When I brought up to my teacher earlier in the semester that I needed to give a science lesson to the class, she seemed enthusiastic about it. She mentioned that the kids do not get to do science very often so they would be excited to do anything hands-on. The topic that I was given was rocks, soil, and water. Even though this was not the most exciting topic the kids loved it! It was clear that they enjoyed thinking about how the world around them works. I know that when I was a child, science was one of my favorite subjects. This is because it teaches you about real life facts and provides answers to questions that you may wonder about on a day-to-day basis. I was happy to see how engaged the students were in my lesson, but this also made me sad because they do not get to experience this excitement on a regular basis.
Other then my lesson, I have only seen science taught one other time this semester. My clinical teacher read a book to the students on planets and then had them do an activity together on the rug. She had a small yellow ball that she was pretending was the sun and the students were the Earth. The goal of the activity was to have students face the way the Earth would face at different times during the day. For example she held up the “sun” and said, “Which way would the Earth be facing if it was nighttime?” In this example all of the students turned to have their backs to the “sun”. Even this small activity seemed to be so interesting to the students. They all had tons of questions about the planets and they were visibly sad when the lesson was over.
What I have seen in my clinicals this semester differs greatly from what I have learned about effective teaching in my courses at ISU. Science is a topic that teaches important skills like critical thinking and problem solving and it should not be ignored. When I am a teacher I know I will make sure to include science in my classroom. I feel like by the end of this semester I will have learned a lot about how to come up with fun/hands-on science activities. I am also looking forward to this summer when I will be working again at the Montessori school near my home. Science is one of the topics that we focus on most with the children and I can’t wait to apply what I have learned this school year with my Montessori kids.
Here are some pictures of Montessori science activities that I have seen my summer students do. Montessori has a large focus exploration and hands-on materials. I am excited to get back to teaching science this summer!
Eva,
ReplyDeleteI also have the same problem in my clinical setting. I have yet to see science being implemented on the Wednesdays I am there. My CT has told me that her and another second grade teacher switches classes twice a week for one to teach science and one to social studies. It is sad that it is not implemented every day in the classroom. I would love to see it at least once before we are done with this semester, but I am sad to say it probably won't happen. I am glad to hear your lesson went great! It sounds like your students had a great time learning about soil and rocks. I know when I did my science lesson the students had a great time with it too. I did mine on clouds and the students loved it. I thought that space activity your CT did with the students was a great way to make science hands on, but like you said the students were sad when it ended because it isn't done on a regular basis. That is sad to hear and see from an outside perspective like we have. I hope we both get to see science done on a regular basis for our student teaching semester. This would prepare us a little more for our future classroom to combine what we have seen and learned through our years at ISU. Thank you for including those pictures from your Montessori classroom. I think using any of those hands on activities for science is great, even in PreK. Have you ever shared with your CT what you have learned about all subjects working at a Montessori school? That might probe her to want to use more hands on activities and incorporate other subjects more. :)
Eva,
ReplyDeleteIt upsets me that the Kindergarten teachers at Olympia West do not see science as an important area for their students but I feel like this attitude is somewhat throughout the school. While my cooperating teacher does her best to incorporate science into our literacy block, I feel like have time set aside for specifically science is not looked at as important. I can also relate with you in that my teacher spends most of the day teaching literacy and math and I have the same feeling of disappointment that other subjects are not being considered. I am also glad that your students enjoyed your lesson! I agree that the children were probably so excited to be doing a hands-on activity while learning about the world around them. I also like the lesson your teacher did about the Sun and Earth. It seems like she took this concept and made it into an activity the students could easily understand and the children enjoyed it so much! I wonder if your teacher seeing the excitement in her class over science might make her consider incorporating it more into her curriculum. I feel like what most of us have seen in our clinical settings are fun topics for students but do not necessarily support critical thinking or problem solving, which to me, are some of the most important parts of science as well. I agree with you that when I am a teacher I am going to do my best to incorporate science into my curriculum as well!
Eva,
ReplyDeleteIn the past I had a similar experience in my clinical classroom. My CT worked on social studies for some weeks before engaging in science instruction. Science in my clinical was much of a mystery to me. I noticed my CT was very hands-on when it came to social studies and I spent most of my time in 276 wondering what science instruction was like my clinical classroom. I was proud to see that my teacher does make science an important part of her curriculum and does not rely on texts and worksheets very often.
Have you talked with your CT about the type of science instruction we learn and practice here? I truly encourage you to help broaden her horizons. Maybe she will realize how much fun you, the students in her classroom and she can have while working hands-on with science. Often times teachers need to spend much more time focusing on literacy but integrating science with literacy can be a start.
I love the Montessori pictures you included! It must be a great experience being able to work in a Montessori school over the summer and be able to apply what we are doing in our course here, with your students. Keep the pictures coming; I would love to see more Montessori instruction at work.
Eva,
ReplyDeleteI'm late, I'm late, I'm late to an important date! Nope, just to your commenting stream here! I'll keep mine short! I'm just wondering how you could take what you know about awesome science teaching from Montessori practice and apply it within a traditional PreK-3rd grade classroom? I also agree with the gals above that maybe your CT just doesn't know about how awesome science can be! The more we know, the more confident we feel, and the stronger our teaching is!
:)Kira