Final Vision Statement

Final Vision Statement

An effective science classroom consists of many things including an enthusiastic teacher, engaging curriculum and a good learning environment. By having all three of these incorporated the students will be able to have an exemplary learning experience in my classroom. I want my students to want to come to school, and I would hope that they begin to love learning new and exciting things.  Allowing my students some freedom with their learning, they will not only be able to learn about what interests them, but they will ultimately have a more enjoyable experience in my class.

 In the beginning of the each unit or new section, I would like to pre- assess my students with discussions, probing questions and activities, or ungraded pretests. For example when looking at Batteries, bulbs and wires, we were given the opportunity to look at an experiment and take down our initial thoughts and ideas before we were asked to work on the experiment.  This gives me a chance to see what my students already know about the subjects and what I am going to have to focus on.  In an article called “Misconceptions Die Hard” by Joseph Stephens, Ronald Beiswenger, and Steven Dyche, there is a quote that made me think about my future students’ misconceptions, “Students will dress up a false idea in a new terminology rather than abandon it.”  This opened up my mind to the ideas that I am going to have to teach my students not to think. As humans, we all have misconceptions about everything, but getting rid of them is the difficult part. While creating a relationship with each of my students So along with the unit pre-assessments, I would like to have one in the beginning of the year that may help them remember what their science class was focused on in the previous year and help them remember all of the things that they had forgotten over the summer.

 “Shifting from Activitymania,” is a wonderful article that discusses the issues with teaching using just activities and promotes the use of inquiry based teaching in the science classroom. The article stated that, “In order to promote inquiry, teachers should clearly define conceptual goals and the relationships to students’ lives and interests prior to selecting classroom activities.” Involving my students lives in their learning, is truly the only way for them to relate and fully understand the topics. This idea will be one of the main goals I plan to refer to when I am considering the different activities and topics that I will choose from the curriculum.  Creating a classroom that almost solely inquiry based will be difficult to do with our current school system, but I truly believe that allowing the students’ ownership of their own learning is the most beneficial to them. As a teacher, I should be able to have the patience and flexibility to work with the questions that my students will ask me, even if they aren’t related to the topic. This can help me and the students create a more engaging and appropriate curriculum.  

The article, “Five Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks” by Joan Gilbert and Marleen Kotelma, is one article class that definitely inspired my aspects of future classroom. Having notebooks in all subjects including science will give me as the teacher insight into how my students are thinking and how they are learning the material that I teach them.  The article calls the notebooks “thinking tools” that allows them to express their thoughts and ideas, as well as giving them the opportunity to fully explain in a way the suits them best. Helping my students organize their thoughts in a way that we can both understand them will be a key component of my classroom. Not only do I want to use these notebooks in all of my classes, but I would really like to incorporate as much technology into my classroom as possible. Much of the technology that is available now offers new learning experiences for our students, especially in science. According to Krajcik on page 17, “Technology tools extend learning by helping students perform cognitive tasks.” They allow our students to further pursue and gain knowledge that no teacher would ever be able to teach them. Our world is going down a full technology path; why not introduce our students to them as early as we can.

Being a teacher is a tough job, while simultaneously being a complete honor. We give students a place to come to further their knowledge and inspire their future passions. My classroom will have a positive atmosphere and learning environment, where I hope my students will be able to thrive and succeed to their fullest potential. Supporting my students and encouraging them to push themselves, while keeping them engaged and hope they find a joy in learning is what I will strive to do as a teacher.

