Science Teaching portfolio
Science teaching statement
How do I begin to explain how much growth I’ve made as a science educator? I guess I could start by explaining where my beliefs use to be and where they are today. On the first day of SCE4310, we were asked to write the answer to this question, what is science? My answer was, “Science cannot have a true definition because scientific scenarios are endless.” Later on in the semester, we were asked think about what we had learned so far and based on our new learning, rewrite what we thought science was. My entry at that point in the semester simple stated, “I have no idea.” Throughout my teaching statement, I will uncover what I now believe science is, why is it important for elementary students to learn science, how elementary student learn science, and how science should be taught.
Let me start off by saying that this is not an easy question to answer. It is a question that has stumped me for the majority of this semester. I haven’t been able to answer this question because I did not have the scientific background and knowledge until I completed SCE4310, but it is a question that I’m now ready to tackle. What is science? Based on my learning and experiences, I believe that science is developing an understanding of the world around you. As students, we start off by questioning, wondering, and wanting to find answers about real world experiences and through investigations, we are able to explore, discover, and develop these ideas about the world around us.
The next idea I would like to explore is why is it important for elementary students to learn science. Science is important for children in so many aspects. According to Chapter 1 of Primary Science: Taking the Plunge written by Harlen and Wynee, they state, “The key to effective science teaching is to enable children to develop this view for themselves, not to impose it as the “right” answer.” As teachers, we must let students develop their own experiences, their own thinking, and let them explore the way in which the world works. This can only happen if students are “doing science”.
This brings me to the question, how do elementary students effectively learn science. At the beginning of the course, I would’ve said that effective science education means that students are doing hands-on activities, but I’ve learned that “hands-on” is a buzz word to describe effective science teaching. I’ve realized that just because students are working with their hands, doesn’t mean they’re thinking about the science concept being taught. Like Karen Sullenger says, “ I argue that teachers need to shift the emphasis from content as the standard of understanding to the content as the context for understanding the science community.” This quote is similar to my beliefs that as science teachers, we are not teaching these scientific concepts to complete the standards, we are teaching this content so students have a clear understanding of the science community they are apart of. The water droplet journey activity we did in class, is an activity I plan to do with my future classes because that activity opened my eyes not only to learn about the content of the water cycle, but it opened my eyes to the larger picture, which was how the water system works in the community I live in. A great way to help elementary students learn science is through informal learning. I believe informal learning allows students to see real world connections and to understand that what they are learning can be applied to the world around them. As a science educator, I truly believe that informal learning can only benefit student’s scientific learning. According to the article, Tap Into Informal Science Learning, Melber states, “In addition to being memorable, field trips are an excellent way for students to experience firsthand science topics they might otherwise only read about in textbooks.” On fieldtrips, which I refer to as field studies, it is best to focus on one or two concepts because otherwise the trip is not beneficial and student won’t learn anything from it. I’ve learned its better to dig deeper than to go a mile long and an inch deep into scientific learning.
The last idea I wanted to explore is how science should be taught. Throughout this course, I’ve developed a strong belief of how I think science should be taught. In every science lesson, I believe there must be the content of science, process of science, and the nature of science, otherwise known as the “3 legs” of science. When it comes to teaching the students content, I will not be lecturing or having the students read from a textbook, instead they will be exploring and discovering concepts in order to create their own experiences. For students to learn process skills, we must teach them these in order for our children to use these skills for further scientific exploration. The last aspect is often omitted but, it must be explicitly taught for students to understand what makes science a unique discipline. According to the article, A Leg (or Three) to Stand On, Molly Weinburgh states, “ Children need to understand that science is a human endeavor and that people of all ages, races, sexes, and nationalities engage in this enterprise. They also need to know that science is based on evidence--not faith or logic.”
I never thought that one class could change my thinking, beliefs, and perspectives as much as SCE4310 did. Looking back at all my artifacts and reading through my rationales has truly shown how much I’ve progress in my journey to becoming an elementary science teacher. I not only believe that students should be learning science daily, but I am a firm believer of the 5e lesson plan model. I believe that by having students go through an engage phase, explore phase, explain phase, extend phase, and evaluate phase, that they will discover through their own exploration the meaning of each scientific concept that is taught. I incorporate the “3 legs” of science into my 5e science lessons for each science lesson because I now have a solid belief of what science is, is it important for elementary students to learn science, how elementary student learn science, and how science should be taught. My journey to becoming the most effective science teacher will never stop because I will continuously be looking for ways to improve my teaching of elementary science. I will continue to grow along with my beliefs for best scientific teaching practices.
