Reply to My daughter is in honors Bio and has never had a real lab

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Reply to "My daughter is in honors Bio and has never had a real lab - all are simulated or online "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a science teacher I can think of a few reasons for no physical labs:

1. Not able to meet all accommodations (rare) or not enough para support.
2.  Too many students so exceed MSDE regs
3. “Lazy teacher”, but accurately a teacher not getting enough support or leadership.  [b]Ordering can be a pain in so many ways and the expectation that teachers should spend their own money and time to get materials is not realistic or sustainable even if there is paperwork for reimbursement[/b].  Just one missing item (material, tool, reagent, glassware) missing from one station means the lab cannot happen.
4.  Concerns about student behavior.  One or two out of control students who are not able to work independently without distracting others can be enough to dissuade a teacher from hands on lessons.
5.  Teachers who have health problems so need to focus on reliable lessons that can be done with a sub.
6.  Too many preps.  Once you get past two, labs can be a real pain to set up and put away through out the day.  Some schools have lab assistants to help with this.
7.  This is a big one right now:  student attendance!   If a lab is a major grade there is a need to make it up.  So, it points all prep on slow mode in terms of putting things away and moving on.  (Retake policies can create a similar issue).[/quote]

So true. I remember a few years ago when the new chem curriculum came out. The very well meaning teacher giving professional development was telling everyone where we could find the right types of soil to go dig up for our students to complete a lab. Literally, we could go out on our own time, drive our car up to the side of the road, and dig up some dirt from the side of the road in multiple locations to get the variety of soil types we needed. I did appreciate the trainer trying to help us out by providing the information. [/quote]

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