Teaching Reflection

The lesson I think went very well, definitely different from what I was expecting. There was definitely some lesson changes while we were there and in the moment of teaching. That I thought added to the experience. All of the changes that we made to our original lesson worked a lot better than the original lesson would have. I really do believe that the lesson was effective and that the kids took something away from it. The kids definitely met our learning performances. They asked great questions and really tried to learn what we were trying to teach them. They were able to stay engaged which was great and were a great class to work with. The student’s questions definitely led to a greater discussion. We ended up leaving our teacher density column in the classroom because they were curious about if it would separate or not. Our enacted lesson was different from our planned one, mostly because of time. The discussion was so good that it changed our time frame, which is never a bad thing. We went all the way to the end of class every time which was also a really good feeling. When some of the student’s density columns didn’t work, it caused new conversation about why it didn’t work and why some of the other groups didn’t. teaching science as inquiry is not only better for the students learning, but it is more fun for them and the teacher as well. Giving them the options to do what they want in order for them to figure out gives them ownership over their experiences and their learning. You definitely need to look at the actual lesson and make sure that it’s not too hard for them to figure out and that it’s not too messy. We definitely had an issue with mess, and if I had to change anything about the lesson I would only change the procedure for the second half of the lesson, the density column. We had a major spill at one of the tables and probably should have been walking around and monitoring what the kids were doing. I maybe put too much trust in them because they were in 6^th grade, but now I know not to do that!

School of the Wild

I had a ton of fun at School of the Wild. It was such a great experience, volunteering there on a regular basis would be great! I had so much fun working with the kids that were there and I got to work closely with two that were in my group. At first when I got there my specific group, the Wetlands, were still eating lunch and no where near the rest of the groups. I got to work with two other groups and did another one of our student's activities with them. We played a game that was a combination of Rock, Paper, Scissors and chase. Me and another student from our class were put on opposite teams and we were able to play against each other which the kids got a kick out of. It was great to see the competitive side of the kids come out and how important it was to them that they work together to try and beat the other team.

After I got to play the game with the first two groups, I was taken to my group down by the docks. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got to my group, and I wasn't sure what the activities were going to entail. The kids looked a little confused by me when i got there and it took a little time for them to get used to me. Right when I got there I was left with them by myself and my teacher instincts kicked in. They were told to be quiet since we were right by Spider Pond, which is where we spent all of our time. Spider pond is a small pond no deeper than three feet, that has ropes connected across the pond in the shape of a spider's web. I wasn't expecting to get into a canoe with the kids, but I was really happy that I got the opportunity to bond with two of the girls. Teaching middle school was my original plan, but I realized that when I work with kids that age I act more like a friend to them than an adult. I am so used to be a camp counselor and acting like a kid with them that it would be too hard for me to discipline them, when and if it was needed. I always connect with the girls instantly, and am harder on the boys. The boys were also messing around a lot more than the girls were, which is normal.

When we got to Spider Pond our main goal was to catch turtles. We didn't end up catching any, although it would have been cool too.  When I was out on the pond with the two girls we had to work as a team to move the canoe around the pond. The ropes that were around the pond were what we used instead of ores, because the pond was so shallow that we would have disturbed anything that lived there. While working with the girls it was nice to get to know them and talk to them about school and other aspects of their lives. I feel like School of the Wild not only uses hands on to get students to learn, but it uses the hands on activities to help the students learn about themselves and what they are capable of doing. It pushes the students to do things that they have never done before like canoeing or catching birds. Its a great experience and I wish more schools had the opportunity to do it.

Unfortunately I was not able to do my activity, there wasn't enough time. My activity wasn't very complicated and was more focused on observations and discussion. I wanted the students to pretend that the state of Iowa had hired them as wild life researchers to survey the area of the wetlands that they were visiting, aka Spider Pond. The state had special requirements for the researchers to look for, and I had a list of questions that they were supposed to follow and answer.

1. Locate and name two birds? What are they doing?
2. Locate and name two insects? What are they doing?
3. Locate and name two other animals? what are they doing?
4. What are ways we can protect these animals?

These questions were supposed to be looked at throughout the entire time I was there, and we were supposed to discuss the different things that they found while they were out on the water. The discussion would have taken place after we had gotten off the canoes, but unfortunately we didn't have time to do any of the activity.

Pendulum

What is your personal experience with swinging on anything like a trapeze?
The only thing I have real experience swinging on is swings, monkey bars, and I can't really think of anything else.

what applications to "real life" do swinging objects have?
Metronome, grandfather clocks, swings

what is your prediction about what will happen if two people are on one trapeze and only one is on the other and the one switches to the other?
I have two ideas about what will happen. I think that maybe when the one person switches to the other trapeze the now two person trapeze will slow down because of the added weight that is vertical of the swinging bar. Another option is that the added mass will add to the speed of the now two person trapeze and make it go faster and higher.

what understanding or ideas do you have about the science of back and forth swinging?
that the more mass pushing down on the object like a swing will produce a faster higher swing?

