Reflections
My First Day Teaching!
The mood in our class was quiet and somber after we returned from our first teaching experience. I will admit that I had high expectations going into the classroom. As I left, I remember thinking to myself, "I have a long way to go." One of life's beautiful attributes is the ability to reflect on past experiences to make the future a better place. This journal reflects my first day teaching.
One thing I noticed during my lesson was the powerful instinct to revert back to a traditional teaching role or a teacher-centered approach. This was especially true when I found myself in a pinch. I found that it was comfortable to be in the front of the room and having been taught this way for most of my education made it difficult to renounce the habit. Also, I miscalculated the time it took to complete a lab experiment. Sections of content were subtracted to fit time for the “important stuff," much of which involved me talking in front of the class. I noted that my students' excitement was dropping quickly.
Fortunately, there were also moments when I felt alive and encouraged. In fact, I’d argue that the overall experience was of great importance, it was inspiring to watch students actively experiment with enzymes to make cheese! These two opposing emotions left me asking myself a few questions. If it was so good, then why was I so upset with the outcome afterwards?
In hindsight, I thought I would be a good teacher right from the start. Even with my experience coaching and working with young adults on a farm I still need practice. One reason I was disappointed after my lesson was my lack of foresight and understanding of how long things take. Also, the lesson I designed was more complex than it needed to be. I'd like to simplify the lesson plan, the challenge statements, the learning goals, my role as a teacher, the content, my expectations, everything; and get back to the basics of inquiry-based learning. Put the it in front of my students and let them figure out the essence together.
My first day teaching was an incredibly powerful and inspiring experience. I’m reminded that I learn best by doing and I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to observe and learn from talented science teachers and their students. It’s okay to have high standards! I look forward to creating better student-centered lessons that highlight the true essence of the subject and motivate my students to make science meaningful again.
One thing I noticed during my lesson was the powerful instinct to revert back to a traditional teaching role or a teacher-centered approach. This was especially true when I found myself in a pinch. I found that it was comfortable to be in the front of the room and having been taught this way for most of my education made it difficult to renounce the habit. Also, I miscalculated the time it took to complete a lab experiment. Sections of content were subtracted to fit time for the “important stuff," much of which involved me talking in front of the class. I noted that my students' excitement was dropping quickly.
Fortunately, there were also moments when I felt alive and encouraged. In fact, I’d argue that the overall experience was of great importance, it was inspiring to watch students actively experiment with enzymes to make cheese! These two opposing emotions left me asking myself a few questions. If it was so good, then why was I so upset with the outcome afterwards?
In hindsight, I thought I would be a good teacher right from the start. Even with my experience coaching and working with young adults on a farm I still need practice. One reason I was disappointed after my lesson was my lack of foresight and understanding of how long things take. Also, the lesson I designed was more complex than it needed to be. I'd like to simplify the lesson plan, the challenge statements, the learning goals, my role as a teacher, the content, my expectations, everything; and get back to the basics of inquiry-based learning. Put the it in front of my students and let them figure out the essence together.
My first day teaching was an incredibly powerful and inspiring experience. I’m reminded that I learn best by doing and I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to observe and learn from talented science teachers and their students. It’s okay to have high standards! I look forward to creating better student-centered lessons that highlight the true essence of the subject and motivate my students to make science meaningful again.
Taking Students' Ideas Seriously
As I develop my teaching philosophy I have begun to realize the importance of asking good questions. It has been my experience that using “open” or “person-centered” questions does help to access student ideas, no matter their age. Just the other day, my own ideas were expressed when a teacher of mine asked, “why do you think this pitch pine/scrub oak community is dominant here? And what evidence do you see to support your conclusions?”
I’ve experimented with ways of making my classrooms and teams supportive of all ideas, not just my own, and I’ve come up with a few philosophies. One such ethos is reflected by Wynne Harlan in his book Primary Science; Taking the Plunge. I would like my classroom to be one in which students feel free and comfortable to express their own ideas and ways of thinking, without fear that they will give the wrong answer. The use of “person-centered” questions is one way to eliminate the need for “right” answers while asking directly for student ideas.
The best teachers, at any age level, take particular care to find out about students' existing ideas before starting a lesson. Once those ideas are brought to the forefront, teachers can take deliberate steps to help rethink those ideas and try out new ones as well as their own.
As Harlen says, "to best develop student’s own ideas the starting point must be their ideas, not scientific ones."
I believe accessing human ideas can be fairly universal; through questions, drawings, concept maps, discussion and most importantly, listening. Problem solving and inquiry-based learning is a great way to access student’s mastery of a subject. When I put the “it," or the subject in front of my students and ask them to draw a diagram or discuss what they think is happening and why, it highlights their ideas and thus allows me to effectively choose a strategy that aids student learning in the best way possible.
I imagine the hardest part for a teacher is to understand the students’ ideas well enough to correctly identify their basis for it. How do you “scaffold” new ideas and introduce them at a time and in a way that is beneficial to the learner and helps advance their ideas towards a more scientific view?
Everything I have said can apply to students and teachers alike. The best way to develop scientific ideas is by taking student ideas seriously. Wynne Harlen agrees, "Unless teachers take particular care to find out about student's existing ideas and take deliberate steps to help students rethink their ideas and try out new ones as well as their own, these nonscientific ideas tend to persist and keep out the accepted scientific ones."
I’ve experimented with ways of making my classrooms and teams supportive of all ideas, not just my own, and I’ve come up with a few philosophies. One such ethos is reflected by Wynne Harlan in his book Primary Science; Taking the Plunge. I would like my classroom to be one in which students feel free and comfortable to express their own ideas and ways of thinking, without fear that they will give the wrong answer. The use of “person-centered” questions is one way to eliminate the need for “right” answers while asking directly for student ideas.
The best teachers, at any age level, take particular care to find out about students' existing ideas before starting a lesson. Once those ideas are brought to the forefront, teachers can take deliberate steps to help rethink those ideas and try out new ones as well as their own.
As Harlen says, "to best develop student’s own ideas the starting point must be their ideas, not scientific ones."
I believe accessing human ideas can be fairly universal; through questions, drawings, concept maps, discussion and most importantly, listening. Problem solving and inquiry-based learning is a great way to access student’s mastery of a subject. When I put the “it," or the subject in front of my students and ask them to draw a diagram or discuss what they think is happening and why, it highlights their ideas and thus allows me to effectively choose a strategy that aids student learning in the best way possible.
I imagine the hardest part for a teacher is to understand the students’ ideas well enough to correctly identify their basis for it. How do you “scaffold” new ideas and introduce them at a time and in a way that is beneficial to the learner and helps advance their ideas towards a more scientific view?
Everything I have said can apply to students and teachers alike. The best way to develop scientific ideas is by taking student ideas seriously. Wynne Harlen agrees, "Unless teachers take particular care to find out about student's existing ideas and take deliberate steps to help students rethink their ideas and try out new ones as well as their own, these nonscientific ideas tend to persist and keep out the accepted scientific ones."