Welcome to our (Re)Bootcamp series! Below, two different styles of content presentation are shared, along with a teacher’s reflection on how each works in their classroom and why they chose this particular style.
Interactive Notebooks
By Nora Walsh
I began using interactive notebooks about 10 years ago. I initially found them when I was looking for a way to fill the void left when my district moved away from textbooks. As a teacher, I didn’t expect this change to have a big impact on my courses, as I wasn’t particularly fond of the book we used anyway, but I noticed that both students and parents struggled to see the flow and connections within the course without the organization offered by a textbook. I like the flexibility that interactive notebooks offer me as an instructor, as many different types of activities can be incorporated within them, while also providing structure and a physical record of student work. My students are in their notebooks most, but not all, class days. Interactive notebooks provide a place for students to record lab work, notes, inquiry activities, practice problems, and other curricular materials in a way that helps them to see how these various tools interact with each other. To me, that’s the greatest power of interactive notebooks: they show the relationships between various activities that we facilitate as teachers and how they relate to the overarching learning goals in our class.
Teacher Artifact:
Related ChemEd X Links:
Interactive Notebook Collection
The Power of Interactive Notebooks in a Sophomore Chemistry Class by Hannah Korslund
A Classroom View of Using Interactive Notebook Pages by Nora Walsh
Integrating Interactive Notebooks into Chemistry Courses with Nora Walsh
Modeling Instruction
By Erica Posthuma
After over ten years of experience teaching chemistry, I discovered Modeling Instruction (MI) in 2009 when I enrolled in my first Modeling Workshop. Following the two-week experience, I began down a path of redesigning my course and restructuring my classroom environment to provide a more authentic and meaningful learning experience for my students.
Modeling Instruction is an inquiry-driven constructivist approach to science education developed at Arizona State University. MI was designed to address perceived deficiencies in traditional science education, including the fragmentation of knowledge, student passivity in the classroom, and persistent misconceptions about natural phenomena.
Teachers who are trained in MI have access to a robust set of curricular materials and the expertise of hundreds of other Modelers in the community. With the resources and support of the American Modeling Teacher’s Association (AMTA), I gained the tools I needed to build the classroom I had envisioned. My students were better at making connections, asking questions, and problem-solving.
Teacher Artifact:
The unit plan linked below is a sample of the teacher's notes provided by AMTA with descriptions of demonstrations and labs.
Related ChemEd X Links:
Modeling Instruction Collection
Science Modeling Talks Podcast by Erica Posthuma
Addressing Student Misconceptions Using Modeling Instruction by Michelle Okroy
Gas Laws and the Overreliance on Algorithmic Thinking by Ben Meacham