Let me start off by saying that this is not an easy question to answer. It is a question that has stumped me for the majority of this semester. I haven’t been able to answer this question because I did not have the scientific background and knowledge until I completed SCE4310, but it is a question that I’m now ready to tackle. What is science? Based on my learning and experiences, I believe that science is developing an understanding of the world around you. As students, we start off by questioning, wondering, and wanting to find answers about real world experiences and through investigations, we are able to explore, discover, and develop these ideas about the world around us.
The next idea I would like to explore is why is it important for elementary students to learn science. Science is important for children in so many aspects. According to Chapter 1 of Primary Science: Taking the Plunge written by Harlen and Wynee, they state, “The key to effective science teaching is to enable children to develop this view for themselves, not to impose it as the “right” answer.” As teachers, we must let students develop their own experiences, their own thinking, and let them explore the way in which the world works. This can only happen if students are “doing science”.
This brings me to the question, how do elementary students effectively learn science. At the beginning of the course, I would’ve said that effective science education means that students are doing hands-on activities, but I’ve learned that “hands-on” is a buzz word to describe effective science teaching. I’ve realized that just because students are working with their hands, doesn’t mean they’re thinking about the science concept being taught. Like Karen Sullenger says, “ I argue that teachers need to shift the emphasis from content as the standard of understanding to the content as the context for understanding the science community.” This quote is similar to my beliefs that as science teachers, we are not teaching these scientific concepts to complete the standards, we are teaching this content so students have a clear understanding of the science community they are apart of. The water droplet journey activity we did in class, is an activity I plan to do with my future classes because that activity opened my eyes not only to learn about the content of the water cycle, but it opened my eyes to the larger picture, which was how the water system works in the community I live in. A great way to help elementary students learn science is through informal learning. I believe informal learning allows students to see real world connections and to understand that what they are learning can be applied to the world around them. As a science educator, I truly believe that informal learning can only benefit student’s scientific learning. According to the article, Tap Into Informal Science Learning, Melber states, “In addition to being memorable, field trips are an excellent way for students to experience firsthand science topics they might otherwise only read about in textbooks.” On fieldtrips, which I refer to as field studies, it is best to focus on one or two concepts because otherwise the trip is not beneficial and student won’t learn anything from it. I’ve learned its better to dig deeper than to go a mile long and an inch deep into scientific learning.
The last idea I wanted to explore is how science should be taught. Throughout this course, I’ve developed a strong belief of how I think science should be taught. In every science lesson, I believe there must be the content of science, process of science, and the nature of science, otherwise known as the “3 legs” of science. When it comes to teaching the students content, I will not be lecturing or having the students read from a textbook, instead they will be exploring and discovering concepts in order to create their own experiences. For students to learn process skills, we must teach them these in order for our children to use these skills for further scientific exploration. The last aspect is often omitted but, it must be explicitly taught for students to understand what makes science a unique discipline. According to the article, A Leg (or Three) to Stand On, Molly Weinburgh states, “ Children need to understand that science is a human endeavor and that people of all ages, races, sexes, and nationalities engage in this enterprise. They also need to know that science is based on evidence--not faith or logic.”
I never thought that one class could change my thinking, beliefs, and perspectives as much as SCE4310 did. Looking back at all my artifacts and reading through my rationales has truly shown how much I’ve progress in my journey to becoming an elementary science teacher. I not only believe that students should be learning science daily, but I am a firm believer of the 5e lesson plan model. I believe that by having students go through an engage phase, explore phase, explain phase, extend phase, and evaluate phase, that they will discover through their own exploration the meaning of each scientific concept that is taught. I incorporate the “3 legs” of science into my 5e science lessons for each science lesson because I now have a solid belief of what science is, is it important for elementary students to learn science, how elementary student learn science, and how science should be taught. My journey to becoming the most effective science teacher will never stop because I will continuously be looking for ways to improve my teaching of elementary science. I will continue to grow along with my beliefs for best scientific teaching practices.
GOAL #1:
Students will plan and
participate in science lessons/activities appropriate for the developmental
talents of children
(FEAP 1, 2, 3, 4; FC 1,
2, 3, 4, 5)
Information on Artifacts:
The artifacts I chose to demonstrate my progress of course goal #1 are the chart I created from the article, “Science for All Americans Online” by American Association for the Advancement of Science. This chart is something I carry with me everywhere because it has all the nature of science aspects on it, what each one means, and example of each aspect as well. The other artifact I chose to demonstrate my progress towards this goal is a 5e lesson I created for my 3rd grade classroom. My children had just finished learning about reflection, refraction, and absorption and were moving onto the next unit of study, which were properties of matter. My CT allowed me to create the science plans for the week I decided this would be a perfect time to try out the new 5e lesson plan I had just learned. The chart was created on September 6th, 2014 towards the beginning of the semester and the 5e lesson was created on October 3rd, 2014.
