Motivating Students

amy · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

This is my 3rd year as a science teacher in a small high school in PA.
I am looking for new ways to get my students motivated for biology
class. I try to do a lot of projects/lab type learning with them --
does anyone have an suggestions to keep them motivated, especially when
teaching about "boring" topics like cellular respiration and
photosynthesis?

Archived from group: k12>ed>science

JAMES BOAUKOVITCH · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

Amy,
I've taught biology for 6 years for 9th (intro) and 12th (adv. honors). It
would be helpful to know the grade level you teach and the length of your
classtime. Also, what specifically are you questioning... student on-task
time, breadth of material, early morning sleepiness, etc.
-Cheryl

amy · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

I teach 10th (intro) and 12 (honors). My classtime is 42 minutes. The
problem is mostly with my 10th grade kids -- I have them first thing in
the morning. They just always seem to be dragging. Maybe it's because
the class is first thing in the morning. Do you have any suggestions
to get them awake?

JAMES BOAUKOVITCH wrote:
> Amy,
> I've taught biology for 6 years for 9th (intro) and 12th (adv. honors). It
> would be helpful to know the grade level you teach and the length of your
> classtime. Also, what specifically are you questioning... student on-task
> time, breadth of material, early morning sleepiness, etc.
> -Cheryl

JAMES BOAUKOVITCH · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

Hi Amy,
I've had an anatomy & physiolgy class for first period (8 am) for a few
years now, and here's what I did. Keep in mind this class is about 80%
memorization and composed on mainly juniors. Hope this helps.

Monday- scheduling day. Because the students are dragging I would always
spend 5-10 min going over the agenda for the week, upcoming test dates,
vacation dates, etc. Although students already had these dates from earlier
planning, it served me well to get them attentive to the classwork ahead.
Then I would lecture. Once the students got the idea that we push hard in
the beginning of the week, 20 min or so of lecture wasn't so bad (even for a
Monday).
Tuesday- notes for part of the class, but then work time for the rest. I've
found Tuesdays were more painful for me than Monday, so lecturing for part
of the time helped.
Wednesday- notes or work day. Again, I would split it if I was lecturing.
Wednesday is also a good day for demos as it seemed to perk up students for
the rest of the week.
Thursday- probably the best work day of the week. Students can be
especially motivated if they can get weekend assignments done by using their
time wisely. Sometimes this would be a lab day if I needed them to have
additional time. Wed. and Thur. were also designated quiz/test days if
needed.
Friday- lab day. As labs are hands-on, the battle to keep them attentive
before the weekend is easier to win.

I know it may seem that I don't lecture much, but believe me, their notes
were stuffed. The key for me was having them focused during lecture times
so we could cover a good amount of material. That left work time open for
completing assignments and helping them with the material.
-Cheryl

hugoc82 · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Well, I use to love science especially when it was really hands on. I
think that you are trying your best if you are doing lots of projects.
You just can't help that you have to do boring stuff. Maybe with
photosynthesis involve more experiements with plants. Just keep a good
attitude and you'll make it through. There are tons of resources on
the web that can help you too.

-Hugoc82

amy wrote:
> This is my 3rd year as a science teacher in a small high school in PA.
> I am looking for new ways to get my students motivated for biology
> class. I try to do a lot of projects/lab type learning with them --
> does anyone have an suggestions to keep them motivated, especially when
> teaching about "boring" topics like cellular respiration and
> photosynthesis?

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