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.
I agree that in order for science to be fun for students that they need to be involved in the experiments. I also agree with you that I only remember the things that we did hands on things that engaged all of the students. I believe that students learn more when they are having fun. Pounding the books and soaking them in lecture can be negative towards their learning and can turn them off of science. Adding visual aspects is very important in order to keep the children interested in what you are talking about in lecture. Being available when the students need you is also something important that I believe a lot of teachers don't understand.
ReplyDeleteCan we make chem and physics interesting? Does it have to be fun to learn? The assignment was: For this assignment, I would like for you to tell me about your experience in science education, positive and/or negative. Additionally, I would like you to articulate what you believe are the major components of a quality science education. How do you anticipate teaching science in your own classroom? How will you make it the most effective for your students?
ReplyDeleteYou did a lot of telling me about your past but a little less on the reflection of your own classroom. I'd like to see more about what you will do differently.