Final Vision Statement

Final Vision Statement

I believe science education is a difficult task to teach.  I believe for science education to be the most successful, an inquiry-based environment is necessary.  I believe for science education to be the most successful, the learning environment needs to become more student-directed and less teacher-directed.  As I have learned throughout the semester, science education needs to begin with probing students for misconceptions before and during activities.  For science lessons to be impactful, all five features of inquiry need to be included- engage, evidence, explanation, evaluate and communicate.  I have learned that it is vital to be able to teach to a diverse group of learners and the importance of formative assessment.

My current vision statement has varied from my initial vision statement at the beginning of the semester.  I believe I have matured my ideas regarding science education.  I now believe that before any science education can begin, teachers need to probe their students to determine student misconceptions.  A misconception is a model or theory that a student develops as a means to make sense of events in the world around him or her.  The student’s theory may cause him or her to make inaccurate predictions and can be very channeling to dislodge. Misconceptions can be troublesome for students because they can prevent students from understanding and making sense of new material.  I want to implement labs into my future science education in order to dislodge misconceptions.  As Richard Borst states, “labs are another way to prevent misconceptions” (The Science Teacher, page 68).  This is true because teachers can maintain close contact with their students during the lab activities.  Teachers can ask probing questions while students are exploring the lab activity, which acts as a tool for continually assessing students’ knowledge.

I anticipate teaching students science education with great enthusiasm.  I do not want students to feel overwhelmed by science material and want to be sure to teach science to all learning styles.  I want to have science lessons that accommodate all of my students’ learning styles.  As I teach to a diverse classroom I want to provide visual, auditory, and interactive activities to accommodate all students learning styles.  During my science practicum experience I was able to observe a diverse group of learners.  As I observed the students, I quickly noticed the more interactive the portion of the lesson was, the more the students were engaged and ultimately learned.  I also learned that classroom management issues disappeared when the students were involved in the lesson.  The more student-centered the lesson was, the more the students were engaged and enjoyed the lesson.

I believe connecting science material to students’ lives is essential to science education.  Students are much more concerned with concepts that they are able to relate to.  A great way to incorporate student’s lives into science education is by allowing students to explore and learn about their environment.  Braus and Wood state, “Getting students out into the environment on a regular basis is an important part of a comprehensive environmental education program.  Nothing can replace first-hand experiences to help students understand their community, natural systems and environmental issues” (Environmental Education in the Schools, page 9).  By allowing students to learn about their environments, they are able to make connections with other science related concepts.

Tell me, and I forget, Show me, and I remember, involve me, and I understand. I believe this statement perfectly describes how science education should be taught.  For students to become involved, students need to be in an inquiry-based setting where they are free to explore and develop new ideas.  The first feature of inquiry is engage.  Students need to engage in scientifically oriented questions for meaningful science lessons to be successful.  Students should be exploring questions that interest them. 

The second feature of inquiry is evidence.  The learner gives priority to the evidence they collect.   Students need to understand the data they are collecting and why it is meaningful and helpful to their education.  The students should be in charge of collecting their data and should be able to collect their data however they decide. The third feature of inquiry is explanation.  The learner will formulate explanations based on their data and create an explanation from that evidence.  Students should analyze their data and create an explanation for their findings.  Before any outside knowledge is provided, students will make meaning of their collected evidence.  The fourth feature of inquiry is to evaluate.  The learner compares their explanations to other explanations.  It is vital for students to have access to a variety of different materials.  Krajcik states, “learning is a continuous process that requires many new experiences in which students can construct and reconstruct knowledge by interacting with others and materials”.  This statement accurately describes the benefits of having the ability to interact with a variety of materials. The final feature of inquiry is to communicate.  Students will communicate and justify their explanations.  By communicating their information the student is displaying their knowledge.  This final feature of inquiry can also be used for assessment that is another extremely important aspect in science education. 

