4/15/2021 0 Comments Last & Final Week Of ESCIWeek 11: April 15th- April 20th:
It is pretty crazy that today is our last day of class. The semester flew by especially having our pre-internship for three weeks of the semester. During my time in ESCI 310-010: Science Educations (Pre-k to Grade 8), I learned a lot of valuable and practical information that I can take with me during my educational journey. For this weeks blog our Professor, Dr. Xia Ji, has asked us to reflect on our "weekly attendance & engagement (participation, contribution and professionalism)". To begin, I attended every single class this semester had. I showed up 10-15 minutes before class started to ensure I was there and ready to actively listen and participate. I kept my camera on for most classes. Anytime we had a discussion in class and I was called upon I made sure I answered to the best of my ability. Anytime we had a breakout room discussion I made sure to keep my Zoom camera on and turn my mic on when it was my turn to talk. I tried my best to be a leader during break out rooms and ensured I actively listened to what my peers had to say and gave time for all peers to have a voice. I always made sure to be kind and respectful to my peers and tried to create a positive and safe environment for all group members to share. During our breakout rooms I was able to draw from course readings, my own experiences, and other academic sources that I could connect with. By doing this in the break out rooms, this allowed for a safe and collegial virtual environment. Anytime we had forums or class blogs, I made sure to complete mine before the due date. After I posted my own I then went to my classmates to read, think, reflect and learn. I also made sure to comment on some of my peers posts. I liked the statement in the syllabus that says, "the best thing you can do is read, think and communicate in the spirit of trying to learn from yourself, from one another, from the land/place, and from the course materials shared with you..." (Ji, 2021). Thank you for a great semester!
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Week 10: April 8th - April 13th: WOW! This week in ESCI 310 has been my favourite. Hearing Cindy Rice talk so passionately about her time teaching while using Inquiry Based Learning was SO inspirational. I first found out about Cindy due to her presence on Twitter. On Twitter she shared pictures and tweets of her time in the classroom and the activities done using an Inquiry Based Learning model. See below for a few of the Tweets Cindy posted about Inquiry Based Learning. A few takeaways from the time Cindy was in our Zoom class were: 1. Relationships 2. Resources 3. Student-Led Cindy talked a lot about the importance of building relationships with the students in your classroom. Once you have built strong and solid relationships, this is when the "magic" can happen. By building relationships in the classroom that how you truly know your students' needs, wants and interests. This is also how you know where to add differentiation and adaptations during learning. She also talked closely about the resources. She shared that there are A LOT of resources available but you may need to do some researching to find the resources that work best in your classroom environment. On her Twitter she shares MANY different resources she used that fit best for her learners and the curriculum she was guided by. When she said there were many great resources available this made me excited to research and find my own once I have my own classroom/grade level. I often hear there aren't a lot of resources for teachers (I hear this as an Education student who finds it tricky not being a certified teacher to get access to them right now), so hearing Cindy share this was motivating. Lastly, Cindy talked about her lessons being student-led. I liked how Cindy would lay out the learning outcome and break it down and then ask the students "how"? How could they approach this outcome? How would they like to approach this? How could we do this? And then from there, together, the students would creatively voice their ideas and thoughts, and then she would find resources and material to assist their learning. I also loved how students wouldn't just ask for a worksheet to learn the outcome, they would most often think of something hands-on. Our textbook suggest, "insights into students' conceptual understanding abound as children immerse themselves in focused experiential explorations" (Anderson, Comay & Chiarotto, 2017, p. 47). It also states, "many children need to physically engage with materials to really think about them. Hands-on experiences such as planting, digging through soil to deconstruct its composition, or holding a worm can be deeply engrossing to children and inspire many observations and questions" (Anderson, Comay & Chiarotto, 2017, p. 32). (In my ESST course we are also talking about Inquiry Based Learning and my professor shared images that helped me better understand what it is and how I can apply it in the classroom. See images below:) Week 9: April 1st- April 7th:
