Javaye Stubbs

Science Sampler: More than just a day away from school—Planning a great science field trip

Fri, Apr 01, 2016 7:14 AM
This Helped Me!!!!

According to the article I read, when teachers plan field trips, they should have one of two goals in mind: 1. Is this trip an open-ended trip? Or 2. Is this a focused trip? Scribner-Maclean, M. (2007). Determining which one will match the intended goal is only part of the planning a teacher must go through when selecting the right trip for his or her class. Open ended trips can help get students excited about science and give broad overviews of certain concepts and topics. However on the other hand, a focused field trip can hone in on certain key concepts and tasks, and solidify ideas, answer burning questions, and provide a real, hands-on experience for students. I loved this article. It was timely and relevant.

Methods and Strategies: Formative Assessment Probes

Tue, Mar 29, 2016 7:49 AM
Great Read!

I loved this article because it showed me what good probing questions look like. It used a classroom learning about rocks and matter. It broke down the instructional planning and design that the teacher used in selecting her probes, I learned a lot from this article. I really enjoyed the following statement, "Understanding science requires a deeper knowledge than just knowing facts or the names of things." That should be the goal of every educator, to make sure that our students know more than just the name of something.

Assessing Understanding

Tue, Mar 29, 2016 7:45 AM
Probe More!

The essence of the article was to remind educators that our assessing of students understanding should be covered in knowing exactly what we are looking for. We should also probe students more beyond surface level questions that can easily be answered with "yes/no" responses. The article painted a clear picture of how to move from lower level questioning to higher order questioning. I enjoyed it!