Keely states, “Classroom assessment serves multiple purposes, including diagnosing, monitoring, providing feedback, and measuring” (Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, page 1).  Classroom assessment should be a continuous process. Allowing assessment to become formative will greatly benefit the students and teacher.  With formative assessment, students are given feedback that allows them to determine areas of improvement.  Teachers are also able to assess their teaching and determine areas for improvement within their instruction.  Very rarely should assessment be summative.  Summative assessment provides feedback to students and the teacher; however, the feedback is somewhat meaningless because the material is already concluded when the feedback is provided.

I believe for science education to be meaningful to students, inquiry-based instruction is necessary.  Students should work through each stage of inquiry as they conduct science experiments.  Although teaching to a diverse group of learners can be challenging, with multiple forms of representation and activities, it can be done successfully.  It is also essential to relate science education to students’ lives.  Finally, formative assessment needs to be continuously implemented throughout the course of the year.  

Reflection for Team Teaching

Team Teaching Reflection- Part 2A

Kailey, Kelsey and I worked with a group of 5^h and 6^th grade students at Lucas Elementary school.  We taught the students a lesson about mysterious powders.  It went great! I was extremely pleased with our lessons.  The parts of the lessons that went the best were the sections that were the most interactive.  I also learned that behavior issues in the classroom were eliminated when students were engaged in the learning.  The changes we made after our feedback was extremely beneficial to our group.  After our peer teaching our peers recommended us to find a different way to distribute our materials because with all of the liquids and powders on the table at the same time- it was very confusing and overwhelming.  For our lesson, we chose to distribute the liquids one a time.  And then when the table was done with the particular liquid, they would raise their hand and a teacher would provide them with the next liquid to test. 

On the second lesson we asked student volunteers to read our crime scene information, the suspect bios and the breaking news aloud to the class.  Because the students were so excited about the crime scene and the information, they weren’t listening to their classmates that we reading the information.  If I were to teach the second lesson again I would have each table read their information aloud to just their table members.  This could even be made into a competition with the other tables. 

The students met and some exceeded our learning performances.  On the first lesson when the students were filling out their data collection sheet they were using their prior knowledge about powders and when they have seen them before.  By the end of the lesson, the student’s descriptions of the reactions excelled.  In fact, about 5 of the students went home after the first lesson and did some of the experiments we did in class! That was so exciting to hear and I was thrilled when the students told us the next morning. The students exceeded our learning performances on the second day.  Many of the students were able to identify the mysterious powder just by doing one reaction with the liquid.  Many of the students already had educated guesses about the powder just by looking at it, which really showed their progression from the first lesson.

For the most part, our lessons went according to plan.  On the first lesson we did not get through all we had planned. The students took more time to experiment with the different powders which we did not anticipate for.  The first lesson we finished with some students who just started the powder identification sheet and others who were close to being finished.  Then, our group meet again after our lesson to discuss any revisions we thought needed to be made to our second lesson.  We started off the second lesson by finishing our first lesson, which ended up working great because it allowed the students to revisit some of the ideas we explored on the first lesson. 

I learned how much fun it is to actually be teaching lessons in the classroom instead of just creating lesson plans for classes.  I also learned that behavior issues in the classroom truthfully disappear when the lesson is inquiry-based.  By observing our classroom prior to our lesson, I had a general idea of students who I knew were going to finish early, students who would have a challenging time staying on task and others that would finish last.  During the portions of the lessons that were less hands on, such as reviewing over descriptions and explanations of the powders, is when we had very minor behavioral issues.  I quickly learned that almost immediately when the students bored, that was when there was issues in behavior.  There was one student in particular that just needed some extra guidance to stay on task, but during the experimental and crime scene portion of the lessons, he was great. I also learned that when teaching inquiry there are issues that come up on the fly.  This was a bit challenging to do while teaching with two other members because it was difficult to make a quick decision and inform the other teachers.  I learned that inquiry based lessons need to be thoroughly thought out prior to teaching.

I honestly would not change much to our lessons.  The lessons went great and the students were for the most part, always engaged and seemed to enjoy the lesson.  The only thing I might to differently is choose another indicator such as iodine that has more reactions with powders.  Some of the reactions were not as obvious as I would have liked them to which made it a little difficult for students to use the flow chart.

