More U.S. schools should include organic chemistry in introductory science courses. Most U.S. high schools offer first-year physics, chemistry, and biology plus some number of advanced electives. Schools have tinkered over the years with the sequence of first-year classes, for example starting with biology because the subjects of study are large and comparatively easy to handle, or starting with physics to build understanding from the smallest to the largest systems. More recently, some schools have launched integrated courses of science study, coordinating biology, chemistry, and physics topics to emphasize their mutual dependencies.
Organic chemistry is typically left out of introductory science courses. If included at all, the subject typically appears in advanced elective classes. Why? Perhaps organic has the reputation for being difficult or only being required in university study. Maybe it represents too drastic a departure from the quantitative focus of inorganic chemistry.
Why include organic chemistry?
A major branch of the study of chemistry
The basis for how biological molecules function
Foundational concepts for industrial processes
A great match for visual learners
Explains the importance of key elements to life (e.g., oxygen)
Another application of orbitals, bonding, and molecular geometry
Suits students who like to classify and order systems
Whether college prep, comprehensive, or progressive, schools would serve students well by including organic chemistry in introductory science studies.
I have updated our fourth and fifth grade technology curriculum maps. Please leave a comment if you have questions or good project ideas from your courses.
Student project: a robot that will self-navigate across campus
Andrew Merrill describes the high school’s computer science offerings. Project work and experiential learning are emphasized, Advanced Placement examinations deemphasized.
1) A yearlong introduction to computer programming. I’m currently using Python as the language. The projects cover a wide range of topics, including a recommendation engine for movies, 2D and 3D graphics, the iterated prisoners dilemma, etc.
2) A yearlong advanced computer science course, which used to be comparable to the AB level AP class. I’m currently using Java, left over from AP days, but the focus of the class is on algorithms and data structures. Most of my students in the class used to take the AB level AP exam, but now that that isn’t offered any more, I’m not sure what they’ll do. I don’t see much point in the A level AP exam, other than as a college admission item (as distinct from a college preparation or placement item). That is, the exam might help students get into college, but I doubt it will be of much value when they get there.
3) A yearlong post-AP level class that varies in content and approach depending on student interest. Some years it is an advanced topics course, where student students explore and write programs in a series of more advanced comp sci topics (such as artificial intelligence, cryptography, 3D rendering, digital logic circuits, socket-based networking, threading, etc.). Other years it turns into an independent research class, where each student designs and carries out an independent project (such as writing a physics engine, writing a compiler, writing an operating system, writing a iOS apps, autonomous robot navigation, automatic music transcription, automatic parallelization, CUDA programming, etc.) The topics courses are intended as a sampler of the kind of work done in upper level college computer science courses, while the research class often results in science fair projects and occasionally publishable papers.
Where are we with curriculum mapping, seven years on? Teachers have documented 269 courses. The map is publicly available on our website. Curriculum map pages receive approximately 100 page views per day.
What value does the curriculum map have to the school? Most importantly, it demonstrates to families and teachers that we are intentional and thoughtful about our curriculum. It also allows prospective families to see what their child would study in specific grades, teachers from other institutions to learn from our work, and teachers within our school to assess program coherence across subjects and grade levels. The map suggests high accountability to our constituents and accrediting body. The curriculum does not live behind closed doors. It is visible for all to study and critique.
Launching the curriculum map required a ton of work from teachers seven years ago. It was a new, schoolwide initiative linked to the school’s PNAIS accreditation. Absent the new initiative, it is difficult to keep the map up-to-date each year. It can be difficult for a division head to set aside time for teachers to update their courses when common meeting time is scarce, and so many other pressing discussion topics exits. Without dedicated meeting time, teachers may not consistently update their maps. Keeping course entries up-to-date is part of the annual teacher review rubric, but that, too has more parts than one can address in a single evaluation.
Another way to encourage completion is to lower the workload. Our old system required a site administrator to create new accounts with unique login information. Our new system is integrated into our regular website and network directory service. Editing permissions are as simple as possible — all teachers can edit all courses. The old system required three units (fall, winter, and spring). The new system allows any number of units.
Our current map has eight categories per unit:
Essential questions
Habits of mind
Content
Skills and processes
Assessment
Resources
Multicultural dimension
Integrated learning
We could lower the workload by reducing the number of categories. Habits of mind is only used by our preschool and kindergarten teachers. As much as I would like to document habits of mind for all courses, we’re trying to reduce, not increase, the workload! Multicultural dimension and integrated learning do not really match the other categories. While important, they should be evident through the content in the other fields. Perhaps we don’t need to call them out separately. What about other schoolwide themes, such as global education, sustainability, and urban education?
