Science Work Day

Yesterday was a work day in Science Methods class and I was very pleased to have this work day because I feel it was much needed during this busy time of year. I know that many of my classmates were also happy to have a work day so they could talk with other students working on their final projects in order to get some ideas. It was nice to also talk to others about where they located some of the materials needed for the final project, such as the NSES standards. I like having workdays and I know that they will allow us to develop even better lessons than we had intended because we have been allowed a great amount of time to develop them so they will be at their best! Work days are also great because they are a convient time for ALL of the group memebers to meet so they can all be incorporated in developing the lesson plan.

Elk Point Science Fair

Taking part in the Science Fair held at Elk Point was a great experience that I enjoyed. I was glad that I had the opportunity to take part in such a supporting event. I always like having the opportunity to have more time in a classroom and this experience not only allowed me to evaluate the students work, but also see how much work and time these projects had been for the students. It was neat to see how much passion some had for the experiments and discoveries they had found! Some of the students amazed me with their knowledge and some of experiments they had come up with! I was an amazing experience and would encourage more college professors to give their students the opportunity to judge or simply view similar events. I was a little unsure about the Science Fair when I was first informed of it but now that I have went through with the experience I am very glad that I did! It was a great experience!

Thanksgiving

Snowflake Bentley

The book that we have included in our lesson plan is called Snowflake Bentley. This book was incorporated into our lesson plan because it works perfectly with analyzing snowlflakes. It was interesting to find a book that correlated so nicely with the lesson. This book will be a great contribution to our lesson because it will show how students will be able to learn about the development of snowflakes. I recommend this book to others that are teaching about snowflakes. We thought it would be good to discuss winter weather with winter approaching so students know how to dress properly when out in the cold winter weather. The analyzing of snowflakes will also get them excited for more snow to fall so they will be able to show others there new trick about snowflakes.

Lesson Plan II

I am looking forward to the upcoming lesson plan that we will be presenting next week because I think that we have an interesting topic. When doing these lesson plans to our classmates, I love to see the feedback so I can tell if I am on the right track for developing a strong lesson plan that will be interactive and also something that students will learn from. I feel it is very helpful to have the evaluation sheets because it really lets you know what you can improve on. I don't feel offended if someone comments on something that I need to do differently; that is actually what I WANT to see so that I can quickly make improvements before I go into the teaching world! I hope that the rest of the class enjoys our lesson plan and provides us with good feedback so we can make any changes that need to be made!

Workday hooray!

With the extremely busy two weeks that we have had on our hands, it was extremely great to have a workday on Thursday! I was soo greatful of the understanding of Dr. E, I also felt the workday was much needed because there were a lot of us that had questions concerning the upcoming lesson plan. It was very nice to be able to get these questions resolved and get everybody on the same page. I feel that days like this are much needed at times and I was glad that Dr. E was understanding enough to allow us to have one. I am now more confident with the lesson plan that we are going to be presenting next Thursday.

5 E's

Learning about the concept of Constructivism and the 5 E's was very interesting and helpful because it broke down the different steps students go through when changing misconceptions and relating them to actual knowledge. The 5 E's: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate, all play a critical role in the quality of the students learning. It is imperative that students engage themselves in the material they are learning about and make connections between the past and present. It is also important that they explore and get directively involved and also explain what they recognized during this process. Explaining and elaborating on these ideas is also important when expanding on the concepts and strengthing those connections they are making. The final E, evaluation, is important for the teacher in order to determine if the student in comprehending and making process and learning. I will definitely take the 5 E into effect when I engage my students in learning new materials in my classroom.