biologist's+thoughts+5

It is my intention that I will keep a record of my thoughts after each lesson. Feel free to respond to anything I have written. Hopefully my thoughts will inspire, motivate and allow you to improve your understanding of biology as well as get the most out of our classes. Link back to inside the mind of the biol guru links to biologist's thoughts week 1& 2 biologist's thoughts week 3 & 4 biologist's thoughts week 5 & 6 biologist's thoughts week 7 & 8

**Lesson 24 (Monday 23rd March 2009)** I had read the comments posted for their lesson on Friday (that I was not present for) and in some ways it prepared me for the "worst". I had the impression that maybe their apporach to the task (for some of them) would not be concerted and enaging enough. I allowed the whole 40min lesson for them to present their work. Yet again the lateness of some meant that we had lost 5min already! When will it stop? The activity on glucose regulation was ideal and really met the aims of the task. They obviously had to think about the content, summarise it and then figure out a way for the rest of the class to show their understanding. Their idea was to tape on the back of volunteers some info about the negative feedback system. Then as a group put it in the correct order without any form of oral communication. It worked really well and had we had more time I would have got them to do it for the alternative stimulus (they only covered a drop in blood sugar levels). I wonder where they got the idea from, maybe another teacher used it in another subject. Anyway, I should keep it in mind for use in my other classes. It can be a really useful and alternative activity for students. Two other presentations were given in powerpoint form and they were ok but didn't quite grasp the aims as well. The real purposes was for them to anaylse all the content and then only select the important bits to communicate to the rest of the class. I need them to be able to do this as well as possible. Information overload can occur so easily if they are unable to identify the key components first. The lesson was also useful in that I could highlight inaccuracies that were present in each of the presentations. I will have to devote 15 min max in the next lesson to hear from the remaining groups. Ooops, didn't set them any specific homework for tonight BUT this shouldn't make any difference at this stage of the year. If they are unable to go home and spend time on developing their biology without my input, then I am probably fighting a losing battle. Still recovering from camp today, so tomorrow's lesson needs some more thought and preparation.

We spent a few mintues listening to the final presentation on blood pressure regulation. The content was summarised well and a worksheet was given out. I actually didn't get a copy of it, so I will have to remind myself to ask the group to give me one. The main idea today was for me to explain signalling molecules in general and the relevance of the signal transduction pathway. Thought this went well (I am pretty much basing this on their facial expressions), and there were some really good questions today, from the usual suspects. Questions that revealed insight as well as asking for clarification. I really need some of the others (who are too hesitant) to throw questions at me. I have said to many of them that one of the difficulties they have is expressing their ideas. They need to communicate (orally) whatever thoughts they have and do so as much as possible. It is only when they do this that they will really get an idea of where they are at. This reminds of an idea I have for the last SAC on the immunse system and it is also a way for some of them (if they choose) to try to reinforce and develop their understanding. Won't say much now, other than it is based on creating podcasts. Covering the concepts took about half the lesson which was perfect as I had prepared a summary type activity for them to do in the last 40min. I haven't done this sort of thing much this year, there is just so much content to get through and I could easily have gone onto the next topic and set the task as homework. But here is my reasoning. I wanted to give them the opportunity to test their understanding through the handouts, work together if need be and also have the opportunity to ask me questions as they did the work. Unlike other subjects, there just isn't the opportunity to give them "work" time on a regular basis, let alone every lesson. The class responded well to the handouts. Some worked quietly on their own, others worked in pairs, discussing ideas as well as raising questions. It was great! Well worth the many hours I put into constructing the handouts. The tasks were really translation type tasks. I need them to be able to analyse the information and in this case create flow diagrams to represent negative feedback mechanisms. Plenty of diagrams were given as well. They must be familiar with the different ways ideas can be represented. The activity also took me away from being the "centre of attention". There were probably only a few of them who could have used their time a little better. Hmmm... Where to now? Plant stuff. I will have to get the next set of course notes ready for them by Friday. This section is always a challenge for me because it is not as interesting as other areas of the course. Oh well. Now this rarely happens at the end of a lesson but one of the students as they were leaving commented on it being a good lesson. What am I to think of this? I mean I don't place any real importance on hearing this from students, its not what I am after. I know the student was being genuine but why make the comment today? What was it about today's lesson? Have all the other lessons not been as good? I really hope not. I will have to investigate this further. Vojtech i know i've already transmitted this feedback to you but im sort of interested to see what everyone thinks about this. I commented that the lesson was good because it was nice to revise and go over stuff in class for once as apposed to doing that stuff at home alone. In class we were encouraged to discuss ideas amongst ourselves and if need be, we could ask vojtech. Perhaps i am just a bit lazy and can't be bothered clarifying stuff straight away when i'm at home, but i thought the class had a nice atmosphere when we were all summarising the topic together and it was overly easy to ask questions if need be. Feel free to comment. //Anonymous// // Hmmm... anonymous your thoughts are much appreciated and I really do hope others add their comments to yours. VM //
 * Lesson 25 (Tuesday 24th March 2009) **

