Running head: APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

Applying Art & Science of Teaching Dianne J. E. Kraus Wilkes University

APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

ABSTRACT The students in the mini-study are thirty-two freshmen Biology students at Dundee-Crown High School. The students are a diverse group of male and female students and many are AVID students on a college preparation strand. These students are from the middle demographics and are the first in their families to attend college. They come from low-income situations and although their test scores are mid-range they require the support of the AVID program to support their goals to attend a four year university. The AVID program provides these students with college tutors, reading and writing strategies in their core subjects and trained teachers to support their needs to develop high-order thinking skills.

APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

Applying the Art and Science of Teaching The routine lesson segment was the introduction of the ecology unit. During the lesson the teacher introduced the learning goal. (Appendix 1) The teacher introduced and explained the procedures to use the scale and gave the students the progress tracking sheet. The students wrote their own goals and plotted their pre-test as a starting point. The students were reminded that they can re-take tests and the rules for this procedure. The teacher in the video was Applying this segment. As the unit progressed the teacher created new strategies. This was done by tracking and collecting data on individual student progress on Socrative, a newly acquired data collection technology resource. Later in the unit the teacher used the student tracking sheets to conference with students so that students could justify or explain their grades. The students became collaborative in tracking progress and supported others learning and celebrated success. At first, the students did not understand how to write the individual goals as witnessed by the student in the video, but over time they developed this skill and started to reflect learning and growth rather than grades. The students took ownership of their learning by asking to take quizzes in the testing center to move ahead for class recognition of goal attainment and one student said that he liked this way of grading because he knew how he was doing in the class and expressed pride that he was doing well. The students were motivated to demonstrate the mastery of the goals in their classroom assignments. This was evidenced by the generalization statements at the end of their biome presentations and answers on exit cards. The students celebrate their anticipation of future learning by giving high fives in the video and the types of celebration grew to include unsolicited responses between students as they shared their successes and failures. They even started one minute dance parties.

APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

The classroom is an orderly place and current content is displayed on the walls. The tenets and keys to success are clearly posted at the front of the room. Supplies and expectations are posted on the wall. The teacher would like to improve by giving individual students recognition and making time for parents to share good news with home. As an instructional practice the teacher plans to have students write a note to home based on their goals. The teacher will sign and mail it once the goal is accomplished. The teacher also plans to include student interviews and surveys for feedback. In the content lesson segment, the teacher begins by stating the learning goal and reviewing content from homework. The students were alerted to the importance of the content as there was a test the next day. The students were organized into a large group for a Socratic discussion on the human impacts to the ecosystem. During the video the teacher asks the students questions that require the students to make elaborative inferences about the content, to support their claims and to build on prior statements made by their peers. The students make inferences and connections about the content and then the teacher asks all students who have not contributed to write a learning log to explain what they would have said if they had the chance to talk. The teacher was Applying the strategy. In order to improve the seminar the students should have written higher order questions prior to the seminar in order to prepare for the discussion. They should have been asked to use their notes and collaborative group documents to help reflect on learning and to back claims. This would have pushed the discussion to a deeper level.

APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

The enacted on the spot segment included the use of computer simulation games to learn the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle was a dice game that involved movement through a complex pathway. The students were arranged into three stations to work collaboratively. The teacher presented intriguing information about the water cycle to introduce the lesson about a CNN report on the body parts found in a local water treatment facility. This triggered comments about the cycling atmosphere and water on earth. The teacher acknowledges students for following the procedures when collecting the vocabulary quizzes and completing their do now. The teacher demonstrated withitness by walking around the room and being in close proximity to students. The teacher engaged in side conversations with students about their interests regarding new species found in the rainforest and their personal lives. All students treat each other with respect and teacher engages students in playful informal dialogue during class time. The teacher in this video is Applying the strategies for the segment enacted on the spot. The teacher could improve by showing increased enthusiasm for the content and by encouraging students to talk about themselves and their interests such as their interests in global warming, organic farming and examples of how we experience what others have shared with us from the past. This would improve student interest and engagement. This experience has helped the teacher to reflect on instructional practice based on the three lesson segments and the strategies that increase effective teaching based on the Marzano Protocol. Several areas for improvement have been identified and awareness of weaknesses and strengths will provide the teacher with specific feedback for future areas of needed growth. Teacher evaluations should provide all teachers with this type of opportunity for improvement.

APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

Biology: Matter, Energy and Organisms in the Living Systems

4.0

The student(s) will engage in a Socratic discussion to determine the consequences of human impact on an ecosystem.
In addition to score 3.0 performance in-depth inferences and applications with partial success

3.5

3.0

The student(s) will make a generalization about the cycles of matter and energy in living systems.
No major errors or omissions regarding 2.0 content and partial knowledge of the 3.0 content

2.5

2.0

The student(s) will recognize or recall accurate information about cycles of matter and energy in living systems.
Partial Knowledge of the 2.0 content but major errors or omissions regarding 3.0 content With help a partial understanding of some of the simpler details and processes and some of the more complex ideas and processes With help a partial understanding of the 2.0 content but not the 3.0 content Even with help no understanding or skill demonstrated

1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

APPLYING ART & SCIENCE OF TEACHING

References
Marzano, R.J. (2007) The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA:ASCD