Reflection on School of the Wild

During my experience at School of the Wild, I was fortunate to see both the gardening session and the wetlands session.  During the gardening session, the instructor, Jason showed the students different types of plants that are grown in the garden (Photo included). He discussed the life cycles of the different plants and what they need in order to survive.  I thought the instructor did a great job discussing new terms with students and thoroughly explaining the terms.  After he discussed different plants such as Pa pas, various types of peppers, garlic, basil, and tomatoes, he taught the proper way to pick the vegetables and let everyone try them.  After he discussed the plants, he cut up some summer squash, garlic and basil and let everyone try it.  I thought letting everyone try the different vegetables allowed students to make a connection with the food (Photo included). I also thought this was a great opportunity to teach students about the different life cycles of plants.  Jason thoroughly explained that plants could either be an annual, perennial, or biennial.  He provided students with examples of each type, which I thought was extremely beneficial.  He also had the student repeat the terms after he said them, to help their pronunciation of the terms.  I thought the information that was shared was presented and explained great, however, I would have liked for the experience to be more interactive with the students.  I thought it was a very long time to be standing and listening to someone speak, and although it was very informative, I think a interactive lesson or game would enhance students; learning. Within the, “Environmental Education in the Schools” article, there are 5 objectives for environmental education.  These objectives include awareness, knowledge, attitude, skills and participation.  I think the objective that was most successfully met during the gardening session was knowledge.  The knowledge objective states, “help students acquire a basic understanding of how the environment functions, how people interact with the environment, and how issues and problems dealing with the environment arise and how they can be resolved” (Braus & Wood, 3). I thought Jason did a great job providing students with knowledge about the garden.  He also shared with students’ issues that could arise during gardening and solutions to those issues.  For example, Jason discussed the Three Sisters that are the agricultural crops of Native American groups in North America.  These crops include squash, corn and beans.  He explained the importance of each of these plants the connections they have to when and how they are planted.  The information he provided to the students was age-appropriate.  From this experience, I will take to my own future teaching the ability to provide students with hands-on materials to develop connections.  I will also attempt to make connections between students’ lives and the material they are learning in the classroom.  I believe with hands-on experiences and connections to real life, students will learn most efficiently.

I was also able to experience the wetlands session.  During the wetlands session, we walked to a pond called Spider pond.  This pond was very shallow and had ropes connecting to trees all around.  The ropes are used to move the canoes that the students explore in (Photo included).  3 students and a teacher were able to explore on the canoe at a time with 2 canoes moving around the pond at a time.  All students on the canoes were provided life jackets and nets to try and catch wildlife.  In the pond the wildlife included fish, turtles and frogs.  When we were on the canoe, we saw 2 frogs but were unsuccessful in catching them.  There was also a lot of plant life in the pond.  The instructor discussed the use of the ropes and not paddles to move around the pond with the students.  Not only would the paddles disrupt the wildlife, the mud from the bottom of the pond would be moved around and disturb the environment.  The instructor explained the different types of plants that are within the pond and displayed them to the students.  I thought the students really enjoyed being on the canoes, however I think they became bored after awhile because we did not see much to catch.  However, the group before us caught a bull-frog so when students were not on the canoes they were able to hold the bull-frog and the instructor taught the students about the frog (Picture Included).  I believe the participation objective was thoroughly displayed in this session.  The participation objective states to, “help students acquire experience in using their acquired knowledge and skills in taking thoughtful, positive actions toward the resolution of environmental issues and problems” (Braus & Wood, 3).  In this session students were able to experience nature and use their knowledge to do their best attempt of catching wildlife. For example, students had to remember to be quiet and move slowly when trying to catch a frog or turtle.  Students were required to use their prior knowledge in order to be successful in this session.  As a future teacher I will always want to have a plan B in case the lesson I want to teach falls through.  I think it is very important to be flexible and understand that things come up in the classroom. I also want to teach useful knowledge that students can use in their lives in the future.

Lesson: I originally signed up for the Birds session but because of different circumstances I ended up doing different sessions. 

