5 Non-negotiables in Your Science Classroom (even if you have to teach remotely)

Let's play a fun game together.

We are in a tight spot. Because, ready or not, we are all playing this game as we approach fall 2020. I want to encourage all of you with some things that are not negotiable. These have to show up in your classroom, no matter how hard and awkward the circumstances. I know there are others, so please throw your thoughts in the comments.

1. Connect to kids.

The reason that we started into this noble profession is to have an impact on the next generation. No matter how you are wired; introvert, extrovert, etc. Your job, at some level, is to be a constant for kids. And they will not feel that way if you remain painfully distant. This might mean that you have to go out of your way to ask specific kids specific questions to build that relationship. Do it. It is not negotiable.

I had one student this last year that struggled in chemistry. Actually, he struggled more in life, and I just got to see it in chemistry. We never connected. It was hard and awkward. Finally, at a parent-teacher meeting, I asked mom what he does when has a spare minute. She told me that he always locks himself in the garage to play his drums. Bingo. The very next day, I brought up drums. His eyes brightened. He actually spoke to me in a voice loud enough to hear. I asked if he was going to play anywhere I could hear him. He said he was playing in the worship band in chapel the next day (I teach at a Christian school). I watched HIM play drums. I commented on how HE had done. I thanked HIM for serving his classmates. And HE became a chemistry student. He passed. And that wasn't going to happen unless I asked him about drums. No matter the barrier, you must find ways to connect.

Distance learning is obviously much harder. Give the kids space to do something besides your topic. Create a conversation thread that is "What I hate doing", "What I ate for breakfast", "If I wasn't here, I'd be...". Give them a channel just to post memes. But the key is, YOU must participate. Meet them where they are at, just as if they walked into your classroom.

2. Instill wonder.

I'm not sure if there are any non-science teachers reading this. If so, take no offense. Science teachers have the easiest job in the school! We get to teach about what kids wonder about. It doesn't get any easier than that. It is easy in the classroom to attract wonder. There are hundreds of books of demos and cool things to do in front of the class. It is more laborious to do it online. It makes you feel like a talking head. It is harder to make the impact you want.

It doesn't matter. WONDER is not negotiable.

Share your wonder with the students. Become the butt of their jokes if necessary. Trust me, I have been on that end. I am a birder. I teach my students the subtle differences between birdwatchers and birders. I am birder to the core. And so when one of the rarest bird sightings in the lower 48 happened in Missoula, MT (the MT sighting of the Baikal Teal is still infamous) I let my wonder show. I went to look for it before school, every prep, every lunch, everyday after school. I came into the room with muddy feet and and wet clothes. My wonder brought the students along.

(This is the photo from Radd Icenoggle, the birder who first saw it)

Then their wheels start turning. Why would a Russian duck be here anyway? Why would Mr. Koch care so much? And once the wheels are turning, I have them right where I want them. Wondering.

And by the way, I did see the Baikal teal. It was amazing. And my own son asked when he was going to get his first bird book. Ahhh, a precious new baby birder. Why? Wonder.

3. Teach critical thinking skills

We know that science is just man's collections of observations of the natural world. But how we interact with that knowledge defines who we are. And for us teachers, the way our kids interact with that knowledge defines the future.

We play a simple game called "I spy" in my class. We will play it to find errors made by other students. We will play it to identify misinterpreted data. We will play it to find fallacy in thinking in the media. Making students think critically about data that they produce, or are fed is the key to making responsible citizens. Obviously, teaching these skills in a distance learning setting can be harder.

Make "I spy" groups. Let them analyze each others work. I did this throughout the spring as we were in distance learning mode in preparation for the AP tests (I teach AP chemistry and AP biology). We went through a process called "Take One - Grade One". In partners, students would complete a practice essay. They would post it to their group. Then their partner would have to analyze their answer. They had to point out the weaknesses of their arguments. And they had to do it without a key. Why? Because they need to be critical. They need to be uncomfortable. They needed to be exposed and ready to defend. Critical thinking is not negotiable.

4. Be real

Let me tell you a story about one of my most embarrassing moments. While on a missions trip to Nepal during college, I found myself in an utterly remote village. The people in that area had NEVER seen a white person. So, as a group of white college students came into town, you can imagine it created a ruckus. People would gather around our jeeps as we slowed to go through the choked streets. They would press their faces up to the windows and shout excitedly. The white circus had come to town!

I didn't speak a single word of their tribal dialect. One afternoon we were trying to interact with some young people about our age. We were walking around town pointing to objects and saying it in our language. Then we would try to say it in their language, butcher the pronunciation, and then laugh at each other. It was grand fun. We pointed to rocks, houses, butterflies, clouds, anything we could see. Until I pointed to one of the holy cows that wander freely through the area. I said "cow." And my friends didn't say anything. I repeated myself.

"Cow."

Nothing.

"Cow, cow, cow?" I repeated, not understanding why they stopped playing our fun game. My new friends turned and walked away at a pace that communicated that we were not to follow.

Saddened, I walked back to the missionary that was from that area and explained the predicament.

"You said what?" he roared when I told him.

"Cow. Because it was a cow." I said, confused.

He laughed one of those laughs that started at his toes and took over his whole body.

"'Cow' in this dialect means 'eat'".

Oh no! I had been repeatedly telling my Hindu friends that we need to EAT THE HOLY COW! No wonder we Americans can be viewed as self absorbed. I felt like a complete idiot.

Now here is my question. Why are you still reading this section? Is it because you really just want the nugget for teaching? No. I expect you wanted to find out the end of the story! You wanted to watch me make a complete fool of myself. Your students do to. They don't necessarily want to watch you make a fool of yourself (though it can't hurt). They want to know YOUR story. Why do you think the way you do? Why do you care the way you do? Why do you act the way you do? Why are you, you? When students begin to see glimpses of the real you, they will begin to buy what you are selling.

Being real isn't negotiable. Whether in person or digitally, you must be ready to share yourself. So if that means taking a little longer on the Zoom meeting to tell a funny story that you experienced today or sharing things that burden you, be real.

5. Have fun.

We science teachers not only have the easiest job in the school, we have the most fun! We get to react things together, look inside dead animals, talk about the newest and most exciting topics. And we get to do it without having to conjugate verbs (sorry language arts). I love labs. I understand that labs may look different this year, but one thing is not negotiable; IT HAS TO BE FUN! Keep that in mind as you pace your class. Think about the fun factor. How can you make this more fun? I talk about using competition in labs in a previous post. Competition is fun! Discovering things is fun! Seeing the unexpected is fun! Playing games is fun! Find ways to instill fun into your class, no matter how the content is delivered. Please hear me clearly. I am not a teacher that takes a day off just to "have fun". I work hard to make sure that the way that my students are interacting with content is fun. I make sure labs are fun. I make sure games are fun. I make sure lecture is fun. But we are always moving pedal to the metal. Your students are more likely to jump on board with your fast and intense pacing if you think it is fun and make it fun for them as well.

So there you have it. 5 Non-negotiables. Set the tone of your classes to meet these standards. It doesn't matter if you teach in a room. It doesn't matter if you teach digitally. It doesn't matter if you teach every other period to kids whose last names are from A-N (seriously, some of your districts are considering this). Fight for these five no matter what.