Entrance Slip: Embodied Learning

This excerpt is rather inspiring to me, as I am looking for ways to bridge physics and earth science with art as well personally as a teacher. Having been so disinterested in physics in grade school to discovering how it really applied to me in life through cross-curricular studies in university, I very much believe in bridging the gap between my own teachables and other subjects. The idea of using bodily experiences to teach and learn seems at first thought, very reasonable and achievable to a certain extent. On the surface, using movement and other bodily experiences seems, at the very least, more engaging for students than the traditional model of the talking head teacher and students taking notes. There are so many kinds of bodily experiences that can be practiced in the realms of earth science and physics that are helpful for students to understand concepts within those two subjects. Within the subject of earth science, the sensory experiences that come with shaker tables when examining earthquakes, exploring how water affects the Earth's on-land with surface stream modelling boxes, and bodily demonstrations using students to illustrate the way different seismic waves affect the Earth, are just a few examples of how movement can be examine and demonstrated. Physics itself is often generally thought of as the study of movement - by examining movement and how input of forces on objects etc. affect those objects in experiments and demonstrations, students are learning the concepts of physics through inquiry of why objects /particles move or are influenced to move a certain way. Based on the reading, it is rather possible to bridge the gap going both ways with math and art with the embodiment of movement and sensory experiences - it stands to reason that the same pairing can be made with art and other subjects as well, given that purposeful activities are incorporated into lessons. A final thought on the usefulness of gestures in teaching and learning: one of my most memorable high school lessons was on the subject of how atoms can move, via translational, vibrational, etc. movement. This memory and the associated concepts has never left me, because my chemistry teacher used gestures and her body to demonstrate all of the ways an atom could move, with her finishing on telling us that in her younger days, she would demonstrate rotational movement by means of a cartwheel. Even without her performing the cartwheel, this lesson has always remained distinctly fixed in my mind and I have yet to have trouble recalling how atoms can move based on her embodiment of atom movement! Sorry about getting this in a bit late, Susan - its been a rather busy few days for me!

Exit Slip: Inquiry Project thoughts

The subject of assessment outside of tests is an extremely interesting concept for me based on today's discussion. Especially knowing now that administrators are generally more open to it now and going forward, it seems that there are so many opportunities to evolve assessment to be much more meaningful and useful in the interest of the students' development. Project based assessment occurs to me as a very practical, effective, and encompassing way to build core competency skills while addressing context. A very interesting inquiry project could be developing this method and including testing for the tools students need to complete the project while the actual marks come from the evaluation of their project. This evaluation could be a combination of 180/360 degree peer reviews and teacher evaluations. Coming from geoscience however, I am very interested in the concept of using field trips as part of schooling and education. Being a very conceptual area in general, it is very important to tie those abstract concepts to the real world and be able to observe and explore the result of those concepts in real life. I would like to focus on exploring the effectiveness of field trips, especially in other subject areas out side of geoscience. I believe that these trips are very valuable in regards to engaging students in connecting their knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to the real world and especially applying them one day to their university and future careers. They can take substantial time out of the course of a semester however so I would also like to explore how to meaningfully incorporate other subject area topics into a field trip for effectively using the classtime used for the field trip. (I am planning to work with Martin on this inquiry project).

Entrance Slip: What do marks do in school?

1. Assigning percentages and letter grades is on the surface is an accessible and straightforward assessment method, giving the teacher a quantitative measure of a student's level of learning and understanding of the material. We know however that grades are not straightforward and tests do not necessarily reflect a student's true understanding of concepts and development. While grades can be positive in giving students a relative measure of their own learning and even be considered by some students to be motivating if they do not receive a grade that they expected, but it is readily apparent that tests, grades, and even deadlines can influence a student negatively in creating stress and anxiety. 2. Grades can have numerous unintended side effects, both positive and negative. This is very much dependent on the student, their status in that particular situation, and those can change over the course of a class or a semester. These side effects be segregating and create competition (although those can be two different things as well as a combined effect). Quite often, being marked can be demoralizing and decrease effort in classroom i.e. negative marks = demoralized and decreased effort negatively while positive marks if a student didn't put much effort in but received a high grade regardless - this can result in decreased effort/intrinsic motivation, with the student 'cruising' instead of putting in meaningful effort, therefore decreasing their learning. Most commonly however, when the focus is on grades instead of tasks and learning (stress) learning is decreased overall because students tend to focus on memorizing instead of real learning. 3. Teaching science without grades based on all of the negative effects of grades seems ideal. Using methods such as having students share/discuss their learnings and having them collaboratively create assessment criteria and rubric as a class seem extremely engaging and effective in encouraging students to learn without the immense pressure of having those criteria forced upon them. The reading also indicates that students can lean into their interests by being able to choose their topics. This freedom of choice and the space to self-direct their learning seems to increase intrinsic motivation and result in meaningful, engaged learning. I would very much like to use these methods in my own classrooms as my own personal teaching style will involve a lot of connecting students to the material to be covered by guiding them to see the connections to the 'real'world' outside of the classroom and ideally creating interest, if not passion, for the subject material because they can relate it to their every day lives.

