End of the Year

It's that time of year again- summer is almost here! There is only one week left of this science methods course and there is so much to do! There is still a final based on a plethora of things and an eFolio which is an online portfolio filled with assignments we were told to do throughout the semester...and then some. Our class had to submit things into our "moodle" program and then wait for our professor to grade them. That rarely happened. If the professor was to grade things in a timely fashion, I might have had the time to fix the assignments I did poorly on and successfully add them to my eFolio. Since this didn't happen, I have called out of work twice and skipped school just to finish the eFolio. On top of that, I have to present it. I don't see why we need to present something that isn't finished. Who knows when I'm going to get to that final...

Goodbye, students!

My science class has finally left the elementary school. There is no more teaching to be done there; fieldwork is over. It was a great experience though. I learned a lot about how to teach science as well as how to learn it. The key ingredients to teaching science are 'inquiry' and 'engagement.' When my group taught the whole class by ourselves, we used inquiry to capture their attention. We did this by asking multiple questions to get them thinking about chemical changes. We also played a video for them which was engaging. The video was a great way to engage the class because it was all about chemical changes so they got to see things explode. To their disappointment however, we didn't blow anything up. It was bitter sweet to leave them on Friday. I was going to miss the students but I left with a lot of knowledge about teaching science.

5th Grade Fieldwork

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.  -Author Unknown

For the past week our science class has been helping teach a group of 5th graders at the elementary school on campus. We have been observing and assisting them with various experiments and lessons their teacher assigns. I have noticed lately how independent they really are. The last experiment we did involved constructing a boat out of either clay or tin foil. After the boat was constructed, they put as many pennies in the boat until it sunk. My student was very self-sufficient throughout the experiment and really did not have any questions. I tried to get involved by asking him to predict how many pennies his boat could hold and I also helped him record the dimensions of his boat but he wanted to do everything himself. I guess at 5th grade they are beginning to become independent. 

Full Moon

Last night was the biggest full moon in 18 years! I read on the internet that this moon was going to be huge but I did not believe it until I saw it. It was so big and bright that I didn't need a flashlight to walk outside. The street lights didn't need to be on either. You could see for miles as if it were day time because it was so big and bright. I look forward to the next time the moon is this big!

Sprouting

Today I was thinking about the lettuce seeds we planted in our science corner. Since it is spring break, no one has had a chance to look how far the seeds have come. I am not sure if they have even sprouted or not. I am worried that they have not sprouted because they have not had any water or sunlight. These are key ingredients for plant growth. Tomorrow my class is back in session and I will observe the lettuce seeds for the first time in a week. Hopefully they are sprouting and are on their way to becoming lettuce!

Spring Break

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, 

you gotta put up with the rain." - Dolly Parton

It has rained every day during my spring break. So much that roads are flooded and some people cannot even get into their houses. Many places in New Jersey have been evacuated because of the floods. There are images on the news of people getting around their towns in row boats! Tonights forecast says to expect a total of 5 inches of rain! My neighbors backyard is already turning into a lake. I couldn't even imagine 5 more inches. Next week however, they are saying it will be warmer and just cloudy. I do not want any more rain!

MicroTeaching

For the past week, we have been taking turns Micro Teaching in class. It is a really good learning and teaching technique. I really believe that this strategy will help me prepare to be a teacher. It is really interesting to see what some of the other students in the class come up with. All of the topics so far have been very interesting and engaging. Everything was taught from a KWL Chart to mammals. A live chinchilla was even brought in! I'm not sure what my topic is just yet but I hope that my partner and I will come together and have an engaging and fun lesson for our peers. 

For those who don't know what exactly Micro Teaching is, it's a process (like shown in the picture above). First, a lesson is taught. It doesn't have to necessarily be a full lesson but it could be a strategy or even just trying to activate the prior knowledge of the students. Once it is shared with others, they are supposed to try it on a student themselves. This will show them how the strategy really works. Sometimes there could be a wonderful outcome, but sometimes it doesn't work out the way it was planned. The last step to Micro Teaching is to get feedback. Someone should be able to tell you if your lesson was captivating or boring. Not only should they tell you what you did wrong, but it is also nice to hear what was done right. 

I've done Micro Teaching many times but never for a science class. My first time will be on March 23rd and I am very excited about it!

Mysterious Cloud

Today, February 12, 2011, I was driving to Middletown, NY and I saw a cloud in the sky. This doesn't sound very out of the ordinary but the cloud was very mysterious looking. It looked as though it was snowing or raining just out of this particular cloud. I just had to take a picture of it!

I'm not sure what area this cloud was over but I was  hoping it was Middletown because it was in the general direction. When I got to Middletown, it wasn't snowing or raining and I didn't see the cloud anymore. I'm not sure if the cloud had anything to do with snow or rain but it sure looked like it. I hope I see a cloud like this again and maybe I will try to find out more about it.

To Be Engaging or Not to Be...

