... IF they know what to do!
All science teachers know the struggles we face when we take
the students to the lab. There are
many! But the one I want to address here
is lab cleanup. We have precious few
minutes between one class leaving the lab and the next class entering the
lab. It is imperative that our students
in one class leave a clean and orderly lab station for the students in the next
class.
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My personal experience is that students do not “see” the
mess they leave behind. My students, for
the most part, are good citizens, and they will try to carry out my
instructions. As the class nears the end
of the period, they hear me say, “We are almost out of time…. Start cleaning up
your lab area.” But if I am not more specific in my directions, this lab class will not end well.
In the frenzy of the last
few minutes before the bell, my students make an honest attempt at cleaning
their lab station, but their idea of clean, and my idea of clean are not the
same! I want all of the paper towels in
the garbage. I want the lab station
clean and dry. I want the supplies to be
in a certain order. Etc!!
What I have discovered in my many years of teaching is that
students need very specific instructions.
When I tell my class that “it is time to clean up”, the instruction is
too vague. The student wonders, “What
does she want me to do?” They look at their lab station and they think it looks fine. This is the nature of the teen age brain. They have the wonderful ability to see only what they want to see!
My solution is The Student Cleanup Checklist. I have made a set of task cards that have a
specific instruction on each. For each
lab, I select the cards that are applicable for the particular lab. The cards go on a ring, and a set of cleanup
instructions is left at every lab station.
As the class period ends, I have trained my students to flip through the
cards on the ring, and carry out all instructions. This has been a lifesaver for me. These are still kids, and they are still
going to miss a piece of paper on the floor, but with my specific instruction
cards, life around my lab is much improved.
The students do a much better job cleaning their area, and I have less
stress as the next class is entering the room.
A few tips:
- Make sure that you laminate the instruction cards. The lab is a wet place, and the cards will not last long if they are not laminated.
- Once laminated, the cards will last for years.
- Punch a hole in the corner of each card and place the cards on a ring. I purchase packages of rings at my local Office Depot.
- Select cards that are appropriate for the lab of the day, then place the cards at each lab station.
- You can also post the appropriate cleanup cards on the board or other prominent spot in the lab. Always post them in the same spot so that students will learn the procedure.
