SCED 330 // Blog 4

November 29, 2018

I absolutely cannot believe that this is the last blog I will be writing before Student Teaching! Time has absolutely flown by, and I am so excited!

Reflection...

     I am most proud of how hard I have worked this month-- and really this whole semester. I completed my Science Methods clinical experience commentaries over Thanksgiving Break, which took dedication. This month we also were able to learn some formative assessment strategies that we can use in the classroom, and I found that to be very insightful. This month, I encountered struggle most with my unit. I was having a hard time comong up with ways that my students could use metacognition. However, I am overcoming this struggle and getting it done! This month, my Task 3 clinical experience commentary brought me the most satisfaction because I worked really hard on it, and I feel confident in it. Over the next week/month, I will get prepared for student teaching! I will be going into my placement during final exam week. I will not be going in after that until January 2nd, because I need time to decompress and get ready for Student Teaching. If I don't give myself a break, it will be a disservice to the children because I won't be able to 100% give everything I've got for student teaching. I want to do my absolute best for these kids and the semester I've been waiting for! I contributed to the overall class this month by trying my best in all these last group projects we finished up.

Outside learning/research...

     This month, I decided to do my outside research on Paige Keeley's book that we talked about in class, known as Science Formative Assessment Strategies. I would like to highlight two that I think would be good to incorporate in my future classroom.

1. Paige Keeley’s formative assessment strategy #10, known as Data Match. In this formative assessment strategy, students use and demonstrate discourse and metacognition by using evidence from data to see which statements are true and accurate.
2. Formative assessment strategy in which students analyze their own, and their peers’, explanations. 
3. APA citation: Keeley, P. (2008). Science formative assessment: 75 practical strategies for linking assessment, instruction, and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Top Tweets...

I chose this tweet because we talked all about the 7 Habits in class this week. This was a new concept to me, so I looked it up. I was amazed to see what the 7 Habits are and how educators are currently encorporating these into their classrooms!

I feel just a little famous now that I got a reply from a Twitter account that has so many followers, telling me that they would "love to hear more" about my tweet! I replied back to them saying that we had been discussing Paige Keeley's book regarding formative assessments in science.

I wanted to share this tweet with y'all, because I thought it looked like a great resource. It is a tweet by the Next Generation Science Standards' Twitter. I think that it is important that we will be licensed in 6th grade, and we need to stay up to date on things in the 6th grade world so that we are ready if we get placed in that grade level!

Current Event...

     This month, I came across an article that I found to be very interesting! This article states that there has been a breakthrough in DNA technology. This new DNA technology has allowed us to make amazing sketches of suspects from samples obtained on crime scenes. The article states that this technology can help officials find how who committed crimes recently, or years ago. I think that it is amazing what science and research can do! I cannot wait to get into the classroom and have my students do all kinds of science learning experiences.
APA citation: Sterman, J., & Brauer, A. (2018, November 29). DNA technology can create unbelievable suspect sketches from crime scene samples. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://wlos.com/news/nation-world/dna-technology-can-create-unbelievable-suspect-sketches-from-crime-scene-samples

NCTCS...
   
     This month, I think that Science Methods brought a whole new meaning to Standard 3, "Teachers know the content they teach." While completing all of these last few assignments, commentaries, etc., I have really realized why it is so important to learn all that we can as future teachers. If we are going to teach these children, we are going to have to know what to teach them, and how to teach them. By completing these projects in Science Methods, I feel more prepared to take on teaching science to my student teaching students, and my future students!

EDUC 435// Blog 4

November 27, 2018

     I absolutely cannot believe how fast this semester has gone by. I also cannot believe how fast this whole experience has gone by-- we are about to start student teaching, y'all!

     References to Learning Experiences:
This month, I completed my clinical experience checklist. My C.E. was so helpful in letting me interview her for various parts of the checklist, and introducing me to the staff. She is great! I have been talking to her about what she wants me to teach for my real Task 1, and she has officially chosen the topic she wants me to teach. Now, all I have to do is start writing it! I am a little stressed and overwhelmed, but also really happy and thankful.

     References to Outside Learning/Research:
This month, I researched a lot of theories and things that I can include in my lessons for student teaching. There are so many things out there! I specifically researched Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development, because I have been seeing this a lot in my placement... especially in math. This theory states that children cannot grasp the abstract until they are first introduced to the concrete. For example, this means that children could have a hard time understanding the different values of money until we give them play money, real money, or money paper cut outs that they can feel and see. Feeling and seeing the concrete examples would help them understand the abstract idea that a penny does not equal a quarter, and so on. This is a great theory, and I have started including it in my instruction a lot.
APA citation:
Mcleod, S. (2018, June 06). Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

     Connections to NCTCS:

This month, we have been pretty much exemplifying a lot of the Standards. Every day in my placement is a new opportunity to demonstrate aspects of the NCTCS. The Clinical Experience Checklist has things on it like "Discuss long term and short term planning with C.E." This is directly related to Standard 4b, "Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students." These are related because this is exactly what we are doing-- planning instruction that is appropriate for our students! Our C.E.'s help guide us and make sure that what we are planning is appropriate for our students. Another part of the Clinical Experience Checklist was "Introduce yourself to clerical staff." My C.E. has introduced me to just about everybody at the school! She is awesome! By putting ourselves out there and introducing ourselves to everyone, we are demonstrating Standard 1b, "Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school." When we do this, we are demonstrating leadership in the school by getting out there and meeting people, and just getting involved! I think that good teacher leaders get involved as much as possible.

