Firstly, my school takes PD pretty seriously and right now we are engaged in a science "lesson study." If you aren't familiar with lesson study, here is a short primer. Basically as the name implies, it is the study of a lesson, created in this case by our science team, and implemented by one of the science teachers while a group of other teachers observes. In our situation, the lesson will be presented, we will debrief and revise as need, then the lesson is presented again with a second class, then we debrief again. We have spent numerous hours after school working on the project, and I will have more to say about it after we go through the presentation next week.
Secondly, my school produces 6 report cards per year - that's one every 5 weeks as I've already lamented. I like giving students and parents feedback, but the formality of report cards and the ridiculous bubbling process take their toll on me and I usually need practically the entire week that they are due to get them done. I realize this is partially a problem I've got to solve by streamlining my grading policies and getting the kids work in on time before the panic sets in.
Thirdly, we have an "academic probation" program with after school tutoring for those kids in danger of failing a particular subject. It's another 2 hours of after school activity. I prefer to think of it as "academic intervention," and I hope the school adopts a more friendly term in the near future, but for now that's what it's called. We also have the option of providing an additional 2 hours per week of after school tutoring for students regardless of their probationary status, and I use those two hours from time to time as well to help kids get caught up on missing work.
Combine all this with the day-to-day preparation and checking papers and it adds up to too much work and not enough play.
Enough excuses. I do have a lab that I developed last year with Mathew Davies from Columbia University's GK-12 program. It is a computer modeling lab using NetLogo. Mathew deserves all the credit for leading me to netlogo and helping me figure out how to use it. He also developed a couple of models himself for use in our classroom last year, which I will link below. We worked together on developing a lab for students that involves the wolf-sheep predation model. I never had a chance to use the lab last year due to the difficulty of getting access to computers, but I plan to use it next week and will report back on how it goes. In the meantime, you can go yourself and play around with the NetLogo models. If you like it, you can download and use my lab worksheets.
Homeostasis Model. A simplified negative feedback loop based on temperature regulation.
Mealworms Model. A population dynamics model involving only the mealworms and a food source. Several variables that can be manipulated in an attempt to produce a more stable outcome.
Instructions on using NetLogo with Wolf-sheep Predation
Student Labsheets for Wolf-Sheep Predation
PDF Versions:
NetLogo Instructions.pdf
NetLogo Student Lab Sheets.pdf
You will probably want to print out the instructions and go through it with the program running. Also do some kind of whole class demo with the kids before turning them loose with the lab.
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