Line of Learning

How do elementary students learn science?
Elementary students learn in several different ways from listening to visuals to hands on activities.  In Elementary school students need to be involved with what they are doing in order for them to learn the content.  It is important for the students to be engaged in the activity with hands on activities also some students learn best by pictures or images or using props to further explain the material.  Another method students learn by is listening to the teacher talk about the subject matter. The students also need to learn by working in groups or pairs, this is a good way for students to talk to their group or partner and bounce ideas off from each other while learning the material.  The most important way Elementary students learn science is by interacting with the world around them, by learning how to wash their hands, playing in the grass, catching a butterfly or other insects, and just being observant and being a kid.  Being curious and interacting is the best way for students to learn something new.      
7/3/2012
Students have to discover things on their own even though it is hard to teach that way because it is very time consuming and hard to tell when the teacher should step in and tell them what the misconception is and the right answer.
9\17\2012
This week we read an article regarding hands on activities amd inquiry learning. I thought this article was very helpful because I know in my science class in elementary school we mostly did hands on activities where the teacher told you what to do and you were expected to get the same answer the teacher got.  This was learning to some extent but I think I would have learned a lot  more if the teacherused inquiry learning and hands on activities.  Inquiry provides the students with a little more freedom to investigate their questions and get to the solution they think is right and justify their answeR and show now they got it.  It is not just a one answer lab they can have several the students must be able to justify their answer and show the teacher and or the class how they came about this answer. I think this way of learning helps students understand the material better and helps them actually remember the material.  I also like that inquiry is not a memorizing technique it is a way for the students to remember and use the information later in school.  I thought this article had some great details about what we should teach and gave us per service teachers advice on how to teacher and how students learn.  They can learn by doing but it depends on if they have that inquiry and are suing this type of learning. 
10/7/2012
Students learn through a variety ways and this week I learned that through the different ways of assessment students can learn the material if assessments are used the right way.  There are two kinds of assessments: formative and summative.  Formative is used every day every minute in the classroom and summative should not be used that often.  Formative is everything the students do in the classroom such as a quiz, performing a project, a speech, observations, journals etc.  A summative example is an end of the year test.  Students are not the only ones that learn through assessments, teachers learn as well.  Students can see how well they have done through assessments and the teacher can see how the students are doing through assessments as well.  Assessments are not just tests and quizzes which I have learned this year.  I remember in elementary school and middle school an assessment was always a test or a quiz but now I see differently because students need to be assessed everyday in several different ways.  This will help the students learn as much as they can and help the teacher stay on top of what the students are understanding and if they need to go back and go over any misconceptions. I will defiantly use several different assessment tools in my classroom to make sure students are understanding the material and learning the material as well. 
11/1/2012
During this week we started learning about our final project in science methods. This final project includes my group and I going to an elementary school to teach a science lesson to the students.  As I was working on this lesson, I had to think about how students learn science and what the best way for my group to get across our lesson.  We thought about the different ways students learn such as  listening, mentally, etc.  We wanted to touch on all of these ways of learning so the students who were in these categories would be able to understand the lesson in their own way of learning.  This was a great learning process for me because it gave me the opportunity of thinking about the what the students need to get out of the lesson and how they learn.
11/7/2012
Continuing on from last week, I learned more about how students learn science.  Through furthering our project we as a group had to think about the different needs of the students.  One thing on our lesson plan is modifications and changes we need to make for those students who have disabilities and how we can make those changes in the classroom with our lesson plan.  In our classroom there are a few students we do have disabilities so we as teachers need to recognize that and make accommodations and modifications to our lesson to meet the needs of those students.  It really makes me think about when I am going to be a teacher and have to make changes everyday to help those kids out and stay on my feet because nothing goes as planned usually in the classroom.    

What classroom environments facilitate elementary students’ science learning? 
In the classroom students learn at several different paces and are distracted very easily.  A classroom should be a comfortable environment for the students to concentrate on what they are learning.  This classroom needs to be their place where they feel safe, confidant, respected, cared for, and be able to speak their opinion and of course have fun.  The classroom is like a second home to some students because it is a place where they can learn independence, team work, social skills and just be a kid.  The room should be decorated with lots of color with several different educational tools such as  posters maps, globes, rulers etc.  The temperature is also an important item to think about because if a student is to cold or hot they will be distracted and it will take away from their learning.  Another important item is the way the room is arranged.  In Elementary, I think it is best to have the students in groups, preferably small groups so the students can work in a team and work on social skills.  The
way the classroom is designed, arranged and decorated are all very important concepts the teacher should consider because all of these items will help the students learn if the room is a fun, colorful learning environment.
9/11/2012
By reading all these articles I have learned that a science classroom needs to be a classroom where the children feel safe and where they start exploring their world.  It should be a place where they start discovering their passion, applying what they know and bring the outside world into their own classroom.  This will be a place where they start to experience the impact they can have and see whats out there in the world.  Students should be able to investigate in this classroom and perform experiments in a safe environment.  The teacher should have safety materials in the classroom for the students to use just like in the Sweater article.  Another important item in a classroom these days is the technology.  It would be very nice to have smart boards in a classroom or ipads for every student but that would very expensive for the whole school.  I hope that classrooms do have smart boards because they help the students and the teachers with hands on learning.
10/11/2012
This week when preparing for the test I realized the environment in a classroom is very important.  The teacher has to make the students feel comfortable in the classroom even when taking a test. During the test the teacher offered us a wide range of times we could take the test which helped me feel more relaxed about the test.  There will be several students in a classroom that have test anxiety similar to me and when the teacher provides the students with a time range to take the test it helps the students feel more relaxed and helps with their test anxiety.  Now it is different in elementary school compared to college but even in elementary school give the students the time and feeling that they, the students, can finish the test and can do the best they can.  The teachers can help the students feel comfortable and get over their test anxiety by guiding them through the tests and making them feel that they can just do the best they can and that is just fine.
