Last day of class

Becoming a teacher of science!






Becoming a teacher of science!!!

Throughout Science methods, I have learned a lot about myself and teaching science. At the beginning of the semester, I was nervous about all the work that was being given to us. I have learned a lot about science and how to be the best teacher of science. One important thing I learned was to make science engaging and the students should be their own teachers. I also learned how important reflections and feedback are. In many classes, you do not receive feedback from your peers so it was great to hear the positives and the needs to work on. Improvements can be made through reflections and can make me a better teacher. I also became a semi-professional with technology. I had to use many different websites and tools that I was not comfortable with at first, but they all showed me new and exciting resources that can be used in the future. I have made so many great friends in this class that will one day be amazing teachers! They have taught me a lot. This class was definitely a long journey but in the end, it was rewarding. I cannot believe how far I have come over this semester. I am always excited to start a new journey. In January I am on to my last methods course, WOOHOO!

Making Thinking Visible

Making Thinking Visible for students
Research article review 

                    The article, Making Thinking Visible presented a lot of great information about inquiry lessons and the ways to teach science. The article explains that as teachers we should be teaching science by creating hands-on activities for the students which would aid their learning process of science materials. The articles main focus is making writing visible. Using writing in science can show what students are thinking by writing it down. The article states that hands-on activities are great, but writing the students thinking down can achieve so much more. This was interesting to hear because I did not think about it in that way. You think about writing for other subjects but not for science. 

                    I made this selection because the article title sounded interesting, then when I read the article I found out so much more. According to Miller and Calfee (2004), "the CORE Model was originally developed as a representation of the manner in which reading and writing can be linked and reinforcing to each other; we saw possibilities to extend this model to experiential learning (such as science inquiry)". The article then explains what each phase consist of and what needs to be completed in that phase. This article can help with teaching science because it gives you steps on what to do to make thinking visible in the classroom. They give information on each topic and present pictures throughout the article for examples of what to do. It is helpful to have visuals when learning something new, especially with being a new teacher. All of the articles in the folder were truly helpful and very intriguing. They are resources that will be helpful as a teacher to have for the future. 

In-class presentations

In-Class Presentations:

Each group presented a topic of Earth science that every person was not comfortable with. We were paired off with different classmates that we have not worked with yet. It was nice to work with someone different and to learn different tools they have and my new partner taught me a lot. I also learned a lot about my topic oceans that I was not aware of. The first presentation was the Earth layers. It was engaging and had all the important information that a student would remember. The video used was fun and exciting and is a good way to remember information. Students love when teachers use tools like this to teach subject areas. I thought it went well when my partner and I presented. Many of the classmates had interesting questions to ask about the Oceans. Also, the information was facts classmates did not know. The next presentation was fossils. It was completed by a group of three. They had a really great activity. With the use of play dough, leaves and small dinosaur toys the teachers guided us to create different types of fossils based on the materials we had. I loved this activity because the students can really understand what the fossil is by creating one themselves. It is so engaging! I also liked quizizz, I was not aware of this resource and is similar to Kahoot but enjoyed this version better. I really liked the use of padlet, it allowed students to answer a question and their responses were visible right away. The next presentation was on weather tools and instruments. This presentation had a lot of great information. I like that all the task were put in links on the presentation so the students can click and know exactly what they should be completing. The final presentation was soil formation. The teacher presented the information in a different format and was able to see the different part of the inquiry model and each part of the presentation that links with the 5E's. Overall, everyone's presentations were great and all the information was interesting and intriguing! 

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Experiences at fieldwork

Reflecting on Fieldwork at Bishop Dunn

Throughout October and November, we completed fieldwork at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. I have never completed fieldwork at Bishop Dunn before. It was a very different experienced compared to my other fieldwork placements. My experience at the new school was enjoyable and helpful for learning how to teach science. We taught many different grades during our lessons. The grades ranged from first through seventh. We had to make sure our lessons were tailored to meet the needs of all students in the class. Even though it was an after-school program it still taught me how to be the best teacher and things that need to be worked on. Teaching science is very different compared to my other methods classes. Science needs to be engaging and exciting for the students. I learned how to create inquiry lessons and the requirements for those types of lessons. The lessons created were also very different compared to other fieldwork placements. I usually work with a student one on one and create lessons on my own. In this class, we were able to collaborate with two other classmates to create our lessons. It was interesting to learn and use collaboration since I am in another class that is all about collaboration. I was able to use my knowledge from that class to make the collaboration process the best for my partners and me. Creating lessons takes a lot of time and effort to meet the requirements and to make sure the lesson will run smoothly. I have created many science lessons and now I feel prepared to create them on my own and in the future. I was so nervous to teach science because it can be intimidating at times and overwhelming. I learned how to make it fun and simple for students while teaching them all I need to. I was lucky to work with two great partners who were easy to work with and were very organized. 