**Lesson 26 (Friday 27th March 2009)** I started off with a quiz on homeostasis. We have spent the last couple of weeks on this area and I felt that perhaps this would be a topic that they have grasped well. So, I was a little disappointed that the class didn't do as well as I had hoped. On a positive note some of them had performed better than on previous quizzes, especially those that had been doing quite poorly. A boost to the confidence, should this cause (I sound like Yoda here). But why is the class still only averaging around 60% and why is it that I cannot get the class to get at least one question 100% correct? I don't have a defintive answer to this. Maybe it is the format of the quiz, maybe if it is written in front of them they won't make the same careless mistakes that they do now. Maybe I just don't have a class that is entirely on top of things. Anyway, as long as they learn from these quizzes that is all that matters. Now, I was really underprepared for the rest of the lesson today. It was only about 30min prior to the lesson that I had finalised what I would do. I am struggling mentally and probably physically as we draw closer to the end of term one. I think some of them are also experiencing this. Hmmm...A different approach to this topic and one that I haven't yet utilised this year. I got them to read and analyse sections of the textbook relating to plant responses. First of all I rarely teach from the textbook and second of all I tend to do most (if not all) the synthesising about what is important in a section of the course. So, I felt there was value in them doing this for once in the classroom. And they worked pretty well towards the task. Some were already firing away with good questions. They will post their analyses on the wiki for me to read and based on this I will now be able to set up a lesson on Monday that is going to be much more effective I would think. Why do I say this? Because they have already thought about the information and now I can fill in gaps, emphasise points further and deal with the questions that they raise. Having them all put in on the wiki means that they can also read each other's work and use this as a way of learning the material that they didn't analyse. I suppose I could have done the same thing without a wiki, that is get them to write it on paper and submit it in to me. But then they don;t really see what others have done and it also means that I am at the mercy of the end of the lesson. At least now they can think about it a bit more at home. One more week to go this term. I need the break. For them the two week break is going to be crucial in them dealing with the stresses of term two and mid-year exams.

**Lesson 27 (Monday 30th March 2009)** From the last lesson I got them to post their summaries of various text book sessions on the wiki. I think they covered the content well. It was really good to see them follow the format I had set them. I wonder if this helped them make more sense of the text they were reading. Some groups left it til the last minute before posting their work which really didn't allow me to the opportunity to create today's lesson based on them. This didn't matter as I had pretty much decided that I would focus on auxins, phototropism and geotropism in more detail. I will leave phototperiodism and CO2/water regulation for friday. How did the lesson go today? Overall pretty satisifed. It wasn't just me lecturing, there were opportunities for them to discuss ideas (in a POEsort of way). The IWB makes things so much easier as I was able to include some animations and cool quicktime movies showing phototropism and geotropism. Again, they really discussed ideas well in their small groups. I really hope they are finding these sorts of activities beneficial in helping them check their own understanding and improving it further. I still have a few of them that find it difficult to air their thoughts verbally in front of the whole class. At least, in the small groups they may feel less uncomfortable and still get the opportunity to communicate ideas. My only concern today was going into too much depth at the molecular level. This is one of the challenges in teaching the course. We, as teachers, really do not know what the examiners will ask and what level of depth they expect the students to know and understand. I keep emphasising to the class that the big picture is the key. Ultimately, what is written in the study design is what will be used as the basis for constructing exam questions. Hmmm...I wonder how many times they have referred to the study design so far. We are about six eigths of the way through. Surely, they will have checked the study design to see if we have covered the dot points and that I have explained them well enough to them. It is such a useful way for them to focus on the key ideas. As part of their continual revision they should write down as much as they can about all the dot points we have covered so far. How many will do this? And if they do, will they post it on the wiki for me to check or give them feedback on and to share it with others. Maybe I will make this a holiday task. So, one more lesson to go this term. The year is passing by oh so quickly. Hmmm...

