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Using the Scientific Method in All Subjects, Including Life! - Part I

11/22/2015

The Scientific Method & It's Applications
Part I: Question & Research
In this 3 part series, I will be discussing how the Scientific Method may be used in all subjects including life. Today, I'm starting with the first two processes in the Scientific Method - the Question and Research. Be sure to check back each week through December as I discuss how the Scientific Method may be used in all subjects.

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9 Ways to Use Task Cards

11/5/2015

Task Cards are so Versatile, Even in Middle and High School!
They are great because students feel they have a choice in which task they do first and in middle school this is a great way to engage students. Another benefit of task cards is that students do not feel overwhelmed by worksheet after worksheet of problems to do. It breaks up the day, week, or month. Read below about 9 ways you may use task cards.

~ 9 Ways To Use Task Cards ~

1. Centers or Stations.
Set up multiple stations with task cards you wish the students to complete. Students work and rotate through the stations and the respective tasks you set up. Stations or Centers may be set up with 4-5 specific stations on the tasks you wish students to complete with white boards, recording sheets, or notebooks. The number of stations may be determined by the time students are in your class. Students may record their answers and rotate through the stations for a specific amount of time that you designate. Students may also work on a station you specify if you do not wish for them to rotate through stations. For example, one group may need to improve their skills on "Number Sense" tasks, so they work in the "Numbers" Station, another group may need to improve their skills on "Pythagorean Theorem", therefore, they work in the "Pythagorean" Station. This could be done weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, for middle school or high school students. Stations may also be set up as 'self-checking' stations where an answer key is available for students to check their work. However you set up stations or centers, task cards are fantastic for this purpose.

4 Ways to Engage Students in Learning

11/4/2015

One of the largest things I had to do teaching middle school math was to find ways to engage students in math that absolutely did not like math or struggled with mathematics.

Following are some strategies I utilized to assist my students!

1. VISUALS
I learned that by engaging visual learners and students who ‘do not like math’ with entertaining visuals and color it grasped their attention. For example, when I introduced the definition of Pythagorean Theorem to my students I used a hippo for the hypotenuse and legs for the legs of the right triangle. I engaged students first with a discussion on why a hippo was sliding down the hypotenuse and why he was on a sled…that year it was January and we had a lot of snow and ice. This was just what I needed to reach and engage my students.

After this, I taught my unit on Pythagorean theorem and kept referring to the hippo and legs while students who struggled to solve equations learned this task. Even students who struggled, all I had to say was ‘think of the hippo’ and they would remember the equation and visualize how to solve the problem. (Let me just say, the day I gave an assessment and said ‘think of the hippo’ and I could see the students picturing Pythagorean Theorem and the equations in their head I was ecstatic!) Another strategy I brought in to my classroom was color for a few reasons.

Using the Scientific Method in All Subjects, Including Life! - Part I

9 Ways to Use Task Cards

4 Ways to Engage Students in Learning

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