I'm excited to get back to Biology and APBio this year! In honor of a new group in a new year, we're doing things a bit differently this year:
1. FEWER POWER POINTS-- that's right, fewer days of OMG-When-Will-These-Godforsaken-Slides-End in AP Bio. This makes life both easier and harder for you guys, though:
On the *easier* side, class will be much more fun with more peer interaction and integrating ideas.
On the *harder* side, this makes it that much MORE important for you all to READ on your own BEFORE class! I will assume that you are arriving with a great background, ready to tackle the tough stuff.
2. FEWER IN-CLASS MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS-- No, I'm not kidding. You will each be signed up to a website called Mastering Biology. For each chapter, you will have an online multiple choice reading quiz which is open-book, open-notes (just not 'open-neighbor')to do at home before we start the chapter. THESE QUIZZES WILL HAVE A DUE DATE AND WILL BE UNAVAILABLE TO YOU AFTER THAT DATE, so be sure to get them done on time!
So sorry to say it, but we still will have tests-- but I'll focus more on in-class essays, and will consolidate several chapters worth of information into one multiple choice test so that the MC tests occur less frequently.
3. DIFFERENT TYPES OF VISUAL LEARNING, including podcasts, videos, and Prezis. Never heard of a Prezi (short for 'presentation')? You'll get to know much more about it, and even design a Prezi or two for the class. They're way more fun that power points and allow for more class involvement.
4. LOTS OF CLASS PROJECTS AND GROUP LEARNING-- Like more labs, presentations, mini-posters, demonstrations, dissections, observations... you name it. If you're doing all the reading and half the testing at home, that leaves us more time to do the *really* educational stuff-- the fun stuff-- in class.
Get ready for a fantastic year!
Dr. Bennett
No comments:
Post a Comment