Thinking outloud

I’ve had to engage in high-level thinking and been given a purpose for my learning—for this I’m greatly appreciative.

In my opinion, the goal of this class is to understand the nature of disciplines (in this case science) and the pedagogical skills of effective teaching.   I’m more likely be an effective teacher when I have been a participant in an effectively taught classroom.  This class has been a good model for effective learning because of the following:
•    We reflect on the process of each class period
•    We engage is discussion
•    We use concrete objects and abstract concepts to solidify concepts
•    We adjust our thinking
•    We ask how and why questions

After engaging in science activities, we’ve reflected on how the activity fits into “how science works.”  By doing the activity and then reflecting I’m able to make sense of the big ideas.  Learning is not memorization; learning is making sense of how ideas work together.

Coming into this class I felt very unconfident to teach science.  Although I still have much to learn and much to practice, I am a little more confident to teach science and I am excited to be a part of this class.

Something that worries me a bit (likely because I’m a planner) is that our projects at the end of the semester are going to take a lot of work.  I like to spread out my learning and feel that the two large projects at during the second half of the semester may seem daunting.  I’m keeping my mind open to how the semester is planned.