The artifacts I chose to demonstrate my progress of course goal #1 are the chart I created from the article, “Science for All Americans Online” by American Association for the Advancement of Science. This chart is something I carry with me everywhere because it has all the nature of science aspects on it, what each one means, and example of each aspect as well. The other artifact I chose to demonstrate my progress towards this goal is a 5e lesson I created for my 3rd grade classroom. My children had just finished learning about reflection, refraction, and absorption and were moving onto the next unit of study, which were properties of matter. My CT allowed me to create the science plans for the week I decided this would be a perfect time to try out the new 5e lesson plan I had just learned. The chart was created on September 6th, 2014 towards the beginning of the semester and the 5e lesson was created on October 3rd, 2014.
5e_lesson_plan.docx | |
File Size: | 116 kb |
File Type: | docx |
nature_of_science_chart.docx | |
File Size: | 3382 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Rationale:
Before learning how to plan a 5e lesson, I’d thought a science lesson consisted of introducing the new terms of the unit and doing a science activity. Now I know that as teachers we should never introduce vocabulary terms before letting the students explore. If they know the terms for the unit, then throughout their exploration they aren't creating their own experiences and explainations. I realize now that planning a science lesson is more than new vocabulary terms and an activity because of the 5e lesson template that changed my thinking. For my evidence of this course goal, I chose a 5e lesson plan I created for my students because it truly shows how much I’ve grown throughout this course. Coming into this course, I did not understand how to plan or participate in science lessons appropriate for the developmental talents of children, but looking at this lesson I created it really demonstrates the progress I’ve achieved. In this lesson, I incorporated all 5e’s and through each one of the phases of instruction, I was able to create appropriate activities for my students.Learning about this 5e lesson template has allowed me to progress in ways I never thought I could. Looking at this lesson I created, it shows me that I'm able to understand that science planning is more than just vocabulary and hands-on activities, but that I understand now that within a science lesson, we must get the students engaged in what they are learning, elicit student ideas, and let the students explore. I am now able to see through this artifact that I can plan and participate in science lessons and activities appropriate for the developmental talents of my students. I will use this lesson template for my future teaching because I believe that all science lessons should be able to incorporate these 5e’s.
My other piece of evidence is the chart from the article Science for All Americans Online. Coming into this course, I had no idea what nature of science meant or why they needed to be in our science lessons. I’ve learned through this course in order to plan and participate in an effective and balanced science lesson, there must be content, process, and nature of science present for students to be learning science. Within my 5e lesson plan, I incorporated two nature of science aspects as well. I had the students walk around, observe, and take notes on their classmate’s work. I wanted my students to understand that science is social and that scientists learn from one another. According to the Science of All Americans online article, they state, “Because of the social nature of science, the dissemination of scientific information is crucial to its progress.” This aspect is so important for students to understand, so after the students had reclassified their objects, I had the students do a gallery walk, they were given a few minutes at each station to observe and take notes on what they noticed about their classmates classifications. I allowed the students to then have a discussion about their findings so that they could learn from each other and during this process I kept emphasizing how science is social and that scientific work involves many individuals.
I also incorporated another nature of science aspect into my 5e lesson, which was science demands evidence. As the students were reclassifying their objects based off of the chart they filled out, I did not refer to it as a chart, but instead I called it evidence. I kept saying use your evidence to reclassify your objects. I explicitly explained how science demands evidence and evidence is obtained through observations and recordings. When students would come up to the elmo to share with the class, they would say state how they reclassified their objects and when I asked the question of how they knew they could reclassify that way, they would reply by saying they looked at their evidence. These nature of science aspects need to be explicitly taught to students and incorporated into our lessons because effect science lessons should have content, process, and nature of science all incorporated into them.
Before learning how to plan a 5e lesson, I’d thought a science lesson consisted of introducing the new terms of the unit and doing a science activity. Now I know that as teachers we should never introduce vocabulary terms before letting the students explore. If they know the terms for the unit, then throughout their exploration they aren't creating their own experiences and explainations. I realize now that planning a science lesson is more than new vocabulary terms and an activity because of the 5e lesson template that changed my thinking. For my evidence of this course goal, I chose a 5e lesson plan I created for my students because it truly shows how much I’ve grown throughout this course. Coming into this course, I did not understand how to plan or participate in science lessons appropriate for the developmental talents of children, but looking at this lesson I created it really demonstrates the progress I’ve achieved. In this lesson, I incorporated all 5e’s and through each one of the phases of instruction, I was able to create appropriate activities for my students.Learning about this 5e lesson template has allowed me to progress in ways I never thought I could. Looking at this lesson I created, it shows me that I'm able to understand that science planning is more than just vocabulary and hands-on activities, but that I understand now that within a science lesson, we must get the students engaged in what they are learning, elicit student ideas, and let the students explore. I am now able to see through this artifact that I can plan and participate in science lessons and activities appropriate for the developmental talents of my students. I will use this lesson template for my future teaching because I believe that all science lessons should be able to incorporate these 5e’s.
