Albeit corny, I don't think a blog post goes by where I don't allude to the beautiful connection between the 5E Learning Cycle and Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.

​Our students are HEROES and our standards are their JOURNEY. Why not!?! It certainly makes lesson planning more fun...meaningful...etc. Click here, here, and here for past writing and literature about this connection. 

Keeping the above in mind, I was planning for parent Back to School Night last week. Teachers at my school are challenged to design a 20 minute lesson, for each section, to model their pedagogical style, content, etc. Not an easy challenge.

A few days before the night I began preparing my typical "Coke vs. Diet Coke" activity where parents engage in an inquiry activity around why a can of Coke sinks in water and a can of Diet Coke floats. See image below:

Normally I begin the activity by showing parents the above demo, then asking: "What questions do you have?". Subsequent discussion leads to definitions of mass, volume, density, and if time, quantitative measures of the mentioned variables. 

This year, I set out to do something else: Model an entire 5E/Hero's Journey Cycle, in just 20 minutes.

At least scratch the surface of each anchor point in the cycle to take the activity beyond the simple density example, to questions surrounding chemical structure, sweetness, biochemistry, etc. (note: this desire was primarily catalyze by the need to begin lesson planning for a Medical Biochemistry advanced elective I will be teaching next semester. More on that later for sure...)

Below is the outline of the lesson that I will be expanding into a full learning cycle using this template in the next month or so. Stay tuned! 

PHASE 1: EXPLORE (Call to Adventure)

1. Watch this (stop after 24 seconds). 
2. Ask question: "What are you curious about?"
3. Facilitate discussion without providing answer. 

PHASE 2: ENGAGE (Threshold Challenge)

1. Challenge students to repeat using their own cans. 
2. Challenge students to gather quantitative data of their choosing. 
3. Challenge students to explain what is happening using "words", "diagrams", and "data". 
4. Students present findings (Tease mass, volume, and density out of their presentations). 

PHASE 3: EXPLAIN (Meeting the Mentor)

1. Facilitate responsive lecture on mass, volume, density as "reveal". 
2. Guided practice on mass, volume, density. 

PHASE 4: EXTEND (Transformation of the Hero)

1. Ask question: "If the mass of one molecule of sweetner is approximately the same as one molecule of sucrose, what accounts for the difference in mass between cans?" 
2. Challenge students to answer questions as a "thought experiment" with no access to a computer, etc. 
3. After 10 minutes of brainstorming, show students this picture of the molecule for the sweetner sucralose next to sucrose molecule. Ask students to compare and contrast molecular structures. 
4. Survey responses and then initiate discussion about receptor binding and affinity of sweetners like sucralose to "taste" receptors, and thus the need for less in the package. More on that topic here. (note: this portion is essential as most lessons on this topic end with "There is NO sugar, so it weights less". This exposes WHY less sweenter is added from a biochemical perspective. 

PHASE 5: EVALUATION (Return Home)

1. Traditional quiz on density problems. Question about "why", in general, less sweetner is needed. 
2. Group research presentation on receptor binding (general as lesson will occur prior to molecular geometry instruction).

I have already written during the first week of school about my excitement as I embarked on a paradigm shift in how I, and my students, think about, and record work (grades, activities, reading reflections, etc.). 

Three weeks later my excitement has turned into obsession!

I am SO happy this with new process, that, for a lack of a better, less "buzzy" phrase, it feels as if I am leveraging a Google Sheet template as a "Metacognitive Portfolio". A process that, after years of tinkering, really, actually, forces "thinking about thinking" and curates work effectively.

Not something I read on a blog (like this one) or something I was told to do at a workshop or faculty PD session. 

What I mean is this: Rather than recording grades in our grade book, students keep track of their own progress on standards, while I keep track of progress on a paper sheet, and update quarterly.

BUT in addition to standards tracking, students are tracking ALL of their work in a Google Sheet using sub tabs. 

One tab is for tracking standards performance (autogenerated colors help students reflect reassessment needs). One tab is for links to their activity slides (click here for a previous post about this process). Finally,  one tab is for students to track, in a structured way, reflections on class readings. 

Thus, the three things I grade: standards, activities, and readings, are now curated easily, in one place, for students to not only reflect on performance, but also catalog work.

