Research Article Reflection

Curiosity+ Kindergarten= Future Scientists

       I picked the research article, Curiosity+ Kindergarten= Future Scientists by Jenny Sue Flannagan and Leisl Rockenbaugh because I thought that the first page was very colorful and intriguing. I also like that it involves a kindergarten lesson because I like teaching younger grades better than older ones. I believe that younger children are always so excited to learn new things and really look up to their teachers as role models. This made me really excited to read the article and se what I was going to learn.  In this article Flannagan and Rockenbaugh discuss a kindergarden inquiry lesson that involves each of the 5Es.

      I learned a lot of different methods and helpful tips after reading this article and will definitely use the lesson conducted in this article in my future classroom. This lesson involved exploring change, using their senses to make observations, safety rules, different charts, and writing. Before teaching a lesson you want students to be engaged and curious about what is going to be taught that day. Therefore, there should always be high positive energy in the classroom. However, teaching science can be very overwhelming because it involves different materials and/or chemicals that are harmful to students. if used incorrectly. It is very important to always go over the safety rules and make sure students understand the dangers of what can happen if something goes wrong and that they are always wearing safety equipment if needed. It is also very helpful if different graphic organizers are provided for students this way they can organize their thoughts, observations, and findings in a coherent easy way. Teachers can also incorporate different subjects into science. For example, allowing students to practice their reading and writing skills by reading magazines, articles and books for research and writing what they learned after the lesson/ experiment is completed. I also realized that teachers are just there to guide students into the right direction. The experiment conducted in this article shows how teachers help guide students into coming up with a conclusion instead of telling them exactly what to do and what will happen.

      The article starts off with students excited and eager to find out what they will be doing today. Once they found out they will be observing eggs they were very excited. As a class they came up with a list of things they already know about eggs. It is important to list everything you know about something before actually doing the experiment to make sure everyone is on the same page and so that students can always look back at it. After, they were split up into groups to work on their observation sheets.  Having students split into groups is good because students can practice their communication skills by working together and learning from one another. After students were engaged and had their prior thoughts together, it was time to explore. Students used different liquids such as vinegar and water to see what would happen to the egg if it was changed. Students compared and contrasted the differences between the raw egg then what happened to the egg after being changed. Students recorded their predictions, observations to keep track of what was happening. After exploring and conducting their experiment, students put what they did into words and wrote what they did to test out their predictions and find a result. After doing this lesson students were still curious and had more questions so they came up with new experiments to come up with answer to their questions or answer questions based on previous experiments and observations. While teaching the inquiry lesson the teacher observed students involvement, asked questions, and read through their charts and writings. Since the teachers can tell what their students learned by observing their work and behavior it was not necessary to have students take a test.

       Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article and think this lesson is a great idea. Children seemed to have a really fun time while learning and were always craving to learn more. This experiment allowed students to explore and discover on their own with guidance from the teacher. I think it is important to set a positive fun tone for teaching students science at a young age such as, kindergarten. These are children's first experiences with science and as a teacher you want your students to always have a positive attitude that will carry on with them for the rest of their lives.

Engaging Classrooms

Engaging Classroom

               Learning by creating science experiments are so much fun. I think doing an experiment as a class and to be kept in the classroom can be very beneficial. This would teach students different skills such as communication, time management, responsibility, and sensory etc. There are many different ways teachers can make this possible in a classroom such as having a pet or plant students need to take care of for weeks and observe the changes. During fieldwork we taught the class about different ecosystems and biomes. We wanted students to get the full understanding of what we were teaching so we thought what is better way to teach something than to create our own! This is exactly what we did; each table in the class created their own aquatic biomes!
               Students had a fun time learning and creating their biomes. Each table had a different amount of fish (male/female), plants, and snails. They recorded their observations each week and came to different conclusions. I think creating these biomes as a class really added to the lessons. Students were able to go back and relate what they were learning to their biomes. They also had to communicate as a group to create it and discuss what they think should be done. Students had to take a responsibility to take care of their biomes and to record the data. I would definitely add something like this to my lessons when I am a teacher.
               Like I said students had a great time learning and creating their own biomes, but there are other ways teaching science can be taken from the textbook to real life. I remember when I was in kindergarten or first grade we were learning about what plants need to survive. We were able to learn by seeing and doing it for ourselves. Each table had our own plants and each person at the table had their own job such as: measuring water, measuring how tall the plant was, or recording the data etc. Once we had our plants and jobs we were able to water the plant as much as we thought and place it in a spot in the classroom wherever we thought it would grow best. This helped me see that how we were taking care of the plant was affecting how the plant was growing.
                As a teacher I would incorporate as many projects and lessons into my class as possible. It is evident that students are more engaged in the learning experience and get to work on many different skills. Weather it be a plant, animals, or aquatic biome students will get to see what they are learning from a textbook and worksheets is affected in real life situations, which make students more intrigued with what they are learning.
                
