My first day in Thurston was for Professional Development with all of the teachers and administrators at Thurston. The first thing that struck me during PD day #1 was the strong basis of specific student achievement data for designing curricula and lesson planning. As we walked in each teacher was handed a packet that included the previous year's PLAN test, test results and statistics. The principle of Thurston had each teacher complete the PLAN test to experience what students went through for the previous year and begin to think about what changes need to made to the current curriculum in order to line up with the National Standards. Following this we meet up with the 8th grade science teachers from the middle school and compare student results. This allows the teachers to align instruction to insure that student instruction is meeting up with the current state and national science education standards.
My feelings on using standardized tests to impact curricula are mixed. I understand in the current age of high impact testing, we teachers must insure students perform adequately on the ACT and MEAP tests. However, I am a just little disturbed on our current government leaders' obsession with standardized tests. This belief is further impacted by how little actual science content is tested on the Science section of the PLAN test, which primarily tests the ability to analyze data tables and charts. We might as well not even teach science, if this is standard students are held.
The second day of PD was devoted to designing a FLEX time activities. The teacher who moderated this activity is a former SMAC'er. The flex time activities this year revolve around the theme of developing intellectual character (which ironically was the theme of the first week of Fall semester SMAC classes). Thurston has a high population of at-risk students. I believe this would be a good activity for students to realize that not just "smart" people do well in school, but those with characteristics of intellectual character. It is those times when you fail, but persevere that develop you into a well educated and mature citizen.
Finally, on Tuesday and Thursday I had my first days of contact with students. My mentor teaches three sections of Essentials of Physics, a section with a high proportion of students with IEP's, and an honors section. It was interesting to witness the different approaches my mentor teachers takes with the three sections.
First and Fourth hour are our sections of Essential of Physics with the general student population. Both of these sections, I have noticed have a higher proportion of students with behavioral issues. To manage the classroom my mentor devoted a large amount of time to teaching basic student and group behavior in a science classroom during the first couple of days. Even after harping on behavior, I still witnessed students misbehaving their first lab on Thursday. Finally after sending a student to the assistant principle and reminding them whatever they did not finish would be homework, did the students finally calm down.
In the section with a high number of students with IEP's, my mentor spent much more time going over the directions for the lab and not assuming students could some of the assumptions inherent in the directions. Along with the class para-pro, my mentor asked drawing questions to the groups as they were working on their lab to draw out their understanding of the general physics concepts of the lab.
For the honors section, my mentor designed an extension activity that allowed the students to delve deeper into the physics and graphing concepts of the lab. My mentor was able to give less directions and spent more time from group to group to assess their understand. Not having to devote 20 minutes to classroom management allowed my mentor to really dive deep into the content.
So, all in all, it was a great first week at Thurston. I am really excited to see what direction I can take the class.
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