To start, today my feelings towards science can be most simply described in three words; interesting, wonderful, and mysterious. But the point of this assignment is not to simply describe how I feel about science to how I came to feel this way. So let me take you on my journey that helped me become the person I am today that thoroughly enjoys reading and learning about science, doing science experiments, and looks forward to teaching it to my future students.
My name is Laura Kabak. I was born in Chicago but have lived in a suburb of Chicago for my whole life. I have never moved and most of the people on my street have also lived there since I was born. I have not experienced much change in my life, most of it has been constants. I think that this lack of "new" or "different" has played a role in my interest in science. When, as a class, we thought about what a scientist might look like most of us drew our characters with beakers and/or flasks. What do they do with the chemicals inside? Mix them! Reflecting on my lack of new people on my street I can compare the people in my life to the chemicals in the beakers or flasks. Because I never had newer people to mix with I am now very interested in everything! This includes science and being able to do hands on experiments. Another aspect of my upbringing that may have impacted my view on science is that I grew up with five older brothers. They loved to get dirty and come up with their own experiments to run. This sometimes even included me as the test subject!
When I think back to my elementary years I just vaguely remember science, unfortunately. Science was something that, I believe, was rarely taught. I am raking my brains right now just staying to think of a specific lesson that was taught or an experiment that was conducted. I cannot clearly remember science in the curriculum until about the 6th grade. Not to say science was not taught at all, I just cannot recall. In middle school I remember all sorts of hands-on activities and experiences! Those would be the areas of science that I could explain best, the ones that I can distinctly recall dialog from the teacher, almost the exact lesson she taught. I was lucky enough to have the same science teacher 6th-8th grade.
When attending my community college I took a few required Bio classes which interested me greatly! I actually considered switching to a Biology major because the teacher was able to make class fun, interesting, and exciting. The class was long because it was part lecture and part lab. The lab at the end of the day made the wait through the lecture very worth it! I actually ended up enjoying the lecture because I knew that what we talked about that day we'd be doing in the lab.
My philosophy when it comes to teaching science in my future classroom is first and foremost to make it enjoyable for all students. I want students to interact with their learning and to take part in memorable lesson plans. Not just in science but in all major content areas. I want my future students to get the most out of my classroom, everything I have to offer. I think that all subjects are equally important to the next. Whether it be literacy to math or science to social studies.
I believe that my background, including my culture and my first hand education, will influence my future teaching in many ways. One of which being that I will engage students in anyway possible so that they can learn something from every lesson that I teach. Another way my teaching will be influenced is that I will utilize any modifications or accommodations available to my students to ensure their ability to achieve greatness from my lesson plans.
I would like to share an example of an activity that could be used to teach students about science lessons that may not me the most exciting. Using activities where the students can do something or make something will keep them engaged and help them retain more information. Teaching something like how seeds grow can be difficult when you cannot see the roots growing underneath. I found an activity on Pinterest where you collect wine bottles, cut the top half off, flip the top upside down and place it back into the bottom. Place mesh in the top half and then feed string thru the mesh and the spout of the bottle. Then fill with potting soil, then plant your seeds. This allows a clear view of the strings as they Hang down into the basin, which is filled with water. The strings will absorb the water and bring it to the soil to feed the seeds. The strings can also represent roots deep under ground. I may change this and use maybe an empty two liter and use groups of students as I don't know if wine bottles are appropriate. We will track the plants progress and continuously make guesses or hypothesis as to what will happen with our plants as time goes on. Here is the link to the Pinterest site I found: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6544361933167664/
This year as I student teach in my third grade classroom I am very excited. I hope to work on my abilities to teach lesson plans comfortably but also successfully! I can't wait to start writing lesson plans for my students who already seem so ready to learn. I plan to teach several lessons in all the content areas with lots of integration!
