Karen Slevinsky
Karen Slevinsky uses a wide variety of objects and experiences to integrate mathematics and science and make her classes come alive at Jasper Place High School in Edmonton. As a result, enrollment and retention in her classes are high, while absenteeism is low.
Her students perform well above provincial averages: her regular classes earn eight percent more A grades than the provincial average; her students who are working toward their International Baccalaureate (IB) achieve 30 percent more A grades. (The IB is a rigorous course of study during the final two years of high school. Students who pass the IB exam are eligible to apply to universities in more than 70 countries.) Karen has also developed a mentor program for her IB students and coaches' students for science competitions and exams.
Approach to teaching
"Students want to be loved, respected and listened to. What they are saying is, 'Teach me, show me, let me.' "
Our students must be prepared to cope with a world that has been shaped by technology. Fortunately, young people enjoy developing science-related skills that are recognizably applicable in their futures.
I try to take all the characteristics of the teachers who touched me, and wrap them up in one person - me. I want students to know how to study. I get them to practice doing homework until it gets easier, until they have formed study habits. I want to put a glimmer of light and hope into a student's life.
My teaching focuses on the experiential. I use every opportunity the curriculum offers to have my students observe, dissect, measure, describe and experiment with biological specimens.
Biology is inherently interesting to me, but I realize it may not fascinate everyone. So I work hard to make the topics relevant to all students and to show them how learning about science can help them in any walk of life. For instance, I discuss how biological sensitivities affect the way different people perceive colours. Students considering careers as fashion designers or interior decorators would find this relevant. Similarly, I encourage them to study science so they can understand political issues related to science and technology.
Transferable experience
I have found it very helpful to think of the classroom as a community that relies on students caring for each other. I use a notion held by some people who complain about education - that students only go to school to socialize - to my advantage. On the first day of class, I ask each student to exchange phone numbers with two other students, and tell them to be responsible for each other.
I tell the students they should know if and why their classmates are absent so that they can take notes for classes missed. If a student is absent, I sometimes offer guesses as to where he or she might be - "Is he in the cafeteria?" - and then the students and I go to check. They realize that I'm serious about kids skipping class.
Students in my classes know they are responsible for their own learning. I look over their notes, teach them to study and make sure they know which pages of the textbook to review. But I don't let them shift the responsibility for poor results to me. If they say they didn't do their homework because they didn't understand it, I tell them they should have come and asked me about it instead of simply not doing the assignment. I'm available to the students during lunch and before or after school if they have questions. I don't accept late assignments.
These approaches reduce absenteeism and the number of students who come to class unprepared, which together help reduce the number of dropouts. Kids come, stay and, as a fringe benefit, learn.
I also give the class a five-minute talk break during my 80-minute classes, in which they can relax and talk about anything they like. In one class, we even turned this into a joke break. In the workplace, people like to have a cup of coffee and chat with their co-workers before getting down to business. We have to allow kids to be human, too.
I always use "props" to teach the students. My "treasure chest" closet contains (among many other things) thick planar concave spectacles, a 10-minute video on lens replacement surgery, and models of everything from the human body to the inside of an atherosclerotic artery. In my classes, students study how spectacles work by handling them, and they learn the theory of lenses in the context of news items on corrective eye surgery.
Sometimes students bring in these materials, and sometimes I buy them with my own money or school funds. I make some from inexpensive materials, such as a mechanism to demonstrate muscle contraction that I made out of a toilet paper roll and some straws. Often, I use my personal possessions, such as costume jewellery, which again helps students relate science to their everyday lives. I keep most of these things at the school, instead of at home, so that I always have something on hand to generate discussion or answer a question.
My philosophy is: if students love biology, great, but if they're just coming to class because they have to, they'll be more likely to come if they have another reason to do so (i.e. each other). I'm strict and demanding with my students, so giving them talk breaks and injecting some humour into the class doesn't disrupt things. I try to create a natural atmosphere that students enjoy.