Bird Ecology Field Trip

We took a field trip on Monday to a local park to do some Bird Ecology activities with the instructors of the park.  One of my four focus students ended up deciding to attend with us at the last minute.  I was very excited and enthused to see how she did on the trip and how involved she would get with the content.

Well....I got my hopes up.  Not only did she seem extremely bored, she also got in trouble with one of the instructors because she wasn't paying attention during the introduction of one of the activities.  It was very disheartening for me to see that she was interested and not enjoying her time outside, away from the classroom.

I have noticed, this year, that my students do not enjoy field trips as much if they have to do work while they are there.  They would much rather have a free to roam around a museum than to do fun activities outside.

This was the second field trip we had taken for my class.  For both of my field trips, students had work to do and/or activities to participate in.  Compared to the other two field trips we took during the year, they seemed to not enjoy mine as much as others.

I guess, I am not going to reach every student with every activity I plan.

Assessment

We watched the Show Mes the students created last week and they were great! :) The students did a good job getting all the information across and finding the pictures that fit in with their topic. 

Today, we are working on part II of the Zoo Project.  The two boys that did not complete the first part will be placed in new groups and will no longer work together.  I want to see if I place them with a higher level student, if they will work a little harder and get the work done that is expected of them.  I hope my other 2 focus students will do as well as they did with the first part. :)

After a 10 Day Break

I was worried as to what my students would be like after a 10 day break. To my surprise, my four focus students were some of the best behaved the first day back. Yesterday, we used the iPads to create a Show Me. A Show Me is basically a podcast with and interactive whiteboard. One of my focus students was absent, but the three that were present worked so hard, so quietly, and so well with their assigned group. I could not have been prouder! It seems that working with technology, specifically the iPads, works as a great motivator for these students! I love it! :) Unfortunately, none of my four focus students will be going on our field trip on Monday. I was really hoping that the students would take advantage of wanting to get out of the building and outside for the day, but I misjudged them. We will be doing activities outside at the school for class, but not until after this class is over, so I will not be able to add it to my results. We will continue the zoo project next week, so I am curious to see how my students work with the second part because they worked so well on the first part. I may give the students a challenge to construct the zoo in 3-D. :)

Using Technology

It seems that students tend to try a little harder and work harder when they are able to use technology. Last time we used the computers for research, two of my four students decided to partner up (I allowed them to choose partners) and did very poorly on the assignment. I have decided to try technology again, this time using the iPads. I will group students in groups of four based on ability level. I want to allow lower level students to work with upper level students in hopes that this will give them the opportunity to ask questions of their peers and work a little harder to show their peers that they are capable. Students will answer certain questions about a new concept that we will be discussing. Students will make a presentation for the rest of the class in order to teach their peers about the concept they were researching. The presentation will be constructed in an app called Show Me which is an interactive whiteboard. I am curious to see if my unmotivated students will work a little more when placed with upper level students or if they will just sit back and let their peers do all the work.

Low Level Reading

My students had an open note test today on Evolution.  It was 15 multiple choice questions, mainly from released SOL tests.  One of my 4 students that I am focusing on has a very low reading level and has failed all tests in my class.  I was hoping that with the "open note" he would at least take a little more initiative, but he still "finished" in literally 5 minutes!  How do I work with that!?  He passed all his SOLs last year (we aren't sure how), so that makes him ineligible for any extra services. I am just still at a loss as to what I can do to help him out without changing everything to better fit him.

We also recently did a project for Charles Darwin.  The students worked with a partner to construct a children's book about Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution.  Another of my 4 focus students was paired with a higher level student and he did AMAZING!  The other student led him in the right direction and showed him how to do something and then let him do it.  They worked really well together and I was ecstatic to see this student concentrating on what he was doing and so excited today when he found out they got a 100 on the project.  It's times like this that remind me of why I love my job!

Zoo Project Examples

Two of my four students did a GREAT job researching and plotting out their zoo.  I wanted to share their products as of right now. :)

When we come back to complete part 2, the students will fill in each habitat after researching what kind of habitat that animal lives in. I am very impressed with this work so far! :)



Zoo Project: Day 2

Well, the second day of research did not go as well.  The class had the whole period to finish the research for their ten animals.  Two of my four did a wonderful job and completed their research and were finding it exciting and humorous researching the Blue Footed Booby.  The other two students that chose to work together did not get anything else done.  I am not sure what was going on.  They were asking me questions and looking up many different animals, but wrote nothing down on their paper.  Therefore, they only have the three animals completed that they did the first day of research.  I told them that they needed to have the other seven done before class on Monday so they could draw out their zoo, so we will see if they did anything over the weekend.

I feel like I am at a loss for these two students.  I do so many different activities and they don't find anything intriguing.  I will keep on trucking and trying my best....

The First Attempt: Zoo Project

In order to reach my unmotivated students, I have chosen to incorporate more projects with and without technology.  To begin, during this unit on Animals, I have decided to have the students construct a zoo.  The zoo they construct will be used for other areas of my class during the next advisory as well.

We started the project yesterday and I decided (after arguing with myself) to allow my students to choose their own partner.  I knew there would be some match ups that I would not choose and would want to change, but I stopped myself and gave them all the benefit of the doubt that they would work and get done what they needed to get done.

The project begins with students choosing 10 animals (with a few stipulations on how many of each animal type they should have) on their own.  I have provided them with animal databases on PortaPortal that will help them make their decisions.  The first day in the computer lab conducting research was magnificent!  The students worked extremely well with the partners they chose and were excited and enthusiastic about picking the animals they were interested in instead of having to research animals I assigned.  Some students focused on animals they may see around our area while hunting, while others focused on exotic animals.

Even though I have stipulations on this project, students were given a lot of room to make choices and do what interests them.  As of now, I feel this allowed the students to take more ownership of their work and actually enjoy the project itself.