Thursday, February 16, 2012
Observing Morning, Noon, and (almost) Night
What follows is a lesson that contains both the nature of science and science content.
Students will go outside to make observations. Before we head outside, we will brainstorm about what we expect to observe outside. If students don't get there on their own, I will lead them to certain key points of observation that will be relevant later on... such as what animals do you see/hear? What is the weather like? Is it light, bright, or cloudy outside? Etc.
We will make observations at different times across a few days. First thing in the morning, noon, and late afternoon before students head home. We will also talk about our observations in a large or small group formats after each observation period. At this time we can ask questions, revisit ideas and discuss our findings.
The observation and discussion experience opens the opportunity to teach students a lot about the nature of science. Students will be collecting evidence and making observations. They will probably experience repetition in nature and repetition in our discussions and observations. We are not using "the scientific method"... they are participating in science in many other methods. Through discussion students learn that our ideas are open to revision because we discuss them before and after our observations. Students will also experience science as a social and collaborative activity as we discuss and share our observations.
After all of our observation periods are over, we will read Morning, Noon, and Night by Jean Craighead George.
This is a book about what kind of animals appear during different times of day. The text and artwork paint a realistic picture of what the sky might look like during different times of day and what animals are doing. This book would be a great way to teach about habitats, animals, or even the earth's rotation. While this book delivers great content, it also reinforces ideas of the nature of science. Since this is a non-fiction book, I could ask students how they think the information was collected. This would hopefully lead them to connect that someone (a scientist!) has to make observations to find out this information found in the book.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Goals
I got my practicum assignment today. I am so excited to get back into a classroom working with students! I'll be working with Kindergarten at Cowles Montessori (which it looks like will be a multi-age classroom with pre-k and kindergarten, but I'll have more information on that later).
When I looked at the school's website, I found a section on Montessori Outcomes. I was thrilled to see a list like this since we have been focusing and talking about goals so much in methods class. Their outcomes for student learning align well with our class goals for students, as well as Dr. Kruse's goals for students. All of our goals are important for different reasons, but the following four ideas showed up again and again as I bounced between the three lists. These themes are probably being repeated because they are important. I feel these are very important goals for teachers to have for their students to grow academically and in everyday life.
curiosity - Curiosity welcomes avenues for life long learning, asking new questions, and making connections. Asking questions is human nature, and seeking answers is how we learn.
critical thinking - Critical thinking is important to discovering new ideas and build deeper understandings. Critical thinking builds higher order thinking skills as students push beyond and question what is known to them.
confidence - Confidence frees students to take a different path, to try a theory and fail, and to express oneself. Being confident will allow the student to take more risks which will lead to new experiences and further knowledge.
responsibility and conscientious citizenry - Being a responsible and conscientious person promotes collaboration, respect and awareness of the students' own role in the world, community, classroom, family, and friendships. Students must learn how to interact with others. It's essential for living in society whether that means working with classmates, playing on a sports team, working in a factory, building a dam with a group of engineers, building friendships, etc.
When we as educators know specifically what our goals are, whether it be for our whole year or one lesson, we can then plan for our students' growth and success.
Now that I am more aware of this, I am excited to watch for this in my practicum...and in our own class.
Also, when addressing the outcome of academic preparation, the site states that "Academic skills are essential to learning and knowing, not the aim of learning and knowing." This makes me think back to Schrauth's ice hands article. He discussed the importance of students understanding the structures and processes of science. It seems that the Cowles website is expressing something similar. Students are not just focusing on what to learn but how to learn, how the individual student learns and building those important skills. Rather, than at the end of their education, graduating with a skill set, the skill set is continually developed.
When I looked at the school's website, I found a section on Montessori Outcomes. I was thrilled to see a list like this since we have been focusing and talking about goals so much in methods class. Their outcomes for student learning align well with our class goals for students, as well as Dr. Kruse's goals for students. All of our goals are important for different reasons, but the following four ideas showed up again and again as I bounced between the three lists. These themes are probably being repeated because they are important. I feel these are very important goals for teachers to have for their students to grow academically and in everyday life.
curiosity - Curiosity welcomes avenues for life long learning, asking new questions, and making connections. Asking questions is human nature, and seeking answers is how we learn.
critical thinking - Critical thinking is important to discovering new ideas and build deeper understandings. Critical thinking builds higher order thinking skills as students push beyond and question what is known to them.
confidence - Confidence frees students to take a different path, to try a theory and fail, and to express oneself. Being confident will allow the student to take more risks which will lead to new experiences and further knowledge.
responsibility and conscientious citizenry - Being a responsible and conscientious person promotes collaboration, respect and awareness of the students' own role in the world, community, classroom, family, and friendships. Students must learn how to interact with others. It's essential for living in society whether that means working with classmates, playing on a sports team, working in a factory, building a dam with a group of engineers, building friendships, etc.
When we as educators know specifically what our goals are, whether it be for our whole year or one lesson, we can then plan for our students' growth and success.
Now that I am more aware of this, I am excited to watch for this in my practicum...and in our own class.
