Scientific Me: My Journey to Developing a Passion for Science

I found it to be a difficult task when looking back on my experiences with Science. It is something that I do not think about often. When looking back on my education, I can only think about the positive experiences that I have encountered with English and Education. It’s hard for me to think of any positive experiences with science. In elementary school, I recall having difficult teachers who would call me out in class when I wouldn’t understand what we were learning. This was also the time when I would get nauseous easily from the life science videos. I remember taking frequent trips to the nurse's office because I would feel like I was going to faint from watching the videos or even talking about blood and the human body. In middle school, the trips to the nurse’s office still occurred. I remember specifically of a teacher who would make us do scientific experiments at home for homework. I found the experiments to be fun but it was a lot of work to do as a homework assignment. For the directions on these homework assignments, it would always start off as “Using ordinary household items…” and then it would list all the materials that I would need for the experiment. This was extremely frustrating for my parents and I because these were not “ordinary household items” and I would have to go to the store and try to buy these items. I remember one time my mom stapled the receipt of the items that we bought for the experiment onto one of the homework assignments. I did not have a good relationship with that teacher after that event. I do, however, recall a science teacher in middle school that I did like. He was a funny and patient teacher that really helped me understand science. He gave us many examples, notes, and videos during the lessons. I remember specifically completing the cell project. The project assignment was to create a model of either the plant or animal cell and label each part with the function of how it contributes to the cell. I chose to do the plant cell. I remember really enjoying this project and getting a good grade on it. Science in high school was extremely difficult. It got more complicated and I found myself getting behind the majority of the time. However, there were many teachers in high school who really helped me to succeed and helped me to understand when I struggled. When thinking of science outside of the classroom, I had a difficult time thinking of any scenarios. I think this might be because I do not like to think about science much. I feel like this experiences stand out to me because it really shows me how my viewpoint of science shaped over time. The only positive experiences that stand out to me were the teachers who really cared to help me when I was struggling and when I enjoyed completing the plant cell project. I feel like I have a good idea of why I have such negative feelings towards science. After reviewing my experiences throughout the classroom and outside of the classroom, I feel like I have an understanding of myself in regards to science. It is important that I get past these negative feelings towards science in order to finally get comfortable and find a love for science so that I can effectively teach my students. Looking at the beginning of my experiences, I feel like I set myself up to not develop a love for science since I have strong and passionate feelings towards English. Science has always seemed so far off from English that I feel like I developed biased feelings before diving into science with an open mind. I have also experienced teachers who were difficult to deal with when I struggled. The fact that the majority of these teachers that I encountered occurred in elementary school says a lot. I developed these negative feelings at an early age and was never able to shake off these feelings. The science teachers that I had in elementary school were not patient with me at all and often voiced their annoyance towards struggling students. The students that struggled were often called out in class for not understanding. I hated going to science class in elementary school. Science in fourth and fifth grade was brutal. I was always eager for the class to be over. When I am a teacher, I will never call out students who struggle in my class. If I notice any struggling students, I would be patient with them and work with them either in small groups or one-on-one in order to help them gain a better understanding. I would also never complain about struggling students in front of the whole class, that is just unprofessional and disgusting. Middle school had its ups and downs according to the experiences that I encountered there. I experienced another difficult teacher who did not give the students any fair homework. The homework experiments were too complicated and required too many materials that needed to be bought that night. Of course, it is important that students receive homework so that they can practice their skills and what they are learning. However, it is also important that the homework is not excessive or really hard. Experiments should be done in the classroom or should be given farther in advance so that students have time to complete them. The plant cell project was the only science project that I enjoyed completing. I think that is because it was the only project that I found to be not too complicated. This project also helped me to really gain an understanding of the topic on cells. I learned a lot from a project like this. I still struggled with science from the rest of middle school and high school, however, I did encounter many patient teachers who really cared about me gaining an understanding science. They tried to help me as much as they could, I

had one-on-one tutoring with some including after school help. I went to the extra help sessions and the test reviews. I did care about wanting to succeed in science but I never felt confident in it and always found it to be a struggle. I feel like I have encountered science outside of the classroom but I have a difficult time thinking of any situations that were good or bad. I think this is because I do not like to think of science in general. I honestly do not feel like I have been successful in science. It bothers me a little that I have so many negative experiences and that I have such little confidence in it. However, it does make me feel better that there are teachers that are patient and want to see struggling students succeed. When I think of someone who is successful in science, I automatically think of someone who is extremely talented in science and is able to easily apply science to life. I feel like I am definitely not at this stage. However, that does not mean that I crave to be at least somewhere near this stage. I wish that I was talented in science and I hope that overtime by working on my skills with science in the classroom, that I will be able to develop a positive attitude towards it and be an effective teacher. I never view struggling students as an annoyance because I understand how they feel. When we tend to view topics or subjects as hard, we usually do not go into it with an open mind and usually shut down when we struggle. I want to be able to help students to get past their negative feelings and succeed in what they struggle in. I also want to set this same goal for myself. I feel like this class will really help me to work on my science skills and will help me to get more comfortable with science in general. By being successful in the course, it will help give me the confidence to continue working on my science skills and help students to succeed in science. I define science as the study of the physical and natural world through observations and experiments. I feel like this description sums up what I think and how I view it based on my experiences. I refer to the physical world as the topics that are taught in science classes such as physics, chemistry, etc. I refer to the natural world as the topics that are taught in science classes like earth science, biology, etc. By stating “physical and natural world,” I feel like I summed up the various science topics. I also stated how it was studied “through observations and experiments” because I feel like these were the only ways in which we discovered and learned more about science regardless if it was “physical” or “natural.” As I am reviewing my chosen definition for science, I realized a couple of things that I did not notice before. This statement is pretty general and I feel like there is more to science but I don’t realize it yet. When I try to think more about science, I have a difficult time thinking past these basic definition. I’m sure that a lot more applies to science but I feel like I need to experience this on my own so that I can gain a better understanding of what science really is.

Looking at my definition, I can also see that I did not create a very creative one. I feel like if I had more positive experiences than I would’ve been able to create a more fun and broad definition for science. I think at the closing of this course, I will be able to develop a more effective and creative definition. My goal is to develop more confidence towards science and gain a better understanding of what science really is. I wish to try to develop a more positive attitude towards science so that my students will develop a positive attitude. If I have any struggling students, I will try to be more patient and help them to understand rather than get annoyed at them and make them feel like they do not have a chance to fully understand science. I really hope that one day I become an effective science teacher. In order to be a successful science teacher, I need to get more comfortable on this subject and gain a better understanding. I am looking forward to what is in store for me in this course.