My other piece of evidence is the chart from the article Science for All Americans Online. Coming into this course, I had no idea what nature of science meant or why they needed to be in our science lessons. I’ve learned through this course in order to plan and participate in an effective and balanced science lesson, there must be content, process, and nature of science present for students to be learning science. Within my 5e lesson plan, I incorporated two nature of science aspects as well. I had the students walk around, observe, and take notes on their classmate’s work. I wanted my students to understand that science is social and that scientists learn from one another. According to the Science of All Americans online article, they state, “Because of the social nature of science, the dissemination of scientific information is crucial to its progress.” This aspect is so important for students to understand, so after the students had reclassified their objects, I had the students do a gallery walk, they were given a few minutes at each station to observe and take notes on what they noticed about their classmates classifications. I allowed the students to then have a discussion about their findings so that they could learn from each other and during this process I kept emphasizing how science is social and that scientific work involves many individuals.
I also incorporated another nature of science aspect into my 5e lesson, which was science demands evidence. As the students were reclassifying their objects based off of the chart they filled out, I did not refer to it as a chart, but instead I called it evidence. I kept saying use your evidence to reclassify your objects. I explicitly explained how science demands evidence and evidence is obtained through observations and recordings. When students would come up to the elmo to share with the class, they would say state how they reclassified their objects and when I asked the question of how they knew they could reclassify that way, they would reply by saying they looked at their evidence. These nature of science aspects need to be explicitly taught to students and incorporated into our lessons because effect science lessons should have content, process, and nature of science all incorporated into them.
GOAL #2:
Students will choose appropriate strategies, grouping arrangements, resource materials and visual displays for learning science
(FEAP 1, 3; FC 1, 2,)
Information on Artifacts:
The artifact I chose to demonstrate my progress towards this goal was the lesson analysis assignment. I created this on October 13th, 2014. During this time in the course, we were learning about the “three legs” of science, which are content, process, and the nature of science and through this assignment we had to provide the original copy of a “cookbook” science activity from the Internet and provide a critique that addressed the “three legs” of science. The other artifact I chose to show my progress towards course goal #2 is the 5e activity in class. This activity started on November 6th and we made our adjustments to it on November 13th. This assignment gave us a standard and we had to put the paper strips in order from which activity we thought were best for an engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate, then the following week after we learned all about the 5e lesson plan, we got to adjust our original thoughts based on what we had learned.
The artifact I chose to demonstrate my progress towards this goal was the lesson analysis assignment. I created this on October 13th, 2014. During this time in the course, we were learning about the “three legs” of science, which are content, process, and the nature of science and through this assignment we had to provide the original copy of a “cookbook” science activity from the Internet and provide a critique that addressed the “three legs” of science. The other artifact I chose to show my progress towards course goal #2 is the 5e activity in class. This activity started on November 6th and we made our adjustments to it on November 13th. This assignment gave us a standard and we had to put the paper strips in order from which activity we thought were best for an engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate, then the following week after we learned all about the 5e lesson plan, we got to adjust our original thoughts based on what we had learned.
lesson_analysis_assignement.docx | |
File Size: | 1154 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Rationale:
This artifact demonstrates my progress towards course goal #2 because I was able to “decookbook” a cookie cutter lesson. Through this assignment I made progress in choosing appropriate strategies, grouping arrangements, resource materials, and visual displays for science learning. I chose appropriate strategies for science learning when in the cookie cutter lesson it said, “Then, as a complete group we will at how the students sorted the pictures and what pictures lie in each group. I will have each group explain how they chose to classify the pictures.” I decided that the appropriate strategy would be a gallery walk. This strategy would allow student walk around the classroom and take notes on how each group classified their pictures in an organized manner. I would have the students rotate clockwise and get a certain amount of time at each station. This strategy is a great tool for classroom management for students to observe and take notes on each other’s work. Through this assignment, I was also able to modify any materials and visual displays as well. I determined that the students would use a graphic organizer during one part of the lesson to help the students visually understand the science learning taking place. This artifact truly allowed me to make appropriate decisions I felt would benefit the students in their science learning. I was able to identify where the “three legs” of science were and add in where they were missing a leg. I can see my growth in this assignment because I had little difficulty choosing appropriate strategies, materials, and visual displays in order to improve this lesson and that shows my progress in this course goal.
