This blog post is a little different and will detail my experience and key takeaways from observing a science classroom at Oley Valley's High School. During my first few days of observation, I had the opportunity to visit Ms. Bonham's Human Anatomy and Biology courses. Oley Valley has an amazing amount of resources not only for the Ag department, but for the science one as well and I've learned that teachers share resources between departments. It was nice to observe Ms. Bonham's two classes to see the differences between how she teaches a regular education class to a college prep class.
Ms. Bonham teaches her College Prep Human Anatomy class in a separate classroom that houses the Anatomage table and equipment. Here is where I observed students use their skills related to digital diagrams and technology to study the human body. The lesson she was teaching was related to muscle origin and insertion, so I got to watch her facilitate students using the Anatomage table to identify the different muscles in the human body. She employed a lot of different technologies in the classroom such as screens that displayed the Anatomage image, computers, iPads, and a projector. It reminded me of a college biology lab and it was so cool to see a high school have access to technology that really enhances their overall learning and engagement.
I also observed Ms. Bonham’s Biology course where she was teaching students about cellular energy and respiration. One key takeaway from her classroom management techniques was that she arranged the class into small groups that each had a container in the middle with material that would be needed on a daily basis. This is such a great idea and eliminates the need for students to interrupt class time to ask for a pencil or highlighter. In this class, Ms. Bonham uses guided notes to ensure students are keeping up with the material and staying on task. She also included a review/summary section at the end of her class for students to ask questions and show what they have learned that day.
Ms. Bonham uses Bitmojis as a way of connecting with her students and giving them daily reminders. I thought that her announcement and due date page was so cool to look at because she used images and visuals that relate to the students. She also related the vocab and terminology from both classes to everyday items that students encounter so that they can make connections to the material outside of the classroom. The last bit of information I learned from Ms. Bonham is to not be scared to admit that you don’t know the answer to a question or you aren’t too familiar with a topic. In her Biology class, she was asked about a fungal parasite that takes over an ant’s body. She said she didn’t know too much information about it but she sounded interested and excited to research the new topic alongside the students. I learned that it is okay to admit you don’t know everything and to become curious with the students to learn with them.
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