Hello everyone!
Just a note before I begin my story...I realized after I named my blog that I made it sound like science is scary and that's not how I meant it! I think science is fun (with maybe a few scary things like dissections and spiders!)! I named it Harri-Scary as a play on words with my last name....anyway, back to my story :)
When I was in elementary school, science was NOT my 'thing,' so my science story isn't a long, elaborate saga that could fill a tome. My science experience has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. In fact, my first real memory of science isn't until 5th grade and even that memory is vague!
In 6th grade, my homeroom teacher was also the team science teacher, so my exposure to science increased exponentially. This was the year that we dissected owl pellets, went on extensive nature walks, and even made our own ice cream! For me, this was the year that science became fun! Then, in 7th grade, our teacher had one method of teaching science - color-by-number worksheets of the human body, plant cells, the digestive system, you name it. When the school year ended, I had excellent coloring skills, but limited scientific knowledge.
When I got to high school, there were some great science classes and some not so great science classes. We made our own roller coasters out of PVC pipes in physics, but the entire class got D's on our chemistry midterm. In fact, the most memorable thing about chemistry for me (besides the D - the lowest grade I ever got) is the fact that I met my current boyfriend in that class (insert chemistry joke here)!
Science for me has always been a roller coaster ride. I hope that someday I can break this pattern and make science accessible, invigorating, and exciting for my elementary school kids!
Alisha, I feel that a lot of people have a similar experience with science growing up as you did- a roller coaster ride as you put it. When you find a certain concept interesting, you are more likely to seek out the answers because they are your own questions, rather than finding answers to problems you could care less about or find very abstract (like chemistry for you and the rest of your high school classmates). I like how you mentioned your sixth grade homeroom teacher as being one of your most memorable exposures to science because he was the science team leader and spent a great deal of time teaching what he knew best. This illustrates the point that as teachers, we must do our very best to give our students the largest variety and exposure to different subjects as possible, rather than sticking to what subjects we are most comfortable with and know the most about. I would venture a guess that the majority of your preceding homeroom teachers were not so comfortable with the concepts being taught in science, and therefore gave their students the minimal exposure that they could get away with based on the required curriculum. The sixth grade science teacher you had may have skipped over some of the social studies concepts that another teacher may have focused more of his/her attention on for this same reason (lack of knowledge and comfort with the material), so it is important to continue to broaden our knowledge base even after we have secured a teaching position and are veterans in the field with our own established classrooms.
ReplyDeleteAlisha, I love your honesty about your experiences with this subject. Science is definitely not always fun and unfortunately for you it took a long time before you had a decent teacher. I think its funny that you said after one school year your coloring skills excelled exponentially, but you learned next to nothing about the subject. This is exactly how it was in my high school Anatomy class. I never took it, but I heard that "coloring" was a pretty easy class, but it would definitely not prepare someone for a college leveled class on the same subject!
ReplyDeleteI hope that when you are a teacher you can bring some excitement to your students so that they not only want to learn about science, but they will remember your lessons too. Sometimes it takes not so great experiences to make us want to go out there and change things. You can do it! :)
Hello the other Alisha,
ReplyDeleteI loved how you described your journey with science as a rollercoaster with high and lows, which coincidentally was the favorite experiment you remembered building in physics. You should have told your teachers that they did not fulfill your “potential energy” with their lessons. Maybe they should have been given a D for not providing you with memorable experiences in science. Science should be fun and enjoyable, and I am sorry that it was not for you. I know the lessons you will design for your elementary class will be talked about years and years later!