Friday, September 12, 2008
Teaching Science
My most recent experience in science was student teaching and unit I did on the states of matter. This was the first subject I took over and I was the most nervous to do this because my scientific past has been inadequate and traumatizing. It was very uncomfortable for me to be in front of the class trying to teach them something that I feel like I never really learned to the full capacity. It is also uncomfortable knowing that I may not know all the answers no matter how hard I prepared. I used to think that I had to know all the answers in teaching science concepts. I used to think that I had to be a science expert on everything. I used to think that science only came from books and pictures. I also used to think that kids didn't like science, because in my experiences kids didn't have good role models for how to teach science. I realized, though, that I can take what was a negative for me and turn it around for my kids so it would be a positive. I realized that I can learn with my kids and experience a whole new science as both a teacher and a lifelong learner. I learned how important it was for me to connect the science concepts I needed to teach to what they were curious about. It was amazing to see the kinds of questions that 8 year-olds have. They loved science and I, inturn, loved teaching it. I realized that teaching and learning are whatever you make them and as a teacher I have the power to invigorate science in the eyes of my students.
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3 comments:
Christine,
I really loved your post. I completely understood your comments about being unsure of the material and nervous that you would not know the answers to student's questions. I had the same fear during my student teaching experience. I was most scared during my anatomy & physiology class I taught since due to an unforeseen series of events I was almost completely alone from the point I took over the class, and my concentration is biology not a&p and I was terrified. I was so unfamiliar with the material I felt like I was teaching myself when I was trying to make my lessons. And I was even nervous in front of my sophomore biology classes.
I think that it is normal for us to feel nervous and not completely confident with some material. And I am happy that you seemed to enjoy at least parts of teaching science with your kids. I am sure that as time progresses you will become more familiar with the content and excited about teaching science and that will rub off onto your students.
~Jess Baker
I totally understand what you are staying. I was so nervous when I started teaching my unit because I felt like I needed to know the answers to all the questions they might ask. I too really enjoyed learning new things while teaching it, and its amazing how each person views things so differently. You certainly learn new things you never thought of before from you students.
My hope is that when I'm teaching something that is unfamiliar that I can still stay close to the overall purpose. That way, even if I mess up on details, we don't lose the big idea. Maybe in elementary science we can first master our confidence with using process skills. And then we'll add a layer to that. The truth is that I'm not sure that there is ANY major that will fully prepare you to teach all the science needed to be good with kids on the first try. So a framework that guides us seems crucial.
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