After teaching our lesson, I learned many different things that need to be a part of during my future fieldwork lessons. I learned that behavior management is important to review with the students beforehand so they stay on task. I learned how to incorporate different technology into the lessons. I learned how to use Powtoon and Peardeck. They are both creative resources to make learning more fun and engaging. All of my classmates did a great job presenting their information and teaching their lessons. I learned new things from them about their topics and different ways for students to create and present information. I got to observed to know what students enjoyed doing and what they did not. Being at Bishop Dunn helped me become a better teacher of science and taught me new things about myself as a future teacher.

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 7-9:

Chapter 7: Integrating Science and Engineering 
Teaching science involves aligning your lessons with next-generation science standards. Science/engineering and language arts can be used altogether during lessons. You can seek connections with language arts to science lessons. Science/engineering can be incorporated into mathematics. Based on the standards of both math and language arts you can use both in your science lesson and make the lesson even more intriguing.  Science/engineering can also be incorporated into social studies lesson, art and music and health and physical education. Teaching your students that science can be incorporated into all subjects can change their perception of science. Science becomes more interesting when it can be used in many different subjects and lessons. 

Chapter 8: Using Technology to Enhance Science Learning
Technology is taking over the world. Many students and children know how to use technology before the age of 3, I've seen it countless times. It is important as an educator to learn how to use technology in your classroom. Technology is familiar to children and has become a part of their life. Technology can enhance lessons. Technology can help students to learn more about a topic with further researching. There are different apps on the computer that can engage students and enhance their science experience. 

Chapter 9: Adapting the Science Curriculum 
Students from all different background will be learning in your classroom. There can be students who speak little to no English and can not read the language either. As a teacher, you need to accommodate the students to help them learn. For science, you can get reading materials for non-English speakers. As a teacher, you need to foster parent/classroom science connections. Get the parents involved and explain to them what is going to be done in the classroom and how science is going to be taught. Letters can be sent home in the home language or a translator can be used. 

"Children with disabilities need to learn the same things as other children, but they may need to learn these things in different ways or at different rates". 

Differentiated instruction is important because not all students learn the same way. Universal design for learning incorporates multiple learning modalities. Accommodations and modifications will need to be made for students depending on their IEP or support needs. Every student should have an exciting and engaging science school experience. 

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 5-6

Chapter 5: Strategies and QuickChecks
For science to be engaging and exciting for students the teacher needs to create a space that is inviting and able to complete science task in. Creating an atmosphere for excitement for science. You need a space for the young scientist to be able to explore. Having discovery stations in your classroom is another science tip given in the book. These stations are learning stations that allow students to make their own discoveries. Adding some life to the classroom was another topic. Students love have something they need to take care of and watch grow. Having a class pet can bring life to the room. It can be anything from insects to fish. As a teacher, you need to provide clear directions. Students who do not understand what is going on can not grow and will get themselves in trouble. The classroom needs to have "science talk". Using science words during a lesson, the students will begin to use those words in their vocabulary.

Chapter 6: Assessment of Understanding and Inquiry
Assessments occur throughout the year. Assessments refer to the wide variety of methods or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of students. There are two different assessments, formative and summative. Formative is used to assist learning. Summative answers questions "like what did the student learn"?. There is also performance assessment. This assessment is based on observations of students as they demonstrate a specific task or problem-solving skill. The teacher should have portfolios are a collection of students work representing the best the student can do. 

Group 4: Inquiry

Group 4: Results of Climate Change and Wild Weather: Inquiry Lesson

The teachers did a great job on their inquiry lesson. The students enjoyed the projects the teachers created. Below are my comments on the lesson and the different parts of the lesson.

Parts of the lesson	What did the teacher do? How was the inquiry process facilitated?	My comments
Engage/Introduction Did teacher pre-assess content and inquiry skills? How was the problem introduced?	Powtoon introducing the topic of the lesson and what the student will need to create	-Was quickly explained to the students, maybe could have slowed it down
Explore/Development How were the directions to solving the problem introduced? Did the teacher model the inquiry process? Were the guiding materials provided to support students’ staying on task?	-Climate change and wild weather research sheet, creating an article with pictures, information, and a fun fact	-I did not like when one of the teachers said: “If they come out good enough, ill send them over” -More positive words for the students, not everyone is an artist or the best writer and should encourage everyone -No use of the scientific method
Explain How students were encouraged to explain their educational guesses? Was a template provided?	-Explained to the students what was required from them and went over the rubrics and the grading system	-Did this part it a little too quick but I do understand that you wanted to get to the point of the lesson and allow enough time for everything
Evaluate/Closure Did the teacher encourage students: 1. To present the results of their investigation 2. To share Metacognitive reflections (students explain how they came to the conclusions providing evidence to their statements).	-Students had to create an article cover and have information on it about the topic -Was able to see the students articles and they presented their information to the class	-A rubric was given for the expectations to receive the highest grades. -Websites were given to the students to research and find information -Each teacher circled around the room and met with students -I felt the research process for the students was slightly rushed
Elaborate/ Independent practice (Another challenge to work on! encouraging students to further learning of the topic)	-Create a tweet to promote their article	-It was a fun way to present information -Created a twitter page prior and the students presented their tweet on that