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Final Synthesis

Megan Sawler
200902117
St. Francis Xavier University Department of Education
EDUC 433: Inclusion I
C. Gilham
March 5, 2014

MEMORANDUM
TO: X Science Department, X Administration
FROM: Megan Sawler, Incoming X Biology Teacher
DATE: March 17, 2014
SUBJECT: Changes to Improve Inclusivity in Science Classrooms (Grades 10-12)
The high school science classroom can be tricky, as it is highly driven by the need to
thoroughly meet outcomes to prepare students to score well on Nova Scotia Provincial
Science Exams which are currently being written at the end of each school year. High
preparation and understanding of outcomes are necessary for success of science students
who require these courses for post-secondary education. As of recently X has seen an
increase in student-athletes competing at high levels from various locations over Canada
due to the positive reputation of the school, the opportunities outside of the classroom
through top notch extra curricular activities, volunteer and community service
opportunities, and student leadership positions available. X is an International
Baccalaureate Diploma school with a stellar reputation for producing Diploma Students
with scores competitive worldwide. This being said, as a staff and as a Science
Department, we need to restyle our teaching to better fit the needs of our students, and
become more inclusive and conducive to their well-rounded personalities. To set our
high achieving students up for success, we as teachers need to reconsider the way in
which we are teaching our students.
UNLEARNING
Paper/Pencil Tests, Bell Ringer Exams
As a department we are currently basing our main method of assessment of outcomes on
paper/pencil tests and bell ringer exams. At the end of each unit there is typically a test
given to students to gage understanding of what was taught. Students have expressed
their dislike of this method constantly, and have stated they are stressed as many of these
tests overlap with other classes causing them to perform at a level less than their best.
These styles of assessment are not conducive to the various and diverse learning styles of
our students. Many students have stated they face test anxiety, understand material but
struggle to put it on paper, or study for hours and then receive low scores. The pressure
placed on students in a traditional testing environment can weigh very heavily on
students and this pressure poses as a challenge. As teachers we need to seek other
methods of assessment. While some tests should be used during each semester to prepare
students for testing in various post-secondary programs as well practice for their
Provincial Exam, we need to look to ways that we can help our students succeed. We can
offer to let our students take tests in quiet rooms or in school learning centres, can have
audio or technology based versions of tests, can individually conference students to test
them, we can have open book tests, and we can offer leniency to our students. For
example, we can offer rewrites, drop lowest test score, provide supplementary
assignments that students can complete to show further understanding of the material, or
we can simply review tests with our students after returning them. We also need to help
our students prepare for tests and help them understand that studying is an art that is
unique to everyone. As their teachers, we can support our students through

encouragement to study and prepare, reread notes, provide supplementary optional

practice questions/websites/online quizzes/sample tests, and we can show suggested
study skills to our students. Doing this will help to reduce their stress and anxiety. It will
also help them feel more prepared and confident in the event that they do need to write a
test.
Excessive Nightly Homework
Currently as a collective department we are giving our students a large quantity of
homework on a nightly basis and we are doing so due to our current style of teaching.
We are giving large quantities of nightly homework (textbook questions, readings,
question and answer sets, problem sets, fill in the blanks, etc.) because we are highly
concerned with meeting outcomes and we do not feel as though we have adequate time in
the school day to meet all these outcomes. While we do have a requirement to our
students and to our province to help them succeed on their Provincial Exam, we need to
approach meeting outcomes in a manner which does not require such large quantities of
homework. As a department we are finding that many of our students are coming to
school with homework and assignments incomplete or untouched because they are
disengaged due to the amount of homework given, do not have the time due to the
volume of work in addition to their extra curricular activities, or have rushed through the
work just to complete it quickly to move on to other things. We need to adopt a method
of teaching our students inside our classroom and minimize the amount of homework
given so that the homework that is given can be completed quickly, is meaningful to
students, and enhances their learning. We need to engage our students so that they
actually are taking away learning from the homework which is given.
Conventional Fill in the Blanks or Copy/Paste Projects or Assignments
We as a Science Department continue to struggle with acts of academic dishonesty in our
classrooms. In our particular school we can blame this on two things, the style of work
we are giving, and the well roundedness of our students. As a department we need to
reevaluate the style of assessments we are giving to our students. As teachers we strive
to seek authentic student assessment and we long to learn about our students through their
talents which they show in unique forms of assessment. If we are assessing our students
with fill in the blanks, copy/paste, non creative forms of assessment as we are currently
doing in some cases, we are not allowing them to tap into their learning profiles and truly
show us what they are capable of. Our current assessment style produces assignments
which are completed by our students rapidly and in a manner to just get it done.
Students are providing us with their stressed work, not best work or in some cases work
that has been completed and copied from a peer.
LEARNING
Inquiry Based Projects and Learning
Inquiry based learning promotes inclusivity in the classroom because it enables students
to approach learning in unique and diverse ways while incorporating their own learning
styles to reach their conclusion. Inquiry based learning teaches problem-solving, critical
thinking skills, and disciplinary content. These are all skills which can transfer outside

