Through elementary, middle, and high school, science was never one of my strong points. I attended elementary school in Greensboro, NC and went to General Greene School of Science and Technology which was a magnet school. Every year starting in 1st grade my school held an annual science fair. Each student was required to submit a science project to be shown at the fair. I always loved the science fair and my favorite science fair project that I ever did was to make a volcano. I always find this funny because volcano's are the stereotypical science fair project, but I loved every aspect of it, especially when I got to make it explode! Going to a magnet school that specialized in science really fostered a love and enjoyment for science. I might not have been the best at science, but I loved doing science experiments.
Now middle school was a different story. I do not know what happened between elementary school and middle school, but for me science was not as fun and exciting in middle school. I do not know whether it was the teachers or the subject matter that did not excite me, but in middle school science became on of those classes that I dreaded going to.
In high school science got better. I was able to choose the science classes I wanted to take and this made science more interesting for me. In high school I took biology, chemistry, and environmental science. I must say that chemistry was definitely my favorite class. For some reason I really enjoyed working with formulas, equations and the periodic table. I had teachers that loved doing and teaching science and this bounced off onto the students because the students loved doing science. In order to foster a since of love and enjoyment for science teachers must come up with strategies that will excite students about the subject matter. I hope that I will be able to do this for my students.
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I enjoyed the same "type" of sciences that you did. I think for a lot of people, it is helpful and exciting to be able to see science in action by doing things such as experiments. That is why I liked classes like Physics so much. Like you also said, I think that teachers make a huge difference too! If a teacher is passionate about science, then he or she can spark an interest in their students too. It sounds as though you and I were lucky to both have good science teachers at some point during our schooling.
ReplyDeleteI think that in elementary school you're excited because the experiments are fun while they are introducing new topics and trying to get you to understand what is going on in the experiments but then when you get to middle school, they are more book oriented. They are trying to drill facts and definitions into your head as opposed to doing fun experiments with you. Then in high school - like you said - you got to pick the science class that you took. I also loved chemistry but I think I loved it because chemistry was really math based - however I'm sure you enjoyed the experiments!! My teacher was the crazy scientist that LOVED to do weird off the wall things - if you had a theory about how something worked - she would come up with an experiment around that to test out that theory. In this way, we were teaching ourselves in a way, learning from our mistakes. The teacher makes all the difference in a science class and it seems like you had some good and some bad ones!
ReplyDeleteLiz, I'm glad you brought up science fair projects! That is one aspect of science instruction that is missing from a lot of elementary schools. I feel like that is a great way for elementary students to share what they've learned, and then also learn new and exciting things for their peers. A science fair is definitely one thing that I want to happen in the school I am eventually working in, even if it's just within my own classroom.
ReplyDeleteLiz. First of all, I think you meant a "sense" of love and not a "since"
ReplyDeleteof love, but that's just a grammatical comment :) I think it's good that
you can remember some of your experiences from elementary school because
they will prove helpful to you when you are planning your classroom. You
will be able to use that to figure out what works for your students and
what might not. Having a science fair is very typical of many schools, and
is met with mixed feelings from students and families. It is seen as a
chore and something they dread when they can't think of something
"original." However, it can be a very useful tool. So I think as long as
the guidlines are good and they expectations are clear, it would be a good
tool to use with science. It is also a good way to showcase what they have
learned. -Jordan