An experienced teacher once said “No matter how patiently I explain things to my students and no matter how often I repeat the explanations, I cannot learn for them.” Students have to want to learn. It is the teacher's job to engage them in the lesson. Engaging a student is critical because it captures their attention. If a teacher doesn't have their attention to begin with then they won't learn no matter how many lectures are given. This happens to many teachers. It's not always easy to come up with a fun and creative lesson but it is a key component in a lesson. 

Another thing that happens quite frequently is when students memorize facts rather than learning them. This leads to papers, quizzes, projects, and tests all completed without the student knowing anything. Students sometimes just write what the teacher has said or showed them. This doesn't mean that they understood the concept. An engaging hook can prevent this. I know that students do this from experience. I am personally not very good at math and science yet I can pass a test with flying colors. Not because I know the material, but because I have memorized the formulas and the facts. If you were to ask me something about chemistry (which I took a class in three years ago) I would have no idea what you were talking about. Yet I passed the class with a B+. Because I have a personal experience with this, I will make myself consciously aware about engaging my students when I am a teacher. 

Mr. Wilson in the story "Icicles" written in Janice Koch's book "Science Stories," is one of the teachers who I aspire to be like. He took the time during his class's experiment to let the students explore their mistakes. This is a very successful method because everyone can learn from mistakes. And yes, the students did learn. They didn't just memorize the correct formulas or answers and Mr. Wilson did not simply give them the correct answers. Exploring can help students learn. If Mr. Wilson had not let the students explore they would have either not understood the experiment or they would have remembered the factual aspects of the experiment and put them on paper. It would have meant that the students didn't learn. 

Like Mr. Wilson's icicles, there are plenty of aspects in nature a teacher can share with their students. A simple rock has many scientific elements. They go through many stages and can change appearances. Other things like a plant for photosynthesis can be brought it. Students love when a real example is shown. It helps them connect a fact to every day life. Simply lecturing about photosynthesis could be boring but if a plant was shown and there was a live example, the students might pay attention more. I'm sure in the future I will be bringing in real examples. 

Science in Nature

"Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's 

most beautiful gift." - Albert Einstein 

The weather in Orange County, New York has been a little unpredictable lately. It snows about every week! The month of January has gone on the record as having the most snowfall in a single month. I have noticed something a little peculiar though. The night before it snows, the sky is an orange color. It's actually pretty bright too. I would like to find out more about this. I'm not sure what causes it. I think it has something to do with the clouds. I will definitely look more into it. 

Becoming a Scientist

Everyone has a "scientific self" as Janice Koch explained in chapter two of Scientific Stories. My translation of this phrase is that everyone can find an interest in some area of science. It could be anything ranging from astronomy to biology to physics. Personally, I find my scientific self in astrology. I love that scientists can come up with predictions for mankind based on the solar system. I am very intrigued by it. I get my love of astrology from my dad. I never had a teacher explain the stars and planets the way he did. He would always take me outside and tell stories about the stars. We would also look through a telescope all of the time. 

I had a notion of what a scientist was supposed to be when I was that little. I would always see movies with a crazy scientist with frizzy white hair who would blow everything up. The scientist is usually an older white male as well. I still have that picture in my head to this day and I'm sure many other people do too. The way scientists are portrayed in movies and on television is completely stereotyped and wrong. There are plenty of scientists that do not fit the usual description though. For instance, Marie Curie and Jane Goodall are two very well known scientists. Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize and discovered the elements Radium and Polonium. Jane Goodall is best known for her scientific work the chimpanzees. Not many would think of this type of work as being a scientific but that's because of the stereotype. 

Like Jane Goodall, there are many ways to bring science to nature. Simple things can be done like taking a walk in the park or the woods. Other things include driving in the snow or the rain. The weather affects many things in life. You just have to make sure you stop and look at what's going on around you. 

Teaching Science

After reading the first chapter of Science Stories by Janice Koch, I have started to think about my role as a elementary science teacher. Both the teacher and the student need to be open minded. This is important because everyone views science differently. They also exhibit scientific thinking differently. It is also important for teachers and students to work collaboratively. Working in groups is a great way to learn. For students, they get to hear opinions and observations from their peers. Not only is it fun for them to work with friends but working together develops team work. 

As I thought about working in teams, I remembered in fourth grade when I had to work on a project with my dad. We had to invent a compact machine that could be used in every day life. My dad and I unfortunately read the directions wrong. We ended up building what looked like a ski lift. The only problem with that was the ski lift had already been invented! This was a significant misconception. It showed the importance of reading directions. I ended up getting a bad grade on the project but I learned a valuable lesson. I have always read the directions to papers and assignments handed to me after that. This will be one of the first lessons I teach my students when I become a teacher. 

Not only is learning to read directions important but being able to recite and demonstrate what is learned is as well. Being able to do a science problem or an experiment is one thing but being able to explain it to someone shows that something was comprehended. Demonstrating a problem or an experiment is the next step. One way a teacher would demonstrate something is by using technology. There are many websites that contain educational games or videos. These are used to captivate students and they find it very enjoyable. When a student is learning something they have fun with they will remember more and understand more. 

I'm sure as I read further into Jane Koch's book I will understand how to make science lessons fun for students. I am looking forward to what I learn in chapter 2.