Middle School Science teacher teaches students how to read

News flash: middle school and high school teachers all become certified reading specialists. Apparently, it is in fact true, according to Cris Tovani. I have found myself having difficulty this quarter maintaining motivation for all these classes that I see as irrelevant to my chosen career path: middle school science teacher. Every day I spend with my fourth grade class, I am more and more certain that all I want to teach is middle schoolers, and all I want to teach is science.

I chose to pursue a K-8 certificate with Middle Level Endorsements so that if I could not find a job in middle school, I would be able to work in an elementary school. I don't particularly want to teach high school, primarily because science in high school is very discipline-structured. You either teach biology, chemistry, or physics--not any ecology, geology, soil science, or other earth science which is where my passion is. Anyways, as someone being certified to teach K-8, I have to be able to teach all the subjects, so I am taking lots of classes that are not science classes. With my growing certainty that all I want to teach is middle school science comes a disengagement from math and, sorry, literacy.

I must be honest: I did not complete all my readings for literacy this past week. I carpool with two cohort-mates, one of whom is utterly fascinated by language and literacy, and I was discussing my disengagement from school with her. She told me that if I read any of the literacy readings this week, I should read Tovani, because Tovani talks about how all teachers, even middle school science teachers, are reading teachers. So, I took her for her word and read Tovani today.

I must be honest, her book is really relevant to me. I had more of a purpose for reading Tovani (as Tovani herself says, if a student does not see the purpose of the reading, than they won't act as a good reader and find all the meaning). I was surprised by her information, but at the same time, reflecting back on my dyad experience in the junior high school, I can visualize many fake readers and I also remember hearing teachers complain about how the material is too hard for the students and they have to tell them the nuggets, because kids can't get those on their own.

Well, looks like I'll be a reading teacher after all. I will need to show students how to make sense of the nonfiction content science text. I will also need to seek out engaging science writing. I have one dilemma with this--how do I know that something that I enjoy reading about a topic is not too hard for my students to read? Most of the science text I find interesting is targeted at adults--National Geographic articles, PCC monthly newsletter, nonfiction books about science, environmental articles at sightline.org, journal articles from researchers, case briefs from appeals and Supreme court cases, etc. How can I know if it's too hard for my students? I heard multiple times from teachers of science who have been teaching middle school science for 10-20 years that regular National Geographic and other science magazines are written at an inaccessible level for students. Are they really, truly, inaccessible, or are they just inaccessible because students do not know how to read for meaning? Do I really need to pay for kid versions of articles?

Another thing I found very interesting in Tovani's book was the bit about resistant readers: readers who know how to read for meaning but choose not to because they know that teachers will tell them the stuff they need to know anyway. I myself was a resistant reader at various times in my life. In college, I never read the assigned text before biochemistry class, I waited for the professor to tell me what I needed to know and took good notes during lecture. I only consulted the text when I was studying and reviewing for a test and I had not taken good enough notes to feel like I understood a specific part. Often, the science text in college, if I read it before class, it just confused me and made lecture really confusing. It was stressful, not helpful. For my law classes, on the other hand, I read the cases before class, almost always. Why did I choose to do this? I have no idea. It is kind of strange to read a text for a class in school and recognize yourself in the text.

The middle school experience

Well, my middle school dyad experience is almost over, and I have mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, I spent more time grading than interacting with students, which I think is less helpful to my personal growth. I am glad I am moving on to a different MT whom I see more eye-to-eye with. On the other hand, I wish I could spend more time in a middle school science classroom of a different teacher at the school, since MS science is my planned destination.

Next year, when I look at my 6th, 7th, or 8th graders and try to figure out what the heck to do about their behavior, I will be practicing trial by fire. Maybe I'll get really lucky and whatever district I am working for will have lots of extra helpful middle school behavior management. I plan to have engaging lessons so as to avoid behavior problems, but between now and next September, I need to figure out how to act tough and confident, cause if you show adolescents any fear or nervousness, they will milk that and make your life miserable. Not all of them, but a high enough percentage of them to make your days extremely difficult.

I know I want to teach MS science, the content, and I am OK to deal with the negative aspects of adolescents in order to get the positive interactions as well.

Middle School Read-Aloud

Well, today I taught my first whole-group lesson in middle school, and I did a read-aloud for it as part of my literacy class in my cert. program. The content topic was a science one, understanding what a system is and identifying systems described in the book. I also included some literacy instruction as part of it, focusing on imagery and especially the use of personification in poetry. The book was Sierra, by Diane Siebert. Sierra is a lyrical rhyming poem about the natural history of the Sierra Nevada mountains and ecosystems of the mountain.

My goals for the lesson were to explore a different way of writing about science (poetry) and for the students to identify systems described or mentioned in the book. I think I accomplished these goals pretty well, really.