We could produce a style guide for teachers, some of whom write tremendous amounts of content. This is time-consuming to create and subsequently edit. Creating a common style guide with examples could help teachers keep their entries succinct and manageable.
A word about the tool: we use built-in Drupal functionality to store and edit our curriculum map. We use two content types (course and unit) linked through a node reference field. We then set up views to display course lists and to display the units in a single course.
We are also considering connections between curriculum map entries and classroom pages. The latter present so much more than the curriculum. Classroom pages document the life of the school, present teachers’ pedagogical ideas, and show student work. However, wouldn’t it be great if we automatically embedded a link to the essential questions for the current unit of each course?
Does your school use a structured curriculum mapping tool? What lessons have you learned, and what would you most like to change about your system?
Arts teachers have embedded two Flickr slideshows (1 | 2) on our public-facing website. I like how students and teachers may contribute to the photo sets, constantly changing what appears on the site. Does a way exist to add a group pool to one’s Flickr favorites without actually joining it?
Publication of student work on the website extends the learning community beyond the classroom to the entire school community. Key to this effort is a school website that includes a community publishing platform. Students and teachers choose whether to make the work viewable to the school community only (students, staff, parents, alumni) or the public, depending on the pedagogical goal of the work. Learning becomes a community endeavor rather than only a classroom pursuit, increasing authenticity and mutual understanding of the work that happens at school.
Click on each title to view the content at Catlin Gabel.
Students tackle topics of sustainable development in Portland, “The City That Works.” During the school year, we offer a semester elective. The summer brings an intensive program with students from different schools.
Students report on their independent research plans, progress, and results. The teacher provides feedback in the form of comments. Only one of the students has made her blog public, so you won’t see the work of the others on this page.
Blogging about global trips increases the sense of community experience. The 15 lucky students who go on the trip become ambassadors for the rest of the school, no longer the sole beneficiaries of the experience.
Students get out into the community to research the hispanic presence in Oregon. Through the blog, they report their findings back to the community and help educate us all. This project includes a lot of primary audio and video footage from Portland.
We have now collected two years’ worth of blog posts from seniors reporting and reflecting on their spring projects. Up until now, all of the posts have been for the Catlin Gabel community only. This year, students will make the public/community-only decision for each post. Watch this page in May 2010 to follow their progress.
We read Dewey’s Experience and Education first in our graduate program. I recently had two experiences that reminded me of the necessity to make authentic student experience central in the design of a educational environments.
We introduced fourth grade students to web research with a simple activity. Ask them to find ten discrete facts on the web using Google Search. We modeled good search techniques in class and provided two paper resources. One listed the ten facts to find, and the other described a cyclical method for refining search terms in order to improve results. We talked about authority of websites and how to scan a web page for content. This introductory lesson went really well. Students learned the protocol, proceeded through the activity, and found the facts.
More recently, students applied this knowledge in a plant research project. Each assigned one plant they had seen in the Oregon woods, the students searched for the taxonomic name for the plant, its ideal growing environment, nutritional value, average height, and other facts. Students took much longer to find this information. Many got stuck partway through and needed help.”I can’t find the scientific name!” “Where can I find ‘food value’?”
Why the difference? The second activity was more authentic and experiential. Students were engaging with real information about plants they had found and held and searching for them on the “real” web. These searches had not been tested in advance to compile a worksheet. Rather, students had to understand what a taxonomic name actually is, rather than look for the term “scientific name.” They had to be flexible and understand that “nutritional value” or comments on why an animal might eat these plants made up the “food value” they were seeking. Charting their own course through an authentic environment produced far more useful learning than completing a structured, finite activity.
The Haiti earthquake and resulting humanitarian disaster are very present in our minds these weeks. We are exposed to frequent reports from news sources and support our students’ efforts to raise money and awareness for Haiti. However, all of this does not compare when one’s colleague relates her stories of past trips to Haiti, nervous attempts to contact friends post-quake, and informs the school community that her doctor husband has just left for Haiti with a medical team.
She writes:
It is with those computers that were donated by CG and the Rotary, [my son's] help, albeit small, in setting them up that has allowed some of the connections and relationships with others around the world. The people of Matenwa are still able to communicate and receive email/news, which is amazing. It is so important to them to know others care and are trying to help.
