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).
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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 |