What have you noticed
about science instruction and assessment in your setting?
- When does it take place? Does it take place? Think critically.
- What does it encompass?
- During science instruction, what does your CT do/ say?
- What do students do/ say? How do they respond?
- What are your opinions/ feelings about this?
- How does what you observe about science at this site connect with past clinical experiences/ early childhood theories/ and or science practices you have been learning about at ISU?
- How does knowing this inform what you will do when teaching and assessing science (either this semester, next semester in student teaching, and/or next year)?
Having been at my clinical placement for six weeks now, I
still have not really had the opportunity to see science instruction. I am in a
3rd grade classroom where my CT teaches social studies and the other
3rd grade teacher does science. I like the idea of switch of the
students switching classrooms and having a different teacher for subjects
because I have had that experience in every grade. I felt that it was
beneficial to me as a learner because I was able to receive different forms of
instruction and it was nice to have a change of scenery.
Like stated in my “Social Studies in 3rd Grade”
post, at 1:30 my class goes over to the other 3rd grade classroom
for science wile the other comes in for social studies. At 2:00, the classes
switch back to their homeroom for the other subject. The lessons are scheduled
to last 30 minutes. One day I did ask my CT if I would be able to go over to
Mrs. Foley’s class to observe her doing a science lesson with the kids. I was
unable to because it was just a review/catch-up day and so the students were
just watching a movie. The other days I was there, my CT was absent so there
was a sub in the room and it was a “crazy day”, then there were ISAT prep days,
ISAT testing so they didn’t switch, then I taught my social studies lesson to
both classes, and then last week I was unable to make it to see science. I am
hoping that in weeks to come I will be given the chance to see science
instruction in a 3rd grade class.
Even though I am not familiar with my clinical placement’s
science instruction or assessment, I was able to see their curriculum map for
science. They start out the year with life science (plants, animals,
ecosystems, and food chains), then earth science (rocks and soil, changes on
Earth, and natural resources), next is physical science (energy and sound), and
then space and technology (patterns in the sky, solar system, and science in
our lives).
I wish I had the opportunity to see science being taught so
that I have an idea of what to do in my own classroom as well as see what works
with kids and what doesn’t.
When talking with my CT about my science lesson planning,
she recommended that I maybe do a review because the other teacher may not like
it if I interfered with what she is going to be teaching the students. Since I
am not sure what exactly the students have done and I don’t want the students
to repeat a lesson, I found an engineering activity to do with the students
using gumdrops and toothpicks to build a dome. The students will then build as
many domes as they think they will need in order for the domes to support the
weight of books. I am excited to teach this lesson to the students on
Wednesday!
In my future classroom, I want to be sure to crosscut content.
Crosscutting is something that we are continuously learning about at ISU. I
want to be sure to incorporate science throughout the day and integrate it into
other subjects as well. I was able to look through the teacher’s manual for
literacy and was excited to see a science activity incorporated into the
lessons. Science is something that I always enjoyed when I was younger because
it was hands on and a lot of experiments were used. I want to be sure to
provide my students with active activities for them to take part in to help
their learning and understanding of the content being taught rather than just
direct instruction.
Margaret,
ReplyDeleteIt’s sad to hear that you haven’t been able to see any science instruction yet in your clinical. I’m glad though that science and social studies is included in the curriculum. I find it interesting that the students switch classrooms for science and social studies, and they have a different teacher for each. I remember having this experience when I was in elementary school, and I personally liked it also. I think maybe it was because I preferred one of the teachers over the other, and it helped me learn better. I agree that being able to receive different forms of instruction and having a change of scenery can be beneficial, and I’m glad it helped you. I think one way it can be helpful is that a teacher may be stronger in teaching science than social studies, and has more background knowledge. But I also think the switching of teachers/classrooms may not be helpful to all the students. I think the change of instruction, teacher, and scenery may throw some of the students off and deprive their learning (especially students with special needs). I wonder how the teachers go about teaching the content to a different group of students, and if they collaborate with each other. I also wonder what accommodations may have to be made and how the transition goes. I would encourage you to think about these things as you continue in the last weeks of clinical.
I love that you were able to see the curriculum map for science! I think it’s awesome that they cover a wide range of topics in science throughout the school year. In my 3rd grade classroom at Le Roy, they alternate science and social studies every quarter, and the last quarter is both subjects. They only cover certain topics. I think it is more beneficial for the students to have science and social studies on a day to day basis throughout the school year, covering more topics. So I think it is great that your school is doing this, even though the switching of the classrooms has its pros and cons. But even though you haven’t been able to see science being taught, I think from what you have been learning in classes at ISU, past clinical experiences, and knowing what is appropriate for a good lesson, I think you will do great on your science lesson! It’s sad that you didn’t get a chance to get much support from your CT for planning your lesson, and that it made it more difficult that the other teacher teaches science and has her own preferences, but I’m glad you found that engineering lesson! I think it is a great hands-on activity involving scientific inquiry. I wonder if you used science notebooks in this lesson. I think it would be great to use for the students to write down the question, hypothesis, prediction, data, and conclusion. I would like to know how your lesson went on Wednesday! I also love that you brought up crosscutting content. I think this is very important also, and is something I would like to do too. I also love science and all the fun, hands-on experiments it brings! :)
Margaret,
ReplyDeleteI am really just piggy-backing off of Laura's meaningful comment here, because she asks many of the questions that I had for you! Shout out to Laura too! Your post really gave me a full sense of your experience with science at your setting this semester. I'd also add to what Laura wrote that you have now seen, learned, and done some awesome science teaching between what you did in this setting (your next post attests to this), what you have learned in 276, and what you've done yourself at Cedar Ridge! I feel confident that with your knowledge about scheduling and ideas for science and SS, you'll make the content areas a priority in your future classroom!
:)Kira