There and Back Again

Every year in Biology, we start the year off with an introduction to science unit.  We talk about lab safety, the scientific method, proper science technique, and how to write an accurate hypothesis.  We wrap up the unit with a test on evaluating experimental design and then a two day “water lab.”

The idea for the water lab is that there has been a nuclear war on Earth and all the water has been contaminated with nuclear fallout.  The students (aka, the explorers) go out to another planet where the aliens there don’t speak English.  Through gestures and drawings, the aliens give our explorers 8 types of clear liquid.

The lab is to design an experiment and determine which of the eight is the actual water.

Usually, the will do a pH test, using known tap water that they collect as the control, and that will eliminate the water that is mixed with bleach, ammonia, and vinegar.  This leaves the water, the sugar water, the salt water, the sprite water, and the rubbing alcohol water.  At this point, they’ll usually eliminate the the alcohol because “it smells like a doctor’s office and that’s not natural.”  After that, a boiling test usually reveals that the sugar water, salt water, and sprite water won’t boil at the same time the control water does.

Usually, this is what happens…

But this year, my fifth period class, proved me very, very wrong.

“Mrs. H-squared?  What was number 7 because (Student) drank it and now she’s been throwing up since three in the morning.”

Are you kidding me right now?  Are you freaking kidding me right now???

“Don’t get mad at just her…. (Other Student) drank number three, but she’s fine, so we think that might be the water.”

WHAT?!

These beakers aren’t food safe.  They’re clean, but they aren’t food-safe clean because they shouldn’t have to be.  It’s a safety rule.  I shouldn’t have to remind a group of high school students not to drink out of beakers in the back of the classroom during a lab because that is completely and totally idiotic.

The waters they drank, by the way, were the sugar water and Sprite water, respectfully, but still… There’s no telling what residue was left in those beakers from last year.

I lost it:

“This is absolutely unbelievable.  We have the burning lab coming up soon where you will actually LIGHT THINGS ON FIRE, and how can I trust you with an OPEN FLAME if I can’t trust you with a BEAKER OF UNKNOWN WATER?  That’s it… we’re done.  You’re getting a seating chart tomorrow, which I shouldn’t have to make for a bunch of high school students, and we’re done playing Classcraft.  It’s over.  I try to reward you for good behavior, but it’s impossible when you don’t give me any.”

There have been better days in my classroom.

And I followed through: I wrote the seating chart during my planning period when the anger at their stupidity about drinking an unknown chemical in my room was still fresh.  I’d laid into them about the dangers they put themselves in, fumed about how I wasn’t sure I could trust them with any lab the rest of the year, and shut down every single one of their arguments until the only thing they could do was hang their heads in guilt.

I hope and pray that it was legitimate guilt because you can never be too sure with high school students.

So then we got to today where they came in to the seating chart on the board, and all I heard was, “What?  Are you serious?  No!  This sucks.”

And all I could reply with was, “Well, you drank the water, so…. what did you expect?”

I explained to them that a seating chart in my room was punishment and that they would be in this arrangement for at least a week, but that we would re-evaluate their situation the Monday after next week.  I told them that if they get out of this, they would be right back in it whenever I chose, and they should take care not to make it get to that point again.

Then they said:

“Can we have Classcraft back?”

And after a unanimous class vote, they got Classcraft back, so now we’re back where we left off.  Today was quiz day, so it was fairly uneventful.

They asked about using their powers on the quiz, but no one has earned them yet, so they all got on to make sure they had learned the powers they needed to get to where they wanted to be, but everyone is still level one.  It’ll take awhile to get to the level where they want to be at, but I think they realize now that their grades and behavior will count towards getting them there faster.

Then someone asked:

“Can we have a random event?”

So I gave them a random event….

….And after everything that happened the last two days…

….I have to bring them candy on Monday….

Classcraft: Days Two and Three (post-set up)

Today was day three with Classcraft, and I can tell you that there is DEFINITELY a learning curb.  In my district, they recently changed the cell phone policy to “teacher discretion, but no phones can be taken from the students, since it is there private property.”  Basically, we can tell them to put the phones away, but if they don’t comply, then they get a referral for disobeying rather than having the phone picked up by me.