     Future Classroom Connections:

In my future classroom, I will encourage my students to be friendly to everyone and be student leaders to their peers. Since communication is a 21st century skill, I think it is important that I encourage my students to be friendly, communicate and collaborate with others, and apply themselves in everything they do. Communication and collaboration is a lost art that I plan to bring back in my classroom.

SCED 330 // Blog 3

November 1, 2018

Overall Reflection
   
     This month in science methods, we finished up our science fair projects. We did the acid rain portion of the project, and it was cool to see how acid rain affects plants! We used a vinegar solution and poured it straight onto the plants. It really affected them quickly! We also did the Safety in the Classroom project, which was great to think through. I did not realize how much a teacher really needs to prepare and think about the safety precautions that should take place in the classroom at all times, but especially when conducting science labs and experiments. Here's the poster that my group made on Venngage that shows what we would expect our 2nd and 3rd grade students to follow during a science lab:

We are also continuing with our ecocolumns. All of my goldfish died, and the water has a ton of algae in it! My plants are hanging in there, though. I think this is a cool science learning experience that I would like to do in my future classroom one day, if I teach 4th or 5th. I am loving the K-2 world, though!💗 I am moving right along with my clinical experience, as well. I will be teaching a 5-day learning segment on sounds next week, and I am so excited. I will be zoning in on bats and how they communicate through echolocation. This month, I was most proud of our science fair project. I think that the project went well and that we tried our best. I encountered struggle this month when my goldfish died in my ecocolumn, but that's a part of the project! The project can still go on without them. My focus from now on will be helping my plants grow. Over the next month, I really want to focus on my clinical experience, and doing my best when teaching the learning segment and looking closely at the edTPA commentaries and rubrics before we do the real thing in just a couple of months. I contributed to the overall class by just coming and participating in all the group projects we've had going on. I brought all the dirt and seeds for the science fair project, and I planted them all. I also replanted them all in cups with Megan White, Mackenzie, and Amber. It's really been a fun month full of learning in SCED 330. I could continue contributing to the other group learning experiences that we have coming up.

Outside learning/research:
     For my outside learning and research this month, I decided to read on Edutopia about project-based learning. I thought this would be perfect since we have been doing so many projects this month! The article was written by Vanessa Vega, and I thought it was really informative. According to Edutopia's research, project-based learning is effective because it helps children to solve real-world problems, collaborate with peers, and take control and responsibility for their learning. This sounds like a few of the 21st century skills! I can use this info in my future classroom in order to promote a more wholesome science education for my students and allow them to explore and pursue that natural curiosity that they have for the world around them.
APA citation: Vega, V. (2015, December 1). Project-Based Learning Research Review. Retrieved November 1, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes

3 Top Tweets
(Sorry about the low quality pictures of these tweets, my screenshot button on my laptop was not working!)

I chose this tweet to be one of my top tweets this month because it is a video of a teacher dropping a huge pumpkin into a tub of water. All of the kids were talking about how the pumpkin would "definitely sink," and they were amazed to see it float and bob up and down in the water! I said that we could do something like this in our future classrooms to teach about buoyancy, the bonds in water, making predictions, etc.

 I chose this tweet because I am teaching a unit in my placement on sound next week! This teacher wrote about how her students got to play the harp and talk about how sounds are made from vibrations. I thought bringing in a guest speaker for this was a great idea!

Lastly, I chose this tweet because it's an inspirational quote. Here's the quote so that y'all can see it more clearly:

I think that this is so true! We cannot do it on our own. We have to work with our coworkers, administrators, and the families of these children to do what is best for these kids. It's a team effort.

Scientific Thinking... current event
This month, my current event comes from this link: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/mosquitoes-eat-microplastics-as-larvae

According to Sharon Oosthoek at sciencenewsforkids.org, polution in the world around us is cause mosquitos to keep plastic in their bellies. This is putting the birds that eat them at risk. The plastic gets into the mosquitos because it is microplastic, which the article states is a commant pollutant found in water. Since mosquito larvae thrives in water at first, this is how they are getting the microplastic in their bellies. It stayes there, and then when birds eat the mosquitos, they are polluted with microplastic too.
APA citation: Oosthoek, S. (2018, October 30). Microplastics take flight in the bellies of mosquitoes. Retrieved November 1, 2018, from https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/mosquitoes-eat-microplastics-as-larvae

NCTCS
     This month in my clinical placement, I learned a lot about the importance of working with the teachers on your grade level in order to provide high quality materials and instruction to the whole grade level. My C.E. and the other 2nd grade teachers come up with their own pacing guide, and its all done in units based on something to do with science. Just like many of the other K-2 classes recently, we went from apples to pumpkins, and next week I am teaching them about bats. This is all integrated in literacy! This relates to NCTCS 4g, "Teachers communicate effectively."
     One of my top tweets was also related to NCTCS 2e, "Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students." This is so important. We have to work together with the families and other significant adults in the lives of these children in order to do what is best for them.