Predictions for Pendulum Experiment
I think that with less weight, which means less washers, the pendulum will move faster. The more the weight, the slower it would move.

Own Experiment: Changing the length of the string will result in less full swings. We still did four trials four each length.

20 cm and 4 washers- Average: 10.625 swings
25 cm and 4 washers- Average: 10 swings

We found out that the weight of the washers has no affect on how many full swings the pendulum has. What causes the change is the length of the string.


Quiz Question:
the swinging experience would be awkward. string length affects the amount of swings and if the strings are two different lengths the swing itself won't move forward and backwards. it would swing awkwardly and wobbly.

Batteries, Bulbs and Wires

Question: How many wires for one bulb and one battery do you need to light up the light bulb?
-two wires, one connected to each end cause you need both sides of the battery to make other electronics work.

Correct Answer: You only need one wire to light the light bulb. You have to have one end touching the bottom and the light bulb touching the battery and you have to have the wire touching the side of the bulb. As long as the circuit is complete the bulb will light, no matter how many wires and batteries you use.

Pink Lab:
Strengths: Gives the students ideas to try and to see if they can get them to work. It also gives them a chance explore their own ideas.
Weaknesses: It will be hard for the students to understand what a correct circuit setup consists of, and like us they might struggle with the descriptions that were given to them.

Yellow Lab:
Strengths: It is easily set up so that the students can figure out the correct set up of the circuits and what is supposed to go into each one.
Weaknesses: It resembles an Activitymania project, where there is no room for student exploration and only one answer is needed. Their is no inquiry in the process for the students to apply the concepts that they already know or have just learned.

Standard:
Physical Science: Content Standard B
- Light, Heat, Electricity and Magnetism

Benchmark:
Electricity in circuits can produce light. Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.

Learning Goal: 
Students will understand how and why a wire, battery and a light bulb is able to create an electrical circuit.

Learning Performance: 
When given diagrams with different forms of circuit layouts students will be able to decipher and create which ones will successfully light the light bulb.

BB&W Reading:
After reading the story about Ms. Stone's class, I realized that learning about electricity and circuits can be extremely boring to students. As she is teaching, all of the students are becoming restless, especially the ones that aren't actually working with the materials. In her lesson there was no room for inquiry from the students. They were given specific directions to follow, and definitions to focus on and write down. I do agree that students do need the major definitions for the topic, but she should have incorporated them into the lesson better than just putting them on the board for the students to copy. If Ms. Stone would have let the students play around with the materials, the students would have learned the topic in a more meaningful way. They would have been less restless and more excited about learning the material.

Lesson Plan:
When searching for lesson plan ideas it was hard to find any other way to teach that electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass. I would have taught it almost the exact same way as we did in class. I've only ever been taught that way, which is what makes it harder to figure out a new way to teach it.

To begin my lesson I would like to give my students a similar question to the one we used in class, but give diagrams that they can choose from that either show a working circuit or one that doesn't work. In a sense I would like to give my students a pre-assessment to see what they might already know about the electricity. This way I can better tailor my lesson to what the students want to learn or don't know yet. The question will mainly focus on "how do we make a full electrical circuit with a wire, a battery and a light bulb?" In this process we will have a class discussion about how students think that the light bulbs work with the wire and battery. I want some students to go to the board and draw an example of what they think a full circuit looks like and others to draw their ideas on the worksheet that they will be given. This will not only help them explain their ideas, but help me understand their thought processes. After we have discussed as a class, (every student would have a battery, wire and light bulb, and holders for both light bulb and battery ) I would like the students to try their own explanations and to record whether they worked or not. Then in their groups they would discuss what they think works and other ways, using all the materials that the students have, that they could figure out to get the light bulb(s) to light. I want to encourage the students to challenge themselves and try to use the least and most amount of materials to light the light bulbs. In the end we will have a classroom discussion about the correct way to get the light bulb to light, how a light bulb works (much like the explanation we had in class), and how many light bulbs they were able to light. I would ask the students individually to do a small free-write (drawing, etc.) in their Science journals about what they learned from the experiment and how they now understand electrical circuits. I would also encourage them to include questions about what they still don't understand. Then they will turn their journals in for me to look through and I will be able to bring answers to the questions that were most frequent and we can discuss them in the next class.