One place for students to gain awareness of performance, build pride around their body of work, and develop appreciation for their readings curated over the course of the year. 

Simple. No website. Easy. Effective. So far...

Plus, I don't have students coming and asking "what is my grade?". I rather have students asking, "have you graded that yet so I can update to my sheet."

It keeps us both honest in the best possible way. 

MOST IMPORTANTLY, whenever I need to access student work, I go to ONE PLACE to access it ALL! Grades, activities, readings, etc. I love it! 

Less tech. Better tech. 

Click here for the template I pushed out on the first day of class for them to track. They shared it with me, I made a folder of their sheets, and thats it.

I have ALL their work. No folder, just a sheet. I love it! (Can you tell I'm excited??)

See images of the system below, along with an embedded video of me reflecting, in an overly excited way after a day of teaching, on the process. (Note: this might not be life changing to any of you, but I have to share it. Simpler=Better IMO. I have tried so many things and this...this my friends...is something I'm truly pumped about!." 

It's like REFLECTIVE PRACTICE CHRISTMAS or something. :) 
​

I have written in the past about using Google Slides as a lab reporting tool in my courses. Since writing about this process last year I have COMPLETELY embraced this method.

As a I wrote before, images, video, diagrams, etc., can all be captured easily, live conclusion presentations are seamless, hyperlinks to other resources to enhance conclusions can be added, and students can easily alter the template fonts and design to match their own vision for the report (so much more can be said). 

This school year I have decided to streamline the process, adding instructions, embedded video, and rubrics to the slide template students will work in. Click here and here for a few template examples and here and here for associate student products. 

A short post, but given the efficacy of this subtle instructional strategy, I felt it was worth sharing again! 

Ever since I read amazing physics instructor Frank Noschese's writngs on Standards Based Grading (SBG), I have been obsessed with figuring out a system that works for me.

This 2011 blog outlines my initial attempt. 

This  2018 blog outlines one of many subsequent revisions. 

Today, day 1 of the 2019-2020 school year, and my 19th year in the classroom, I find myself reinventing the SBG wheel once again. I am committed to the process, or some eventual variation of the process for three primary reasons: 

1. I believe in meaningful grading. 
2. I believe in meaningful communication.
3. I believe in simplicity. 

Each iteration is catalyzed by some aspect of the above three rules falling short.

Either I have, as my first attempt in 2011 demonstrates, overcomplicated the grading process (4.7/5) trying to place a 5 pt scale on a 10 pt scale, or as my 2018 post demonstrates, overcomplicated the student communication piece, forcing students to record their performance on a ridiculously complex spreadsheet. 

Good intentions...bad result. 

I think I'm on to something this year! At least that little pedagogical voice in my gut senses I'm on to something. Here's the plan: 

1. Break the year into chunks of information that are small enough to assess, but large enough to maintain content connectivity and communicate meaningfully. Click here for my chemistry syllabus to see this year's standards. 
2. Divide the standards into groups that can be assessed in the context of one inquiry cycle. For example, S1 ad S2 are chunked together in chemistry and will be assessed on one quiz and instructed in the context of one 5E/Hero's Journey. 
3. Organize teaching website, and supplemental material into groups of standards to communicate clearly. Do not break material into units or chapters! S1, S2, replaces "Chapter 1", etc. 
4. Tag questions on quizzes by standards and award subsequent grade 5/10 - 10/10 for each standard (5/10 is same as 0-4/10 so don't EVER award anything lower. Doing so overemphasizes the "F" grade above anything else). 
5. THIS IS THE HUGE CHANGE: When passing back quizzes, have students record THEIR OWN grade using this spreadsheet that clearly indicates that they have 2 attempts, and automatically highlights 9-10 in green, 8-7 in yellow, and 6-5 in red. When reviewing students will see a matrix of colors that clearly communicates standards to review for final assessments, future study, etc.  
6. Update grades to public grade book twice each quarter, which will deemphasize (hopefully) grading, and amplify student tracking and metacognition in a simple way. 
7. Students sign up for reassessment (they can reassess once, with max of 9/10 on reassessment) using this sheet. 

I am hopeful that the combination of simplified, more overarching standards, a more simple and structured way for students to track performance with color codes, and limited recording of public grades with maximum student individual recording of standard performance, will be a system that works for me this year! 

The joys of reflective practice.