tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post8779479051305638840..comments2024-03-21T05:30:03.220-04:00Comments on Science teacher: Preparing for the global cocktail partydoylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-43396274557866932762009-07-02T18:24:28.101-04:002009-07-02T18:24:28.101-04:00Thank you for the advice. My director told me to s...Thank you for the advice. My director told me to start to review how each lesson goes and write down how I can improve it. I guess I could think about how the students responded to what I have done and try to plan lessons that will challenge and teach them. <br />And yes, I definitely feel like I'm always behind already. The weekend doesn't come soon enough!Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10671017974324696226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-87756888504959194272009-07-01T07:11:35.854-04:002009-07-01T07:11:35.854-04:00Doyle, that was wonderful advice which you passed ...Doyle, that was wonderful advice which you passed on to Jess. <br /><br />The question I mentioned came to me near to the beginning of my first teaching experience. So 20 years have passed to blur the memory of my response but I remember talking about how he couldn't take what I said with absolute certainty and that science is an attempt to explain what we observe. The more scientists observe and the more time spent with those observations will refine what we end up teaching.Wayne Stratzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09607523027034143603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-38851620077491859302009-06-30T23:12:19.377-04:002009-06-30T23:12:19.377-04:00Dear Jess,
Thanks for the kind words.
As far as ...Dear Jess,<br /><br />Thanks for the kind words.<br /><br />As far as how any of us do this, it's a balancing act between getting through the curriculum, and jumping on the teachable moments.<br /><br />I cannot overstress how much <i>over</i>-planning (in a good sense) goes into a successful lesson. A good lesson appears to flow organically (and I guess it does in a way), but the teacher needs to anticipate multiple possible directions at multiple points.<br /><br />This did not happen often when I started, and does not happen as often as I like now. Your first year is going to be exhausting, and for many new teachers it's as much (or more) about classroom management than about the lessons.<br /><br />If something works, try to figure out why, and share it with us. If something does not work, again try to figure out why, and share it. (You cannot control all the variables, true, nor even account for some of them. Still, work to improve--criticism can bruise you up a bit, but keep an ear out anyway.)<br /><br />And this little piece of advice may have saved my career--you will need to rest. My supervisor, a wonderful woman, saw me working myself to a nubbin, and insisted that at 11 PM, I go to bed.(I get up at 5:30.) She explained (rightly) that you will never be completely caught up, ever. Work hard, but get your sleep.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-4899810434923845062009-06-30T22:36:51.640-04:002009-06-30T22:36:51.640-04:00I like this post. As a first time teacher this sum...I like this post. As a first time teacher this summer, I'm trying to do student-centered activities and lab work to answer questions, but I have no idea how to make them really think especially when I'm still developing that way of thought. I've been so focused on giving the kids information but not so many questions that actually require thought. My high school science teacher could always ask those questions, even though the class almost always sat in silence afterward. How do you do it?Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10671017974324696226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-88512846657507505372009-06-30T16:24:30.419-04:002009-06-30T16:24:30.419-04:00Dear Barry,
Another interesting question!
I susp...Dear Barry,<br /><br />Another interesting question!<br /><br />I suspect it would not have made that much difference, since the Socrates we know is the image created by Plato (and others), and I suspect that Plato was fond of his teacher even before he took the cup of hemlock.<br /><br />Still, maybe it was this last amazing act that sealed Plato's opinion of Socrates. No way to know, but unlike a few other deaths that made folks larger than life (James Dean and Nathan Hale come to mind), Socrates' impression on Plato may well have preceded his death.<br /><br />I hope so, anyway--I'd like to believe I make an impression on my students even if I don't drink the hemlock.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-71660117170578845172009-06-30T15:11:15.077-04:002009-06-30T15:11:15.077-04:00"there's a reason Socrates was served hem..."there's a reason Socrates was served hemlock instead of a highball."<br /><br />I love it!<br /><br />How's this for critical thinking....what if he WERE served alcohol instead of poison..what might his legacy have been then?Barry Bachenheimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17145587794589872889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-27936156298479128342009-06-30T14:43:13.255-04:002009-06-30T14:43:13.255-04:00Dear Wayne,
The question is a marvelous one (doub...Dear Wayne,<br /><br />The question is a marvelous one (doubt <i>is</i> the crux of good science), but reveals the student's subtle misunderstanding of how science works.<br /><br /><i>(I know you already know what follows, but I'm going to put it out there for any other readers who might be following this thread.)</i><br /><br />While some science is mostly observational, much (maybe most) of science deals with models designed to explain the observational data (direct and indirect) that we have. Many models are in flux, and even the most solid models must change if the observations do not fit.<br /><br />Perhaps the biggest change in the past 500 years (at least in western culture) is the declining influence of the Church in our interpretation of observational data. Galileo walked a fine line--he knew what he saw--but needed to be careful with his models.<br /><br />Heck, galaxies outside our own were unknown until my grandfather was 28 years old!<br /><br />There is a difference between cynicism and skepticism--I hope you tackled your student's remarkable question in a way that promoted the latter. <br /><br />The way science is often presented in schools, though, I fear we may be producing more cynics than skeptics. I cringe every time I hear an evolution "debate" reduced to two camps tossing mud.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-46827071498823006302009-06-30T14:08:40.312-04:002009-06-30T14:08:40.312-04:00favored all time question asked of me by a student...favored all time question asked of me by a student in a science class...<br /><br />1) How can we trust the science you are teaching... is it any different than what taught 500 years ago and was assumed to be accurate then?????<br /><br />doubt is an important part of critical thinking.Wayne Stratzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09607523027034143603noreply@blogger.com