I teach Earth Science and Astronomy high school students in Wisconsin. The students are inquisitive, caring, hands-on learners; they have dreams of being mechanics, artists, craftsmen, lawyers, chiefs etc.
I want to do all I can to make my classroom as engaging as possible.
The more hands-on items and activities I can use in my classroom, My students are juniors and seniors who need their last science credit to graduate. Many of my students struggle in traditional science classes. When its time for brief lecture notes and discussion they are not engaged thus my students are less motivated when it comes time to begin a lab. What I have found with my students is that they excel when they are given hands-on projects and discussions where they have to move around and be a part of discussion happening in class. Also what helps them is if they see how what they are learning becomes a product their motivation and engagement improves as well. I would like to lead science classes where students are always moving and consistently actively engaged.
My Project
My goal for my classroom is to make the room itself engaging and full of technology to spark further interest in science and technology. I would use technology like the Qball to enhance my classroom discussions. This tool would engage students by allowing them to (literally) pass the microphone around the room. I want to add the Qball microphone to my lesson plans as a way to make our classroom discussions more exciting.
I want students to be able to take their ideas and make them into a reality.
Students are already using design processes to create prototypes in this classroom. I would like to expand on that initiative and allow students to be able to use 3D printing. Filament for these projects will allow more students to be actively involved with each project. My end goal is to make technology a natural part of the science learning process in this classroom.
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