The students were kind of disoriented when they walked into the class and 1/3 of the desks were arranged in a big circle with stools in the circle as well. I heard a lot of "What is this?" and "This is weird" and "What is going on with this?". However, being 8th graders, they seemed to handle it fine once they read the directions on the document camera (If your desk is in a weird place, please leave it there and sit at lab station 6, 7 or 8).

Each period was different. First period was asleep still and there was low participation in the discussion surrounding the book and questions I asked at certain stopping points in the book. Second period went pretty well. It's a smaller class (first and fifth are the largest) and it seemed like there was maybe 65 or 70% class participation in discussion. There were only 2 or 3 kids that never had anything to say.

Both first and second went faster than the rest of the periods; we got through the book and all the questions faster, and I am not exactly sure why or how that happened. I know that in third, fourth, and fifth I had to do more behavior correction than in first and second period. That is probably where the time went, but it is something to ponder.

Third period, it seemed like there was high engagement and understanding, but at the same time, in that particular class period, there are 5 or 6 boys that really dominate conversation and really set a tone for the rest of the class. These 5 boys are all high-energy, really bright, and class clowns. So, though they have a lot to say that is valuable, they wind each other up and get off-task being goofy or funny really quick and fast. However, they seem to also quickly get back on task once I call them on it or let them move or something. And they do get other kids thinking by being so outgoing and open to sharing their thoughts. It seemed like there was always more that people wanted to say than we had time for during third period, which I think is mostly good. I used more pair-share in 3rd period so students would all get a chance to talk, mostly to get the question answered and the topic covered faster. The thing about those 5 or 6 boys is they are really likable--it is hard to really get irritated by them, at least it was for me today. I did not let them get away with things, mind you, at least I don't think so, but it is tempting to just give them the rein they are seeking. I thought I handled them pretty well, and so did my MT.

Fourth period had a very interesting dynamic. Probably 96% of the kids in there are really bright, but they are also all high-energy and they get off on tangents easily. The students in fourth period seem really comfortable in their own skin and with each other--I think maybe they have honors English, social studies, and math classes all together and so they know each other better. When people know each other better, they talk to each other a lot more, tease each other more, mostly in good nature, not in trying to be mean. I would say there was maybe 98% participation in discussion in that class. They all seemed very engaged. However, the discussion at times got out-of-hand with multiple people talking at the same time and just too much, you know? It was intense, though fun for me. My MT thinks they were testing me, pushing the boundaries, and I don't feel that way as strongly as he does. I think they are all just busybodies and kids that need to move. Plus, the period is right after lunch, and that does not help their concentration so much.

Fifth period was the most frustrating for me. There were more attempts at gaining power, pushing my buttons--really seeming like they were trying to irritate me or get me riled. I did a good job of staying calm and keeping most of my emotion out of my voice, but I am sure the students sensed some irritation from me sometimes. How do you keep yourself from showing that? It is hard for me. Not frustration, just irritation. Some kids just bother you, so how do you avoid letting them know that? The discussion in that class was very, very slow. Not just because of behavior problems, but because there are a fair number of struggling learners in that class, though my two easiest to handle classes (first and second) have an aide and my hardest one doesn't, so I wonder what the 5th-period students' statuses are--IEPs, 504s, or just kids who have never tested into anything. My MT says there are a lot of struggling learners in that class, and I have seen the evidence of that myself, I didn't just accept what he had to say, but I wish I knew why the students struggled. I don't know the why, maybe I will by the end of this internship.

What went well in the lesson:

• Students seemed to enjoy the story
• Students were able to identify most of the systems mentioned/described in the book
• I gave them clear things to look for in the story and I also told them what I wanted them to be able to do
• For the most part, I would say students were pretty engaged

What did not go well:

• The flow was great in some periods, off in others. I am interested in how students felt about the flow, though not sure how I'll find that out
• Many students struggled with identifying phrases or words that embodied personification. They could identify them if I read personification phrases to them, but most could not recall the words and phrases without prodding
• My MT observed that I was not consistent enough with my discipline/management of students; he thinks the lesson was solid, which he agrees is the first step towards managing behavior, having a well-planned and engaging lesson, but I did not have consequences for behavior, I kinda just kept reminding students to behave (mostly in 4th and 5th period), and that does not work with all students. Some need consequences to correct themselves.
• I ran out of time to complete the whole lesson-I did not have time in all the periods for them to complete a quick-write, so I had them finish it for HW, and that does not give you the same feedback as a quick-write does.

That's all I have for now. I get to go read the quick-writes that were completed today now. That will be interesting. And Friday, I'll go pick up the descriptions of systems in their personal life, outside of school in expository, narration (story), or poetry form. They each were assigned this: Provide and describe an example of a system in your life, outside of school, using either expository writing, narration, or poetry. I even made a rubric! I'm so proud of myself.

We shall see what those things tell us about what they understand.

