Attig- Supporting Ongoing Changes in Student Thinking

I personally loved the face to face tools article simply because of how practical it is. I especially loved the “gotta have” checklist. I have done this with my students before and they personally appreciate it because not only is it a great way for them to guide their own thinking. It can be very difficult for kiddos to talk about something they don’t feel they are experts on. Students (like all people) love to be right. So they the often are reluctant due to ambiguity. I think that when you give students a “gotta have” checklist it gets rid of some of this ambiguity. It also keeps some kids who overwrite or underwrite from doing this. Some kids overwrite because of fear of not having enough information while others won’t write enough simply due to not knowing the vast nature of what they are writing about.

I also loved this article due to the add, revise, and question sentence scaffolds. I have learned over the duration of this course how important sentence scaffolds are as it is how we teach students what science talk looks and sounds like. I cannot tell you how many times I have let students fumble around for the wording when answering a question. They are truly trying to use and understand the language but if we don’t show them how they are never going to get it.

This also is an equitable practice. By doing this you are providing the words for english language learners. This not only saves them time so they can focus on the actual models and less on the english, but it also provides them an opportunity to understand how to use scientific language. This also creates an opportunity for kids who may not have the resources to become scientifically literate, a chance to understand and grapple with language of scientists. One of the biggest issues with socio-economically disadvantaged kids is that they are less likely to look for resources. I don’t think this has anything to do with these kids being lazy. These kids don’t know where or how to find resources. They didn’t have parents who took them to the library when they were younger. They don’t have time to do research on things that interest them. They never have had someone explain natural phenomena to them. Kids shouldn’t be punished or put at a disadvantage because of something that they simply don’t know. We have to teach them!