10/18/2012
During this week, we performed our long term investigation experiments.  During our experiment presentations I thought it was very interesting to think about the environments of how students learn and how we give presentations.  When I did my presentation I was really focused on what kind of environment the students need and the presenter needs.  The teacher has to make sure the environment is a calm, warm and safe environment the kids can share their presentation with the whole class with out being  nervous or afraid.  During my presentation I felt very comfortable and able to share my presentation with the class with out being judged or criticized.  It is the teachers duty to make sure the students feel comfortable with sharing items in-front of the class.  Another item that I noticed when I was sitting in the audience as teachers watching the other presentations, some of the students stood right in front of the smart board so my group was not able to see their presentation.  My suggestion is to make sure the students know where to stand and teach them how to avoid blocking the board and other students being able to see the presentation.  These presentations were a great learning experience for me and gave me some really good ideas to help the students feel comfortable in their own classroom.      
What should teachers know and be able to do to design and foster effective elementary science learning environments?
I think teachers should know to be fun, energetic, a good communicator, has high expectations, and is knowledgeable.  Teachers are the role models to the students when they are in the classroom and even outside of the classroom.  Students look up to their teachers and some may want to become a teacher in the future.  Teachers should want to learn as much as they can to give their students the most recent and best education they can receive by taking classes to further educate themselves.  A teacher should be able to help the students create independence, and include humor in their lesson plans.  Every kid loves to laugh and a fun environment creates excellent learning conditions.  A teacher also has to be insightful and flexible to be able to rearrange their lesson plan just in case it does not go the way they planned it that day.  Every teacher has their own personality, which adds character to their classroom, and helps the students see the teacher for who they are and be comfortable and feel safe with them.  When I become a teacher I want to be able to provide them with the best learning environment to be able to learn as much as they can before they grow up.  
8/26/2012
One of the things I learned this week in class was that our society and way of teaching has changed throughout the years.  I learned from the "Rising to Greatness" article that we as the state of Iowa are staying the same but not improving but it is ok.  Because what I learned is that we don't need to teach to the test and that is what everyone is trying to do, only teach what is on the national tests to get that high national testing score.  I think it is very important to teach everything in a classroom and never teach to the test because the students will not learn what they actually need to learn to take with them in life, such as social skills, good reading and writing skills, how to reflect on something and the list goes on.  Teaching to the test does work to get great scores but that is not the only important aspect of the education system, seeing the students learn and grow is what is important.   
9/2782012
One thing I learned this week that was very interesting is the five essential features of inquiry. The five essential features of inquiry are: engage, evidence, explanation, evaluation, and communicate.  All of these terms need to be brought into the classroom by the teacher to help students learn and understand the material.  The learners are engaged by scientifically oriented questions then give priority to evidence which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations that addresses scientifically oriented questions.  After evidence the learners formulate an explanation from evidence to address scientifically oriented questions then they can evaluate their explanations in light of alternative explanations, partially those reflected scientific understanding.  After the students have evaluated their work they then communicate and justify their proposed explanations.  I learned that it is very important to have the students present to someone other than me or the teacher because they are comfortable with you.  If you give them a real audience like another class they will give a very well done presentation because they will feel more nervous to give it to a different crowd rather than their home room.  These five features of inquiry will help me as a future teacher lead the students into discovering things for themselves and learn to ask questions with out me telling them the answer.  This will help the student become more student centered and discover things on their own and actually learn the material and understand what they are actually learning.  
10/25/2012
This week we switched gears and did a project on how teachers should be aware of students disabilities and how we as teachers should teach science and help those students who have disabilities.  During this  presentation I learned that when you are designing a lesson plan and thinking about how you want to teach something you have to think about all your students and make accommodations and modifications.  In this lesson I learned how to write accommodations and modifications to the lesson to make them appropriate for the students with disabilities.  For example my group did the disability of writing.  The students have trouble actually coming up with a sentence and physically writing the sentence out.  For this disability we came up with a few accommodation which include, having a helper write the sentence for them, the students can draw a picture, create a matching worksheet for them etc. This lesson we did in class was a great eye opener to me to get me to start thinking about how to differentiate and provide for those students who do have a disability.    
11/14/2012
During this week, while watching presentation I learned several key factors that will help teachers be aware of what we need to foster to help the students learn in the classroom. While watching the presentations I learned that we as teachers need to always be on alert.  In the presentations if something went wrong the students had a back up plan to continue the presentation.  Some other items that I learned was always stay positive and keep the kids guessing.  I really liked how the presentations were challenging for the students and they had to figure out how to do the experiment by asking questions and investigating. It is ok for the students to struggle and I think that is hard for me to understand but it will help the students in the long run.  
11/29/2012
During this week, we performed our presentation with the second grade class at Grand Wood Elementary.  The first day we had so much doing our lesson.  The kids loved making the tornado in a bottle because it was very different from what they usually do in class and it was student centered.  During our lesson we needed to foster an effective learning environment right from the start of day one.  We told the students right from the start that they needed to be quiet during carpet time and have voices at a 0 when we were talking but when we were asking questions and discussing they could have their voices at a 1 and voice their opinion.  When we were doing our smart notebook activity, all the students really wanted to volunteer and it was hard for us to call on someone so we used popsicle sticks with their names and drew one for each question that way it was random and fair and let all the students have a turn.  Day two went smoothly as well.  The students had a lot of fun and we made sure each student was able to participate and share their opinions about tornados.  I think this project went vry well and I had a lot of fun teaching the kids.