A Reconnaissance

Hello there, welcome!!

So you want to know all about chapter 1, alright well I've put together some key concepts and ideas that I felt were important to know about the chapter. This chapter is all about getting you to think about what it really means to be a science teacher. I mean what is so special about being a "science teacher? "  The chapter also focuses on how we are improving and redefining how science is taught in the classroom.  Alright so let's get started with some core ideas of teaching science.


Core Ideas of Science Teaching

• Stewards of student learning 
• Teachers are committed to students and their learning and they make knowledge accessible and equitable to all students.
• Pedagogical content knowledge specialists
• Teachers know the science content of the subjects they teach but also how to teach these subjects to students, They apply technological developments to enhance student learning. 
• Facilitators of student learning
• Teachers create effective teaching environments and utilize a wide range of instructional techniques to engage students in learning science. 
• Lifelong learner and inquires into one's own science teaching
• Teacher are lifelong inquirers and they learn from experience. They are reflective thinkers and realize ideas will conceptually change over time.
• Member of a community of practice
• teachers work collaboratively with others . Working with other professionals in staff development programs and curriculum development projects will lead to a rich professional life. 

The chapter breaks down and associates science to real life understanding of science. It portrays science in several lights such as courage, human imagination and creativity, human values, democracy and enterprise. Very informative but let's zoom in on something I believe will be very helpful in the classroom. 

What is Inquiry?

It refers to the process of learning science by methods that emulate that of scientific reasoning.

The three main ways it is used in practice are. 

1. Scientific inquiry
2. Inquiry learning 
3. Inquiry teaching

Inquiry and constructivism

• Learning is an active process of individuals constructing meaning for themselves.
• The meaning each individuals from depend on prior conceptions or knowledge, which may be modified in the process.
• The more abundant and varied the context in which meanings are engaged the more richer the understanding acquired will be.
• Meanings are socially constructed.

Environments that foster inquiry learning

Characteristics successful inquire teachers: 

1. They model scientific attitudes.
2. They are creative.
3. They are flexible.
4. They use effective questioning strategies.
5. They are concerned both with thinking and with science content.

Some key information and terms to know and understand are cooperative and collaborative learning; this is an approach in which groups of students work together to solve problems and complete learning assignments. Also learning through direct/interactive teaching where direct instruction a transmission of information mode is best placed in the context of interactive classroom dialogue. Practice or project based science teaching focuses students on solving problems, students are learning how to do science.

Finally the criteria for what I and I'm sure you hope to be an effective science teacher some of the characteristics are:

• Clarity- Presentation in the class and initial explanations are clear, logical, understandable and easy to follow.
• Variety- They ask number of different questions and use a variety of learning materials, equipment, displays and hands-on materials.
• Task Orientation- they allocate more time to intellectual content rather than to procedures and classroom rules.
• On-Task Behavior- times students spent actually on-task is closely related to classroom management behavior of the teacher. 
• Success rate- Relates to a student's self-esteem, a teacher help by designing learning tasks that lead to high success rates, but are not dull or repetitive, or viewed as a waste of time.
• Using student ideas- Acknowledging, modifying, applying, comparing, and summarizing student's comments can contribute to a positive learning environment. 
• Instructional set- teacher statements at the beginning of a lesson, or at transition point in the lesson that help the students organize what is to come or what has happened before. 
• Questioning- knowing what kinds of questions to ask, when to ask them and giving the student time to answer.
• Enthusiasm- teacher's vigor, power, involvement, excitement and interest when teaching. 

The chapter mentions that some factors that influence the decision to become a science teacher are interest in the subject matter field, their abilities are well suited to teaching, they like the opportunity to work with young people and teaching contributes to the betterment of society. Those factors are true for me and I hope they are true for you as well. 

SCIENCE TEACHER'S ROCK!!!!

Video links that I found helpful to understand term and visualize what it would look like in the classroom.

https://youtu.be/rWEwv_qobpU

https://youtu.be/-OWX6KZQDoE

https://youtu.be/08D0dBGIzYQ