Education – Page 3 – Deborah Chang

11 Days Left!

Please help my classroom earn $913 to purchase two iPod touches. Donate here: http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=539929&challengeid=153026&more=true. My Students: “There are three basic skills that students need if they want to thrive in a knowledge economy: the ability to do critical thinking and problem-solving; the ability to communicate effectively; and the ability to collaborate,” Tony Wagner wrote in…

Teaching So Kids Actually Learn: My First Attempt At Project Based Learning

Think back to your clearest memories of elementary school or middle school. What do you remember? I know what I remember… my fifth grade oceanography project lead by Mr. Soderberg, teacher-extraordinaire. In teams of four, our group of fifth grade scientists were tasked with the challenge of saving the ocean floor. The project went something…

Setting Up for Successful Collaboration

So I was reading this Harvard Business Review blog post on the Six Common Misperceptions About Teamwork and this immediately popped out to me: The hands-on activities of group leaders do make a difference. But the most powerful thing a leader can do to foster effective collaboration is to create conditions that help members competently…

My Unit Planning Progress: The Beginning

I will be planning my next two units (measurement and biology) on Google Docs so that I can collaborate with other educators and so I can easily see my revision history. I think it’ll be a very informative look into the planning process, as well as a way for me to go back and reflect…

How Do I Teach Evolution, Respectfully and Uncompromisingly?

I’m planning my unit on biology right now and I’m going to unabashedly teach evolution. The unit sequence begins with the essential questions of “What gives rise to the great diversity of life on this planet?” and “Where do humans come from?”* I will then ask my students to make predictions about what evidence would…

The Evidence For/Against Evolution

This post is meant as a forum for debate for those who would like to explain the evidence for evolution or argue against it. Please keep comments respectful. As moderator, I reserve the right to refuse to post any comments that are insulting, rude, or otherwise inappropriate.

How Do I Give Authentic Assessments? The Lab Practicum

I’m planning to have a lab practicum in which my students have to work in teams of three or four to figure out the composition of three mystery liquids (water, salt water, and rubbing alcohol). The content goals of this practicum is for my students to apply their understanding of boiling points (that boiling point…

Successes

I just want to celebrate. A student who received an F for the first quarter, just got a 100% on his last quiz. There’s no better feeling, then seeing the pride he took, in doing so well. And, I’ve never seen a bigger smile. All the planning, the late nights, it’s worth it.

How to Make the Most out of Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple choice questions. We’ve all had to take them. After all, they’re easy to grade. Run the scantrons through the scantron machine… 10 seconds/scantron later, you have a printout of what each student received on his/her individual test, as well as an itemized report of what percentage of students answered each question correctly. Multiple choice…

Practice Makes Perfect

I do not remember when I stumbled across this tidbit of wisdom, but to all teachers and managers of people out there, once I learned and internalized this concept, my ability to shepherd 90 5th graders to order and success skyrocketed.