In this series, I will record the interesting and not-so-interesting events of the school day and post it the following morning. This is an effort to reflect on my day and my teaching and to provide you with some of the more mundane things that happen in the classroom and influence the process of education…
Thursday
Somehow, through the distractions of life, I managed to get all of Monday’s tests graded and returned and a test written for Earth Science. I will need to remediate several topics relating to atomic structure and the periodic table in Chemistry. It is one of those essential standards – students need to understand this stuff to have success in the class as we move forward.
Chemistry had a lab today where they devised a test for the presence of Iron (II) and Iron (III) ions in solutions. Will students ever use this skill in life? Probably not, unless their job description includes water testing or they are successful enough in some other field to own a swimming pool. But, students will have to use powers of reasoning and logic in whatever they do. Chemistry and Physics sharpen our problem solving abilities.
In Earth Science, students took a test on the atmosphere. After the test, I was speaking with a student about his classwork and mentioned the test. He said, “We had a test today?” I said, “Yes, remember you sat in that seat there and took the test!” He says, “Oh, I didn’t realize that was a test…” Believe me, there was a review sheet, we went over it before the test, we cleared off the tables, we did all those test-taking things, but somehow it slipped past this guy. Hey, I can sympathize. I’ve woken up halfway through many a meeting and wondered what in the heck everyone was talking about!
So, if you are still with me here, let’s reclaim public education!
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