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John Labriola Paddling a kayak on a salt pond on a warm early morning might be an ideal setting for some. But it's not until you add 25 energetic seventh graders paddling alongside that makes the setting complete for John Labriola, also known as Mr. Lab. For the past 22 years, Labriola has taken great pride as his students develop an appreciation and respect for the environment, learning and science, itself, through the activities and opportunities he presents to them. "Just exposing my students to a hands-on activity does not ensure a rigorous lesson," he says. "By insisting on a safe environment where all individuals' ideas are valued, students learn to work in cooperative teams, build on each other's ideas, clarify misconceptions and use information from several sources to develop explanations, which are then supported with quality evidence. Once students are successful, their confidence becomes contagious — a true sign of an effective classroom." |
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Francis Lenox In 18 years of teaching, Francis Lenox knows firsthand the challenge of encouraging students to explore concepts in physics that were established more than 300 years ago. With the use of modern technology, though, he finds students are more eager to create experiments based on Galileo's ball drop, Newton's second law and the sum of forces in the clothoid loop of a roller coaster. A recipient of the EDS Grant for Innovative Instructional Application of Technology, Lenox challenges his students to validate the laws of physics for themselves. "We all have natural curiosities about our world," he says. "When students are empowered to design their own tests and analyze the results, they must internalize the information, predict an outcome and assess whether the tests were reliable. In short, their inquiry becomes the basis of their investigations. The same could be said of Galileo and Newton." |
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Charlene Tuttle Charlene Tuttle's land and water unit looks drastically different from the teacher's manual. With 17 years of experience, Tuttle prefers not to lead students through step-by-step prescribed lessons where they are told what they are learning. Instead, she encourages students to investigate the questions they come up with on their own. Ultimately, they learn the goals of the original unit and, in the process, they develop scientific skills and innovative thinking. "My room is an active one where student thinking is evident, continual and engaging," Tuttle says. "I take the materials we have, look at the standards to be addressed and, through personal investigation and careful planning, I introduce the materials and let the students guide the way. They ask questions. They want to investigate ideas. They want to validate and refute findings. In short, they want to do science." |
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Susanne Warburton Susanne Warburton, now in her fifth year of teaching, uses a nearby salt marsh as an outdoor classroom for her second graders. There, they learn about plants and animals, and they take notes and create illustrations in their journals. They also record the air and water temperature and compare their own data with measurements taken by local scientists. They use that information to make observations and predictions about the water temperature in the weeks to come and the affect that the temperature will have on the wildlife. Warburton's students have even become Marsh Mentors, arranging a salt marsh scavenger hunt, as well as lively presentations, for the kindergarten students as a way to share their knowledge across grade levels. |
