March Madness

March Greetings,

As we welcome March and all that it entails, the high school science classes will be doing a fun little activity in addition to their studies. They will be completing a March Madness Scientist Bracket. The students will have to complete a bracket to see who the most favored scientist is, the winner receives 3 pts extra credit on their next exam.

In other news, we have had a Charles Darwin spotting at the school. The biology classes have been studying the history of Darwin and his evolutionary theory. As a final project for this chapter, the students have created an interview with Darwin. One student is the “reporter” and the other is “Darwin.” The students have been very creative with this activity, some students have changed Darwin into a famous rapper, some have rhymed the entire interview, some have even interrogated Darwin to try to squeeze critical information out of him. The students will be presenting their videos on March 2nd and March 3rd.

Lastly, the science department recently went to a conference in the Duluth. We attended a variety of breakout sessions, where we were educated on such things as techniques used in veteran teachers’ classrooms, review of the new science standards, and technology integration. One of the tricks that we learned in the technology integration course, I have begun using in the classroom. This technique includes writing an assignment using google forms, then sending it to the students. The students complete the assignment, and then submit the form. When they submit the form an email is sent to them immediately with their score on the assignment. Sometimes I have students continue working on the assignment until they receive 100 percent. By doing this, I know they are truly learning the techniques and information. When students discover the answer is wrong, this encourages them to advocate for themselves and come and discuss with me what it is that they got wrong. The immediate feedback is so important for them, then they can recognize and I can work with them on clearing up any misunderstandings right on the spot. I am excited to see how this changes the atmosphere in my classroom.

Happy Spring,

Paige Aldrich