Mr. G's Summer Reflective Blog

What did you do and learn this summer to help improve students learning experiences this school year?


This summer I did multiple things in an attempt to improve my teaching for the 2013-14 school year.  I began my summer by taking  a 2 week graduate class  in Wheaton, Illinois.  The class was in the Modeling method of teaching high school chemistry.  During the two weeks 30 high school teachers (mostly from the suburban Chicago area) practiced, debated and discussed the benefits of the modeling method of teaching chemistry. Basically this involves teaching chemistry to students in the way that chemistry or science was first learned. This means no assumptions of knowledge are made and no language or words are used that haven't already been defined.  The other big part of modeling is that students build their own knowledge.  Rather than the teacher telling students the details of chemistry, the student discovers the knowledge via experimentation, worksheets,class discussions etc.  Student discovery is shared with the class using white board presentations. During these presentations, students share what they have learned relying heavily on evidence they have gathered.  The rest of the class asks the presenting students questions and seeks clarification of the presentations.  My thoughts on this class is that it was fantastic.  I learned so much about better ways to engage students in the learning of chemistry.  I experimented with this teaching method last school year, and I am anxious to improve  my use of it this year.  I learned that I need to do a better job of making the classroom a place where all students feel safe and comfortable sharing their thoughts.  I also learned that I need to be better at letting the students "develop" their own learning.  Last year I tended to "jump in" and give my "correct" answer to the question at hand, instead of letting the class struggle with the topic.  I look forward to be a better practitioner of the modeling method this school year and I hope you enjoy learning chemistry in this way.

The second big learning I picked  up this summer was attending the Plymouth School District's technology academy.  In that academy I attended a workshop on blogging and this coupled with an idea I got from a teacher form Michigan that I follow on twitter, led me to the idea of having my students complete a blog this school year.  Mrs. Budrecki helped me with the computer logistics of this and I worked on putting together the instruction for the blog contents and the grading rubric.  I am very excited to see how this goes this school year.  I am a bit concerned that it will be a lot of work for me to grade all of these, but I am committed to making the effort.  I think it is going to be a fantastic way to have the students keep a record of their learning.

My final big learning experience of the summer was the book I read, with the suggestion of our new principal, Mrs. Rauscher.  The book is entitled Mindsets.  This books talks about two types of "mindsets" that people have: (1) a fixed mindset which is an approach to life and learning that an individual is given a certain amount of intellectual/athletic/social ability and a person's achievement in these realms is mostly dependent on that God-given ability.   (2) a growth mindset which is an approach to life and learning where a person is open to and able to grow and develop through new experiences and hard work.  Growth mindset people are confident that they can improve in their knowledge and abilities through hard work and being open to new experiences. The author states that Michael Jordan is an example of someone with a growth mindset.   My goal is to personally use a growth mindset in my interactions with all of you and also to help you all approach or get to a growth mindset for learning.  With this modeling approach to learning chemistry, you are going to have to work hard to learn the content, so a growth mindset is going to be critical to your success.

These three experiences have me very excited to begin the 2013-14 school year.  I have several challenges ahead of me and I hope to use the growth mindset approach to my teaching to go after each one with energy and enthusiasm.  I am convinced that all three of these initiatives will be effective learning experiences for my students and will result in positive and effective growth for each one of you as students and individuals.  After all that is the goal of all teachers:  growth and development of the students in our care.  Together I hope you, in positive interaction with your classmates and me, can have a great school year.  Go A8Chem Club!!

Mr. Grosshuesch