The Cycle of Bird

(Egg, Chick, Adult)

Tine McCracken

Procedure:

This activity is modeled after the game that many educators are familiar with, Rock, Paper, Scissors. Explain to students the three stages of a bird. For this activity each of these stages is represented by a movement or posture.

• Egg – holding your knees huddled near the ground

• Chick – crouching a bit taller than egg wiggling fingers

• Adult Bird- standing up straight, flapping wings

1. Practice the posture or movement for each life stage, repeating the name of the stage with the movement.

2. Once students understand the stages and how they can show what stage they are in, review the rules of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

3. Rules of Rock, Paper, Scissors: Two players stand opposite each other and count to three. On three they both display a hand shape: Stone-fist, Scissors-two fingers stretched out like a pair of scissors, Paper-hand out flat. Stone beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats

stone. 

4. All students begin the activity as eggs.

5. The winner of Rock, Paper, Scissors will advance into the next stage (egg to chick, chick to adult bird.) and searches for a new partner in that new life stage. Students must pair up with a similar life stage to play Rock, Paper, Scissors – egg with egg, chick with chick

6. The loser continues in the same stage and searches for another matching partner to play against until he wins and advances to the next life stage.

7. The activity continues until all or most students have reached the adult stage.

 I thought my lesson went really well and I think the students really enjoyed it!

pEnDuLuMs

What is your personal experience with swinging on anything like a trapeze?
-Gymnastics, trampoline, not much experience though. Have never seen a trapeze in person. Know that it can be associated with a circus.

What applications to “real life” do swinging objects have?
-rythmic, timing, momentum, speed

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?  Explain (in terms of mass)
The one with the 2 will not swing as far as it previously did because there is too much weight for the momentum. And the one that previously had the 2 people on it will swing further than the prior.

What understanding or ideas do you have about the science of back-and-forth swinging objects?
momentum

Questions: Will a large string increase the amount of time it takes for the washer to get from one side to another?

Does the washer have anything to do with the amount of times it takes for the washer to complete a "swing"?

Why does the weight of the washer not matter?

Is the length of the string the only factor that alters the amount of seconds it takes to complete a "swing"?

QUIZ- GRRR!
Your experience will be that you will swing back and forth. Because one length of the sting is shorter than the other, it will be able to complete a full swing quicker than the longer string. I think the bar will be crooked and it will most likely have the person fall off.

Bulbs, Batteries and Wires

I thought the first lesson, done by Ms. Stone was more confusing although it was more teacher-centered.  I felt like the students were randomly thrown into an experiment without much preparation.  Just having terms on the board and then having students copy them down in their notebooks will not stick with the students and I do not think that was an effective way of catching students attention and getting them excited to start the experiment.  Ms. Travis' lesson was much more student-based however she still provided the students with certain materials that they would need to be successful and did not allow students to fully learn independently.

Start with asking students if they were to go to the supermarket and pick up a pack of electricity what they would buy.
 I would then provide students with a list of materials that students could possibly use to make a light bulb light up. Students will be directed to talk with their lab group and discuss what items they believe would be beneficial.
The list would include various objects such as wires, batteries, cotton ball, glass and more.  The students would need to get materials as well as provide an explanation for why they think it will create electricity.
After I would have students create a manual to create electricity and what not to to/use and WHY.  If I see students struggling during this experiment I will drop a hint to them so they do not form negative feelings with the experiment.
Then I would have students discuss with the class what worked and what didn't work.

Engage: Learner sharpens or clarifies question provided by teacher, materials or other source. Teacher directed- teacher purposes the question and students search to find answer or solution to the problem.

Evidence: Learner directed to collect certain data.  Student directed- student is given freedom to decide how to write down data and interpret it.

Explain: Learner formulates explanations from evidence. Student directed- student needs to tell what they did and WHY is worked or did not work.

Evaluate: Learner independently examines other resources and forms the links to explanations.  Student directed- students are asked to explain their reasoning.

Communicate: Learner communicates and justifies explanations. Student directed- the student needs to communicate through their manual and justify why it works.

