What to Expect When You Are
Expected to Teach Biomedical
Science PLTW!
Presented by Jamie Jobe and Matthew Riffee
The people speaking to you
● Jamie Jobe
o
o
Francis Howell High School
Principles of Biomedical Science
● Matthew Riffee
o
o
Francis Howell North High School
Principles of Biomedical Science
Objectives
(because we are educators)
By the end of this presentation you…
1. will know what to expect as a first year
PLTW teacher.
2. will understand the expectations of PLTW
beyond the walls of the classroom
3. be able to (hopefully) survive the first year
teaching PLTW.
Things to know before you leave for
vacation (training)
❏ Give yourself ample time to complete
readiness training
❏ You will not have access to the curriculum
❏ You complete class as a student
❏ Contact master teachers or site
administrators prior to training
Things to know while you are on
vacation (training)
❏ Utilize your master teachers
❏ Take detailed notes during training
❏ Complete your homework as it would be
expected of a student
❏ Network with teachers
❏ Share your completed work
Things to know once your vacation
(training) is over
❏ Create a
curriculum map
❏ Practice and
explore the LMS
Things to know once your vacation
(training) is over
❏ Organization and storage of new supplies
❏ Make sure your classroom is PLTW ready
Things to know once your vacation
(training) is over
Things to know once your vacation
(training) is over
❏ Make sure your school is technology ready
❏ Type/method of portfolio will your students
complete
The Pros and Cons of ordering
supplies before training
❏ Pros:
❏
❏
(Almost) all supplies arrive on time
time to organize/set-up classroom
❏ Cons:
❏
❏
Don’t know what you need
Optional supplies?
The Pros and Cons of ordering
supplies during training
❏ Pros:
❏
❏
Master teachers can
provide insight
Email/contact district rep daily while at training
❏ Cons:
❏
❏
Some supplies may not arrive on time
How will you find time?!
The Pros and Cons of ordering
supplies after training
❏ Pros:
❏
❏
Access to curriculum
You have completed assignments, you know how to
tailor materials needed to your classroom
❏ Cons:
❏
❏
Some (most?) supplies will not arrive one time
Limited time to organize supplies
The Pros and Cons of ordering
supplies after training
Lesson Planning - digital
❏ Requires
altering of
PLTW
activities
Lesson Planning - digital
❏ Students lack experience in this type of class
❏ Students will need storage for documents
❏ Students will need home internet access
❏ Teachers can grade papers anywhere
Lesson Planning - digital
❏ Student have
access to
materials at all
times
❏ Students can
create a digital
portfolio
Lesson Planning - paper
❏ Students are familiar with this method
❏ Lack of preparation for 21st century skills
❏ Increased teacher prep time
❏ Students excuses “I lost it.” “Left it at
school”
❏ Student portfolio will be huge
Lesson Planning - Make it your own
❏ You can still implement your own
ideas/lessons into the curriculum
❏ Assessment is at your discretion
❏ Introduce other technology
❏
❏
❏
❏
Voicethread
Google drive
Canvas application
etc.
Lesson Planning - altering PLTW docs
❏ PLTW documents can be altered to fit
teaching style/needs
❏ Student Response Sheets
Lesson Planning - altering PLTW docs
❏ Conclusion Questions
❏ Lab Reports
❏ Discussion Boards
Lesson Planning - altering PLTW docs
❏ Pre-lab videos
❏ Post-lab quizzes
Lesson Planning - lab prep
❏ There are many labs
with extensive setup
❏ Read ahead!!!
❏ Ask master teachers or
browse the PLC page
on the LMS for any
adjustments that can be
made
Grading - There is a lot!
❏ Have a system that
works for you
❏ Budget time and do
not get behind
❏ Be prepared to read
a lot of constructive
response
Grading - Weighted categories
❏ PLTW classes can be broken into:
❏
Projects
❏ Lab Reports
❏ Activities
❏ Homework
❏ Quizzes/Tests
❏ Career Journals
❏ Participation
Grading - Rubrics are your friends
❏ The LMS has a rubric creator
❏ Make standard rubrics for recurring
assignments
Grading - No Answer Keys Provided
❏ You will do many
assignments at training- keep
these as an answer key
❏ Most questions are
subjective, so multiple
answers are possible
❏ Troubleshoot ahead of time the
multiple ways that students can
answer/interpret a question
Grading - Providing Feedback
❏ Several opportunities when
digitally submitted
❏ voice comments after grading
❏ voice to text comments after
ing - Providing
Feedback
grading
❏ video comments after grading
❏ comments directly inserted in
student documents
❏ Make sure to evaluate the effectiveness of your feedback
selections
Grading - Student Sections
❏ LMS gradebook does
not link with other
gradebook software
❏ Creating student
sections in LMS makes
converting grades to district software easier
Grading - Avoid grading everything!
❏ Attempt to grade certain items as students
complete them
❏ Turn subjective questions into discussion
boards
❏ Group assignments with single submission
and possible peer assessment
Student Struggles - LMS
❏ Scavenger hunt at the beginning of the year
❏ Change the time zone
vs.
vs.
❏ Add an avatar pic
❏ Add email & text phone number
Student Struggles - Project Based
Learning
❏ Students are responsible for their own
learning through research
❏ The internet can be a great resource or can
be a bad resource
Student Struggles - APA citation
❏ Google docs auto citation
and EasyBib App
❏ Recruit help from media
specialists (librarians)
❏ Cross curricular assignments
with communication arts
teachers
❏ Easybib & Citationmachine websites
Student Struggles - Digital submission
❏ File attachment
❏ mac vs. pc compatibility issues
❏ slow submissions with some browsers
❏ Home computer issues
❏ Text Box
❏ Google Doc
❏ Cloud storage
❏ Only 1 submission per assignment
Student Struggles - Late work policy
❏ Make sure to stick to your late work policy
due to the tremendous amount of grading
❏ Strict policy
❏ More lenient policy
Student Struggles - cooperative
learning
❏ Much of the content is learned through
participation in activities
❏ Peer/group evaluations
❏ Be careful of “splitting the work”
Assessments
❏ You will have to generate your own
❏ PLC with other teachers
Assessments
❏ Utilize the LMS
❏ Ask for help
❏ Year long class
format might
require a first
semester final
exam
Administrative Responsibilities
❏ Advisory Committee
❏ Program Certification
❏ Site Visits
❏ Portfolios - student and teacher
❏ Clarify beforehand how much responsibility
is yours vs. district
HOSA or Other Program
❏ Required for PLTW certification
❏
community involvement
❏ competition
❏ field trips
❏ etc.
Networking Opportunity
● Jamie Jobe
o
o
o
Francis Howell High School
email: jamie.jobe@fhsdschools.org
twitter: @JobeFHHS
● Matthew Riffee
o
o
o
Francis Howell North High School
email: matthew.riffee@fhsdschools.org
twitter: @MrRiffeeTeacher