           

Minty Fresh

Minty Fresh

       I conducted a science experiment that was presented at Bishop Dunn's 6th science fair. I was also a judge at the fair and had to interview several of the students experiments. This was such an interesting experience for me. I used to have to do a science experiment each year in elementary school, but once I got to intermediate school I did not have to do them any more. As a child I remember loving and spending so much time creating a science experiment. I thought it was so much fun. Having to come up with an experiment for this year made me excited since I haven't done them since I was younger.

        The process of coming up with an experiment requires a lot of thinking. The first step to make an experiment is to come up with a question you want to solve. My question was, "does mint really cool down things?" I came up with this because I eat mints every other minute and it made me wonder. Then, I came up with a hypothesis which is an educated guess. I thought that mints did not actually cool things down, but I performed an experiment to find out for sure. While designing an experiment you want to be sure that there is a control, independent variable, dependent variable, and all the materials needed. You also want to be sure to record observations and data. The way I conducted my experiment was getting two cups of water of the same temperature and filling them up to the same height. I would record the temperature of both cups. Then, I would place 5 Mentos mints in only one of the cups of water. I only put the mints in one glass of water every time so that the other glass of water, with no mints, would be used as the control. Everyone knows water cools down from just sitting out; therefore, to determine if the water was just cooling because of sitting out or the mints I needed to only put mints in one cup. I would put 5 mints in the glass and record the temperature of both glasses of water for 25 minutes every 5 minutes. After observing my data, I noticed that the cup of water with the mints in it was a lower temperature than the water without the mints every time.  I came to the conclusion that mints actually does cool things down. Even though my hypothesis was not supported I am happy I did this experiment because now I know the answer to my problem.

          While being a judge during the science fair I got to witness so many creative interesting experiments. Students seemed to have so much fun while creating their experiments and could not wait to share what they did with me. Everyone's board was so nicely decorated and creative and the experiments were very well planned and thought out. As a teacher I would definitely incorporate science experiments into my class, because students solve a problem and learn the way things work and are the way they are for themselves. They also learn a lot from everyone sharing their experiments with each other. I also think it is important to allow students to pick out their own experiments to conduct instead of assigning them one because students will pick out something that interest and excited them. This will make the process of doing the experiment more fun and engaging cause students to learn more than if they were doing an experiment that they were not interested in.

These are some of the experiments that I judged.

        

         



