Science In The Classroom

In a classroom which is driven by the need to meet high stakes testing scores, there is a subject which may be cut from the curriculum. This subject is science. The realization of this fact nearly broke my heart. Kids love science!! Science explains the world around us and children are constantly exploring the world making inferences, testings, and conclusions.

Education should focus on what children are interested in learning. The students are then intrigued by the material presented to them and the learning becomes owned by the student himself. This idealistic principle is not always easy to obtain in a block schedule format when "reading is to be strictly taught for 90 minutes" and "math for 90 minutes". However, science could easily be incorporated into both subjects.

As I was planning my lessons for the month, I looked at the pacing guide and saw that we would have a unit of learning about the states of matter. This is usually the time when the lightning bolt comes from the sky and an idea is struck. The final idea that I came up with was to have students make observations about the different states and keep a science notebook.

Without telling students the answers, I had them make observations about things they saw on a table. There were four tables with items. One table held blocks, books, rulers, and blocks; another had a tub of water, cups, a tub of beads, and glue; next a table had cups filled with soapy bubble mix; and lastly there was a table with air freshener and balloons. The only clue that the students had been given was that we were learning about states of matter. After students had made observations, they were then to write 6 sentences about what they saw. This was a perfect time for a short reteach on what things make up a sentence. A perfect opportunity to incorporate writing into a science lesson!

Once observations were made, students were then made to share with one person what he or she has observed. They kept track of similarities and differences in the form of a Venn Diagram. (Venn Diagrams are often associated with math!) As students were sharing what they had observed, I was able to come across great conversations over what they had been learning. Many students had come to the correct conclusions without my saying "this is a liquid, solid, and gas". The learning was placed in the students hands and they ran with it and made great progress.

After the hands-on experience, the students were then able to connect better to what a solid, liquid, and gas is made of in the form of atoms. Overall this lesson was fun and a powerful learning tool. Plus, the students kept a learning journal which helps to connect with the subject matter.

Classroom Management

The Key To Classroom Management

How can I use these ideas?

Many of the ideas presented in the article Key to Classroom Management are things I have naturally been able to decipher in the classroom, and some concepts were quite eye-opening. Every student is different in his needs of management. Some students need social training, and others simply need direction on how to complete an assignment.

At times we can all feel overwhelmed by how much we have to accomplish in a short amount of time. This concept is also very true for students. Some students feel overwhelmed by assignments. The pressure to complete a task is too great and therefore the student will ‘act out’. As a new teacher, all I was able to see was the ‘acting out’ stage. It was then pointed out to me that the student may need the assignment broken into smaller stages. The article pointed this strategy out as well, and it is quite effective. The student who ‘acts out’ was finally able to complete the task, and he was able to complete the task with his full potential.

Demographically speaking, students who come from low income families tend to be in the lower percentile of learning scores, as well as behavior issues. The article and the power point presentation both pointed out that simply blaming the family for a student’s predicament is not effective. This is true, but my question was ‘what can I do to help this child succeed?’ As hard as it might be to introduce a new concept at this point in the year, these students need to be taught social skills. These skills need to be taught and reinforced every day. The reinforcement needs to be given with positive feedback because these students are used to receiving negative attention. Positive attention and negative attention are the same to low leveled students, attention is attention.

Social skills need to be taught in order for students to be successful in life. The creation of a behavior chart would be an effective way to help keep students on track. A chart may include items such as: entering the classroom with a zero voice, looking at the board for today’s behavior goal, complete first assignment on the board, and wait for the teacher’s instructions. Allowing students to earn a tangible award for good behavior creates incentive for students to seek positive feedback. The combination of the award and the chart are a way to foster the self monitoring of behavior.

Kids Love to Write!

Writing With Kids

Over this past week my class worked on creative writing assignments. One assignment was very structured and the other was their choosing. The objective was to work on writing, clearly. What surprised me most was how well my class wrote! The writing was fluent, creative, and for the most part, the exact assignment. Plus, every child wanted to share what he or she wrote!

Writing has been said to help clear the way of a soul, or mind. I believe that this is true and was able to see it in the work of my students. A class, which normally has no ability to focus, became enthralled with the work placed in front of them. They were begging to write even more!

So, I let them write.

Once our stories were complete we shared them with the class. One student, who never speaks a word, was ecstatic to share her work! I then thought to myself, let's scrap the blogging assignment for the week. We should become publish authors! We did so and our computer lab transformed from a cave of technology to a magical land filled with child authors!

One of the first stories completed was titled: Why Glasses are Small. When this story was read aloud to the class, everyone was hanging on every word of the author.

Kids Love To Write!