Biology Story Time

 I hope all of my students are enjoying a safe and fun-filled Christmas vacation.  My grandson, Brandon, enjoyed the wrappings as much as the gifts!  Having a house full of “20 somethings” (six in all) meant LOTS of food and lots of interesting discussions.  They my parents, who are in their 80’s, were also with us so we had most of the possible generations covered!  Besides eating, we watched movies (The Kingdom, Syriana and Kite Runner - so far!), played cards (”500″ and Cribbage), and watched lots of football (Go Pack!). 

My Dad, who is 80, loves telling stories from the past.  I always seem to learn something new about our family that I didn’t know.  He told us this story:  Growing up on a small, poor dairy farm in WI (1930’s-40’s), he told about the problem of keeping the milk cold enough for collection.  It had to be kept less than 50 F and they didn’t have refrigeration.  So during the summer the boys of the farm walked to their school (about a mile away) to collect cold water from the school well and carried it back to tubs that held the farm milk containers that were waiting for delivery.  I never knew about that one.  We also reminisced about tobagganning on the hills of his family farm when I was a little girl.  I took the time to thank him for pulling me UP the hill on the tobaggin ‘many a time!’  I also remember when he told me I was ‘old enough’ to walk up by myself!  Ha. 

Over the holidays, did you share any family stories? Did you hear any new stories from the memories of your grandparents, or aunts and uncles? 

Let me encourage you take the time to thank someone in your family for something extra that they’ve done or do for you.  It’s a great way to start the New Year.

Happy New Year … and see you all soon!

PS:  I drove my parents out to KFHS.  They were a bit amazed at its size! They took time to look at the good student work around the room and were impressed!  I bragged about ya’all!  

Just when I was wondering if all the work we did on “Manufactured Landscapes” was worth it, I opened the VA Pilot this morning (Sun. 12.30) and quickly came across a two page article on the Three Gorges Dam.  Written by Audra Ang of the Associated Press, the article is titled “Behind masive dam, human fears build up”.   I realized that without the previous study of the Three Gorges Dam, this article would not have meant so much to me.  But, as I read, I found myself identifying with the people who currently live in great (real) fear, others who are being relocated for the THIRD time, and those who are debating the worth of this whole project, the world’s largest dam project. 

I learned some new things about the dam project that build on our original information — things that present new problems and concerns.   This article informs and builds on the knowledge that we all have studied so far.  If an imminent disaster is something sure to be, as some continue to warn, then we will be able to represent ourselves as ‘educated’ on something that will certainly fill news media airwaves and conversations.  

This article is a required read.  The assignment from this reading will be to design a political cartoon that communicates the dangers, or concerns of this project as communicated in this news article.  If you are reading this before vacation ends, then you have a heads-up on the first assignment that will be due the 3rd class period after you have returned.    

1.  Read - Location of article:  VA Pilot - Sunday, 12/30/07   News 2 section, page 2-3. 

2.  Assignment:  Draw a one picture-frame cartoon.  Finished product should be in pencil on a plain white 81/2 X 11 sheet of paper.

3.  Research:  Just what a political cartoon is — look at some examples in the editorial page of the paper;  read Wikepedia’s definition;  think about what ONE message you wish to communicate in the picture.   

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/browse.cfm     At this web site, plug in a key word and see some great examples of editorial cartoons … cartoons that communicate a message/opinion.

I look forward to discussing this article with all of you upon your return. 

PS:  I hope you are sharing with your family what you are learning about the industrialization of China and the effects that this is having globally in both positive and negative ways.   

I saw on the Suffolk Public School website that there is an opportunity for parents to give feedback to the school system administrators about their perceptions and observations about SPS.  I hope and encourage every parent to take a few minutes and participate in this opportunity.  I’m jealous that you have a forum in which to express yourselves;  your opinions, reflections, observations, suggestions and concerns have been solicited. YEA!  I encourage you to participate.  If you don’t have anything in particular to say … could you say something for me?  :-)   

The following is an editorial comment … no one has solicited this comment, paid for it, supported it with advertisement, or even probably cares very much! :-)   BUT, if I was given the opportunity to express one thing, I would plead to get rid of this school day schedule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   It’s impossible for student and teacher alike.  When “focusing” is such a HUGE problem in the classroom, when there is such a high need for instant feedback and review pre and post test, how in the world can only seeing the student every other day possibly work for most students? 

Granted, I don’t know every teacher, but there isn’t one teacher that I’ve asked that has EVER expressed liking this schedule for any reason!  :-(    It certainly frustrates me!

Ahhhhhhhhhh … BUT … happy holidays!  :-) 

All biology students were handed a CELL PROJECT assignment that is due JAN. 15/16th.  They have the opportunity to get started on this project over the holiday break.  Please ASK to see this assignment.

Happy Holidays

Some things I can do … some things I cannot do.

Here’s what you can do:   A 2 S   =   ASK to see.   

1.    NEVER allow them to say that they do not have biology homework!  THEY DO!   Here it is:

      a.  I give them specific assignments almost every day from class!  Even if they say, “I did it in class.”  Do not let them off the hook with this response!  

                  ASK to see it! 

      b.  Then, take a minute to ask them a few questions, on the spot, over any terms you see on this homework/practice review sheet  It would only take 10 minutes.  If they cannot repeat back to you what they’ve written … or it makes no sense to YOU … then that’s a RED FLAG!  Put a “X” mark beside whatever they could not explain to you and insist that they stop in to see me the next day to help them make sense of it.

       c.  They should be MEMORIZING vocabulary every night!  15 minutes/night!   They have a vocabulary list from the unit.  ASK to see it! You could quiz them over 7 words a night.  Their vocabulary lists are at least 30 words long!  Just “making” the list is not good enough.  Have them make flashcards — HOME”WORK”

       d.  ASK to see their lecture notes!  Is their part, the questions on the right, answered?  If not, perhaps this is a RED FLAG that they were not paying attention in class.  ASK why these questions are not filled in.  