Inquiry Lesson Fieldwork- Reflection

My Inquiry Lesson

            After teaching direct instruction it was time to teach the inquiry lesson to see if students can take what they learned and apply it to a question they want to solve. I was a little less nervous teaching this lesson compared to direct instruction because direct instruction is mainly the teacher doing the work, but inquiry is mainly the students doing the work. Just like the direct instruction lesson, I believe that the inquiry lesson went well, but can use some changes for improvement.
         Certain things that was done while teaching this lesson went really well. For example, during the introduction while warming up students were to work within their tables to come up with an answer to the questions. This is good because the WHOLE class contributed to answering questions, not just a few students who are called on. Also, students seemed to enjoy the voki that was played. I think that this was a good way to get students engaged and ready to learn as well as any other entertaining video would engage students for the topic! Also, having a model is very important. I believe that I modeled step by step very well this way students know exactly what is supposed to be done. I think that having a WebQuest for the  inquiry lesson was a perfect idea. Students are aware of how to work WebQuest and it meets all the needs for an inquiry lesson which is: for students to think critically while being engaged, exploring, explaining, elaborating, and evaluated . It allows students to work together to explore and model steps of the scientific method and gain a better understanding of what was taught to them by using real life situations. Since the WebQuest requires internet each table had their own ipad that they shared. Students loved the idea of having to work with technology and an ipad. I even had back up articles printed out just incase something happened with the ipads. This was a really good idea because students were still able to get work done if the ipad was being slow or someone on the other side of the table was occupying it. Giving students an organizer was very helpful to them because it allowed them to organize their findings in a coherent way which made it easier to present. I
           Even though overall the lesson went well a few adjustments could be made to make the lesson go even better. The students enjoyed the voki, but some students in the back were unable to hear what he was saying. To fix this problem I could have had another side with what the voki was saying and read it out loud to the class this way everyone could hear. Even though backup copies of the articles were made, I should have made more than one copy for each student. This will allow students have an option of weather or not to use the ipad or a paper article and to each have something to read. Also, when the lesson was over and it was time to assign the students homework and the whole class groaned at the thought of having to do work at home. Instead of saying homework, I could say "become journalists" because that is basically what students are going to be doing for the homework. The change in vocabulary can change the whole attitude and mindset of the classroom. I also learned a lot while observing my classmates teach their inquiry lesson. For example, one group gave students a penpal assignment for homework. I thought this was a great idea and an engaging way to see if students understood what they learned. This gave me my idea of having students create newspaper articles for their homework.

         

Here is a link to my inquiry lesson plan.

Here is a link to my inquiry PowerPoint.

Here is a link to my webquest.

Fieldwork- Direct Instruction Reflection

My Direct Instruction Lesson

            This week was my first time ever teaching a lesson to a class before. The thought was very nerve-racking. Will the students learn? Will they listen to me? Will they have fun? All these questions were running through my mind while trying to come up with a lesson. After a lot of planning and practice it was time to teach. I believe that the lesson went well overall, but there are a few adjustments that could be done to make it even better!

           There were a few things that really stuck out during the lesson that made the lesson flow and students cooperate well. First we introduced ourselves to the class and checked for understanding of previously learned information by asking students three questions. Then I explained tips to take note of during the lesson. For example, using the thinking cap and pencil symbol. The thinking cap symbol was used after a topic was taught and students were asked a question and to reflect on what they have learned. The pencil symbol was used to show students which slides they were to copy down the underlined words into their worksheets. Giving students a worksheet with most of the notes already typed was great because students were not wasting time copying down so many notes. Also, once students saw these two symbols they knew exactly what was expected of them. What also really helped me present was knowing the information well. Knowing the information so well , I was able to have high energy and talk to the class while explaining the topics instead of just reading from the slides. Throughout the lesson I would stop every few slides to check for understanding from the class about what they just learned. Then, at the end of the whole lesson I checked for understanding by doing guided activities. Allowing students to be involved in a smart board activity is very engaging. Although, students were prohibited to come up to the board and complete the activity themselves, I still believed students enjoyed the activities being included in the lesson. The questions throughout the lesson could be answered by going back into their notes; however, the guided practice activities required students to critically think and use what they learned and apply it to a real situation.

          Even though the lesson went well there are always things that need to be improved. One thing that frustrated me while trying to teach was having students talk over me. I had a signal that I used when they started to get loud and that was to put two fingers up in the air. I realized that students got used to this signal and would still be talking even with their hand in the air. To fix this problem for the future I could use multiple signals so that students do not get used to just one. Another thing I noticed while teaching is that the same students are constantly raising their hands and being called on while others are laying back and relaxing. It is a teachers job to make sure ALL students in the class are learning, not just a select few. To make sure that everyone in the class is learning teachers can ask a question and have students work in different groups to come up with an answer. Like I said before, I think that having activities incorporated with the smart board is great for students, however; time permitted us for having students to come up to the board and do the activities themselves. I think having the students come up to the board would have been more exciting for the class. However, these guided activities should be done throughout the lesson not just at the end.

        After teaching my first lesson I am more comfortable teaching a class. I am familiar of what things work and what things do not work while teaching. While observing other teacher candidates direct instruction lessons I got even more ideas of what works and what does not work. For example, the first group spent a lot of time waiting for students to copy notes that is why we created fill in the blank worksheets to not waste time. After every lesson taught there is always something new to learn and ways to improve ones teaching skills. I am very excited to see how far I will come along and improve this year!





