As I reflect on my journey throughout this course, I realize the meaningful and life changing effects that it has on my teaching and myself personally. This has not been an easy course, especially since in the beginning I had a lot of negative feelings towards science. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and work extra hard in order to do the best that I can do while improving my skills. Although it was challenging, it helped me to learn even more about science and I feel like I have developed a massive amount of confidence in it. I also learned even more about different teaching methods and about myself as a teacher.
I love how this course gets us to actually teach in front of a classroom. I was eager to be able to practice my skills again in front of a whole class.I felt like an actual teacher and that the students were my own students. I never felt this connection before in any of my other methods classes. I did gain some great experiences in those classes because I worked one-on-one with students but I never got the chance to teach a whole classroom.
Working with my peers on the unit plan was a great experience. My group worked extremely well together. We all were able to contribute to the unit plan in our own ways. I felt that my group demonstrated the Jigsaw Method well by each of us assigning ourselves our own roles when breaking down the unit plan. We each had a variety of roles that we contributed together and we each voiced our thoughts and ideas to one another. The majority of our ideas were combined and put together in this unit plan. One important thing that I learned about the unit plan process is to give yourself a lot of time before you have to conduct the unit plan. This was a lengthy process that takes many days to complete. It is important that you start early in order to get it done beforehand so that you can make finishing touches and even backup activities.
I feel that I have learned a lot about myself in this course. I always felt that I was shy and not very good at presenting in front of people. At the closing of this course, I feel completely different from the way that I felt from the beginning of the course. I feel a lot more comfortable with presenting and teaching in front of people now. When I was teaching and presenting my unit plan to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, I felt confident and I felt that I belonged there teaching these students. It was a powerful feeling that I enjoy and will hold onto. My goal is to improve my skills even more in teaching by practicing presenting in front of people and developing unit plans.
I feel that I am ready to become a teacher due to my experiences and discoveries. I feel that I have definitely mastered the unit plan process and I feel comfortable with developing them. I feel like I know all about direct instruction and indirect/inquiry instruction by heart and I can't wait to incorporate these types of lessons in my future classroom. These lessons really helped the students to understand the lessons more, develop their thinking and scientific method skills, as well as their social skills by working together with their peers. The activities we conducted (science fair project, climate presentation, atmosphere presentation, astronomy timeline and word clouds, etc.) helped me to learn a lot more about science and how to teach it effectively to students. I will definitely be incorporating these projects into my future classroom.
I really enjoyed this course because the lessons and teaching methods that I learned were engaging for the students and were meaningful because they were able to apply what they were learning in various ways. This is what helped me to decide my philosophy of teaching statement which is, "Teachers are able to make a difference for all students through learning by engaging them in the lessons using a variety of teaching methods and providing them the opportunity to learn through hands-on activities." I feel like this statement really applies to how I feel about teaching and one of the important things that I learned from this course. I also feel that this statement incorporates the 5 powerful teaching elements (Meaningful, Integrative, Value-Based, Challenged, Active). These elements are important when developing unit plans because it is important that these unit plans are effective and mean something to these students in order for them to learn.
As I continue the next chapter towards becoming a teacher, I will definitely be using all of the teaching methods and resources that I learned from this course. With my new goals and skills, I will keep improving my teaching in order to make a difference in the lives of students.
Recently, we conducted a project that would help us to gain more knowledge about space science while learning ways to teach the subject in the classroom. Dr. Smirnova had us refer to a solar system Google Docs where we each chose a category or planet by placing our name in the box. I picked Jupiter. We then had to research and learn more about what we picked using Instagrok , an interactive website with map-like features where you can discover condensed information. I researched more information about Jupiter from this website. After making note of important information that I found, I then contributed two slides about Jupiter to the classroom slideshow on the Solar System. When the class was finished, we each presented our slides on this shared classroom slideshow. I was able to learn a lot about the other planets that I didn't know before.
Before starting this project, Dr. Smirnova had us research and take note of any articles about Astronomy that we found to be interesting. I had selected up to 8 articles. We were then split up into groups of 3 as we shared our articles to the members of our group. Our task was to create a list of common words from each of our articles into a Word Cloud. My group used a Word Cloud generator in order to copy and paste each article into one system. Our Word Cloud really did a great job in combining the important words and aspects about our articles.