Also, when addressing the outcome of academic preparation, the site states that "Academic skills are essential to learning and knowing, not the aim of learning and knowing." This makes me think back to Schrauth's ice hands article. He discussed the importance of students understanding the structures and processes of science. It seems that the Cowles website is expressing something similar. Students are not just focusing on what to learn but how to learn, how the individual student learns and building those important skills. Rather, than at the end of their education, graduating with a skill set, the skill set is continually developed.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Yes, you are a scientist! Empowering Students
I am happy to report that after reading the article Lights, Camera, Inquiry by Brandon Schrauth, I have made some connections.
Schrauth worked hard to build science skills with his students. He talked with his class about who scientists are and what scientists do. Then, he told the students that from that moment on, they would be scientists. This is important because it gives the student permission and the responsibility to think and engage. It takes their image of a scientist (which is probably a picture of an adult white male in a labcoat based on images from t.v. or textbooks) and changes the image. When the students is told, YOU are a scientist, YOU, CHILD, who is STILL LEARNING, this is powerful. I think this will lead to motivation and engagement because then they can see themselves as doing what scientists do... One of the cool things about science is that because of it we are always learning new things. By letting students in on this secret, it makes them more likely to ask questions and make connections because now they know there are still questions to be asked!
Students have to be told how to do this, and that they can. Schrauth made a point of teaching students about the structures and processes of science before getting into the content. From what I remember of my own education, that I knew the process and structure was assumed, or was just supposed to come from the content, or wasn't viewed as important at all. Who really knows? But that got me thinking... how does a teacher expect a student, especially a very young student, to "do" science if he or she has never been told how? Yes, there are many things that we learn by doing. But, first we have to know a little bit of background knowledge. How will I learn to chop an onion if I don't first know what an onion and a knife are or where they are located in the kitchen? First students need the skills in order to engage in science content.
I can see connections between what he does with students and our class created goals for students. With the ice hands activity, I see independence, confidence, curiosity, problem solving, and research practices, and communication and collaboration.
What I read in the article is happening in our class as well. We are talking about the nature of science. We are talking about making observations, inferences and decisions for effective teaching. We are talking about what scientists do. We are considering goals for future students.
With our own experiences with the dot trick and the thing with the ropes, I see how goals can be met by doing something simple, interesting and not directly related to the science content in order to build skills. Through those activities, I have thought about science in simpler ways. We are not focusing primarily on the dot or the ropes but the way we use the experience as a conduit through which to hone the skills. While it may not seem impressive at first, asking "how does that rope thing work? are the ropes connected inside?" is research, curiosity, problem solving, at the least. It is the process of science (so... thinking back to my other blog, is the process one of the defining characteristics of science itself? woah.) This is a demonstration of how we can share the process of science with our students in a very easy, simple, and fun way. We are building our own background knowledge so we can apply it to the content when we are in the classroom.
Schrauth worked hard to build science skills with his students. He talked with his class about who scientists are and what scientists do. Then, he told the students that from that moment on, they would be scientists. This is important because it gives the student permission and the responsibility to think and engage. It takes their image of a scientist (which is probably a picture of an adult white male in a labcoat based on images from t.v. or textbooks) and changes the image. When the students is told, YOU are a scientist, YOU, CHILD, who is STILL LEARNING, this is powerful. I think this will lead to motivation and engagement because then they can see themselves as doing what scientists do... One of the cool things about science is that because of it we are always learning new things. By letting students in on this secret, it makes them more likely to ask questions and make connections because now they know there are still questions to be asked!
Students have to be told how to do this, and that they can. Schrauth made a point of teaching students about the structures and processes of science before getting into the content. From what I remember of my own education, that I knew the process and structure was assumed, or was just supposed to come from the content, or wasn't viewed as important at all. Who really knows? But that got me thinking... how does a teacher expect a student, especially a very young student, to "do" science if he or she has never been told how? Yes, there are many things that we learn by doing. But, first we have to know a little bit of background knowledge. How will I learn to chop an onion if I don't first know what an onion and a knife are or where they are located in the kitchen? First students need the skills in order to engage in science content.
I can see connections between what he does with students and our class created goals for students. With the ice hands activity, I see independence, confidence, curiosity, problem solving, and research practices, and communication and collaboration.
What I read in the article is happening in our class as well. We are talking about the nature of science. We are talking about making observations, inferences and decisions for effective teaching. We are talking about what scientists do. We are considering goals for future students.
With our own experiences with the dot trick and the thing with the ropes, I see how goals can be met by doing something simple, interesting and not directly related to the science content in order to build skills. Through those activities, I have thought about science in simpler ways. We are not focusing primarily on the dot or the ropes but the way we use the experience as a conduit through which to hone the skills. While it may not seem impressive at first, asking "how does that rope thing work? are the ropes connected inside?" is research, curiosity, problem solving, at the least. It is the process of science (so... thinking back to my other blog, is the process one of the defining characteristics of science itself? woah.) This is a demonstration of how we can share the process of science with our students in a very easy, simple, and fun way. We are building our own background knowledge so we can apply it to the content when we are in the classroom.
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