Phase 6 – Final ImagineIT Report
Looking back to July, my ImagineIT has gone through an evolutionary process. The process is partially due to outside influence but also because I have changed since beginning this Fellowship. One of those outside influences I am referring to is my book selection, Stuck In The Shallow End, by Jane Margolis. In the book, Ms. Margolis discusses the inequality our nation suffers when it comes to education, race and computing. Being that my scholar demographic is nearly 98% non-white Hispanic, a lot of the issues in the book really spoke to me. Unfortunately, my scholars sometimes have their curiosities hindered because of a lack of qualified teachers in technology. Additionally, CPS has constant turnover at the top making the Computer Science mission in the district often questionable. With how rapidly technology changes, having scholars that can cut and paste no longer is acceptable for the current job market. A lot of times, educators have to be willing to evolve and accept an extraordinary responsibility by implementing technology in their LA, Math, Social Studies or Science classrooms in order to prepare the future generation for the future. Unfortunately, the first classes to get cut when the Board determines there isn’t enough money are those extras – drama, computers, music, etc.
Another outside influence was my focus group. The group I am piloting my ImagineIT, the Algebra cohort, quickly pointed out that modeling is the Next Generation Science Standard that they have the least amount of exposure to. It made me realize that this project was an attempt to address a deficiency in my curriculum and my teaching practice.
Having conferred with my Assistant Principal, I determined that I should use a pilot cohort instead of trying to implement with whole 8th grade. That way, I can reflect for next year what went well and what did not go so good before rolling out to the whole grade level. Additionally, she made me realize that I don’t have to complete #2 of the NGSS after every activity. As long as I was addressing it here and there where applicable, it is good enough. Honestly, there is no way I can hit all 8 standards every single activity so that sat all right with me. After conferring with a fellow colleague during our break out session in East Lansing, MI, I realized that my frustration and thoughts regarding CPS resonated with someone who teaches on the opposite side of the city. I also realized that if things will change for the better, it is going to be because of us, the teachers.
My insights are that this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Resources are limited but it is not impossible. Where there is a will, there is a way. That will I feel will be a lot of trips to Target and Goggle searches.
Finally, I have never been one to reinvent the wheel. It seems to me that the Quick Fire Challenges we do when all the Fellows are together is a pretty good representation of NGSS 2: Developing and Using Models. With that being said, I will be looking to do more of that during the second half of this project.
Looking back to July, my ImagineIT has gone through an evolutionary process. The process is partially due to outside influence but also because I have changed since beginning this Fellowship. One of those outside influences I am referring to is my book selection, Stuck In The Shallow End, by Jane Margolis. In the book, Ms. Margolis discusses the inequality our nation suffers when it comes to education, race and computing. Being that my scholar demographic is nearly 98% non-white Hispanic, a lot of the issues in the book really spoke to me. Unfortunately, my scholars sometimes have their curiosities hindered because of a lack of qualified teachers in technology. Additionally, CPS has constant turnover at the top making the Computer Science mission in the district often questionable. With how rapidly technology changes, having scholars that can cut and paste no longer is acceptable for the current job market. A lot of times, educators have to be willing to evolve and accept an extraordinary responsibility by implementing technology in their LA, Math, Social Studies or Science classrooms in order to prepare the future generation for the future. Unfortunately, the first classes to get cut when the Board determines there isn’t enough money are those extras – drama, computers, music, etc.
Another outside influence was my focus group. The group I am piloting my ImagineIT, the Algebra cohort, quickly pointed out that modeling is the Next Generation Science Standard that they have the least amount of exposure to. It made me realize that this project was an attempt to address a deficiency in my curriculum and my teaching practice.
Having conferred with my Assistant Principal, I determined that I should use a pilot cohort instead of trying to implement with whole 8th grade. That way, I can reflect for next year what went well and what did not go so good before rolling out to the whole grade level. Additionally, she made me realize that I don’t have to complete #2 of the NGSS after every activity. As long as I was addressing it here and there where applicable, it is good enough. Honestly, there is no way I can hit all 8 standards every single activity so that sat all right with me. After conferring with a fellow colleague during our break out session in East Lansing, MI, I realized that my frustration and thoughts regarding CPS resonated with someone who teaches on the opposite side of the city. I also realized that if things will change for the better, it is going to be because of us, the teachers.
My insights are that this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Resources are limited but it is not impossible. Where there is a will, there is a way. That will I feel will be a lot of trips to Target and Goggle searches.
Finally, I have never been one to reinvent the wheel. It seems to me that the Quick Fire Challenges we do when all the Fellows are together is a pretty good representation of NGSS 2: Developing and Using Models. With that being said, I will be looking to do more of that during the second half of this project.
Imagine IT – Phase 6: Update
Moving ahead with my Imagine IT, I had a unique opportunity a few days back to tackle NGSS #2: Developing and Using Models. The curriculum my school supports is called SEPUP IAPS (Issues and Physical Science). In this curriculum, there is an activity called Modeling Molecules. It comes with a nice “molecule” kit filled with hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms along with chemical bonds (pictured above). All in, it’s a pretty cool activity because the scholars can model a water molecule by bonding two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom. The directions are pretty straightforward.
Knowing that my Imagine IT deals with modeling, I decided to run with it. I had the scholars create their own molecules in the blind. They literally had no idea what they were creating. I asked them to sketch their creation and then to the best of their ability, write what they thought was the chemical formula. In total, they were responsible for 6 creations. Next, over the weekend, I had them research what they created. In order to get full credit for their sketch, the scholars had to tell me:
Obviously there were some submissions that weren’t so good. However, there were some gems that looked like the picture to the right. For now, that is my update. I will have more come mid December. Take care.
Moving ahead with my Imagine IT, I had a unique opportunity a few days back to tackle NGSS #2: Developing and Using Models. The curriculum my school supports is called SEPUP IAPS (Issues and Physical Science). In this curriculum, there is an activity called Modeling Molecules. It comes with a nice “molecule” kit filled with hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms along with chemical bonds (pictured above). All in, it’s a pretty cool activity because the scholars can model a water molecule by bonding two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom. The directions are pretty straightforward.
Knowing that my Imagine IT deals with modeling, I decided to run with it. I had the scholars create their own molecules in the blind. They literally had no idea what they were creating. I asked them to sketch their creation and then to the best of their ability, write what they thought was the chemical formula. In total, they were responsible for 6 creations. Next, over the weekend, I had them research what they created. In order to get full credit for their sketch, the scholars had to tell me:
- The proper chemical formula
- The proper diagram/drawing (color)
- What they believe it is (name)
- Is it solid, liquid, or gas
- What their creation is used for
Obviously there were some submissions that weren’t so good. However, there were some gems that looked like the picture to the right. For now, that is my update. I will have more come mid December. Take care.
