As a teacher, I believe innovation is a very handy crucial skill to have, and this is for two reasons: first, it helps in finding alternative approaches and solutions to problems and teaching, and second, innovation rubs off on students over time as the teacher interacts with them.
Understanding certain topics in Biology can be quite a challenge, especially practical ones that require the use of instruments like microscopes which are not always accessible in rural schools, and this seemed to be one of those topics for my students.
My students and I just finished discussing life processes in unicellular organisms, and faced a blockade when we got to talking about conjugation in paramecium. If you’ve done Biology at high school, there’s a chance you came across this, so you understand why my students were struggling with this - there are too many steps and technical terms in the process. It doesn’t help that the majority of my students are average students and slow learners also.
Anyways, the good thing is that they have a very observant, innovative and creative teacher (yours truly🤓). In the short time I’ve been teaching them, I’ve noticed that they’re more receptive towards graphical teaching methods, and grasp concepts faster when it involves learning by doing. So with this in mind, I decided to transform the lesson into more of a project, something engaging and fun for my students, hoping it would make it easier for them to understand.
I am also one of those teachers that places a lot of weight on group works and presentations, because I believe it creates the spirit of collaboration and team work among my students, and that’s really something I want for them.
I assigned the project to both the two classes I teach. I divided the classes into two groups, and gave them manilla cards, scissors and tapes to bring the science to life based on what I explained. It was a sort of a take home group assignment. I made it take home so they’d have ample time to experiment and get creative with what they wanted their presentations to look like. The assignment was simple: with the materials provided, make a presentation on conjugation in paramecium.
Everyone was excited to participate in their groups as we used papers, scissors, and tape to bring our science to life! And the best part? This was all done by the students!
Now here’s a little something they added in that I was totally surprised by – a Lead for Ghana logo. I didn’t know they’d been taking note of the logo on the back of the Lead for Ghana T-shirts I normally wear, so it was a very pleasant surprise seeing that they were thoughtful enough to include that. Not exactly a copy paste of it, but the thought is what counts.
After the various presentations, we pasted each group’s work at the back of our class. I really want this to be a sort of a ritual for us where we paste “arty” representations of our science in our class from time to time.
Most rural schools complain about not being able to meet certain standards of educational quality because they lack the instruments to teach students. This is certainly not a fix, but I believe it is small things like this that we can do as teachers to bridge the gap of problems like this, while simultaneously enhancing student enthusiasm and interest in their respective courses of study, and instilling in them innovative skills.
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I love how you praised yourself here. It is good 😀😀
While I was in school, I never liked nor loved Biology, it's always this complex subject for me and I never dedicated my time to learn.
You are trying with your students and for the fact that you allowed them to do it themselves so they could learn more since that is what you observed in them. At least that is one of the qualities of a good teacher — to be able to observe students and come in as soon as possible in making sure they are well taught and they learn what you teach them.
Ahh yes, thank you. I try my best for my students.
Biology is actually a very interesting subject. Sometimes, we don’t really find certain subjects interesting because teachers fail to draw our interests and curiosity. That is something I’m trying hard to do for my students, especially by relating the things we learn in class to our everyday surroundings to help them appreciate the marvels of Biology in real life.
Thanks for dropping by, princess:)
You are right on this. Maybe that was in my case too but as teachers now, we wouldn't want to repeat such mistakes with our students. It's my pleasure
Thanks for the nomination, princess:)
It's my pleasure 🙂
😂 of course this guy will teach biology because of his bad bad mind.
On a more serious note, this is very innovative and for students who learn while doing like you said, it would certainly help them understand better instead of just reading it from a book. I hope you share with us what you'll make them do when you get to reproductive systems of humans 😂.
I rest my case. Thank you
This guy😂😂😂
When I get to reproductive systems, I’ll call you as a special guest to come teach it.😂😂
😂😂 you're a bad guy.
No oo, please teach it. You're the best biology teacher 😂
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Fantastic way to teach through collage. It is a pretty dense topic that requires a lot of abstraction since we are talking about something so small that it is so difficult to observe.
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Yeah the idea is to remedy the abstract nature of the topic by providing visuals and firsthand experience. Thanks for the support, man.
Nice I love what you did here. I believe that these group practical work you did with them would give them a better understanding and make them be able to easily remember what you taught them compared to being thought just theorectically.
One of the things I had learned from learning how to learn is that learning with visuals makes learning easier and fun. We have a very high percentage of learning from what we use how eyes to see.
Asides that you, you added social interaction and also gave them the opportunity to present it. They are not just learning from what they are being told but also learning by presentation and teaching what they know.
You are a great teacher man. Weldone brother.
Thanks for the support, man.
You understand perfectly the motive behind the adoption of this teaching and learning approach.
I’ll try to join the next hangout
well anyways I am inviting you for this contest if you are willing to participate =)
https://peakd.com/hive-163521/@gwajnberg/stem-as-part-of-my-life-and-1st-engagement-contest
I'll definitely check it out. Thanks