We then had to create a timeline using the important terms from our Word Cloud. We used the website called, Time Toast, to make our timeline on. It is a very interactive time line that showed either a list version of each event in the timeline or it would show the lay out version. In our Time Toast, we referred to terms such as "Kepler," "Galileo," "Vostok 1," "Pluto," and "spacecraft." With these people and terms, we sorted them throughout history and organized it based on their times. Our time line came out very well and we were able to teach the class about what we learned and how this project helped us to learn more about these subjects and how to teach it in the classroom. This is a great project to use in my future classroom.
In order to learn more about Earth and Space and how to teach it effectively in the classroom, Dr. Smirnova had us get involved in a class assignment which resulted in a classroom project. She started off by instructing us to take an online pre-test where we put our honest answers of how we felt with our knowledge of various areas of Earth and Space. These were areas such as the Earth's surface, atmosphere, weather, etc. This was done so she could see what we needed more knowledge and confidence in. It was also done as a reflection for us to see how we felt about certain subjects involving Earth and Space.
We were then assigned in groups and we were given a series of questions that we needed to complete with our group members on a Google Docs. Here we discussed what we felt that we were most knowledgeable and least knowledgeable in regarding Earth's surface, atmosphere, and weather. We felt that we were most knowledgeable about oceans and freshwater. In order to continue to strengthen our knowledge about this topic, we can always refer to news and research articles about this topic and can incorporate many interactive websites and videos about it in the classroom. We felt that were least knowledgeable about the atmosphere. We felt in order to get ourselves comfortable with this topic, we would need to use the same technique that we would use to strengthen our knowledge. We also listed many helpful resources that teachers can refer to when learning more about the Earth's surface, atmosphere and weather. We found sources such as National Geographic for Kids, TIME for Kids, and BrainPop. These are some great resources that teachers can refer to in the classroom.
My group then had to create a presentation on the topic that we are least knowledgeable about. Our topic was on atmosphere. We felt that we did not have a lot of knowledge on the layers of the atmosphere. In order to learn more about it, we did our research using the resources that we found beforehand. My group took notes on the atmosphere and its layers. We then selected Powtoon as our digital tool for the presentation. We then worked together on condensing our notes and putting the information into the Powtoon. This digital tool proved to be very engaging and we had a lot of fun with creating it. I was able to teach the rest of the class all that I have learned about the atmosphere and its layers. After teaching my peers and showing them our Powtoon, we then created an engaging quiz using Kahoot so that we could test our peers on what they have learned. I definitely felt a lot more confident with this topic after this project. This is a great way for students to learn more about specific topics in the classroom.
Recently, I was involved in an assignment where we learned more about Climate Change. We were split up into groups where I had to become an expert on area where which is affected by climate change. I then would have to teach the rest of the classroom about this area and check for their understanding. We used the Jigsaw Method when completing this lesson. The area that my group was assigned with was oceans and coasts. We were given this format to use with the main points that we needed to cover when creating our presentation to teach the lesson. When my group met up together, we decided that each group member would be assigned a couple points that they would have to research and become experts at to contribute to the presentation. My role was to become an expert on the definitions of oceans and coasts, the history of both, the major threats to these areas, and the generalizations. My other group member also had an equal amount areas that she needed to become an expert at. Each member had a role and responsibility for this lesson and an equal amount of work to contribute.
Independently, I took notes and researched the areas that we assigned ourselves. I learned a lot about these the information regarding to oceans and coasts. We created a PowerPoint on Google Slides to share with one another so that we could each work on the slides together at any time. I condensed the information that I gathered and put it into a short amount of bullet points on the slides. I helped contribute to the pictures and colors that we incorporated into the presentation. I was able to find many pictures that was related to what I found in my research regarding oceans and coasts. My peer and I contributed slides on "Stop and Ponder" where after a certain amount of information is presented to the class, we will bring up review questions so that the students have a better understanding of what they are learning so far.
With all of our information gathered together, we realized that oceans and coasts are really being affected by climate change and we need to do something now to prevent sea level rising. In order to give our students the chance to learn more about climate change regarding oceans and coasts and extend the lesson even further, we provided programs that they could join to help protect oceans and coasts and a lesson plan that teachers can use in the classroom to demonstrate to students how oceans and coasts are being affected by climate change.The conclusion of our lesson included an Exit ticket which was a Google Forms quiz to test their knowledge on what they have learned. We each contributed questions to the quiz based on our combined information.
I felt that my peer and I worked very well together. It helped prove to me once again that the Jigsaw Method is extremely effective. Each member contributed an equal amount by becoming experts on what they had to research and contributed to the PowerPoint. The PowerPoint came out very well and engaging for the students. When we presented our lesson, it grabbed the students attention and I felt that the students did very well at the quiz. This is a great activity to do to incorporate the Jigsaw Method in the classroom.