This week in ESCI 310, we were asked to read, "Teaching as Indwelling between Two Curriculum Worlds". In this reading it mentions the tension that arises from the two curriculum worlds which are: the worlds of curriculum - as -planned and curriculum- as - lived - experiences. Curriculum - as -plan is what the government or Ministry of Education or school district office tells teachers to teach or present in the classroom. As it states in the reading, "curriculum -as -plan are the works of curriculum planners, usually selected teachers from the field, under the direction of some ministry official often designated as the curriculum director of a subject or a group of subjects." Curriculum-as-lived-experience is the other world of curriculum. During this world is when you teach for your audience. This starts by knowing the needs and uniqueness of each student you have in your classroom. Once you know your students, you can start to teach accordingly to their needs and interests. During this world is having to make adaptations to curriculum-as-plan to fit the needs and interests in the classroom. Along with this, an experienced teacher state "from having experienced life with my pupils, that are immediate concerns I must address to keep the class alive and moving". Finding balance between the two can create tension. The reading suggests, "that to be alive is to live in tension; that, in fact, it is the tensionality that allows good thoughts and actions to arise when properly tensioned chords are struck, and that tensionless strings are not only unable to give voice to songs, but also unable to allow a song to be sung". Challenges and difficulties come between both of the zones/worlds. Miss O. says, "that indwelling in the zone between curriculum-as-plan and curriculum-as-lived experience is not so much a matter of overcoming the tensionality but more a matter of dwelling aright within it". Connections from Natural Curiosity 2nd Edition: A resource for Educators: - Use the curriculum to guide or lead you in the direction you need to go but use the students interests and needs to create the action in how you will teach or learn. - Inquiry Based learning allows the teacher to make adaptations and differentiation where needed so the learning can suite all learners. If we use inquiry based learning, it can still be student led and stay within the curriculum guidelines. Week 8: March 30th - April1st: The Learner – During my time as a pre-intern, I learned that no two learners are the same. I have always known this but now that I have spent time in the classroom and taught physical students, I am able to recognize the truth in this. All students have varying needs and strengths. Along with this, all students have diverse identities, diverse abilities and are shaped by their cultural, economic, ethnicity, family, gender, linguistic, place, race, and sex narratives. All students are different and unique which makes it so clear that we can't teach 1 way, there is NO such thing as a cookie cutter student. This is a good reminder that when we teach, we cannot expect ALL of our learners to pick up on what we are teaching with one simple technique. We have to adjust and make differentiations and adaptations for all learners. The classroom I was fortunate to be in was diverse in all aspects. I was able to learn their interests and build on those relationships. I am a firm believer that we cannot teach fully until we actually KNOW our students. It starts with knowing their favourite color is red, or that their Dad works at Wal-Mart, or that they are on level 10 on Fort Night. As Jody Carrington says, "teach from relationships first". The Teacher – For myself, I teach with compassion, kindness and from the heart, with empathy. I would say one of my strengths in my teaching is that I genuinely CARE. I want to hear each and every one of my students thoughts, opinions, wonders and questions. I want to understand where they are coming from and get on their level. I also take the time to listen and connect to their own personal stories. This is another way I build strong relationships with my students. When my students share their stories with me, I remember them and remember to check up with them on whatever topic they shared with me. Since I teach with a caring heart, this can also be a downside. It can be hard on MY heart to hear some of my students stories. Some of the children and students I have worked with come from tough background and their home-life isn't the easiest. This is where I sometimes struggle, it is hard for me to hear and see these young children go through more than I have/will ever go through in life. I have learned from co-op teachers and other people in the community techniques to help these children and my own heart. The Subject Matter - I have learned a lot about the curriculum. When designing and creating my Non-Standard Measurement unit from scratch with a little help from the Math Makes Sense textbook, I noticed a few things. The Grade Two curriculum connects with