In the long-term, these experiences are without a doubt more “educational,” but they are messy, difficult to manage, and complicated to assess. We should show the confidence to accommodate the short-term disorder and uncertainty that accompany kids’ struggles with authentic content in order to foment powerful learning.
What do middle school students need to know about Facebook? On January 13, middle school head Paul Andrichuk and Information Technology staff Daisy Steele and Richard Kassissieh led an afternoon workshop with middle students to encourage critical thought about personal information and the corporate entities behind the popular social network site.
Click on the links in this outline to see examples shared with the students.
What is a social network?
Facebook is the leader of social network sites, but many more exist. If we broaden our view to social media sites, in fact dozens exist. Social network sites represent a significant development, because:
1. Ordinary users contribute most of the content.
2. Companies have little control over site content.
3. They appeal to people’s sense of community.
Adoption is widespread. Alexa estimates that 30% of their users worldwide visit Facebook every day.
So much about social networks is new. People and organizations are less able to keep tight control over their website presence. Even giant companies are still figuring it out. Individuals have gained the possibility to use social media to gain unprecedented visibility.
How will the use of social networks change how people communicate? Facebook’s CEO thinks that it is changing social norms. Many disagree. How will students use social networks for good? What will Facebook do next? What will succeed Facebook?
The goal of today’s workshop is to apply our critical thinking skills to our use of social networks.
Students proceeded into three breakout groups by grade level. They then participated in three sessions led by Paul, Daisy, and Richard. Paul and two upper school students introduced sixth grade students to the process of setting up a new Facebook account. Daisy examined privacy settings with seventh and eighth graders. Richard investigated how Facebook applications access personal information. Below, please find notes from the apps workshop.
All About Apps (seventh and eighth grades)
A Facebook application ("app") is a piece of software that adds functionality to your Facebook page. Most are games or information-gathering devices (e.g., polls).
Most apps are built by companies other than Facebook. Installing an app shares your profile information with that other company.
To view your list of installed apps and uninstall one, go to the Applications link in the lower left-hand corner of the Facebook interface and click Edit Applications.
You may recognize status updates generated by applications from their nonstandard icons, the "via" text, and phrases like "Click here to help."
Though I am sure you are a very helpful person, clicking on that link will lead to the installation of a new app.
Note that Farmville will gain access to your profile information, photos, and freinds information, at the very least. Are you okay with this?
During the workshop, students completed a role play activity to learn more about the movement of personal information between a user, Facebook, and Zynga (the maker of Farmville). Download the handout.
After the role play, the group discussed the following questions.
What information does Zynga now have about you and your friend?
Did Zynga need this information for the game to work?
What else might Zynga do with your personal information?
What would prevent Zynga from doing something unethical with your information?
What could Facebook do to ensure that application developers keep your information safe?
The presenter then provided the group with more information about Zynga.
Clicking Allow indicates that you agree to the Farmville Terms of Service, which would should read and understand! Just one part of the TOS is fairly illuminating.
Section 4c
You grant to Zynga the unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual fully-paid and royalty-free right and license to host, use, copy, distribute, reproduce, disclose, sell, resell, sublicense, display, perform, transmit, publish, broadcast, modify, make derivative works from, retitle, reformat, translate, archive, store, cache or otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your User Content [emphasis added] to which you have contributed, for any purpose whatsoever, in any and all formats; on or through any and all media, software, formula or medium now known or hereafter known; and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed and to advertise, market and promote same.
Can you trust Zynga with your personal information? Foudner and CEO Mark Pincus speaks in the following video about the measures he took to raise money for the company. The video sheds some light on the character of Zynga, its founder, and its reasons for existence. This may help you make an informed decisions about whether to share your personal information with this company.
This year, we are trying a new model for integrating technology instruction into fourth and fifth grades. Our weekly schedule offers two 40 minute periods per class for technology instruction, and classes have access to the adjacent 4/5 computer lab throughout the rest of the day. As a result, students use technology at various times of the day as well as during technology periods.
This year, we have made an effort to more fully integrate the dedicated technology periods with the homeroom academic program. We had a goal: to make as many technology class activities as possible relate to specific homeroom activities. Technology activities could relate in one of three ways:
Parallel with homeroom work
Students complete work for an active homeroom project during technology periods. For example, this week students are conducting research and documenting sources for a project on native plants. During homeroom periods, students have collected and studied native plant specimens found in the woods.
