My first distinct memory of science in school would be the monarch butterfly unit that my kindergarten class did. This unit was one of the few science topics that interested me up until 5th grade. I remember very little science lessons between kindergarten and fifth grade, probably because I wasn't very interested in science. Math and Reading were my favorite subjects. In fifth grade, however, my teacher gave us several different projects that coincided with the science lessons. These projects required us to be creative and original--which was something different than in previous years. There is one project that I created that clearly sticks out in my mind. It was during our "flower" unit (we learned all about the parts of flowers and pollination). We each had to create a unique representation of a flower and all of its parts (labeled). I made mine out of different kinds of candy, along with some structural pieces like a wooden rod and some foam. I had so much fun making this flower that I kept it for a few years. I was so proud of all of the effort and creativity that I was able to put into the project, that it was hard for me to just throw it away. Looking back, my fifth grade teacher was really good at making science active. We did a lot of hands-on activities and projects--which made it more interesting (at least for me).My science experiences in junior high and high school, aside from the dissection units, were not very memorable. In both seventh and ninth grade I had to dissect different organisms. I was NOT one of those students who looked forward to science class during this time. I can still remember the queasy feeling that I got when it was time to dissect the frogs or mice. Even writing this memory down makes me a little nauseous. Although dissection was definitely the worst, other topics in science didn't really interest me at the time, which is probably why I would say that science is my least favorite subject.
As a teacher, I don't want my students to be as bored with the subject as I was in school. My philosophy is that hands-on, active, and engaging units are necessary to get students interested. Allowing students to be creative and bring their own strengths to the lessons will help them to better understand the material. This will also help them to get excited for science.
Although my various interests contribute to my negative attitude of science, I believe that my religious upbringing also has impacted this. Science and Christianity have been known to be at opposite sides of countless debates. My parents never told me that I shouldn't like science or anything like that, but when topics like evolution arose in school, I was always on edge. I absolutely HATED being in class on those days, because I felt like I was being personally attacked. No student likes to feel like that. Prior to this reflection of my past science experiences, I would always think about the evolution unit whenever science in school was brought up. This is probably why I always had negative thoughts about science. Every time I thought about it, those feelings of being personally attacked surfaced.
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| Exploring Science |
Becca,
ReplyDeleteYou brought up an extremely good point when you talked about how your religious background affected your view of science in the educational setting. I completely forgot to write about this in my blog post but I also often felt like a victim whenever my science classes talked about the process of evolution. I can specifically remember a day in my freshman year biology class in which my teacher called out me and a few others who questioned evolution in a paper that we had written. It made me feel attacked, you described, and extremely small and insignificant. I would hate to do that to students in my classroom. After reading your blog post, I will know be more conscious of my students and their beliefs when planning science (or any other) lessons in the future.
Becca,
ReplyDeleteIt’s really cool that you can remember science back from Kindergarten, I can only remember as far back as 3rd grade. It is so cool that you did have a great 5th grade teacher that allowed for you to experience the fun and engaging parts of science by encouraging creativity and allowing for hands-on work. I also have the best memories from when my teachers opened up the classroom to creative thinking and planning that resolved around science. I like your determination to make science fun and engaging for your students in the future and wanting to error on the side of caution as well in hopes to not make your students feel uncomfortable. I think this will really serve your students and prove to them that you are a respectful teacher. Like you, I never liked the dissection units so I would just record the notes and not touch the organism. Since I didn’t become a Christian until college, I never had the same feelings of isolation or of feeling attacked growing up. However, I definitely began to feel uncomfortable in my general education science classes at ISU because my professors were clearly atheists. I wish that ALL teachers would have the same tenderness that you are wanting to model :)