  

  

  

 This is my lesson plan about ecosystems.

 This is my PowerPoint presentation corresponding with the lesson plan.





Classroom at Home

         VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS

            Technology has advanced and become so amazing over the years! Class got canceled due to the fact that there was a blizzard, but we were still able to have "class." Our whole class participated in a virtual lesson. During this virtual lesson we were able to see a power point presentation, see our teacher, hear one another, and type in a group message. It felt as if we were all in the classroom together; meanwhile in reality, I was in my bed in pajamas. I really enjoy this experience because even though class was canceled we did not get to miss out on learning! Some other benefits of being involved in a virtual classroom is that it requires students to use many different skills such as: communication through text and vocally and multi-tasking. Having a virtual classroom can also make students and teachers more organized. There are many different papers and assignments assigned to a class and people could lose track of these items; however, having a virtual classroom will keep losing things to a minimum since everything is in one spot, online. Even though having a virtual classroom has so many benefits, I believe that it has some disadvantages as well.

        A virtual classroom is not the same as actually being in the classroom. Getting out of bed, getting dressed, and going to a classroom can set a whole different tone and mindset for class and learning. When someone has a routine he or she is more aware and ready to learn than those who are still in bed. Also, emailing and typing to communicated could be misguided. It is very easy for recipients to read a  message and have a different meaning towards the message than what the sender is actually trying to convey. Even though people communicate from online it is not the same as being face-to-face with someone and the relationship that is formed from this. Being in classroom, students and teachers get immediate responses and feedback, but online this can be a little delayed. There can be technological difficulties at any second. During our virtual class, my computer was delayed a few minutes compared to my roommate's and it took one girl about fifteen minutes to join the classroom.

        Technology is becoming a part of every day life more and more each day. It may take time to adjust to these changes, but overall technology is a very big part in teaching even if it is not a virtual classroom. Technology gives us many new opportunities even though it has its disadvantages.



We Don't All Have the Same Fingerprints

Approaches To Teaching

         I think it is important to teach in many different ways because nobody is the same and every one learns differently from one another. I, personally, am a visual learner and need to see a model or example of something to grip the concept of something  instead of just reading or hearing about it. However, I do believe teachers should incorporate all five teaching styles into each lesson to  meet everyone's needs and to keep the lesson switching up and not being boring to a class.

         Direct teaching is when the teacher is the main focus of the lesson and is doing most of the talking. However, there are different types of lectures teachers can do such as: interactive (discussion), mastery (scaffolding), or traditional. I think direct teaching should be used when introducing a topic and while learning new information.

        Indirect teaching is the opposite of direct teaching, it is student centered; this is known as inqiry. During indirect teaching teachers can perform read-alouds and use different examples of culture traditions and values, or case studies so students can make connections to what they are learning. Also, inquiry is a good method for indirect teaching because it gives students a chance to ask questions and explore. I believe indirect teaching should be used right after a teacher taught a new topic to see how much students understood what you taught, but not in a formal way. This allows teachers to know if they need to or do not need to go back and re-teach something.

        Interactive teaching is when students can interact with peers and discuss and perform their knowledge with each other. Instead of judging people's opinions students should be open-minded and know that their is no right or wrong answer. During interactive learning students can have discussions and build on each others ideas. I think that interactive teaching should be done after teachers teach using indirect teaching because it is way to  go into deeper understanding of a topic and see what your students really know and they can also  learn from each other.

         Experimental learning is active and learner centered. There are different experiments teachers can do with the class to make learning fun and bring what they learned to life. Different types of experiments can be: scientific method, interviews, surveys, role play, and games. I think experimental learning should be used when you think the class has a very good understanding of the topic they just learned and are ready to become experts and test it out for themselves.

         Independent learning is when students know enough about a topic and is ready to plan their study effectively. Students have their own time to focus on what they enjoy, or what they believe they need more time understanding. This is a time when students can reflect on what they have learned and can make improvements and set goals. Teachers can assign a project or paper to see if students can transfer their knowledge into words and show their skills. I think this should be done when teachers are done teaching this topic and ready to move on to a new topic.