Coming into this course, I had heard colleagues at my school I'm interning at refer to the 5e's, but I had no idea what the 5e's were. When I was giving this assignment with my two classmates, we thought it would be fairly easy to decide which activity was the engage, which activity was the explore, and so on and so forth. As you can see, we made several adjustments to our phases after learning what each phase included. Previous I thought that the engage meant just introducing the students to the new concept, but I now know it means to establish the context for learning through real world application and that this part of the lesson must motivate students and determine students' prior knowledge. For the explore phase, I just thought this meant doing hands-on science, but it is much more than that. In this phase the students must be provided with opportunites to compare their ideas with others and test their prior ideas. For the explain phase, I thought this meant students explain on paper or through a discussion what happened during their hands-on activity, but I've realized that this phase must consist of students reflecting on their new ideas and how their thinking has changed. In this phases they are introduced to new vocabulary terms related to their exploration and they can start to develop explanations based on their evidence. I had no ideas what the extend phase was for prior to this course, I didn't think students needed this phase, but now I see how crucial this phase is in student learning. In this phase, students are encouraged to apply their skills and ideas to new context. Extending students thinking allows teachers to see if they can use what they have learned and apply it somewhere else. Lastly, I had thought that the evaluate stage was a chapter test or quiz, but I've learned that the evaluate stage simply demonstrates what students have learned and this information allows the teacher to see if he or she needs to reteach or move forward. The evaluate stage should not be a multiple choice test because that does not show a teacher what a student has learned, but rather that they can pick the best answer out of four options. Assessments can be put into any stage and can be summative or formative as well. This activity demonstrates my progress towards course goal #2 because I was able to choose appropriate strategies for each phase, along with grouping arrangements and resource materials for the students to learn about the rock cycle through a 5e lesson plan.
This artifact demonstrates my progress towards course goal #2 because I was able to “decookbook” a cookie cutter lesson. Through this assignment I made progress in choosing appropriate strategies, grouping arrangements, resource materials, and visual displays for science learning. I chose appropriate strategies for science learning when in the cookie cutter lesson it said, “Then, as a complete group we will at how the students sorted the pictures and what pictures lie in each group. I will have each group explain how they chose to classify the pictures.” I decided that the appropriate strategy would be a gallery walk. This strategy would allow student walk around the classroom and take notes on how each group classified their pictures in an organized manner. I would have the students rotate clockwise and get a certain amount of time at each station. This strategy is a great tool for classroom management for students to observe and take notes on each other’s work. Through this assignment, I was also able to modify any materials and visual displays as well. I determined that the students would use a graphic organizer during one part of the lesson to help the students visually understand the science learning taking place. This artifact truly allowed me to make appropriate decisions I felt would benefit the students in their science learning. I was able to identify where the “three legs” of science were and add in where they were missing a leg. I can see my growth in this assignment because I had little difficulty choosing appropriate strategies, materials, and visual displays in order to improve this lesson and that shows my progress in this course goal.
Coming into this course, I had heard colleagues at my school I'm interning at refer to the 5e's, but I had no idea what the 5e's were. When I was giving this assignment with my two classmates, we thought it would be fairly easy to decide which activity was the engage, which activity was the explore, and so on and so forth. As you can see, we made several adjustments to our phases after learning what each phase included. Previous I thought that the engage meant just introducing the students to the new concept, but I now know it means to establish the context for learning through real world application and that this part of the lesson must motivate students and determine students' prior knowledge. For the explore phase, I just thought this meant doing hands-on science, but it is much more than that. In this phase the students must be provided with opportunites to compare their ideas with others and test their prior ideas. For the explain phase, I thought this meant students explain on paper or through a discussion what happened during their hands-on activity, but I've realized that this phase must consist of students reflecting on their new ideas and how their thinking has changed. In this phases they are introduced to new vocabulary terms related to their exploration and they can start to develop explanations based on their evidence. I had no ideas what the extend phase was for prior to this course, I didn't think students needed this phase, but now I see how crucial this phase is in student learning. In this phase, students are encouraged to apply their skills and ideas to new context. Extending students thinking allows teachers to see if they can use what they have learned and apply it somewhere else. Lastly, I had thought that the evaluate stage was a chapter test or quiz, but I've learned that the evaluate stage simply demonstrates what students have learned and this information allows the teacher to see if he or she needs to reteach or move forward. The evaluate stage should not be a multiple choice test because that does not show a teacher what a student has learned, but rather that they can pick the best answer out of four options. Assessments can be put into any stage and can be summative or formative as well. This activity demonstrates my progress towards course goal #2 because I was able to choose appropriate strategies for each phase, along with grouping arrangements and resource materials for the students to learn about the rock cycle through a 5e lesson plan.
Goal #3:
Examine the nature of scientific inquiry through modeling hands-on, minds-on activities that foster scientific “habits of mind” and promote scientific literacy (FEAP 1, 2, 3, 4; FC 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Information on Artifacts:
The artifacts I chose to demonstrate my progress for course goal #3 are all the artifacts from the learning we did on the water cycle. These artifacts consist the drawing what we think the water cycle is in one color, then after all of our learning make modifications in another color, the second artifact I chose was the journey we took as a water drop, and the third artifact I chose was the activity when we chose a water cycle image off of Google and labeled its strengths and limitations. These artifacts were created over the course of two science classes, one being on October 30th and the other one being on November 6th. This assignment was to teach us about our misconceptions of the water cycle, but also to strengthen our content knowledge.