Most teachers have really hated this change, but personally, I like it because it takes the responsibility of the students’ passing or failing and puts it squarely on the students.

“What do you mean ‘Little Johnny is failing biology???'”

“Well, Mrs. Smith, Johnny’s been spending a lot of time on his cell phone in class, and he isn’t putting it away when asked to.”

“Why don’t you just take it from him them?”

“I would, but according to district policy, it is up to the student to put their phone away and I am not allowed to take them anymore.  I can write him up for disobeying, but that will end up on his permanent record, and either way, he’s still not going to get the information.”

“Oh, well!  I’ll take care of that at once!”

“Thank you.  I’d hate to add a blemish to Johnny’s record for something as silly as a cell phone when he’s such a nice kid.”

Personally, cell phones aren’t really a problem in my classroom to begin with.  My classroom is so technology heavy that the kids having cell phones actually makes it easier on me to run my classroom.

Classcraft would be one of those times.

The game allows you to run it in two different ways.  The first is to have it up on a projected screen that allows it to run in the background while you are teaching; the second is to have the kids run it on the cell phones during class.

Since I rarely teach from my computer, the second choice was better.  The other reason option two is better is that my classroom looks a lot like the classroom in the Classcraft advertisement, except that my screen for my projector is permanently fixed in the worst possible position.

Seriously?  Who’s idea was this?  That’s a perfectly good white board behind that mounted Promethean board.  If I don’t tell anyone and just did all the work myself, I could move the board, but then I’d have to repaint, and now you’re just asking for me to do more than I’m capable of doing… I cannot move that whiteboard on my own…

The back of it has become a place for secret notes to get written, which is what my students do because why erase behind the board when it won’t be used ever?

Anyway, the set up of my room requires that I use my Promethean board almost exclusively, and I don’t feel like going back and forth between ActivInspire and Classcraft.  Those few seconds are precious in a class that could implode in on itself at any moment.

And no, that’s not my cat.  I had a class last year that got on my nerves a lot, so I found that picture one time and told them that this picture accurately described how they made me feel.  I then place it in the rotation of images for my background, and somehow it got stuck on this one over the summer, and I haven’t bothered to change it.

So the last two days…

I’ve basically told the students they can use their phones in class for the purpose of playing the game; however, if they choose to not pay attention and use their phone of other things, then I will find out because it will reflect in their grades.  I haven’t had many problems with cell phone usage.  They’ve had their first test, and they’re a little more worried about the difficulty of my class now.

Yesterday, we spent almost the entire class trying to get our vocabulary written down and the getting make up work to the kids that needed the make up work that by the time we actually got started on the lecture for the new unit, the bell rang.

The interesting thing that happened yesterday though?  During vocabulary, they were completely, 100% silent and focused.  They haven’t been that way since the first day of school.  I almost wanted to ask what they’d done with my normal 5th period class, but I didn’t want to jinx myself.

One kid did lose 25HP for “jokingly” calling a friend of his in the class, who is a girl, a “slut.”  I told him it “wasn’t funny” and that “it was definitely points off” and “he’s lucky that we have this game because I would have written him up otherwise.”

I didn’t have any other problems from him after that, and he even apologized to me and to her for comments.  She didn’t find it very funny either.

Today was lab day, so I knew this would be a make it or break it even for classcraft.  It took a minute for the kids to get settled, but then they worked…. and they worked all period.  Two lab groups got 100XP for their effort, and my trouble makers?  They all got 100XP for cleaning up another lab groups’ messy lab stations.

I’m telling you, this is amazing.  These kids want to level up for the tier 3 rewards so bad that they are reading every word on my slides twice to try to find errors.  They are asking multiple on task questions and jumping to answer the questions I pose to them.

Who needs to go out and buy bribery candy rewards when XP will do the same thing?

I’m telling you, I was really, really skeptical of Classcraft when I saw it at first, but now… I’m really looking into grant writing the PTSA for the $100 I need to get the paid version for the year.  Not only is Classcraft helping me better manage my classes, but it’s making me pay my PTSA dues as well.  I guess it’s a win-win for everyone!