Circuits Lab

Explore Independently (pink)
Strengths: student-directed, representation in drawings, independent thinking,
Weaknesses: students may not know where to start, very challenging for struggling students.

Explore Together
Strengths: for struggling students this would make sense because
Weaknesses: Not much inquiry with this- students are told specifically what to do. Don't have much freedom to explore

Content Standard: B, Physical Science
Benchmark: Electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound and magnetic effects. Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.

Learning Goals: How to light a bulb with a wire and battery. Understand that electricty works with a curcuit.

Learning Performance: Having students light a bulb with a wire and battery and be able to explain WHY it worked.

We are so Smart

BB

Kirsten will need two strips of wire because she will need one wire for each side of the battery.

Magnetism

What is the rule of magnetism?

Like poles repel and unlike poles attract.

Lines of force are three-dimensional, surrounding a bar magnet on all sides.

When opposite poles of a magnet are brought together, the lines of force join up and the magnets pull together.

When like poles of a magnet are brought together, the lines of force push away from each other and the magnets repel each other.


Source: http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/Information_Magnetic.cfm#whatare

SIX things to know about magnets

Almost everyone knows these six basic facts about how magnets behave:

1. A magnet has two ends called poles, one of which is called a north pole or north-seeking pole, while the other is called a south pole or south-seeking pole.
2. The north pole of one magnet attracts the south pole of a second magnet, while the north pole of one magnet repels the other magnet's north pole. So we have the common saying: like poles repel, unlike poles attract.
3. A magnet creates an invisible area of magnetism all around it called a magnetic field.
4. The north pole of a magnet points roughly toward Earth's north pole and vice-versa. That's because Earth itself contains magnetic materials and behaves like a gigantic magnet.
5. If you cut a bar magnet in half, it's a bit like cutting an earthworm in half! You get two brand new, smaller magnets, each with its own north and south pole.
6. If you run a magnet a few times over an unmagnetized piece of a magnetic material (such as an iron nail), you can convert it into a magnet as well. This is called magnetization.

Source: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/magnetism.html


What is a magnet?
A magnet is an object made of certain materials which create a magnetic field.  Every magnet has at least one north pole and one south pole.  By convention, we say that the magnetic field lines leave the North end of a magnet and enter the South end of a magnet.  This is an example of a magnetic dipole ("di" means two, thus two poles).  If you take a bar magnet and break it into two pieces, each piece will again have a North pole and a South pole.  If you take one of those pieces and break it into two, each of the smaller pieces will have a North pole and a South pole.  No matter how small the pieces of the magnet become, each piece will have a North pole and a South pole.  It has not been shown to be possible to end up with a single North pole or a single South pole which is a monopole ("mono" means one or single, thus one pole).  http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=004AD000
History
The ancient Greeks and Chinese discovered that certain rare stones, called lodestones, were naturally magnetized.  These stones could attract small pieces of iron in a magical way, and were found to always point in the same direction when allowed to swing freely suspended by a piece of string.  The name comes from Magnesia, a district in Thessaly, Greece.  For more history, check http://www.newi.ac.uk/BUCKLEYC/magnet.htm
Several scientists from the 1600s to today have greatly increased our understanding of magnets and their properties.  Be sure to check:
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/FaradayasaDiscoverer/toc.html
http://www.ee.umd.edu/~taylor/frame1.htm
http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/whmfield.html


Source: http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magindex.htm

MaGnEtMaNiA

1.What are some “real life” applications of magnetism?
-Tool boxes
-Decorate the refrigerator
-Credit cards

Added from class- stereo programs, roller coaster, trains

2.What experiences have you had with magnets in your life?
-Credit cards
-Playing
-Watching magnets

3.What ideas do you have about the science of magnets?
-Bonding
-Attraction

Metal things stick to magnets- MINI IS WRONG!!!!!!!!!