The artifacts I chose to demonstrate my progress for course goal #3 are all the artifacts from the learning we did on the water cycle. These artifacts consist the drawing what we think the water cycle is in one color, then after all of our learning make modifications in another color, the second artifact I chose was the journey we took as a water drop, and the third artifact I chose was the activity when we chose a water cycle image off of Google and labeled its strengths and limitations. These artifacts were created over the course of two science classes, one being on October 30th and the other one being on November 6th. This assignment was to teach us about our misconceptions of the water cycle, but also to strengthen our content knowledge.
water_cycle_google_image.docx | |
File Size: | 993 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Rationale:
These artifacts demonstrates my progress towards course goal #3 because these artifacts have opened my eyes and shifted my thinking about science. Coming into this course I thought that the only way to successfully teach students science was through hands-on activities. Though hands-on activities are can be effective, they can be used ineffectively as well. Just because students are using their hands doesn’t mean they’re thinking about the science concept. Through these artifacts, I saw what minds-on activities were and how they can be effective as well. The water cycle image activity did not have us touching materials and doing hands-on work, it had us making connections and thinking. That is what science is all about and through these water cycle activities I was able to examine the nature of scientific inquiry through modeling hands-on learning. The water drop journey activity involved hands-on learning that fostered scientific inquiry. Each of my classmates took different journeys as water droplets and we each told a unique story of our journey. I feel I’ve seen the most progress though in my thinking of minds-on activities because before I had only though science was taught effective through hands-on learning, but through this learning cycle, I was truly able to see that minds-on activities foster scientific “habits of mind”. These artifacts taught me that it’s not about touching materials, its about students making connections. Going to Nature’s Classroom allowed all of my connections to be applied to real world situations. It was an amazing cycle to learn about and watch how my thinking changed. I no longer think that the water cycle is a circular path in which water goes from evaporation, to condensation, to participation, and repeats that again. I know look at the water cycle as a water system, a system in which each water drop has a journey it takes to play a larger role in the continuation of water on our planet.
These artifacts demonstrates my progress towards course goal #3 because these artifacts have opened my eyes and shifted my thinking about science. Coming into this course I thought that the only way to successfully teach students science was through hands-on activities. Though hands-on activities are can be effective, they can be used ineffectively as well. Just because students are using their hands doesn’t mean they’re thinking about the science concept. Through these artifacts, I saw what minds-on activities were and how they can be effective as well. The water cycle image activity did not have us touching materials and doing hands-on work, it had us making connections and thinking. That is what science is all about and through these water cycle activities I was able to examine the nature of scientific inquiry through modeling hands-on learning. The water drop journey activity involved hands-on learning that fostered scientific inquiry. Each of my classmates took different journeys as water droplets and we each told a unique story of our journey. I feel I’ve seen the most progress though in my thinking of minds-on activities because before I had only though science was taught effective through hands-on learning, but through this learning cycle, I was truly able to see that minds-on activities foster scientific “habits of mind”. These artifacts taught me that it’s not about touching materials, its about students making connections. Going to Nature’s Classroom allowed all of my connections to be applied to real world situations. It was an amazing cycle to learn about and watch how my thinking changed. I no longer think that the water cycle is a circular path in which water goes from evaporation, to condensation, to participation, and repeats that again. I know look at the water cycle as a water system, a system in which each water drop has a journey it takes to play a larger role in the continuation of water on our planet.
GOAL #4:
Students will develop assessment strategies related to student outcomes in science (FEAP 4; FC 1)
Information on Artifacts:
Student notebooking and my reading response cards are two artifacts I have chosen to show my growth towards course goal #4. During the class date of September 4th, we learned the importance of science notebooking and the following day in my field experience, my students and myself had science notebooks up and running. Science notebooks were emphasized heavily at the beginning of the semester and we learned through reading the Campbell, Brian, and Fulton article titled, Science Notebooks: Writing About Inquiry how important science notebooks are and how students can use them in our classrooms. The other artifact I chose to demonstrate my growth towards developing assessment strategies are my reading response cards because each article I read and helps me progress how we should be assessing our students in today’s educational world. We began reading response cards on September 4th and have continued reading and filling out reading response cards up until November 13th. These cards help us keep track of what we have read and what new thinking we have come across.
