Biology Syllabus

Schedule:
During this one-week course you will need to complete the discussions assigned as well as the
quiz on cell organelles.

Philosophy of Assessment:
Grading Philosophy: I do not believe in grading because it fosters a “Fixed Mindset” within
students. Research shows that the most important determinant for student success is fostering
a “Growth Mindset” within students, so that they begin to believe that they can learn/do
anything they work towards. Furthermore grading is detrimental for many classrooms because
it adds extra work upon teachers who want to focus on time spent teaching, and learning new
educational strategies.

Formative assessments have been shown to be more beneficial for student learning than
Summative assessments especially when used for grading student learning. For this reason, I
will primarily be using and grading formative assessments, while avoiding the use of summative
assessments. My assignments will focus on quizzes, projects, groupwork, etc. instead of tests
and exams.
How my gradebook works: The research is clear that grading is detrimental to student learning
and is relied upon too much in standard education. However, it is not possible for teachers in
most school systems to completely forgo grading altogether. Therefore, it is important to find
ways of making grading less harmful for students.
In the traditional method of grading 60% of all possible grades are dedicated to representing
failure (I.E. “F”), which make this method of grading redundant. There are two different
methods I would be willing to use in my class that are both superior to the standard 0-100
scale.

One of these methods of grading is called “Minimum Grading” which generally set the lowest a
student can score on an assignment at 50% instead of 0%. On a traditional grading scale 0-60%
represent failure or an “F,” but this leads to students withdrawing from learning when they
receive too many “Fs” early in the year. To solve this problem 50% can be set as the lowest
grade I would give on an assignment.

Another grading method that I have considered is the 0-4 scale (which is based off of the GPA
scale). Unlike traditional grading (I.E. 0-100%) which dedicates only 1/5 of its scale to success,
the 0-4 scale dedicates 2/5 of possible grades to success. In traditional grading there is no point
in grading one assignment a 74 and another a 75 when it will be converted to a 0-4 for GPA
anyway. Of the two alternative grading methods shown I prefer the 0-4 scale as it allows me as
the teacher to focus more on teaching and spend less time grading.
Late Work philosophy: If your child doesn’t take out the garbage at home, the consequence is
that they have to take out the garbage. I view grading in the same way, students who don’t turn
in an assignment on its intended due date should be given extra time to turn it in without
having to worry about deducted points. By deducting points for late work, we disincentivize
students from completing assignments. My goal as a teacher is to ensure that students learn
the content, and for this reason I do not deduct points for late work. HOWEVER, logistically I
can’t have students turning in assignments from the beginning of the school year on the last

day of class and preventing me from grading other student’s assignments on time. For this
reason, I will accept all late work up to 30 days after its posted due date without deducting
from the grade for being late. Students who have unforeseen life altering events will be able to
receive an extended past due deadline beyond 30 days, as long as they let me know that they
will not be able to turn in the assignment on time.

MY LATE WORK PHILOSOPHY EXTENDS TO students wanting to REDO work. If a student turns in
an assignment on the due date and is unsatisfied with it then they have till the end of the 30
days to redo the assignment and turn it in.

Homework Philosophy: There will be times where I “assign” homework, however I do not
believe in grading homework as this is unequitable for some students. The homework I assign
will be for the student’s benefit and will provide students content that will help them perform
better on assignments we will do in class. By assigning homework in this way I ensure that
students have the ability to partake in clubs, extracurricular activities, jobs, etc.

EXTRA CREDIT philosophy: Research shows that extra credit is unequitable for some students.
By giving extra credit I am giving an unfair advantage to students who have the time and
resources available to easily complete extra credit. Some students have afterschool obligations
which make it difficult for them to find the time to complete extra credit. Some students have
access to a stay-at-home parent that can help with the extra credit while others do not. For
these reasons I will NOT give out extra credit assignments.