5-E Criteria	Part (s) of lesson that addresses this inquiry criterion	More teacher-directed or student-directed?  Explain.
Engage	Allowing the students to look at their own explanations, as well as, challenging themselves to create other circuits	Student-directed; they are working out their own ideas to see if they work before they are taught the correct way.
Evidence	Students are given a light bulb, battery, a wire and holders for both the bulb and battery and are encouraged to discover what it takes to light the bulb.	Student-direct at first; they are given the materials to find the answer out, then are given the answer after they have worked it through themselves.
Explain	They explain with the groups their findings and in a classroom discussion.	Student-directed and Teacher-directed; students give their own explanations based off of teacher questions
Evaluate	Students evaluate their findings by working with more materials and their groups to figure out what else works to light the bulb.	Student directed; they are evaluating as a group their findings by attempting to work with more materials
Communicate	They communicate in their science journals what they learned and what they still don’t understand.	Teacher-directed; they are answering to somewhat of a prompt.

Magnets

1. What are some real life applications of magnetism?

At garbage dump, when they are separating the metal from the non-metal (like in toy story 3); in certain screwdrivers; magnets on the refrigerator; clippy magnets

2. what experiences have you had with magnets in your life?

playing with magnets in class, using a magnetic screwdriver,

3. what ideas do you have about the science of magnets?

positive and negative attracts; positive and positive don't attract.

Standard B - Physical Science
- Light, Heat, Electricity and Magnetism

Benchmark : Magnets attract and repel each other and certain other kinds of other materials.





--If I was a teacher how would I help a student that is stressing or overwhelmed:

This past week was a very tough week for me. I had many things going on not just with school, but with my personal life that I let affect my school work. I am so thankful to have such understanding teachers and I hope to be that type of teacher to my students. I would expect most assignments such as this blog to be done on time like most teachers, but as teachers we need to understand that sometimes life takes a turn for the worst and is overwhelming for our students. If I had a student who was struggling in school because of things that are going on in their lives that they don't have control of, I would be as understanding as I possibly could. Students need to know that the classroom is a safe haven for them and that their teachers are a source of support that they can come to when issues arise. I truly feel that making myself available to my students in more than just the classroom is an important aspect of being a teacher. Things happen in life that nobody can control and we need to be as understanding as we can so that our students can succeed in not just our class, but in life as well. When things happen in my life, I pray that my teachers understand why I couldn't get homework done on time and many teachers don't, which is not only aggravating, but adds to the stress that is already there. I hope to be that one teacher that makes a difference in my students lives because I was understanding to their situations.

Activitymania

Before I started reading the article, I was thinking that this was going to be about ways to make activities apart of the curriculum. I wasn't expecting the title Activitymania to mean that there are packages of activities that teachers recieve that are able to teach science, but have nothing to do with one another. As I read more of the reading I discovered that the article was really about science as inquiry-based learning.  This picture below is from the article and I really liked the quote. I think that comparing science to the student's lives gives the students something to be interested about. It involves there lives and makes them want to learn and explore the different concepts.

 I like that the article gives ways to use the activities in the classroom and making them inquiry by giving questions that teachers should ask about the activities, so that the students understand the concepts as well as get to explore the concepts.  Another part of the article that I liked was the chart that explains the differences between activity and inquiry based learning. Before reading this article, I assumed that they were the same thing. But now I know that activity is shorter, can be pre-planned and has a definite answer. The section in the chart that discusses "Teacher Feelings" I thought was a great addition. It gives once again some idea of how i should feel as a teacher, while I'm teaching this to my kids.

Added:
- Activites aren't related
- just because the kids are having fun doing the activites doesn't mean they are learning everything that they are supposed to be.