Science and writing in a 4th grade class

Classroom arrangement:
In 4th grade, I think they do Washington state history and geography, and to help with that, she had a section of her wall with a map of WA on it and pictures surrounding the map from different places in WA. Some were geographically unique photos, some were significant history things, and from each photo, she had a piece of yarn that went to the location that photo was from on the map of WA.

She also had North and South written big and posted high on her walls in the room, and when she was passing papers, she would ask students to pass out papers to all the students on the North/South or East/West side of the room. What a great and simple way to help kids with geography and map reading. Talk about ingraining the vocabulary and what it means into their brains.

Cool classroom activity:
The teacher was teaching a writing lesson, and it was about verbs. The learning target, written on the board, was Interesting Verbs, and the point was to get students to use more descriptive verbs. To teach this idea, she used the verb came. Mrs. Smith came into the room was her sentence, and she put came in a "word jail" on the board. She just wrote it/drew it, but she did it with over verbs too, like said and did. To get her students to understand what interesting verbs were, she had them, as a whole group, come up with other verbs to put in the sentence, "Mrs. Smith came into the room." But first, she demonstrated what the sentence meant by coming into the room. As students came up with more interesting verbs, including dashed, stumbled, and others, she would physically dash or stumble or whatever after saying the sentence out loud. The kids were engaged because their teacher looked silly, and they came up with some great interesting verbs.

Classroom management stuff:
The teacher would say, if you can hear me, do a certain action (rub your tummy, pat your head, etc) and she would do a different action than the one she was telling them to do to see if they were really listening. She would say, "If you are listening rub your tummy." And she would pat her head instead of rubbing her tummy.

Another way she tried to get their attention was by saying something that didn't make any sense, like, "You will go get the supplies and put them on my toe," and if kids got up to go get supplies then she knew they were not listening. She also used proximity a lot.

Another thing she was doing which I could not decipher her system, was writing points, not tallies, but numbers, on the board under each table group and they were in different colors so maybe they were color-coded, I don't know. It had something to do with managing behavior and monitoring participation.

During the science lesson, she said at the beginning that if kids are goofing off with supplies, they get one warning, that's it, and then they are a spectator and cannot participate in the science experiment.

Randomly during the middle of the writing lesson, the teacher broke out in song "there's a hole in the bottom of the seat (clap clap) there's a whole in the bottom of the seat (clap clap) there's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole in the bottom of the seat (clap clap) and then asked students what's on the hole (a log and would sing that), then ask a student what's on the log (and sing that)" and so on and so on. I am guessing it was some sort of break for the students, but I am not sure. The song didn't really make any sense, but the kids really enjoyed it.

During the science experiment, students are assigned one of 4 letters (A,B,C, or D) and each letter student has a certain job that day during the experiment, and these jobs are written on the board and she explained the jobs, and also told the kids not only were they supposed to do their job, but they were also supposed to remind other people to do their jobs too. It's a great simple way to assign jobs, but the jobs in a science experiment are not going to be the same for every experiment, and so it's a glorious way to not waste paper or time reorganizing groups all the time. Kids know their group number and their individual letter (they write it on their science notebooks in case they forget) and teacher does not have to do as much work.

Throughout class, if a student had the same thought as one that spoke out, they waved their hand silently at their side so the teacher could do some formative assessment and get the kids more engaged in direct instruction.


Assessment:
Before the writing lesson, she points out the learning target on the board, and at the end of the writing lesson, she asks each student to give themselves a 1,2, or 3 for where they are on the learning target. A 3 is "I got it, I'm golden, I can do this independently" and a 1 is "I need some time to digest this new idea and I don't quite get it." Great simple way to do some formative assessment about the learning targets.

Global Climate Change in Middle Grades

I continue on my journey to teaching public formal education, and as part of it, I am researching cliamate change curricula, teaching, and assessing in middle grades 5-9.

Global climate change is a world problem that can only be mitigated through international cooperation and wide scientific literacy. Climate is complex. There are a multitude of influences on the weather for any given day, and as such global climate change is highly complex and though many consequences of climate change are widely known, very few citizens truly understand how and why those consequences came/come about.

I intend to research what middle grades educators are doing about climate change education. I will look at national and state standards for evidence of climate change education to see if they even exist. I need help with this research. I need educators who will let me interview and/or observe them teaching. I need an audience for my findings. Where should I publish these findings? And who shall I present them to in order to broadly influence science education?

Of course I can incorporate climate change studies into my own classroom, but how can I help other science teachers do the same? How can I inspire civic action on climate change through education, both of children and adults, educators and general citizens?

Global climate change is the single biggest ecological problem faced by humanity currently, and in the future. The ramifications are widespread, and a possible effect is eventual extinction of the human species if we refuse to adapt our habits. Not for many generations, but as the Great Law of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impacts of our decisions on the next seven generations."

Inaction today will lead to destruction for future generations.