community and self. And I noticed that I could interconnect my measurement math unit to many other subjects that were in the same grade level. I created 11 lessons on non-standard measurement and 11 additional lessons that interconnected. Some of the additional lessons came from subject areas like English Language Arts, Physical Education, Health Education, Treaty Education and Social Studies. I also noticed that Science was an area I could interconnect to too. A big takeaway for me that I learned about the curriculum was how I could tie in many other subjects once I broke down the unit. The Milieu – This is one area I didn't get a chance to explore much. Due to COVID-19 restrictions I was limited to where I could go. Most days I stayed put in my Grade two classroom to limit the amount of exposure the primary wing got. With this being said, I didn't notice or see a lot of social justice ideals manifested in the school environment. The bathrooms near by were labeled BOY and GIRL and areas like that were still presented in the school. Although, I cannot be entirely sure this is certain for the entire school. I would have to go back into the school at a time where I can explore and note how inclusive this school was. In the classroom, I did not notice anything significant done to make the room inclusive. 3/30/2021 1 Comment March 30th, 2021Week 7: March 4th-March 30th: During my three week block for my pre-internship, I was fortunate enough to create a Grade Two Mathematics unit on non-standard units of measurement. I focused on outcomes SS2.1: Demonstrate understanding of non-standard units for linear measurement and SS2.2: Demonstrate understanding of non-standard units for measure of mass. A more in depth explanation can be seen below: During my time creating and teaching this unit, I was able to interconnect to the EIC model- which I wrote about in my last blog post. The EIC model uses six practices and some of the practices I was able to connect with was "community learning" and "local, natural community surroundings". Since we are teaching during a pandemic, Covid-19 restrictions do not allow us to go on field trips or go to places that were shared during our class (like the Wascana Centre, Wascana Trails, etc.). Due to the restrictions, it limits the opportunities for the students and the teacher.
But I still wanted to try to integrate my unit with the outdoors and natural world. I can recognize that the EIC model has many positives for the learner so I didn't want Covid-19 to stop us from getting outside. So, instead, we explored the playground and connected it to our unit. The students were asked by me, the teacher, to find a rock similar to the one I found. They searched around the area and brought it back to me. They found me by a large tree. I brought some yarn and scissors outside with us so I could demonstrate how we could measure the distance around a tree and use non-standard units to record our data. Once I measured around the tree with yarn. I placed the yarn on the tarmac and the students (socially distanced of course) placed their rocks on the yarn until we went from end-to-end. We talked about the rules that must be followed when we measure using non-standard units: must measure from edge to edge, must use the same unit, cannot leave gaps or overlaps and must measure in a straight line and not a crooked line. The students were totally engaged the entire time and wanted to know the number of rocks it took to measure the distance around this LARGE tree. The students were so thrilled once we found our data. Days after this activity, the students were still referring back to this learning experience and connecting it to the new learnings. Even though we didn't leave the school, we still got outside to explore and engage in our learning that interconnected with our math unit. Picture Retrieved from: https://leeduser.buildinggreen.com/content/eic-model-using-environment-integrating-context-improving-student-learning-state-education Week 6: February 23-March 2nd: This week in ESCI, our professor shared resources that were related to the EIC model. What is the EIC model? It is when we use the Environment as a Integrating Context . It can be seen as anything connecting one to others and the natural and social community outside of the classroom and school. It has a lot to do with using the school and community as framework while the students construct their own learning guided by educators using "proven educational practices" (SEER, 2013). The EIC Model uses 6 practices, which are: 1. Integrated-interdisciplinary instructions 2. Community learning 3. Collaborative instruction 4. Learner based, constructivist approaches 5. Combinations of independent and cooperative learning 6. Local, natural community surroundings (To learn more about these 6 practices, use this link) I want to talk about some of the benefits there are within using EIC model: - Often leads to better performance on academic achievement in reading, writing, math, science and social studies - It often reduces discipline and any classroom