Student notebooking and my reading response cards are two artifacts I have chosen to show my growth towards course goal #4. During the class date of September 4th, we learned the importance of science notebooking and the following day in my field experience, my students and myself had science notebooks up and running. Science notebooks were emphasized heavily at the beginning of the semester and we learned through reading the Campbell, Brian, and Fulton article titled, Science Notebooks: Writing About Inquiry how important science notebooks are and how students can use them in our classrooms. The other artifact I chose to demonstrate my growth towards developing assessment strategies are my reading response cards because each article I read and helps me progress how we should be assessing our students in today’s educational world. We began reading response cards on September 4th and have continued reading and filling out reading response cards up until November 13th. These cards help us keep track of what we have read and what new thinking we have come across.
Rationale:
These artifacts demonstrates my progress towards course goal #4 because both show my understanding of how to develop assessment strategies related to student outcomes in science. This goal states that as student educators we must develop assessment strategies and I feel that there is no better way to assess students than through their science notebook. Once I had learned the importance of this tool, I wanted to begin using science notebooks right away. I learned that as teachers we must model in our own science notebooks in order for students to see the purpose in their own science notebooks. Through my photographs as evidence, I am showing my growth developing an assessment strategy of having students write their prediction in their science journals of what will happen to the M&M after it stays in their closed fist for 5 minutes. I was able to use their predictions as an assessment of what my students know about heat energy. By incorporating science notebooks in my classroom, I believe I’ve made tremendous amounts of growth in developing assessment strategies.
The other artifact that is shown above is my reading response cards. These response cards indicate my progress towards course goal #4 because they allow me to reflect back on how my thinking has evolved and developed. Before reading the articles given to us throughout this course, I had though that assessments were just end of unit or chapter tests, but I learned that is not the case. Looking back, I can see where my thinking changed when it came to developing assessment strategies and that would be from reading response cards #2, #11, #12, and #14. Throughout this course, I’ve watched myself progress from thinking that assessment was just chapter tests to learning to use science notebooks as formative assessments, learning from student predictions to address misconceptions, and using their science notebooks as a portfolio to see a student’s growth is another great way to assess a student. To think at the beginning of the year I only knew of summative assessments in science teaching and that these course readings and response cards have opened my eyes up to formative assessments and beyond that how assessments can be done at any phase whether it is during the engage of a lesson or at the evaluate. Assessments need to be ongoing in order to elicit student thinking and monitor student progress.
These artifacts demonstrates my progress towards course goal #4 because both show my understanding of how to develop assessment strategies related to student outcomes in science. This goal states that as student educators we must develop assessment strategies and I feel that there is no better way to assess students than through their science notebook. Once I had learned the importance of this tool, I wanted to begin using science notebooks right away. I learned that as teachers we must model in our own science notebooks in order for students to see the purpose in their own science notebooks. Through my photographs as evidence, I am showing my growth developing an assessment strategy of having students write their prediction in their science journals of what will happen to the M&M after it stays in their closed fist for 5 minutes. I was able to use their predictions as an assessment of what my students know about heat energy. By incorporating science notebooks in my classroom, I believe I’ve made tremendous amounts of growth in developing assessment strategies.
The other artifact that is shown above is my reading response cards. These response cards indicate my progress towards course goal #4 because they allow me to reflect back on how my thinking has evolved and developed. Before reading the articles given to us throughout this course, I had though that assessments were just end of unit or chapter tests, but I learned that is not the case. Looking back, I can see where my thinking changed when it came to developing assessment strategies and that would be from reading response cards #2, #11, #12, and #14. Throughout this course, I’ve watched myself progress from thinking that assessment was just chapter tests to learning to use science notebooks as formative assessments, learning from student predictions to address misconceptions, and using their science notebooks as a portfolio to see a student’s growth is another great way to assess a student. To think at the beginning of the year I only knew of summative assessments in science teaching and that these course readings and response cards have opened my eyes up to formative assessments and beyond that how assessments can be done at any phase whether it is during the engage of a lesson or at the evaluate. Assessments need to be ongoing in order to elicit student thinking and monitor student progress.
Goal #5:
Students will demonstrate the capacity for collegiality, reflective practice, and professional growth in regard to science teaching
(FEAP 5, 6; FC 1)
Information on Artifacts:
The artifacts I used to show my growth in course goal #5 are my weekly reflections on my blog site and 5-page lesson plan from my content coaching cycle. I’ve been reflecting on my practices for about 2 years now. In the beginning of the residency we were required to start a blog and reflect on our lessons that we would teach. My first reflection was on September 17th, 2013 and I am still reflecting on my blog currently. I use to think reflecting on my lessons were a waste of time and I saw it as busy work, but now I reflect immediately after a lesson and jot down the strengths of my lesson and what I could’ve done to make it better on a sticky note and record it on my blog. The other artifact is my 5-page lesson plan that I worked collaboratively with my content coach, Allison, to complete. I had filled out the template for my lesson to the best of my ability, but on November 3rd, I had my pre-conference, where Allison and I sat down to make any necessary adjustments and modifications that should be made before I taught this concept.