2.  I hope you know by now that all my students have a “news brief” due on the Mondays that they have class with me.  These are worth a quiz grade and they have specific guidelines to follow.  Please ASK to see their finished brief. 

3.  I am here for review/tutoring every night after school except Friday.  The students do not take advantage of this … I think because they actually don’t know the material to even come to ask questions on what they do not know.  :-(   This can only happen if they are doing work-at-home prior to the testing date. 

4.  We do not have the class time (SOL mania!) to go over the answers from a previous test.  They must take the initiative to come in after school and check their own test answers.   Encourage them to stay after school some night following a test and check their answers.

You can make a difference! 

I hope this helps. 

Ms Story

After the disappointing results of the past biology test, I’m going to try some additional strategies on my part to help students succeed in biology at KFHS. 

There are some things:

1.  that I can do … e.g.  continue to put for the material in a variety of formats, continue to have a good, conducive environment in the classroom for learning, continue to encourage students in every way to value education and learning, continue to be fair in assessing their success, continue to expect a standard of learning that must be maintained in order to give students a fair shot at competing in the future job market, continue to value the 3R’s - even in biology,

2. that I can change (restrategize) about what I’m doing now …

       a.  I’m going to communicate more with parents on this blog.

       b.  Therefore I need to find a way to let parents know about checking this blog site versus my web site.  I can be more current and fluid on this blog then on the web site. 

        c.  I’m going to try and put together a group email list of parents who are on parent connect and communicate concerns and progress of individual classes. 

        d.  I am going to try and be more specific with parents and students about “what it means to STUDY!”  Asking students, “Have you studied?” seems to be a worthless question.  My guess is that less than 10% of students actually know what this means.   FIRST AND FOREMOST:  IT MEANS MEMORIZE!!!!    In biology, there is NO WAY AROUND THIS!  PERIOD.  If  one doesn’t know the vocabulary, one cannot/will not succeed.  Call me old fashion, but I just don’t see any way around this.

       e.  So, I’m suggesting that this become the crucial question asked, both from me and from parent(s)

                      ”HAVE YOU MEMORIZED ALL THE TERMS?” 

Well .. I think these new strategies will definitely keep me on ‘overtime’ pay!!  Happy Wishful Thinking, to me.  

The third biology test for this 2nd quarter has been graded and the grades were very disappointing and, for a teacher, very frustrating. This unit, as one parent pointed out, covered only 3 pages in the text book!  To supplement these pages the students had multiple review sheets with diagrams over the same material, they made their own vocabulary list from the unit, they had a crossword puzzle that reviewed all the vocabulary terms, they saw 2 simple video lessons on the topic, they took a practice quiz to give them a read on whether they knew the topics or not, and most of them did a lab with carrot sticks that reinforced the major concepts of passive and active transport.  In addition, they knew about the test dates a week prior to the test.

YET … when many of the students walked into my classroom the comments were ,”We have a test today??? What’s it on?”  

My only comfort is that this is not unique to my classroom … most of the teachers hear this all of the time and just shake their head in sadness and agreement when I ask rhetorically … “How can this be?”  So many of my students are failing and others are very near failing! 

I ask myself … What else can I do if the students are SO distracted with other parts of life that the importance of their academic career and success falls must fall so low on their list of priorities of life?  

… to be continued. 

 Blogging has become an extremely popular form of 21st century communication.   So we will attempt to put forth a good effort toward blogging … making KFHS proud to be represented in the wide, wide web of blogging!    I am hoping that this will be an interesting and fun way to join two classes together in conversation (1st and 4th block ecology) and for all of us to learn through guided dialogue.   

These are the blogging requirements as I’ve developed them so far for a 2nd quarter grade 

1.  For an A - a minimum of 9-10 comments;  a B - a minimum of 7-8 comments;  a C - 5-6 comments; a D - 3-4 comments.

2.  Your comments must be in response to a variety of posts.  You may also respond to other students’ comments in a thoughtful manner.

3.  Your comments should reflect some upper level thinking processes, including insights that demonstrate a realistic understanding of “how the world works.”  In other words, hopefully your comments will reflect analytical thinking that draws on being aware of the interconnectedness between people and global systems of organization.

4.  Please back up general comments with exampless or specifics. 

5.  I monitor all comments before they appear on the blog site.  If you make disparaging remarks toward others or type anything that I value as inappropriate, you comments will not appear. 

6.  Please do not use text abbreviations. 

I’m looking forward to the conversations that develop through blogging … what we all might teach each other through the medium of structured dialogue and interaction.   Ms. Story   

The city council of Suffolk is being petitioned to reinstate a city recycling program.  As citizens of Suffolk, you can make a difference and have a voice in whether recycling comes back to Suffolk.  Your assignment is 2 fold:

1.  Sign the online petition if you are in favor of the city of Suffolk reinstating a recycling program for its citizens.

2.  Write a personal letter to the city council , according to the rubric guidelines handed to you.

  A variety of organizations and many cities have posted games that teach about recycling.  Here are just two for you to check out and play: 

http://www.recyclezone.org.uk/fz_challenge.aspx

http://www2.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/RecyclingIQ/recyclingiqgame.swf

Google “recycle game” and find a 3rd one to play.  Make sure it is one that fits the criteria that you need to record below. 

1.  Make note of these things in your lab journal for each of the 3 sites and Have fun…!

       a.  the city or organization sponsoring the web site

       b.  the target audience … age?

       c.  the information communicated in the game.

       d.  new information you learned while playing the game and your “best score” on the game (some of them have a timed score.)