management issues - Often leads to increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning - Students often have greater pride and ownership in accomplishments after using the EIC model - Often piques interest which allows for a higher rate of participation and then leads to improved learning EIC can be seen when students participate in: field trips, inviting guest speakers or attending a guest speaker, doing group work and projects, as well as doing lessons and learning outside in the schoolyard. My ESCI professor suggested the places below to go to and apply the EIC model: - Wascana Centre - Nature Sask - Canadian Wildlife Federation - Wolf Ridge Environment Learning Centre - Journey North During my pre-internship I am teaching a math unit on measurement and I want to integrate measurement by going outside and using the tools we know to observe and measure objects outside. Week 5: February 9th-12th As shared in our ESCI class, learning contexts are "four processes/strategies for engaging students in science. Each area reflects different purposes for learning science". These areas include: Scientific Inquiry (systematic empirical investigations), Technological Problem Solving (design, building and refining prototypes), STSE Decision Making (thinking about human and world issues scientific lens in order to inform and empower decision-making), and Cultural Perspectives (a humanistic perspective that views teaching and learning as cultural transmission and acquisition). Learning contexts represent multiple ways for learners to engage in inquiry within the science curriculum. Learners should experience their learning through each context at each grade. (Information came from "SK Science Ed Framework for Sci Literacy" Powerpoint). A "science related inquiry learning engagement activity" I thought about was exploring properties of matter. When teaching this inquiry activity, it is important the students first fully understand that EVERYTHING is made up of matter. It is also crucial to know and understand the many characteristics that help us make the proper calculations and better predictions. The video above is a good resource to watch.
The activity afterwards will involve the students to use their senses in an interactive way. You will have 5 clear liquids in 5 different clear bottles. Some clear liquids that could be used are: - Water - Dish Soap - Hydrogen peroxide - nail polish remover - 7UP - Vegetable oil - Rubbing Alcohol It is the students job to identify which liquids are in each bottle. They will be able to gently shake or roll the bottle. They can smell but they may NOT taste the contents. The learners will have to record their information and create a hypothesis about which liquids are in each bottle. They will have time to share their hypotheses and explain the methods they used to determine each one. The teacher will reveal the names of each liquid in all 5 of the bottles at the end of this inquiry activity. (Inquiry activity adapted from "Wabisabi Learning") Grade Two Outcomes: AW2.1 Investigate properties of air and water (in all 3 states of matter) within their environments. LS2.1 Investigate properties (colour, taste, smell, shape, and texture) of familiar liquids and solids 2/10/2021 0 Comments Two-Eyed SeeingWeek 4: February 2nd-4th This week in ESCI 310, we had our class debate about the two ways of seeing science. As mentioned before in one of my previous blog responses, I shared that we were looking at 2 polar opposite viewpoints. One being "Etched in Stone" and the other "There is No Truth". I was on team "Etched in Stone" and some of our points included the fact that all elements no matter where you are stay the same, dates do not change, elements stay the same, the necessities of life do not change - we all need food, water, shelter to thrive. As much as we could come up with some ideas to create this debate, it was hard for our team because we all didn't 100% agree with science being "Etched in Stone". After the debate, it was clear that science is a combination of both. When we have a combination of both, it allows for more efficient work to be produced. We then used a Jamboard to discuss and examine the "Nature of Science" and what our understanding of science was after the debate. The video below shares the importance of bringing both sides together to work together. As the reading suggests, "Etuaptmumk - Two-Eyed Seeing by saying it refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing ... and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all" (Cape Breton University, 2021). 