Last lesson of the term (well sort of) and I guess I was feeling a little jaded after a hectic and demanding 10 weeks. Anyway I was happy with the use of the animation on photoperiodism, although starting the lesson with this requried the class to have to think quite deeply. Some were just not up to it, they were tired I could see it in their eyes and the year 12 musical review was the night before (so their energy levels would have been low). But it was good to see some of them really make sense of an area that can be very confusing. I think after about an hour the ability to focus and concentrate for a few did become difficult and things had also taken longer than expected (although this was largely due to discussion and questions). Managed to explain the opening and closing of stomata with some added detail but most of this should have been revision from last year. Yeah right. Although, I ddin't get a chance to give them time to do some questions from the course notes (as I had originally planned) I don't think this mattered as they most likely would have just got into end of lesson mode anyway. The two hours session on Monday is going to be important. I will for the first time be starting disease and pathogens before term 2. I am really hoping this will make a difference when it comes to coping with the demands of a term 2 and the exam. It also means that I will have to really think about how I will cover the content. I know what I want to cover but I need to set something up that will be as effective as possible. I need to inspire them to really get into the biology over the term break. Hmmm... I will also have to find time over the next few days to reflect back over my teaching of the biol course with this group. A new challenge have I experienced with a larger class size and not having taught some of them in year 11. I might get them to do an evaluation of the classes (and my teaching) with a survey that I will post on this wiki. I suppose I should feel satisifed that I have been able to manage keeping a record of my thoughts about each lesson. I do query whether I am reflecting on these classes in an effective way. Anyway, I set a goal and I have reached it and I can only imagine the value my efforts will bring me if I do this for a whole semester let alone the entire year (OMG how good would that be!) And I don't think I would have been able to do this in pen and paper form and without this wiki. As a teacher, reflecting about what you do and why is so crucial to become better at what you do (at least in my view). So, have my class done this with their studies? Have they set goals? Are they meeting them? Are they reflecting on their learning in biology? All the things I try and do are just as important for them, especially in this final year. It's a one off opportunity for them that they should try and make the most of (and it applies to me as I only get one shot at teaching them year 12).
 * Lesson 28 (Friday 3rd April 2009) **

A two hour session on the first day of the term holdiays is always going to be a tough gig for me and them. I would have much rather had three hours because I felt rushed throughout the two hours. I was keen to give them as good a snapshot of what the last section of the course is going to involve. In some way I feel I accomplished this pretty well. This area of the course I think can really interest them because it is so relevant to their lives and society. So it didn't surprise me that there were lots of questions which unfortunately I had to cut short. And I also had to avoid expanding and elaborating on their thoughts. I think some would have picked up on this throughout the class. I didn't particularly feel good about this, I don't like being abrupt and I really do want them to think about what they are saying, especially if they are being inaccurate. I did harp on this quite about today, the accurate use of terminology. This is certainly one area of the course where there will be so much new terminology and they probably have misunderstandings about terminolgoy that they may already be familiar with (which I need them to rectify). It really was a lecture type session because it was about exposing them to this area rather than trying to get them to understand the important concepts which will come later anyway. Hopefully, they will have been able to take away something and they can now at least read the course notes with some prior experience. And hopefully they will have picked up on the importance of linking ideas in biology. I mean how many times did I mention ideas that we covered earlier in unit 3 and even in unit 1 and 2 from last year! I wonder if they really made this connection because that is what I was trying to do. Or am I being too subtle in delivering these messages? I felt that if I could highlight this linking of ideas today they would then have it fresh in their minds as they go about completing their minumum of 7 hours on biology over the two week break. Final I should praise them for all turning up and being so punctual about it. They may in fact be pretty dedicated towards doing their best in this subject.
 * Lesson 29 (Monday 6th April 2009) **