the classroom and help our students further improve their well roundedness. These skills
will not only be assets to their learning but also to their success in their extra curricular
activities thus further developing them as individuals, and setting them up to succeed in
future education and careers. Inquiry based learning promotes the transfer of concepts to
new problem questions. It gives students the opportunity to make their learning
individually meaningful and allows them to research topics within the curriculum which
are of interest to them. It increases student engagement as projects are truly meaningful,
relevant and incorporate STSE and real world connections which are essential in science.
Inquiry teaches students how to learn and builds self directed learning skills through the
gradual release of responsibility. Students become responsible for their own learning and
the manner in which they approach it. Inquiry develops student ownership of their study
and enhances interest in the subject matter, meaning they are truly caring about what it is
they are doing. Students have the opportunity to link their work cross curricularly or
even link it to their extra curricular interests. Inquiry helps to deal with minimization of
unnecessary homework and allows our students to focus their efforts outside the
classroom on their social, emotional, mental, and physical health through relaxation,
contemplation, and extra curricular activities.
Cooperative Learning
Our well-rounded students have plenty of opportunities to work individually outside of
school to practice their craft whether it be sports, leadership, or the arts. They are busy
people, and as teachers we need to be aware of their mental health status. Stress is
certainly a factor which toys with our students. As teachers, we can help our students by
creating an inclusive, respectful, and supportive community in which we can all learn
together. Teamwork is currently very important to our students who participate heavily
in extra curricular activities, and this will be an integral part of their future careers as they
grow and develop. By placing our students in small teams (or base groups) we are
providing them with a solid support system inside the classroom which they can take
comfort in relying on or supporting each other. Because each of our students are talented
differently both inside and outside the classroom, students and teachers can greatly
benefit from the different perspectives and experiences that each unique student can bring
to the table. The teamwork learned through cooperative education can be translated to
also better themselves as teammates within their efforts outside of the classroom.
Learning Profiles
As teachers who are teaching such well-rounded students that excel in many diverse
disciplines, we are responsible to teach them in a manner that reaches them. We have
students with no only various interests, but we have students with diverse learning
profiles. As teachers we must seek to cater to all learning modalities and multiple
intelligences. By doing this, we are able to reach out to more of our students. This will
also increase engagement. Some students appear disengaged or appear to face challenges
or show misbehavior when presented with certain subjects or assignments. Sometimes
they are presenting this behaviour because as teachers we are not teaching them in a
manner which works with their learning profiles. With science, we can cater to a large
variety of learning profiles due to the vastness of the subject and the flexibility in the
manner that information is transmitted. Our subject can be diverse as it can be presented

in a very hands on matter, or also in a very information rich manner. We can even use a
gradual release of responsibility to allow our students to select and become responsible
for selecting their own best method of learning, if we provide options to them. For
example, to review the concept of Mitosis, we can give students an article/text version of
what is happening within the cell (verbal linguistic), diagrams of the process or they
could create their own diagrams (visual/spatial), they could work in small groups to act
out the process (interpersonal/bodily kinesthetic), you could present students with the
timings and numbers of how often and when this happens for them to logically work
through the concept (logical/mathematical), they could create a song or chant explaining
the phase changes (musical/rhythmic). By giving students options they can test out
different styles and then use the responsibility of choice to facilitate their own learning in
their own unique way.
Supporting Students by Finding Time at School
As teachers who wish to become more inclusive of our students, we must consider that
what they are learning outside the classroom is very important to their future success in
life. Their extracurricular activities are developing skills within them that we cannot
always teach in the classroom. By giving copious amounts of repetitive question and
answer type homework, we are taking away time that they can spend dedicating to their
talents outside the classroom. These talents are integral parts of our students as
individuals and are highly valuable resources which they can share when they return to
the classroom each day. As teachers we need to consider how our homework may be
meaningful to our students. Take the time to stop and think about the homework you are
giving to students. If you are just giving homework for the sake of giving homework,
perhaps you should reconsider. Our homework should not be painful for our students,
but rather it should be interesting, quick, and a compliment to the days lesson. If we
rework the way we are teaching, then we will not need to give copious amounts of
repetitive homework. If we are adopting a inquiry model of learning, we can make the
time at school to cover most of our necessary outcomes which decreases the amount of
homework that we need to give to our students. This will help reduce their stress levels,
will increase engagement in class as the students are not forced to spend multiple hours
daily on a particular subject outside of the classroom, and will promote a life long style of
learning to our students which is conducive to their extra curricular activities.
FURTHER INQUIRY
Questions for Continuation:
As teachers we commend our students for their determination and hard work
towards becoming well-rounded students with a combination of positive attributes
both inside and outside of the classroom. As we rework our curriculum to shift
towards providing them with a richer learning experience inside of the school day
and free up their out of school work that must be completed, it leads to question
should we be eliminating homework all together?
Response: I do not believe that we should completely eliminate homework in the
science classroom. At this stage we are still preparing our students to write
Provincial Exams, as well as we are preparing X students in particular for post-