Fifth grade students are working on a Fractured Fairytales project, in which they invent altered versions of classic fairytales. During technology periods, students are writing and formatting text and graphics in Microsoft Word, with the ultimate goal of creating a digital book of their piece.
In Science class, students complete experiments to determine how much water different paper towels can absorb and prepare to report their results back to the towel manufacturers. During the Technology periods, students record their data in Microsoft Excel and prepare graphs to include in their letters.
Extension of homeroom work
At other times, we design a technology component to a project that begins after the homeroom component is complete. While not as tightly integrated with homeroom work, a well-designed extension project may still pursue an authentic learning objective. We must take care that the electronic final product is not superfluous, considering the work already completed during homeroom.
Early in the year, fifth grade students visited three farms as part of their Pitchfork To Plate yearlong theme. After students returned from the visit, they created line art diagrams in Microsoft Word that explained one process they observed on the farms.
Standalone Technology Activities
This is the loosest form of coordination with the homeroom. One might even argue that these activities only support technology-specific curricular goals. I believe that the technology goals of the curriculum should still support aims of the homeroom. If they do not, then we have insufficient coordination across students’ learning experiences.
Consider typing practice. While using a typing application is a pure technology activity, the skill of typing is important to gain, so that it does not become an obstacle to writing at a reasonable speed. By fifth grade, students complete a majority of their writing on a computer, so the technology activity is directly aligned with a meaningful homeroom objective. It’s been important to keep students focused reaching speed and accuracy benchmarks, since the classroom tie-in (the authentic learning purpose) is less obvious than with other technology class activities.
We have so far this year succeeded in always teaching applications in the context of a homeroom activity, avoiding the temptation to teach them only within the context of technology class.
Joint Planning
We have also experimented with models for coordinating lesson planning between homeroom and technology teachers. At the start of the year, I met with the homeroom teachers to agree on broad curricular goals but taught all of the technology periods myself, in order to establish a strong relationship with the students and get to know the curriculum well. In November, homeroom teachers began to take on some of the teaching responsibilities, in order to ensure strong integration with the homeroom program and help carry the teaching load.
We pursued different approaches to sharing periods in the two grades. In fourth grade, homeroom teachers teach Monday technology periods, and I teach Wednesdays. In fifth grade, homeroom teachers are currently teaching the first half of Fractured Fairytales, and I will take the class back over later this month to work on the layout and publication components of the project.
So far, alternating periods has led to tighter integration and planning, since I am essentially co-teaching the class with the homeroom teachers. Alternating 2-3 week chunks has required less coordination, which leads to looser integration but requires less planning time. We will see later this year which approach was ultimately best overall.
Next Year
It is just about time to give some thought to next year. Will I teach at least half the technology periods, as I have this year? Will we change the technology schedule so that we have fewer dedicated technology periods and integrate more of the technology instruction into the regular work of the homeroom? In our middle and high schools, we have no dedicated technology periods. Technology is wholly integrated with regularly classroom instruction, imperfectly but authentically. Should we move in the same direction in our elementary program, and how quickly?
How do you integrate technology knowledge and skills instruction in your elementary programs?
Kindle! Nook! Reader!
iPhone! Droid! Nexus!
Ning! Twitter! Facebook!
Netbook! Apple tablet! XO tablet!
Smart Board! Active Board! Wiimote!
Google Apps! Chrome!
Education technology blogs appear obsessed with tracking the latest gadgets. Certainly, new product announcements provide a rich source of content for writers. It is easier to reflect on the latest company news and speculate on its effect on education than to consider the core question of education. How does one design rich learning opportunities that will make the greatest difference for students?
Face it: most of the devices above won’t make a bit of difference to teaching and learning. Let’s stop talking about the devices and start talking about students, teachers, and learning environments. I think Warlick has got it right. So does Larry Cuban. Tom Frizelle, too.
Some of our teachers have also got it right. Suspicious about education technology, they tend to shy away from trainings and conversations about computers in the classroom. It’s too bad, because ed tech professionals deserve our reputation for relentless optimism about new technologies. It’s up to us to sing a new tune: all about teaching and learning, all the time.
Let’s promote with our teachers only the technologies that show real promise and stick with them for at least a period of years. Focus on how a technology integrates with an existing, well-designed learning unit or activity. A little skepticism about new technologies may also help demonstrate our ability to think critically.
Forget the new toys. Let’s think deeply about our students, curriculum, and pedagogy.
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Richard Kassissieh is Director of Technology and Learning Innovation at