INSES Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1: I thought the story scared by Mrs. Graham's class was very touching and truthfully portrayed the benefits of having inquiry based learning in the classroom.  However, the amount of time that is required for inquiry based learning is worry-some to me.  This worries me that students will be limited in the amount of information they will learn.  Although I believe the students who comprehend the material better and remember it longer, I believe the subject area will be extremely limited.  This purposes the question: is it better to have students learn material throughly and make potential life long connections or is it better for students to have a general knowledge and kind of understand many different lessons and topics?

Chapter 2: Wow! I can't believe inquiry based learning is so new.  In this chapter the amount of teacher guidance is discusses.  How do teachers know how much to intervene in inquiry based learning? This chapter states that a key element in answering this question is the intended learning outcomes.  Depending on what the teacher wants to come from the lesson will affect the amount of inquiry provided to the student.

A myth that is discusses that I am guilty of is that all science subject matter should be taught through inquiry.  This chapter discusses that teaching science effectively should include a variety of different approaches and strategies.  This makes a lot more sense to me because it allows for this type of learning to be more practical.

Activity mania

I love the name of this concept. I believe that if a classroom is limited and not able to use inquiry-based learning, this would be the next best thing.  Activity mania seems to be less time consuming although I prefer the structure of inquiry-based learning.  I think the hands-on activities of activity mania is extremely beneficial however I do not believe the learned material will be as affective as inquiry-based learning.  Although students are participating in the activities, it is more structured so students are not able to have as much control as they would in inquiry-based learning.  I do not like how activity mania provides students with a hypothesis and as a result there is only one right answer.  Activity mania places the teacher with more control that the inquiry-based instruction would.  I prefer a classroom setting where the students are given the most responsibility as possible and are in control of their own learning.

Iowa Core

After exploring the website of the Iowa Core, I left with mixed feelings.  Although the web casts sound like great ideas, it makes me think about the reality of these goals.  In my opinion, the Iowa Core combines all students into the same category, with the same expectations and goals.  Although this would be ideal, I do not believe it is realistic.  I believe a more realistic approach, but more time consuming, would be for each student to have their own academic goals.  All students come from very diverse backgrounds, some may have little to no education motivation at home, while others have parent assistance on their homework.  Some students' family may have finical limitations, or come from a very different culture than the rest of the class.  All of these influences are factors of education for the student.  I believe it is vital for teachers to see each student as their own unique individual.  With that said, I believe Iowa Core is important for teachers to have so they have a general guideline of what their students should be learning and gathering from the lessons.  However, although there are listed concepts and skills, how many students in the classroom need to obtain these concepts and skills before the class is ready to move on to the next lesson? 50%, 70%, 100%?

Mosart

Misconception
Oriented
Standards-based
Assessment
Resources for
Teachers


After reviewing through some of the tests provided after the tutorials I realized the truth to the variety of questions within the tests. I believe these questions are appropriate for all children within the classroom, regardless of the level of the child.  I also now realize the importance of assessment to understand children's misconceptions.  It is very unlikely that without knowing a child's misconception a teacher would be able to get through and teach that student.  Learning about misconceptions I almost picture a wall and depending on how deep and stubborn the child might be they do not want to let go of their misconceptions that are preventing them from learning.  I think teachers need to implement these assessment exercises in their classroom to teach students to the best of their ability.  It is unfair to the students if this is not done.  

The Sweater Article

I really enjoyed and agreed with this reading.  I believe it is so important for teachers to incorporate information that is relevant to students' lives and they can relate to.  When students show passion about a topic, it is vital for teachers to strive to teach about that topic.  When students are interested in topics that can be taught on a academic level, teachers should prioritize teaching about that topic.  It was so exciting for me to read how excited the students were about heat.  I believe when situations like this happen teachers should run with the idea and expand it into multiple subject areas.  I enjoyed reading this article because I could relate to the students about how excited they were about this idea.  I have felt like that in some of my classes when we have done community service projects.  It is a great feeling to have a connection with something that you are learning about and I believe will leave have a greater impact on the students.

