to list who you collaborated with, if applicable. Violations of this are violations of the student honor code. Quizzes are based on in-class activities, lectures, and student presentations. They will always be open-notes.
Projects:
Will have individual and group graded components. For the group project, it is the responsibility of each group member to do their fair share of the work. Each individual is responsible for the quality of the final product. The group is responsible for submitting the final product on time and must plan ahead, divide responsibilities and have a backup plan for unexpected absences.
Late Assignments:
(Note: I’m not quite happy with the fine details of this policy. It’s a work in progress.)
Assignments are not graded after the end of the unit, and will automatically be given a 50% if any (even blank) assignment is turned in afterward. The end of the unit is defined as the day the unit quiz is assigned.
Attendance and Participation:
Attendance and attentiveness is expected in all classes. If you know you will have an excused absence, you should email me ahead of time. You are responsible for getting notes and class assignments from the class website (Canvas) or from another student. Any unexcused absence incurs a zero for any work completed or due in class that day.
Extra Help:
Please see me for help as soon as you feel you need it. Do not wait until the day before a quiz or test! In addition, the Quant Center (QC) is also a valuable resource for extra help with any graphing or math-based curriculum that we touch on in this course. You can schedule an appointment with a tutor, drop by the QC, or check out the website qc.pingree.org.
Technology Policy:
Students are required to bring their charged X:1 device to class every day as they are often used to supplement lessons or lab work.
Cell phone use is not permitted during class time, unless otherwise directed by the teacher.