Philosophy on cheating: Cheating is not allowed in this class! However, cheating will not be
punished except by having students redo the assignment which they cheated on in your own
work (not copied, plagiarized, etc.). Students will even be given the grade for the makeup work
they redo without any penalization against that grade. I believe that all assignments are
important and because of this must be completed by the students and must be graded fairly.
When a student turns in work that is not their own I cannot grade that work because my job is
to grade the work of each student, when a student cheats they are not turning in their own
work and therefore I cannot deduct any points from their grade because in my mind they have
not turned in their own assignment. I can however make students redo the assignment in their
own work and turn that in for a grade, which ends up benefiting the students by forcing them
to learn the content. Furthermore, I believe that if cheating is able to take place in my class that
it is my fault for structuring the class in a way that makes cheating possible. Cheating loses its
benefits for students in a class structured around the principles of Problem Based Learning, and
which has a focus on formative assessment over summative assessment.

What my summative assessments will look like: For the summative assessments I will give out,
I want students to focus less on tests/exams and more on projects that they create and present
to the rest of the class. Projects allow students the freedom necessary to research in way that
they will remember, especially if the project they are creating is being presented to the whole
class. I think time spent working on projects leads to long term learning and helps to develop
the problem solving skills necessary for the modern tech based job market most of these
students will be entering. Instead of giving out a test every few weeks it would be more

beneficial for my students to group up and create a presentation on content we are covering
and how we can use that information to make our lives, communities, and world better.
Students need to develop the skills necessary for teamwork and cooperation. To ensure
students cooperate I will have my summative assessments be based on the individual’s work
within the group and not as much on the group as a whole (which often leads to students take
up the majority of the work while the rest sit back.

When I do give out tests and exams I will make sure that in the preceding weeks, students have
the opportunity to submit one or two questions that they feel should be included on the test.
The students would be required to research the answer to their question(s) and point out why
they would be beneficial to include on the exam. This provides another learning opportunity in
disguise as it encourages all students to study the content in order to find something that could
be made into a test question. The students are incentivized to provide questions because they
know that if their test question might appear on the test giving them the benefit of a question
they are guaranteed to know the answer to because they are the one who found it in the first
place.

How I will ensure assessment as learning: One of the primary methods of formative
assessment I will incorporate is “Think, Pair, Share” which requires that all students actively
stay engaged in the content. “Think, Pair, Share” can be used as a formative assessment
because it will enable me to see what students already know/need to work on and gives other
students an opportunity to give peer feedback to the answers generated by their partner.

I will have students partake in self assessment so that they can gauge what they need to work
on and start thinking critically about steps for improvement. I will also have them give peer
feedback which would also help to improve students work quality by taking the notes for
improvement they receive from their peers.

I will use pre assessments often in the form of low stakes quizzes to gauge each students
current level of understanding. I will make sure these pre-quizzes are grade based off of
participation and not actual knowledge. By using this strategy, I can assess what content the
students need to focus on in order to succeed in the lesson plan.
How to make students work hard and perform well: Student need to be empowered to find
the inherent joy that comes from producing/creating meaningful work. They need to learn the
satisfaction that comes from achieving goals. These skills are what I will foster when I
implement Problem Based Learning strategies which trigger people’s natural curiosity for the
unknown and leads them to create work that they can be proud of. The more success they
experience the more of a “Growth Mindset” they will develop (this is the number one
determinate of student success). Everyone wants to have a purpose they can be working
toward and it will be my goal to ensure that they have the skills and resources available to find
what that is for them.

Peer feedback and self feedback are also critical for ensuring that students learn the skills
necessary to foster a community based around a “Growth Mindset” where students are open
to their work being critiqued and willing to take steps that will help them perfect the work they
produce. No first draft is ever perfect and it is important that students understand that mastery
takes accepting failures as opportunities for learning.

Technology Policy:
Our goal in this class is to solve complex problems in our community and we need to rely on
each other to accomplish this. Technology can help us learn but it can also distract us from one
another and the ideas we are trying to create as a team. So it is important that we think of how
our use of technology might effect ourselves AND each other.