Challenge Me

Before the class began, I was somewhat dreading teaching science. I like science, but was never very good at it and having to teach it was something I was worried about. As a result from watching the movies and doing the posters that we did in class, I feel that my thoughts about teaching science have changed in some way. I do feel like the way I was planning to teach any subject has changed. Through these activities, I am learning better ways to focus my lessons on the students and learning how the students are going to respond to me as a teacher. Getting the insight of how students think and how they are going to respond to the lessons is something that all teachers need, and something that I have been given in this class. I know that even though I'm not that great in science, teaching it won't be as hard as I expected. I know now that its okay to learn with my students, when I don't know about the subject.

I really liked the activity we did about the National Science Education Standards and I personally like them better then the Iowa Core Curriculum for science. Instead of splitting the different science subjects and giving them one standard to teach, having a list for all of them is a lot nicer. The standards make a lot of sense, and not only will I use them in science, but in other subjects as well. Science seems like a subject that is going to be a ton of fun to teach, because of the inquiry based teaching that is needed. I'm excited to watch my students learn and explore with science.

Teaching Standard D :)

Teachers of Science design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science.


Structure the time available so that students are able to engage in extended investigations.

Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.

Ensure a safe working environment.

Make the available science tools, materials, media, and technological resources accessible to students.

Identify and use resources outside of the school.

Engage students in designing the learning environment.

Iowa Core Curriculum Website

In my time in the TEP here at the University of Iowa I have been exposed to the website quite a bit. I actually really like this website. I like that they split up each grade and each subject into multiple sections. It makes things so much easier to navigate through.

As I looked through the science section, I noticed that it was a lot smaller than most of the other sections. I'm not sure what this means, but it seems like maybe Iowa is not focusing as much on science than the other subjects? I decided to focus on second grade, but when going through each separate subject of science there wasn't much to look at. Life science seemed to be the longest, so I picked that because it had more to look at. After reading each of the essential concepts, I really thought that the ones they had chosen fit well with the age group. Many of the concepts if taught correctly could be a ton of fun for kids to learn. One idea I had was when teaching the life cycles, having the entire class act out the life cycle. It's a fun way to get the kids moving and learning through experience.

MOSART Website

I wasn't sure what I was going to get as I registered for this website. Normally when you have to register for a site there is some sort of money involved, but I figured since it was for class that wasn't the case. When the website fully opened I was a little confused as to what exactly I was supposed to do, so I basically clicked on a bunch of links to see where it would take me. When I finally found my way to the tutorials, I was not ready to sit for 45 minutes to read a website. I was pleasantly surprised that most of the tutorials until the last one consisted of a short video. As a visual learner it was easier for me to sit down and watch some short videos with light reading, than having to sit and read off of my computer which is not something I like doing. One thing that I liked that every tutorial did was ask us a question. It was like they were giving us a pre-test on the information we were going to learn and that got my thinking jump-started.

The first tutorial explains what a misconception actually is and the video that goes with it I found very interesting. When one student was explaining what she thought the shape of the heart, she explained that she thought it was like a traditional Valentine's Day heart, but after learning about it in class changed her misconception. I also found it interesting that some of the students knew more than the teacher had taught them and had learned it from their older siblings. Being the oldest in my family, I forgot how much of an impact I had on what my brother was learning.

The second tutorial explains that the test is different from every other assessment exams because they include questions from every level, including questions that exceed the level of the students. This is probably one of the smartest ideas for assessing your students. Why would teachers have exams that only focus on one of the three different sections in the Continuum of Understanding as MOSART puts it. It makes more sense to test everyone at every level to get true results, so that as teachers we can correctly teach the things our students are struggling with.

The third tutorial was based on how teachers should use the tests within there classroom, to promote learning and to help correct some of the misconceptions that the students may have. I like that the website gives reasons for why the test is constructed the way it is and that the tests are able to determine the whether misconceptions exist among the students. I thought the idea of pre and post testing with parallel exams was also a great idea because it helps the teacher determine how well the students actually absorbed the material.

The fourth tutorial, I am not a fan of, was about how to interpret the tests after you give them. It has nothing to do with the material because that part is exceptional. I just don't like reading on my computer. I actually liked the information that this tutorial specifically talked about. It gave a ton of graphs and tables with example information about how the different classes compared to each other based on the test. This tutorial, although the worst one to read, was probably more beneficial than the others.  By giving teachers the most ways to use the tests to not only our advantage, but the students as well.

