I attempted to do an opener the other day in my placement and it didn't go over very well. I handed the students a slip of paper as they walked into the classroom that asked two questions regarding the topics of diffusion and osmosis. The questions asked the students to write everything they know about each topic. Only about 1/4 of the students wrote anything down. It wasn't that the students didn't write anything down because they didn't know anything since they had been learning about the two topics. I think it was because they were not used to having an opening exercise (they are supposed to record the day's assignment in their science assignment record sheet every day). I also think that since the bell hadn't actually sounded yet, the students didn't want to do any work that early in the class period - even though they had a couple of minutes to write something after the bell rang. It also was not a graded assignment.
Since I had tried this opener in my 2nd period class without much success, I tried it as a closer in my 6th period class. Nearly all students wrote something in the 6th period class. Those who didn't want to do the closer wrote down they either knew too much to write (yeah - right!!) or they didn't know anything. Most students wrote something. Using the slips as exit slips as opposed to entrance slips worked much better to gain the students' feedback. They had the concepts of diffusion and osmosis in their minds by the end of class since we did a lab demonstrating osmosis. It also served to help me identify students who were completely lost and were struggling with the concepts. Most importantly, the students didn't feel like they had to switch their thoughts from their previous class to the science class so quickly. Having an opener that helps them transition a little more slowly into thinking about science without "attacking" them with questions right off the bat seemed to be more effective. I am pretty sold on using the exit slips from time to time.
Ultimately, because of the students' responses, I was able to evaluate what the students were understanding or not understanding about the topic. I was able to throw in more analogies and had a short discussion with both classes the following day to help the students understand the difference between diffusion and osmosis. It will be interesting to see how they perform on the unit test this Friday.
My Blog List
-
-
-
Motivation16 years ago
-
Editing essays16 years ago
-
-
-
10th amendment and succession16 years ago
-
Engagement16 years ago
-
-
-
What of this book business?17 years ago
-
Learning stations for assessment16 years ago
-
-
-
Instructional Sites16 years ago
-
Dissection16 years ago
-
This one did not work16 years ago
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Trying the openers and closers just one time so far, I don't have a lot of experience. I', thinking, however, that probably like everything else, we as teachers have to teach the procedures and keep repeating them, for example the openers and closers. I look forward to being in the classroom enough days in a row to actually have a routine and procedures to follow. Now that the trips to LaGrande are over for a while, we get that opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI am so fortunate to have some great classes to work with. One advantage of teaching an elective like Art II, is that those students have chosen to be there, and their attitudes are darn good, for the most part. They accept all the "student teacher stuff" that I throw at them. They look at me sometimes as if they wonder what I am thinking, but they dig in and get it done.
But I agree that the closers such as exit slips can give you an assessment of both their learning and your teaching. I thought it would be easy to find out what they really know, but not always!! So any evidence is good evidence.
That is a really interesting experience. It's so true that timing and delivery is everything! The same activity before versus after can make all the difference. I also agree with what Laurie said about needing to establish the procedure. It is hard to be a student teacher coming in and out of the classroom. Hopefully this spring we'll be able to settle in and have a chance to try some of our ideas.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to review and revise your lessons is such an important skill to have as a teacher. There have been several situations where I figured out that I needed to approach things a little bit differently and saw improvements in the following classes. I always feel a little bit bad for my "guinea pig" class (first class of the day). As a new teacher I know my lessons get better as I have experience teaching them and can utilize the questions and discussions that have come up in previous classes.
ReplyDelete