Whether or not technology/devices are allowed to be used in the classroom will depend on:
-I would prefer that you hand write your notes in class (because research shows that this leads
to better long term learning). HOWEVER you may use any method you feel will make it easier
for you (IE. Handwritten, typed on computer, voice recorded, etc.). Phones should not be used
to record notes.
-headphones
-nap mats/ NAP SHACK (cardboard box with a roof and three walls but one open side toward
the front of the class. Helps prevent students from feeling self conscious about the phone they
have).
-apple watches?????
Technology/devices are not allowed:
-When we are having discussions as a class technology/devices should not be present. Humans
are social creatures and the science shows that we do not have the ability to multitask. So in
order to learn during discussions be fully present within the conversation and try to limit both
your distractions and those of your fellow students (research shows that having devices out will
distract those around you, so be courteous to your classmates).
-When we are creating thought maps, doing work in groups or in pairs, when we are presenting
our thought on how the content relates to our own life and society.
Whether technology is allowed in the room to depends on what we are doing. Sometimes we should all be using it;
Sometimes the students can choose whether or not to use it; Sometimes nobody should be using it. When the
author is doing in class writing he defaults to handwriting for the students, but is happy to allow students to use
their devices for writing if they prefer to do so especially in the cases of accommodations. When we are having a
whole class discussion about a work of literature and what it means to them personally, I don't want to see people
staring into their screens. So in these cases no screens are allowed no matter what. When students create
character maps on whiteboards or recite poems aloud to one another or watch a video of famous reading her work
in these moments what matters most is what comes out of them , not from a screen.

It is important as a teacher that we explain why to students we are incorporating the policies we are backed up by
research On the effects of technology and learning.
These should be written in a warm and friendly way when you're making your syllabus. Research shows that
students respond better to warm and personal language compared to cold language that is all factual.

Philosophy of Education:
John Dewey, Maria Montessori, Paulo Freire, and Lev Vygotsky were some of the
greatest philosophers in the field of pedagogy. Them and many others believed that teachers
are to act as guides in the educational process and not orators or autocrats. This one simple
concept is key to my philosophy of education because like Dewey I believe that students desire
a democratic space where they have input in the learning process, and like Montessori I believe
that everyone can ‘auto-educate’ which allows us to build knowledge by interacting with
information that is presented to us.
Vygotsky is the philosopher that has inspired me the most, like him I believe that
learning is ‘socially constructed,’ which means we can’t learn by being exposed to information
unless we interact with that information and that we learn especially well when that interaction
is done through dialogue in a social context with someone who is ‘more knowledgeable’ than
us. By extension I believe that the best way to teach students is to act as a ‘more
knowledgeable’ guide for students and allowing them to interact with the content and letting
them ask as many questions as needed to understand the material. This is best done with a
‘zone of proximal development’ where the contents is neither too easy or too difficult to
understand.
Much like Vygotsky I agree that ‘zones of proximal development’ must be used and I
believe that one of the best methods of incorporating this is through the implementation of
Inquiry-Based Learning. This method of Inquiry-Based Learning involves letting the students
solves problems based on real world scenarios that are relevant to the students which falls in
line with the teachings of Paulo Freire, who believed that teachers should take action and
empower their students to take action when resolving the world’s problems. I would go about
implementing this in my classroom by assigning group projects that might revolve around topics
about pollution or health. Students would be broken up into groups that chooses their own
subtopic about pollution (IE, dead zones in the Gulf, heavy metals in the water supply, etc.).
After researching their topic each group would present to the class and thus demonstrate that
they have attained an understanding of the topic. Inquiry-Based Learning makes the content
more interesting to the students because they had a voice in the research and production of
their projects, it provides students with the opportunity to practice public speaking skills, and
fosters creative problem solving.
Inquiry-Based Learning provides an opportunity to include the arts into the classroom,
because when creating projects together students have the opportunity to create videos,
slideshows, dioramas, paintings or even music that might help demonstrate what they have
learned from researching their topics. Much like the philosopher, Eliot Eisner, I agree that art
has a place in the classroom, and that the goal of including the arts in the classroom is to make
students better problem solvers and more functional members of society.