1/30/2021 0 Comments "the hill we climb"Week Three: January 26th- 28th To start this week's class, we listened to, "The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman. She wrote this poem which was delivered at the US presidential inauguration. A statement she says that always sticks out to me is, "Quiet isn't always peace and the norms and notions of what "just is" isn't always "justice". The task for our weekly journal entry in ESCI 300 is to reflect on "The Hill I am Trying to Climb" (what am I trying to aspire or strive for in my work and especially as a budding teaching?) In class today, I suggested that I strive to create a safe, welcoming classroom that celebrates diversity. I also want to embrace inclusive education into my classroom. By doing this, I need to reflect on my own personal life and views and work on making sure I am bringing my best self into the classroom each day so I can be a positive role model for my learners. A reading done this week was called, "Many Levels of Inquiry" . Before I get into the reading, I like to remind myself of what "inquiry" really is. The definition is, "a request of information" and some examples of inquiry activities may be, case-studies, group projects, research projects, field work (science lessons). Inquiry uses methods like guided research, document analysis and question and answer sessions. In the reading, they found a four-level continuum which included, confirmation, structured, guided, and open (these are useful when classifying the levels of inquiry in an activity). 1. Confirmation inquiry is the first level. As shared in the article, "Confirmation inquiry is useful when a teacher's goal is to reinforce a previously introduced idea; to introduce students to the experience of conducting investigations, or to have students practice a specific skill, such as collecting and recording data" (Branchi & Bell, 2008). 2. Structured Level is the next level. The article said, "students generate an explanation supported by the evidence they have collected. This level is important because they enable students to gradually develop their abilities to conduct more open-ended inquiry" (Branchi & Bell, 2008). *These 2 levels are very common in elementary science curricula* 3. Guided Inquiry is the third level. In this level, "the teacher provides students with only the research question, and students design the procedure (method) to test their question and the resulting explanations... students have numerous opportunities to learn and practice different ways to plan experiments and record data" (Branchi & Bell, 2008). 4. Open Inquiry is the last level. At this level, "students have the purest opportunities to act like scientists, deriving questions, designing and carrying out investigations and communicating their results. This level requires the most scientific reasoning and greatest cognitive demand from students" (Branchi & Bell, 2008). |
Week Two: January 19th-21st
I can't believe it is already the second week of this semester, I am slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things. I am enjoying having a routine again (Winter Break always plays around with my routine). Although I am glad to be back into routine, I am also feeling very overwhelmed with the work load this semester. I think I have 4 different calendars and due date lists to ensure I am staying on track. This week in ESCI 310, I first read the featured poem, "Two Kinds of Intelligence" by Rumi. As stated in the write-up, "Rumi suggests that the second knowing is already within us, ready to flow out, but at The Reader we know that self-knowledge isn't always so forthcoming, sometimes you need to unlock it" (Rumi, 2021). I enjoyed reading through Rumi's poem as it shared the two kinds of intelligences. I could relate to this poem as a future teacher. I want to remind my students that the other kind of tablet it one that is already preserved inside of you. As Kumi says, "this second knowing is a fountainhead from within you, moving out" (Kumi, 2021). In ESCI 310 we also went through the "Etched in Stone" & "There Is No Truth" readings. Next class, we will be having a debate on these two polar opposite view points. Next blog post, I will share how the debate went and discuss my opinion, stay tuned! Week One: January 2nd-14th
I am excited to begin this semester, this is my LAST full semester of classes before my internship. This semester I am enrolled in ESCI 310. This course is titled, "Becoming Civic Science Educators". As I shared in my blog post on URCourses, I had a great high-school science experience. I loved biology, chemistry and physics. The main reason I loved them was because of what we were doing. The work was a lot of hands-on and practical experiments. Some of the experiences I had in high-school science class, still stand out to me. Due to this experience, it makes me, a future teacher, want to implement fun, hands-on, interactive, and engaging science material for my future students. The first week of ESCI 310, we were asked to read "Two-Eyed Seeing". This read was a method that was new to me. A good quote from the reading that "explains Etuaptmumk - Two-Eyed Seeing by saying it refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing ... and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all" (Cape Breton University, 2021). This method respectfully and passionately asks that we bring together our different ways of knowing. When we use all of our ways of knowing and understandings it leaves the world a better place. AuthorHaley Miller |