Subject 1 - Science (Rules!)

Teaching Science 6 was the first subject I taught! Pretty exciting and overwhelming, I must say, especially since this grade has Provincial Achievement Tests in June. I love elementary science because it's not as boring as high school. High school I remember taking physics and chemistry, not the most exciting topics out there. 

I taught not just my homeroom grade 6 class, but all the grade 6 classes science. Also take into the account that each class had approximately 27 children. So if I do my math right 3 x 27 = 81 children's names to know within the first two weeks. Ha. Welcome to my life. On top of learning their names, I also struggled with learning classroom management skills, teaching the science topics and assessing their learning. Of course all those improved significantly for me! #proudteacher

The science topics I taught was from the science unit Evidence & Investigation where the students learned about fingerprinting, forgery and analyzing crime scenes. How wicked is that!? The topics I specifically taught included chromatography, fabric samples and soil samples. All these lessons included discovery learning and varying experiment trials. It was pretty neat to watch the kids learn like this!

For these weeks, I essentially had to create one lesson plan, because it was the same for the three classes. At first, I didn't like doing the same lesson 3 times a day as it was tiring and repetitive for me, however it was the best opportunity to improve my teaching skills with different classes! I was able to see where my weaknesses were and change it for the next class right after. The only downfall with this was... there were SO many of them! I mean 81 names to know within the first week? Tough. Now I know that in the future, is to create my own seating plans! (Which I did during Spring Break)

Since I taught science with using science experiments, I remember getting the materials the night before. I was scrambling around West Edmonton for soil and fabrics because I needed the right, and I mean the right materials for my lessons. Then, I had to go home and test it. Those were long prep days, but totally worth it! 

Soil Samples

Soil Samples 

Recap: EDEL 330 Science Curriculum

The second class I took this term is EDEL 330, also known as Pedagogy and Curriculum for Elementary Science. I find that a lot of EDEL courses you sit in table groups, instead of rows, and for this class specifically we did A LOT of table/group/partner work!

The topics in elementary science are pretty darn cool. I mean in grade 2 you learn about magnetism and buoyancy/boats. Grade 4 students learn about light and shadows, wheel and levers, etc. And in grade 6 students learn about air & aerodynamic, flight, evidence and investigation (which, by the way, is what I'm teaching during my practicum!) and other concepts. There's so much more variety and interest with elementary science. High school was just a big blah with only chemistry, physics and biology available. Good thing I'm going to be an elementary teacher, because seeing me teach chem or bio, will end up great! not be the best decision! That's where I need my friend Ms. L!

There was this one major term assignment that this class consisted of, where the quick and dirty version of it is plan a lesson, deliver the lesson to grade 6 students (topic - Air & Aerodynamics), record their observations and answer 3 questions (broken down into a, b, c, etc) with your group. I won't go into detail here, since I'll talk about it another blog post, but group work can be challenging. For this huge term assignment, I got the best of the best (group member wise). Expect a post from me soon where I'll talk about group work more in depth and its strengths and weaknesses.

Here are pictures of what my partner and I built during class. Basically, using art-straws the goal is to support several textbooks. It also has to be at least 50cm high and be considered an "elegant solution". This was one of our class activities where we analyzed science, technology and linking it into STS proper decision-making skills.

This was also my earliest class this whole year, not just this term. So I'd be lying if I looked forward to this class every Monday and Wednesday. 9 AM classes and me just for some reason, don't get along. Yes, our professor would mention information that would be on the midterm and final, but it was also the people that I sat with made the class even more enjoyable. I made a great choice sitting with them on day 1!

I'm also relieved in how the cards have been dealt. What I mean is that I am teaching a majority of science in my practicum. Taking EDEL 330 specifically this term is going to propel me into being the best science student teacher for these 6th graders! Science does rule!