Interim Reports

Today is interim report day. We are half-way through the first 9-weeks.

For the weeks leading up to this, I have told students that their grades will be based on how well they are learning in this class. Students often tell me they expect to pass this class just because they did some of the work. For many students, their past experience makes them believe that learning isn't really important. So, I try to make clear, from the very beginning, that I care about their learning.

They are here to learn.

Sometimes, it takes students until interim reports to believe that their learning matters. Throughout the day of interim reports, many students will ask why they have low grades. I just ask them to show me their notebooks. Most often, they don't want to do that. They understand the problem. They know they haven't been doing their work or learning all the material. They're just surprised anyone cares.

I care whether or not they learn.

Here's an example of how their effort and their learning shows up in their work. On Sept 18, students worked with their table partners to read an article about Dr. Ben Carson. Then, they answered a series of questions based on the article.

Here's a link to the article and questions.

And here are a couple examples of students' work.

This student didn't put much effort into the work. The student didn't even try to answer many of the questions.

This student wrote thoughtful answers that showed she understood the article.

Iceman

Title: Iceman
Date: Sept 19, 2012

In today's class, students watched part 1 of a Discovery documentary about Otzi the Iceman. Otzi is a 5,300 frozen mummy that was found Sept 19, 1991 (21 years ago today) in the Italian Alps. As students watched the video, they took notes to learn about forensic science. At the end of the video, students worked with table partners to answer three questions:

1. Explain how the Iceman's body was so well preserved for 5,300 years.
2. Explain why it was "dangerous" to defrost the mummy.
3. Describe three observations scientists made about the Iceman's body that might help explain his death.

Following those questions, students used their notes to write summary paragraphs. I gave them the main idea: "The discovery of Otzi, the Iceman, has been very important for scientists."

You can find more information about Otzi through these links:
South Tryol Museum of Archaeology, South Tyrol, Italy
"Last Hours of the Iceman," National Geographic

Also, it is important for students to learn how to take notes. As students go farther in school, the ability to take good notes will become even more important. So, I try to help students get lots of practice in my classes. Here are some examples of good and not-so-good notes taken by students today.

These notes, which continue on the next page, have good details. This student would likely be able to answer challenging questions about Otzi on a test.

These notes are decent. They have some good information and would be some help on a test.

These notes, which continue on the next page, have good details. This student would likely be able to answer challenging questions about Otzi on a test.

These notes, which also continue on the next page, have good details. This student would likely be able to answer challenging questions about Otzi on a test.

These notes have only the most basic information, and the student clearly quit taking notes after about the first 5 minutes of the video. This student did the minimum in order to be able to claim he or she did some work. These notes would be very little help on a test,

These notes have lots of details, but are very difficult to read. It would be difficult for a student to use these notes for studying or for help during an open-notes test.

Homework due Friday, Sept 14

Read the article, "Brainy bees know two from three," and then answer these questions:

1. What did Dr. Zhang and his team learn from their background research?
2. What was the independent variable in this experiment?
3. What was the dependent variable in this experiment?
4. What was the conclusion of this research?
5. Based on the information in this article, why do you think phone numbers are made in groups of 3 and 4 numbers? For example, 863-123-1234.
6. What sentence in the article supports your answer for question #5?

Write down the answers on a piece of paper and bring them to class on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.