An important part of the fieldwork process was not only developing my lesson plans and teaching it to the class, it was also from my observations of my peers. Every time my peers would teach their lessons, I would take note of what they did in my observation chart form. It is important to pay attention to the way that my peers teach in order to learn from them. My peers are with me in learning about teaching and they want feedback on their teaching as much as I do.
Providing feedback is extremely important in order for you to learn and improve your skills as a teacher. It is important that we are becoming the best educators so that we can teach students effectively and meaningfully. When providing feedback, you need to tell your peers what they did well, anything notable about their lessons and/or activities, and what they need to work on. It is important for you and your peers to not be offended by critical feedback on what needs to be improved on. This is a learning experience. It is important that we discover what we need to improve on now before we become official educators. It is also now the perfect time because you can work on improving your skills in the next courses that will be taken for education.
I feel like I have learned a lot from my peers. The areas of science that they taught were appropriate for the grade levels of the students. The activities were effective and engaging to the students. I will definitely be using some of the activities in my future classroom. During some of the groups direct instruction, my peers would not only present the information but also present the information with concrete examples. They either discussed these examples with visuals or they presented an actual object to go with the example. I thought that this was a great idea for the students who need a visual in order to understand what they are learning. My peers from these groups inspired me to do the same in my lesson. I also liked how my peers grabbed the students attention. In one of the groups, one of my peers grabbed the students attention by saying, "hocus pocus, let's focus." The students really enjoyed this and would focus when she used this line. I will definitely be using this method in my future classroom.
I feel like I have learned so much about teaching and about myself as a teacher. Providing feedback to my peers has improved my skills on determining what teachers need to do in order to be engaging and effective with students. By getting feedback from my peers, I have learned more about myself as a teacher and what skills that I need to improve on. I have also learned some great techniques and methods that I will use in my future classroom.
Before going into the after school science classroom, I already had in mind what to expect. I have had many opportunities and experiences with teaching students. I have done numerous one-on-one and small group teaching. However, my social studies methods course was the only course where I actually taught in front of a whole classroom with my peers. I remember being terrified at that time but I also remember enjoying myself, demonstrating my teaching skills, and learning a lot about teaching in the classroom. Now that I was going to teach in this science classroom, I felt the same nervous feeling but I knew that I would be able to teach the students effectively since I worked hard on the lessons and knew all the information by heart. Once I actually got in front of the classroom, I was confident and ready to teach the students information about the three types of rocks that would expand their knowledge.
I made sure that I spoke loud and clear when teaching the students. Once I noticed that the students were engaging in the lesson, I felt very proud that I was able to get the students attention and help them to learn from the lessons. I felt that when performing in front of the classroom, each member of the group was able to flow with each other and build on as we went along with the lesson. This worked really well because we practiced many times and knew our material well.
I learned from teaching in this classroom that constant review is crucial for students to understand what they have learned. The "stop and ponder" questions are very important in order to see if the students are understanding all the information that some are seeing for the first time. If a student is struggling and getting frustrated, it is important that you slow down and help this student to understand what they are struggling with. If a student is getting frustrated, it can lead to the student developing a negative attitude towards science. This student had me thinking about myself when I was a student. I remember being frustrated with science because I did not understand it and my teachers wouldn't help me but would instead make me feel bad about myself for not understanding. I do not want this to happen to any of my students. I learned that as a teacher, it is important to make sure that all the students understand what is being taught.
I also learned that students will have different speeds of learning when being taught new information. There were some students who were extremely bright and already knew about a lot of the information that we were teaching. There were also students who were learning this for the first time but were able to pick up on the information quickly. However, there were students who were learning this for the first time and needed to learn at a slower pace. I feel like my teacher peers and I taught the lesson pretty fast. We did not leave the students enough time to fill in their graphic organizers or even time to reflect about what they had learned from the slides. It is important that teachers really go in depth with what they are teaching and get the students engaged so that they will develop a deeper understanding.
Overall, I feel like my teaching peers and I did a great job. The students loved our inquiry activity where we had them help Dr. Rock sort the rocks into the three types. The students learned a lot about the three types of rocks and were excited by the activities. I will definitely be using these methods and activities in my future classroom. I will also keep in mind of everything that I learned from teaching in this classroom for future reference when teaching a variety of different students.
