Inside the Classroom: Nick Escarsega - Steele ECHS
Inside the Classroom: Nick Escarsega - Steele ECHS
Inside the Classroom is a series that visits Northwest ISD campuses throughout the year and highlights the magical moments that happen between teachers and students each and every day across the entire 234 square miles of NISD.
“Science is everywhere. It doesn’t end when you walk out of the classroom.”
Those are the words of Nick Escarsega, science teacher at Steele Early College High School, as he wraps up a carnival-themed lesson for one of his Honors Physics classes. The latest edition of Inside the Classroom takes you to Mr. Escarsega’s class where students are smiling, laughing and playing games while observing Newton’s laws of motion.
A few weeks ago, Inside the Classroom visited Ruthie Keyes at Curtis Elementary who was utilizing Argument Driven Inquiry to teach force and motion to fifth-grade students. This week, Mr. Escarsega took the same ADI concepts and also applied them to force and motion lessons, but at the high school level.
As students entered Mr. Escarsega’s classroom, they completed a warm-up activity involving Newton’s laws. The three laws of motion are the basis of most lessons in a high school physics class, so it is vital that students fully understand them.
After Mr. Escarsega, an eighth-year teacher in his second year at Steele, talked through the warm up with his students, he explained how the rest of their 90 minutes in class were going to be structured. Around the room, he had six stations set up with carnival-type activities. Students had colored lanyards that split them into six groups, and they rotated through the six stations.
At each station, students read a set of instructions, played the game for a few minutes, then discussed as a group how that game demonstrated the three laws of motion. Finally, they needed to come to a consensus about which law was predominantly on display.
Stations included duck fishing, penny on a card, Plinko, bowling, darts and Jenga. Over the next hour, students rotated through the stations having lots of fun along the way. With carnival music playing softly in the background and science all around, the smiles and laughter spread throughout the room, especially when a Jenga tower took a tumble.
As Mr. Escarsega circled the room, students were actively engaged in their games and their discussions about Newton’s laws of motion. He would ask which laws they were observing and which they thought best explained the experience at each state, but he never muddied their opinions with his own.
A major component of ADI is for students to form their own opinions, and to later be able to support their opinions and challenge their peers' opinions, teaching them to see a problem through multiple lenses.
After finishing their rotation through the games, groups returned to their desks and completed ADI worksheets where they entered their findings and began to make claims and show evidence supporting their opinions. Mr. Escarsega again visited with each group to hear their arguments.
When students return to class later in the week, they will create posters (much like Ms. Keyes’ class did) so they can share their findings with the entire class. This is when other groups will challenge claims and the debate portion of the lesson will take place.
Until then, Mr. Escarsega says goodbye to every student with a smile. His positivity and love for science are infectious, and the Steele Stallions are certainly better for it.
Check back regularly all year as we continue to visit students and teachers throughout Northwest ISD and offer a rarely seen look Inside the Classroom.