Hello there! My name is Liza Ovsiannikov. I’m currently 15 as you are reading this. I went to Foothill Elementary, Redwood Middle School, and am currently enrolled at Saratoga High. Last year I took MAP 9, french 1, drama 1, health/world geo, geometry, and biology. I don’t take PE since I have enough hours of extra curricular activities to do ISPE. School is definitely my highest priority currently, although I dance and play piano. When I first entered this room, I expected to receive lectures and take notes on cells, photosynthesis, and the human body in class. Well, in this class it’s a bit different.
You have something called the flip classroom. Basically, you take notes and receive lectures in the form of vodcasts at home, while in class you jump right into different labs and projects to do with the unit you are studying. Mr. Orre expects you to take notes on each vodcast, which is your homework along with textbook notes. Vodcasts and textbook notes take about 30 to 45 minutes. You keep this in your notebook, which will also contain a table of contents and several other pages Mr. Orre will require you to print out. When you first come into the classroom, he expects you to do the Do Now, which is usually a question you can answer if you did last night’s vodcast. For labs, you are expected to read procedures, complete the procedures, listen to instructions, write a write up, usually, and clean up correctly. Tests are multiple choice and have a collection of science jokes scattered around. You also have your own personal blog on blogger for science. You usually keep your lab write ups there, and other assignments. My personal favorite post on my blog is the pig dissection since it has an embedded video and is the most concise. My blog evolved throughout the year as more images were added, along with a slideshow and video, making each blog post more complex. I changed myself also. I gained better collaboration and time management skills.
Some of Mr. Orre’s pet peeves are talking over him, not cleaning up properly after a lab, and being an observer over a participant in labs. To earn a good grade, watch and take notes on the vodcasts and remember to study the big picture along with the small details. To earn good test grades, do not just read over the notes. Understand the big picture, and how everything during that unit connected to that. Now, so you don’t follow in my footsteps, do not make these mistakes, which I made. Number one, do not wait till the last day to take textbook notes and study. Number two, do not listen to music as you listen and take notes on a vodcast. Lastly, do not forget to submit your url to your blog post you have completed several days ago.
Overall, this class gives you a really solid understanding of biology. I found the vodcasts to take more time than they should, but the labs are really fun. Next year I’m taking chemistry honors since I have a general interest in science. To summarize, do the vodcasts, study smart, time manage, and do not talk over Mr. Orre.
- Liza Ovsiannikov