Keeley, Formative Assessment Probes

I believe Keeley's idea of formative assessment probes can be extremely useful in elementary science education.  Keeley recognizes the importance for teachers to be aware of students' prior education and knowledge of science.  Understanding misconceptions students might have and previous science education will allow teachers to teach students to the best of their ability.  It is extremely difficult for a student to learn complex concepts without being taught a basic level of understanding.  Keeley believes that formative assessment probes can discover the students' knowledge of science education so the teacher can adjust the curriculum accordingly.

Assessment is an extremely important aspect of all education.  Assessment allows teachers to monitor students' progress and understand their previous knowledge.  In the classroom, assessment happens almost everyday.  Although as a future teacher I believe assessment is important to education, as a student I dislike assessment.  I believe through my years of elementary school, I was assessed in the same way every time which was tedious and I do not believed I performed to the best of my ability.  I have always been a student who can verbally express my thoughts or respond in short answer questions much more successfully that multiple choice questions.  Having a class with only multiple choice assessment options was and is extremely challenging for me, even when I know the material I am being assessed on.

Krajcik

Tell me, and I forget
Show me, and I remember
Involve me, and I understand.

I believe there is a lot of substance and truth in this statement.  As a teacher, it is vital to teach to all learner styles.  Being able to teach to a variety of learner styles is beneficial to the teacher and the students.  Allowing students to manipulate objects and make connections will allow students to remember concepts better.  This article discusses many suggestions for teachers to better their teaching abilities.  One of these suggestions is to understand and use students' prior knowledge.  As we discusses in class, it is extremely important for teachers to understand students' prior knowledge so they can aid the students to add to their previous knowledge.  As discusses in previous articles, I think it is vital for students' to build connections with their schema and develop new and more complex understandings.  On the retention scale provided by the article, it displays that students learn best when they have direct and purposeful experiences.  This can be very useful when teaching science education because students are able to practice experiments and learn why things work the way they do.  

Private Universe

1. How the phases of the moon occur?
The Earth orbits around the Moon so we only see pieces of the moon at a time. Shadow?

Moon never changes shape. It is only the way the sun reflects the moon.


2. What causes the seasons?
The orbit of the Earth with the Sun causes a change in temperature. When we are closer to the sun it's hotter and further is cooler.

The Earth is tilted. And depending on the tilt of the moon and where the sun is, the seasons change.

3. What causes a lunar eclipse?
When the moon orbits and the Earth orbits at a particular location.

Formative

Galeleo (sp?)

helio-centric (sun in the center)

geo-centric (Earth in the center)

1992: Sun is in the middle

The sun does not move. North star= big bear, always tilt pointing towards the north star

Earth orbits around the Sun= 1 year

Northern Hemisphere is titled toward the Sun= summer.
Norther Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun= winter.
Prime Meridian: fake
Capricorn, Cancer, Equator: lines on the Earth. Points on the Earth.
Equator/Equinox: 12 hours a day/night
Solar Eclipse: can't see the Sun
Lunar Eclipse: can't see the moon!
Blue Moon: 2 full moons in one month
Waxing: getting bigger
Wayning: getting smaller
The moon is not in the plane of the equip tic
The moon dives in and out of its own orbit

Peters Reading

I think scaffolding is a concept that can be used in education.  Scaffolding is the support that a teacher provides a student.  The teacher needs to asses the amount of scaffolding a student may need.  As a teacher, the goal should be to provide the student with material that is not too easy and not too difficult.  This is a very challenging task to do but with the use of scaffolding, teachers can make knowledge most beneficial.  The work of Piaget is extremely intriguing to me. I believe the use of schema is essential is student's knowledge. To make connections with previous experiences, students can learn best.

Misconceptions

This article really hit home for me.  As a learner that learns best when experiencing and manipulating knowledge, theoretically science should be my favorite subject.  However, I believe terms were forced into my brain that I did not understand but somehow passed science so I must have been good enough to get by.  With many of my teachers through elementary schools, I never understood why things were and a lot of the time it was just because they were that way.  I believe labs are a GREAT tool to use when teaching science and will be beneficial to aid to students' knowledge.  With being able to manipulate objects and using notebooks, all students can learn because it applies to many learner types.

