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About the cycle of alligators

It is the result of my ongoing inquiry into questions beginning with: how can I reach my underperforming students? Then: how can I build community and make personal connections with my students? How can I engage their interest? How can I create a community of scientists in the classroom, and what happens to student understanding of scientific concepts as a result?

The idea behind the cycle of alligators is that there are certain conditions that need to exist before students can learn science.

The cycle begins with developing community and personal connection in the classroom so that students feel valued as individuals. Then it turns, to include materials, tools, and content that engage the interest of students, and that tap into their curiosity about the world around them. Once students feel a part of a community, once they are interested in an experiment, then the conditions exist where students can have a genuine discussion, about some question in science. Even an argument. When students have experienced the fun of an intellectual discussion, they sometimes begin to seek out and practice this kind of discourse. These elements lead to increased understanding resulting in student explanations and questions of increased depth and sophistication. The next turn of the cycle involves deepening the community, the engagement, the discussion, and the explanations and questions. That's the idea. Sometimes, it works.

These four elements are shown in the cycle, and then listed in shortened form on the left so you can access them from each page of the site. There are five more alligators on the list. These five describe other parts of this work.

* Why alligators? Alligators are fun and scary, like middle school.