What a fun month is has been for SCED330 we have dived into building our ecocolumns and watched them grow. Mine has had a delayed start, but I think it is finally onto a growth spurt. We are getting into the routine of collecting data each day we are in class because that is the same practices we are going to be using for our Science Fair Projects. That is also a new development this month. My group is testing how well certain plants will grow after being watered with a form of acid rain. We have planted our plants and are just waiting to see what happens. We also discussed this past month about the idea of phenomenon and how we can teach this in science as well as the Cl-Ev-R model which I learned can be used in any subject area. All you have to do is make a claim, provide some evidence and then reasoning all to back up your claim.
A struggle that I have run into throughout this week is finding the time to work on my science unit while juggling all other assignments. This is something I want to stay on top on this semester especially with the amount of edTPA work that I have added with the 4 methods classes I am taking. My plans are to schedule out time starting this week to chip away at this task, so it does not get up on the back burner. So far, I am most proud of keeping up with all assignments and not missing any due dates thus far. I am also happy that I have some of the first checks done for my clinical experience requirements like the introductory email, and meeting for science methods. I love being able to check things off and I was able to do this for this learning experience.
At the beginning of the week we talked about all of the requirements for clinicals for science methods and how edTPA intertwines into this task. I was able to contribute to the conversations we had about each of these commentaries and the context for learning piece. I am planning to continue to contribute to the class discussions, so we can all get a better understanding of how to really polish these edTPA lesson segments. As I am beginning to think of what segment I am going to teach for science integration comes to my mind. My CE has a small time slot available for science and social studies instruction, but integration is going to have to be my best friend in this process and something I will have to get into the routine of implementing in my future classroom. Below is a great link to an article I found talking about integrating across the curriculum.
A current even that we took some time to talk about this past month was Florence and how we can explain to any age group what a hurricane really is! This is a great website below that is kid language friendly.
This was a great activity we did in class because this is something that most definitely will happen in my future classroom and I need to know how to answer and handle these questions.
This month I have learned and seen more about the NCTCS 3c. teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content area/disciplines, and 4c. teachers use a variety of instruction methods. These have been seen when discussing in class about how science is not always given a time slot in each classroom, so integration is key. Along with that there are so many different ways that science can being brought into the classroom to get students up and engaged in learning.
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| Tweet 1: As I mentioned in the tweet I would love to have something like this in my future classroom. This is a giant coloring sheet as a bulletin board where students can just go color when they are needing to rest their brain, or finished an assignment. By the end of the year you have a beautiful masterpiece. |
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| Tweet 2: This particular tweet are pictures from a teacher's classroom where her students built ferris wheels for a project. What a great way to get students involved and creating while incorporating some science into their learning. This could easily be a math project but students can find science elements about a ferris wheel. |
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Tweet 3: This is tweet solely devoted to student inquiry which I thought was very appropriate for our science methods class where that is exactly what we have been talking about. I think this is a great visual and tool to use in the classroom to help spark this kind of learning. |
Abby,
ReplyDeleteThe main thing I loved about your post were your tweets! You really aligned them perfectly to what we are learing in class. We also both talked about Hurricane Florence and the devastation but thank you for adding in that kid friendly link!
Abby,
ReplyDeleteI completly agree that it has been difficult to work on science methods material when we have been cramming for materials with edTPA and 435 class. My plans are definately going to start working on science methods more throughout each week so we will start making progress in this class.
Hey Abby! I really enjoyed your blog this week! I also have had a hard time having a chance to really dig deep into my unit. I also hope to get a chance to work hard on my unit this week. I have enjoyed learning about edTPA and having more practice with the process. I hope to feel more comfortable with this concept by the end of the semester, so I am prepared for student teaching. I love the minute to color idea you found on twitter. I enjoy coloring and think this would be a great way to give students a brain break. I enjoyed making the ecocolum, although my fish did not survive long at all. I really liked the kid friendly link you found and how you discussed the importance of knowing how to answer questions about hurricane to your future students. I do not think we really think through all of the scenarios teachers have to handle until an event effects us and our students. Good luck with your future endeavors!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your contributions to the edTPA discussions. Keep on reviewing and internalizing the handbook!
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