Exit Slip: Tolerance vs Welcoming, Role Models

The difference between being tolerant and welcoming seems to be rooted in empathy, the absence of which results in only tolerance. True empathy leads to understanding and inclusion in finding commonalities and valuing differences. The feeling of being welcomed or being welcoming is very individual to each person based on their personal experiences it seems. In general, I think having each student be able to feel heard and understood is ideal in the idea of welcoming, even in something as simple as having their name pronounced correctly, as discussed in class. I feel building rapport with students and having students interact to build rapport with each other is paramount in creating a welcoming environment for students. Role models are incredibly important for students of all ages and experiences in my opinion. Having the guidance and mentorship of a role model, in almost any capacity, is beneficial to every individual. In regards to specific subject areas, the idea of diverse role models for students to look to as an example to follow can be so constructive in developing interests, self confidence, and promotes their learning. Diversity in available role models on a very superficial level is a wonderful resource in that a diverse body of students can find commonalities and break down existing stereotypes. In my experience as a woman in STEM has not always been positive, but having varied mentors as resources has contributed greatly to my own feeling of belonging in the community. My female mentors have inspired me in my own life goals - seeing and experiencing them be instrumental within the geophysics community has helped me personally breakdown my own inherent biases. For a classroom, finding role models can be as simple as doing a rudimentary search on LinkedIn for people within the field. A teacher could pull up profiles of professionals within a certain field, including their photo and the description of their experiences. This is a role model resource that can show both diversity and give examples of what students could aspire to as well!

Tolerence vs Embracing - Notes

What makes you feel welcome (vs not welcome) especially in your field: - invitations to collaborate, social events (exclusion/lack of invite) - acknowledgement of opinions in discussions - personal rapport - individual rapport building, sharing personal vs sharing academic only (or not at all), offers of help and collaboration - respect (general) - not being talked over, ignored, interrupted - opportunities in filed, type pf work given, response to academic/research - action items created from this information showing faith in technical skill - support in times of hardship - not being stereotyped (gender, race, language, age etc.) into certain expectations based on stereotypes - being included for the main reason of having representation of a minority within the field vs being included for merits -

Exit slip: UBC Orchard Gardens

Today was extremely enlightening in the ways that students can learn so many different skills and gain so much knowledge in a garden. Just being outside, despite the construction noise, was very centering and calming. I feel that environment really helped me personally slow down which is what I would hope for my students who will be growing up in a world where they are inundated with rushing to meet deadlines and a constant bombardment of information to absorb. The exercise where we drew man made and natural objects really highlighted that for me. Just looking at one thing for more than a 30 second span was a noticeable change in my current life. The ties from various subject areas to the garden makes that environment very valuable. As a physics and earth scientist, it is a significant personal goal in my teaching profession to be able to help my students connect those subject areas to their daily lives and inspire their interest in the world around them. It is my opinion and personal experience when you can link your knowledge together and have a natural curiosity for the world around you, everything cab be interesting or in the case of geoscience especially, it can tell a story! I do worry about students not being able to disconnect and truly immerse themselves in the garden experience but that is on me as a teacher to relate and "hook" them in. In regards to the actual produce and work involved with the gardening aspect, I see a lot of value in students understanding where their food comes from and the influence their personal consumption choices affect the planet. Lastly, being outside and sharing music is simply joyful - I hope that is something I will be able to share with my future students!

Multicultural School Gardens: Entrance Slip

This paper is of great interest to me as an enthusiastic horticulturalist. In just the context of student driven garden experience, this article describes the many learning opportunities for knowledge and skills, as well as providing a space for cultural exchange. Even outside of the context of a student garden, I have personally experienced these benefits with my own exposure to community gardens and within the gardening community as a whole. As a teacher, a central goal with gardens for students would be having the students' view point shift from the environment and food being objects or places, to having them realize and explore the connection they have with the environment and their food. The question posed within the article of exploring what children are looking for in a "natural connection" and whether or not they even seek such a connection is fascinating, especially considering the availability of predominantly indoor activities children seem to gravitate towards such as anything requiring a screen. I feel building this connection and view of being a part of the cycle would in turn create and nurture the concept of sustainability and their part in the environment as well as their nutrition knowledge. The end result of the physical skills they would develop is food, a tangible product of their hard work and patience over a season of lessons in and around the garden. Aside from all of this, the concept of adding another dimension of learning is brilliant - the garden seems to be a fantastic place for ELL students to really develop their language skills and have opportunities for cultural exchange within their community (communities). The comment that students regarded the garden as a slower space, in contrast to the traditional classroom where they would feel rushed, is of great benefit to ELL. Removing the stress and pressure of using and learning English seems to me a very good way for ELL students to practice speaking and learn how to listen to English thereby assisting in their English skill development as well as cultural learning. How to properly interact with others within a new culture is seems more readily observable and learned in a less structured space such as a garden. Another brilliant idea that was brought up in this article is the garden buddies program. Involving family members, who could also be ELL and feeling somewhat alienated from their community, and community members is such a wonderful idea to again build that supportive space where ELL development could be fostered with both practice and experience. The idea to springboard off of this experience into ELL development of reading and writing skills seems so streamlined, with activities as drawing and writing descriptions of plants over their growth etc. Lastly, the set up involving a pre-assessment and an end survey seems very valuable and could contribute greatly in a measurable way to the inquiries about garden classrooms and ELL development in and around those gardens.