This website I think is one of those that I will make sure to keep in my bookmarks and one that I will probably use as a teacher. Are there any other tests like this for other subjects?

Keely Reading

This reading was a great way to show us how to correctly assess our classrooms. I really liked that this reading gave definitions for a some of the words. Its hard to read articles in classes sometimes, when I have no idea what have of the terms mean. This is one of the more insightful readings that I have had to read since being in the program. It gave me ways to bring up assessments, what the best ways are to assess my students which will ultimately help me be a better teacher. I also liked how the article gave examples and tables as well. It gave me a visual to look at which helps me learn. The section on probes was also very interesting. I had never heard of them before and now looking back I remember some teachers using them. This is also one of the readings that is not only talking about science, but it is helpful for all subjects. Being able to correctly assess my students will not only benefit me, but it will benefit my students. It gives me an idea about what my students are thinking about and what they want to know or already know.

Sweater Reading

I found this reading to be extremely interesting. It showed me how learning can change simply just by how the teacher begins a lesson on any subject. The way Debbie O'Brien taught her students was extremely different from the experience that I had when I was in fourth grade. We were only taught based on what the book told us, instead of being taught based on what we wanted to learn about or what our own perceptions of topics. A quote from the reading that caught my attention was, "Experience, that most deceptive of teachers, had to be met head on." I found this quote to be extremely true. I have never had a teacher use their students experiences to help teach a lesson. It is such a great way to get the students to learn something but, in their own way. The sweater experiment was a great way to get the students curious about heat and to see the way the kids thought about the sweater was really interesting. Using this form of teaching in my classroom will not only work for science, but for social studies as well. I like that I'm learning ways to teach all subjects and not just science. It is extremely helpful  for me to get multiple teaching examples for all different subjects. I also found it interesting that the children never changed their stance on how the sweater should make the temperature on the thermometer change. That gives me insight to how my own students will think about certain topics and that they will never give up on their own perceptions. My teaching will solely be about the students learning and will be inquiry based.

Private Universe

1. How the phases of the moon occur?
The positioning of the earth and the moon, where certain parts of the moon are shadowed and unseen.

2. What causes the seasons?
The orbit of the earth through out the year. When its summer in America we are getting more direct light and we are tilted towards the sun and in the winter we are tilted away from the sun and getting more indirect light.

3. What causes a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is when the moons orbit comes to a position where the moon covers the sun and the sky goes dark, and the sun shines from behind the moon.

Piaget and Vygotsky reading

This reading I found to be extremely helpful to me. It reminded me a lot of my Education Psychology and Measurement class because it talked about Vygotsky and Piaget which are always really interesting to read about. Every time I read about the two of them I always try to decide which I agree with more, but it’s hard because they do have some similarities between them. I liked that the article used vocabulary words and defined them along the sides. It helped me as I read to have the definitions, since it’s been a long time since I’ve used the terms. I also really liked how they gave real life situations and experiments, it put most of the concepts into a situation that jogged my memory and made it easier for me to understand better. Piaget’s stages were combined with Vygotsky’s social constructivism, I think that they would work well together.

Krajcik

There were many parts of this reading I fully agreed with. One is with the Scaffolding method of teaching, I wish my teachers taught me like that when I was in elementary school. The definition of this method is exactly what teaching should be like in the primary grades up until the students are able to be independent, which can be different depending on the student. Scaffolding seems to show a way for teachers to teach the students until they fully understand, and then back off so the students can explore the concepts themselves in a way that makes sense to them. The reading also mentions that students must relate to the concept in some way that is outside of school. I always asked my teachers, in every subject, why I had to learn it.  Especially when I didn't understand what I was supposed to learn. For example geometry, I to this day still don't understand why I needed to learn proofs when they have nothing to do with my life. When students don't understand concepts, connecting them to a real life experience that they may have had can help them understand. My physics teacher did that a lot and it helped our class understand why we were learning it. Another point the reading brought up, was visual learning and the importance of the student being able to look, feel and perform the experiment themselves. This point made me think of all the specific things I remember from science, and they were all the experiments that were hands on and visual. I like how in our class we are learning how to use new technologies with the iPads and Dropbox. The very last page of the reading it mentions technology in the classroom, which is something that as teachers we should expose our students to as much as we can. Technology is an important part of our lives and could definitely help our students succeed. 

