Day 2 - initial observations and wonderings

Here are the slides I used to introduce the unit yesterday:



I would say the majority of my students were excited (based on polls I took, the last slide) and only a few were put off by the idea. But those ones I thanked for trying it out and asked them to give it at least a week, then check with me if it still feels icky. I am hopeful once they all get into a groove everyone will have begun to see it how can work for them.

The zones in the room aren't quite in play yet, as most kids immediately dove into reading the textbook, watching an online video, or taking notes on an online presentation. I did have two kids begin the lab by the end of the second day however, and I anticipate them spreading out more naturally as they reach different places in their work.

I have been most excited myself so far about two observations:

1. I am having a lot of metacognitive conversations with students about their learning (and in discussions with my colleague who also launched this unit yesterday, she is too). For example, students are asking whether they need to know the biographical information about James Clerk Maxwell given in the textbook chapter or not, and I point them to the learning objective to see that isn't in there... but then we discuss why it is in the chapter and the value of context (not to mention it might help if they go for the extension project about history of science as it relates to light!). Similarly, they are asking how many of the resources they need to use to finish the objectives, which leads to a discussion of how they will know when they have mastered something. At times, it is startling the basic level of their questions about learning in general. But this also reaffirms for me just how vital it is that we are working on this skill! It is more important than the content!

2. I have kids asking the coolest questions already on day two, stuff I don't think even came up when we did this unit last year. They are really engaging and finding things that spark their own interest. Two favorite questions from my eighth period today:

• "What if aliens only appear at different EM frequencies--how will we find them?" - leading to an awesome conversation about how we would know if there are aliens at all, how we can detect different light waves (and spoiler, you're about to try this in your lab back there you can see those two other kids working on!), and me introducing this student to SETI. Where she said maybe she wants to work. 
• The other question I loved: "Can a star be different colors?" Oh yes, my dear, the stars are brilliant! Our eyes are so limited! Space is so vast! And this led to my student walking away with my copy of Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry. I can't wait to hear his thoughts.

I can't wait for more questions like this. My ideal every day of teaching is a day full of questions like this.