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secondary educational programs where they will certainly face a rigorous course
load and a great deal of studying and homework. If we eliminate it completely I
feel that we will be doing a disservice to our students as we will not have
adequately prepared them to face those circumstances. However, I feel that we
must make our homework meaningful to our students. If we are simply giving
students homework for the sake of giving homework, we are not providing them
with a learning experience which resonates with them and correlates with our
classroom learning. Our given homework should also reflect the core values of
inclusion and should also consider the various learning styles of our students. Just
because the students are not completing the homework style of learning inside the
classroom does not mean that inclusive factors and considerations disappear. For
example, students that rely heavily on kinesthetic learning in the classroom cannot
necessarily complete and understand a written word problem sheet of questions
on velocity just because they have now exited the classroom. Students need to
adapt the same styles of learning with their out of classroom work and teachers
must accommodate for this.

A very evident majority of students who complete high school at X taking

Sciences, go on to university, college, or another type of post-secondary
educational program. By working towards incorporating more inquiry based
projects, cooperative education, and a very hands on approach to learning we are
highly diminishing the amount of type spent in a lecture style environment.
While a lecture style of learning is not always the most inclusive form of
teaching, it does present a set of skills which students can develop and take away
(ie. active listening, note taking, differentiation of key points, processing). Many
undergraduate universities utilize a strictly lecture style of learning
predominantly in the first two to three years of the program. By veering away
from this style of learning in our high school classrooms, how do we adequately
prepare our students to graduate and adopt solely the lecture style of learning as
they enter post-secondary education and still have success with this form of
learning?

Practical Challenges:
My practicum students have been taught in a very traditional classroom, where a
form of direct instruction is given each class, followed by a short activity such as
a work sheet, questions, or a reading for comprehension. Although I wish to
revamp this daily routine, my students are very apprehensive to venture into new
forms of learning or a daily learning routine which differs from the norm. To
readjust their way of thinking and ease apprehension how should I incorporate the
new learning styles?
Response: I believe this may be a difficult task in a practicum setting, as I feel it is
difficult to disrupt routines which have already been preset and developed in the
classroom. However, I feel that various new learning styles can certainly work in
the classroom but they should be incorporated gradually and ideally at the
beginning of a new school year as teacher and students are getting to know each
other. Things can easily be adapted and changed during the process. I also

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believe that during the beginning of the year especially, but also continued
throughout the year, time needs to be spent on community building so that
students will feel safe, included, and free to share ideas comfortably and learn
with their peers. A strong sense of community will help ease the anxiety which
can be present with change, and can comfort students and teachers as they
approach a new educational journey together.

As a school, there are five daily periods of 50 minutes each, plus a homeroom,
recess, and lunch break. As a teacher, you only see each class once per day for 50
minutes, and once per week you see the students for two periods a day (first
period and last period of the day). This makes it difficult to really dig deep into
lessons, do field research, and have active teamwork. Unfortunately almost 10
minutes of each period are lost to attendance, announcements, reminders to
students, organization of the class, etc. meaning approximately only 40 minutes
are able to be spent on the learning activity. To address this and become more
adoptive of an inquiry based learning style should the school consider
restructuring their day? The issue that arises with this is that the school belongs
to a world wide curriculum program, International Baccalaureate which requires a
rigorous and very strict daily schedule. How would one approach these timing
constraints in the face of the IB Program semestering requirements?

FINAL THOUGHTS
In conclusion of this memorandum, we as teachers should reevaluate the way we are
teaching and reflect on what is going astray in our classrooms instead of placing the
blame on our students. Our commitment to teaching requires us to present the best
version of ourselves to our students and a great deal of this comes from professional
literacy and willingness to improve and open our minds to new ideas through taking
chances and making changes in our classrooms. Take a step towards teaching to benefit
our amazingly unique and talented students! Any questions about this transition into
more inclusive science classrooms at X can be directed to Megan Sawler, incoming
Biology teacher.