BIOAl Lang is a science teacher based at Chicago’s George B. Armstrong School. For the past twelve years he has been helping students understand the importance of science and their relationship to the world. He’s also helping create science literacy by engaging students in science. Al is rather tall, and blogs at http://travelking54.weebly.com.
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5 Components of an Ultimate Stem Lesson
Becoming a facilitator opens the door for students to guide their own learning, and take the lesson in a direction that best serves students’ needs.
Students learn best when they have confidence and support to explore or expand upon their learning. This is when teachers see the most “aha” moments.
It’s important to motivate learners to think about how they can apply what they are learning and give students choices in meeting the learning objectives.
All lessons use tools and/or technology as supplemental materials to increase student engagement and understanding.
Lessons provide students with problems and allow them to use creative outlets (drawings, cartoons, software, Socratic seminar, solar car) to take charge of their learning.
Ultimate Stem Lesson
I make sure to train my students to make me look good in front of outsiders from day one. From this practice came the central idea of my ultimate stem lesson. My drive to keep my rating as high as possible, driven in part by ego, and in part by fear has made me reflective of my practice. In my search for higher ratings (not unlike reality TV) I analyzed what would meet the checklist criteria, and then planned my lesson accordingly. I work with students who live in a world where science is just a subject. They fail to connect this subject to their daily life, or develop a strong relationship with science.
I chose a lesson structure I had used before, and modified it to meet my needs. The original lesson was a Socratic Circle, where students have an opportunity to develop learning through active questioning. I modified the practice for the sake of expediency. Also, I had some specific ideas about the background necessary for student success, as well as goals for increasing student learning. To develop background, I chose a section of their Chemistry text, and had my students develop questions about this section, chemical bonds. Although understanding chemical bonding can be a simple, students often struggle mastering this concept. It is my opinion that good question writers are good at answering questions, so we devote time to writing and revising questions. The students tend to write much more complex and deeper questions to try to one-up each other.
Finally, I draw random students for the panel of experts. Usually a fourth of the class is the panel, and the remaining students ask questions. I do this process often enough, so the students learn to self-manage, allowing me to facilitate and mediate.
This lesson created an awesome level of student engagement, and offered me an opportunity to dialog and come to their own understanding of the topic.
I chose a lesson structure I had used before, and modified it to meet my needs. The original lesson was a Socratic Circle, where students have an opportunity to develop learning through active questioning. I modified the practice for the sake of expediency. Also, I had some specific ideas about the background necessary for student success, as well as goals for increasing student learning. To develop background, I chose a section of their Chemistry text, and had my students develop questions about this section, chemical bonds. Although understanding chemical bonding can be a simple, students often struggle mastering this concept. It is my opinion that good question writers are good at answering questions, so we devote time to writing and revising questions. The students tend to write much more complex and deeper questions to try to one-up each other.
Finally, I draw random students for the panel of experts. Usually a fourth of the class is the panel, and the remaining students ask questions. I do this process often enough, so the students learn to self-manage, allowing me to facilitate and mediate.
This lesson created an awesome level of student engagement, and offered me an opportunity to dialog and come to their own understanding of the topic.