Misconceptions

I actually found this article super interesting because it not only talked about the elementary students, but students at all levels. I think its sad that most college students don't really remember much about their elementary science education. In my personal experiences with science, I remember mostly from high school and how unhelpful my teachers were. Instead of focusing on teaching both the concepts and vocabulary, my teachers taught us as fast as they could and didn't really care if we remembered the information after we took the final. This article makes a great point when they say that we as students pretend to know what we are talking about by using the terminology, when in fact most of us are just using it to sound smart. The experiment that was done on the students shows that at all ages there is mostly partial understanding of concepts, which I didn't doubt at all. If I would be completely honest, there are many science concepts that I think I kind of know, but I really have no idea what I'm talking about. Teachers should be making sure that every year the students are remembering what they were taught the year before. The summer does a lot of damage to what we learn in school, and by pre-testing all of the students at the beginning of each lesson could help them remember or clarify their understanding of certain topics. Another way to get students to understand more is to make them use the text books and then have a visual of what they read in the text book. Repetition for students is key, well in my experience as a student it is. I really liked this article it brought up a great point, and made me think of ways to be a better teacher. 

Five Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks

While reading the article Five Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks, I found that I before I read it I thought of some of the reasons they gave, particularly the second reason. I found it funny that it was the first thing that popped into my head. Notebooks give us as teachers a way to learn the deepest thoughts of our students. It opens up a new world of ideas that even we may have never thought before. It helps us understand what the kids want to learn and what they are interested in, rather than the teacher leading the discussions.

The third reason I also found interesting. I remember when I was in elementary school and my teachers, not only in science, used notebooks to clarify our thoughts. When students talk out loud, sometimes their thoughts can get jumbled and not make much sense, but when they are told to write down their thoughts it helps clarify what they really mean. In many classes we used notebooks that every day at the end of class we turned in. I now understand why my teachers did that. Not only does it help them by giving then ideas about what the students wanted to learn, but it helps them understand all of the thoughts that we want to get out in a clear way. Writing also has the ability to help students who are shy open up and get their good ideas to the teacher.

I really enjoyed this article and the helpful tips that it gave for teachers. I plan on using notebooks in my classroom, but not just for science. I think that it is a great tool for teachers to use to get into the deepest thoughts of our students without them even realizing it. It’s extremely helpful and can teach not only the kids, but the teachers as well. 

Initial Vision Statement

            I may not have been very good at the math portion of the subject, but I loved learning about biology and the human body. I don’t really remember a lot of science from elementary school other than dissecting frogs, which in fourth grade I thought was the absolute coolest thing ever. Even in high school I loved dissecting in class, and learning about the body in a visual way. My senior year of high school we did the best dissection by far, a cat. Not only did we dissect the cat once, but the entire semester we dissected the same cat.  Knowing how much I loved dissecting, you would guess I was the main dissector in my group. We had to find bones and the organs, and we even had to look at the frontal lobe of the brain. I chiseled that cats skull for multiple class periods, until I finally got to the brain. The brain is probably the grossest looking, but the coolest to think about. It was a huge accomplishment for me that nobody in my group got to feel because they were too scared to dissect.

            I really believe that for science to be fun the students need to get involved in the experiments. The only part of science I remember was the few really cool experiments, that the teachers engaged all of the students in. the three I remember most were egg wars, hatching chicks and dissecting. I only remember those because they were the most fun and engaging. Of course students need to learn chemistry and physics, which aren’t my favorites, but when teachers are there to help and aren’t ignoring their students it makes learning those harder subjects a whole lot easier. I hope to teach science in the most fun way I can, since that was the way I remembered science. At times lectures are needed, but I hope to add as many visual aspects as I can to those lectures. To be most effective, I want to make sure that I am fully available to my students whenever they need help, which in elementary school that will most likely happen a lot.  By making myself available and making learning the subject as fun as I can, I’m hoping the students will love the subject just as much as I did.