The artifacts I used to show my growth in course goal #5 are my weekly reflections on my blog site and 5-page lesson plan from my content coaching cycle. I’ve been reflecting on my practices for about 2 years now. In the beginning of the residency we were required to start a blog and reflect on our lessons that we would teach. My first reflection was on September 17th, 2013 and I am still reflecting on my blog currently. I use to think reflecting on my lessons were a waste of time and I saw it as busy work, but now I reflect immediately after a lesson and jot down the strengths of my lesson and what I could’ve done to make it better on a sticky note and record it on my blog. The other artifact is my 5-page lesson plan that I worked collaboratively with my content coach, Allison, to complete. I had filled out the template for my lesson to the best of my ability, but on November 3rd, I had my pre-conference, where Allison and I sat down to make any necessary adjustments and modifications that should be made before I taught this concept.
content_coaching.docx | |
File Size: | 7169 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Rationale:
I chose my blog as an artifact to demonstrate my progress of course goal #5 because it shows my growth as a reflective educator over the course of two years. In education reflecting is a crucial component to success. As teachers we should strive to grow in our own learning and should always be thinking of ways to improve our own teaching practices. Through my weekly reflections, I was able to reflect on science lessons I had taught in my classroom. During my reflections, I talk about my lesson’s content, my struggles, and the accomplishments I achieved during each lesson. Based off of my weekly reflections, it is clear to see the determination I have to want to grow in this field. I’m constantly reflecting on what were strengths in my lessons and what could’ve been changed, added, or modified to make the lesson even better. No lesson is perfect, but by making reflection a habit, I am constantly learning and bettering myself as an educator.
Content coaching demonstrates my progress toward course goal #5 because I demonstrated the capacity for collegiality by working collaboratively with my science content coach to design an appropriate science lesson. Prior to our meeting, I had what new terms the students would be learning, but she told me to add the terms actually definitions to my lesson plan. This really helped me when I taught the lesson because I was able to refer back to what I had written down. She also went over student misconceptions with me and how to address them and how to fit all “three legs” of science into my lesson. Working collaboratively through the content coaching cycles has allowed me to professional grow in regards to science teaching. It is important to be able to work effectively with colleagues because most teachers take part in team planning. Throughout this semester, I have also demonstrated my progress towards course goal #5 through team planning at Mort, taking advice from mentors, and being observed by my PRT, content coach, and CT and taking their feedback and implementing it in my future practices.
I chose my blog as an artifact to demonstrate my progress of course goal #5 because it shows my growth as a reflective educator over the course of two years. In education reflecting is a crucial component to success. As teachers we should strive to grow in our own learning and should always be thinking of ways to improve our own teaching practices. Through my weekly reflections, I was able to reflect on science lessons I had taught in my classroom. During my reflections, I talk about my lesson’s content, my struggles, and the accomplishments I achieved during each lesson. Based off of my weekly reflections, it is clear to see the determination I have to want to grow in this field. I’m constantly reflecting on what were strengths in my lessons and what could’ve been changed, added, or modified to make the lesson even better. No lesson is perfect, but by making reflection a habit, I am constantly learning and bettering myself as an educator.
Content coaching demonstrates my progress toward course goal #5 because I demonstrated the capacity for collegiality by working collaboratively with my science content coach to design an appropriate science lesson. Prior to our meeting, I had what new terms the students would be learning, but she told me to add the terms actually definitions to my lesson plan. This really helped me when I taught the lesson because I was able to refer back to what I had written down. She also went over student misconceptions with me and how to address them and how to fit all “three legs” of science into my lesson. Working collaboratively through the content coaching cycles has allowed me to professional grow in regards to science teaching. It is important to be able to work effectively with colleagues because most teachers take part in team planning. Throughout this semester, I have also demonstrated my progress towards course goal #5 through team planning at Mort, taking advice from mentors, and being observed by my PRT, content coach, and CT and taking their feedback and implementing it in my future practices.
Work cited:
Harlen, & Wynne. (n.d.). Why Science? What Science? In Primary Science: Taking the Plunge (pp. 5-6).
Melber, L. (n.d.). Tap Into Informal Science Learning. In Science Scope (pp. 28-30).
Sullenger, K. (n.d.). How Do You Know Science is Going On? In Science and Children (p. 25).
Weinburgh, M. (n.d.). A Leg (or Three) to Stand On. In Science and Children (pp. 28-30).
Melber, L. (n.d.). Tap Into Informal Science Learning. In Science Scope (pp. 28-30).
Sullenger, K. (n.d.). How Do You Know Science is Going On? In Science and Children (p. 25).
Weinburgh, M. (n.d.). A Leg (or Three) to Stand On. In Science and Children (pp. 28-30).