Rising to Greatness

Wow.  After reading this article, it really put the struggle for education in Iowa into perspective for me.  However, this article bases most of it's argument on test scores.  I do not believe that test scores alone are a accurate measurement of student's progress and growth.  Although our national education system relies heavily on test scores, I believe other factors need to be taken into consideration.  What if the student's dog passed away earlier that morning? Or a student had not been fed that day and could not think about anything else but their hunger? Dialects and word usage differ nationally, what if the student did not understand the words in the questions? It is alarming to me that solely from a test score, judgments can be made.  This bothers me because we live in a nation that strives for hard work and communication in the job force.  I do understand the importance of tracking growth nationally and by State.  However, more factors should be taken into consideration when determining judgments on states' education ability.  With that said, I believe Midwest Education enforces the idea to students that community and dedication are extremely important.

How to fix these test scores? To be honest, I have no idea.  I do know that it needs to be a progressive process and will take time to reach.  All any teacher can do is teach their best and aid each student to progress and grow as an individual.

Science Notebooks

 I am a believer in notebook use for all subjects in Elementary Education. I believe notebook use in subject areas for elementary students is extremely important and essential to their learning experience.  This is extremely vital for elementary science education. When learning science,  students are encouraged to use all five senses: smell, taste, touch, sight and hear. With a science notebook, students are able to document drawings, words, smells, anything that will aid their memory to later reflect.  I believe reflection is an extremely important part of education.  With the ability to reflect in science education, students can better their understanding of the topic at hand.  If students are able to record in the moment feelings or observations, their reflections will be more detailed and education will be more worthy for the future. As a student who never used a science notebook, I believe this would have been extremely beneficial to my learning.  I do not remember much from science classes when I was in elementary school but I believe with a science notebook maybe I would have remembered more.  With the ability to reflect on my experiences, I believe I would have had more memorable and meaningful experiences.

Initial Vision Statement

Thinking back on my science experiences in elementary school, I realize I do not have many positive memories.  In fact, I do not have many memories at all.  One of my few memories is scrapping rocks against glass and having not a clue what I was doing.  Another memory I have is from fifth grade when I was required to have a book full of leaves that I collected.  I remember being extremely stressed out over this project because I could not find all of the leaves I was required to collect and I was scared I would receive a poor grade.  Then I entered high school where I took Biology, Earth Science, Genetics and Chemistry.  The majority of these classes I did not enjoy and I believe my teachers had a large impact.  I always saw science education as a topic that students were either good or bad at.  I never thought of science as a subject that I was able to be successful at.  This could be because of the broken record of hearing teachers explain that girls are good at literature and writing and boys excel in mathematics and science.  Or this could be because science information always seemed very intimidating to me, such as the Periodic Table. Science was the only subject in school that did not come easily to me.

I believe there are a few key components necessary for a quality science education.  I believe teachers need to create science activities that are meaningful and relatable to students' lives.  I think students are more likely to remember and appreciate experiences that are applicable to their own lives.  I also believe students learn best with hands-on experiences.  Allowing students to have hands-on experiences and make discoveries on their own will greatly benefit their learning. I believe making discoveries allows individuals to remember their activity and result much better than someone simply telling or showing them.  For example, something as simple as mixing the colors blue and yellow together and resulting in green will have a longer affect on students than if the teacher were to simply tell his or her students the conclusion.  Although not all activities in science may be safe for students to experiment with, I believe students should be able to do the majority of the activities in the classroom.

I anticipate teaching students science with great enthusiasm.  I do not want students to feel overwhelmed by science material and want to be sure to teacher science to all learning styles.  I want to have science lessons that accommodate all of my students’ learning styles, in result my students will greatly benefit from my lessons. When explaining science systems I want to be sure to have visual aids as well as thoroughly explaining the system.  I also want to allow time for students to experiment and soak in experiments.  Also, when writing laboratory reports and other written assignments I want students to feel excited to write about them.  This can be done by eliminated some of the unnecessary questions and adding more question that require the student to share their opinion and conclusion. Overall, I hope to explore with my students and allow them to have a meaningful science experience.