Putting Words into Action- Part 1

As a part of this science methods course, students are required to spend 10 hours observing and teaching in a science classroom.  Fortunately enough, I have been able to observe and participate in a 6^th-grade science classroom that exemplifies inquiry teaching.  The teacher of this class, Sarah Borzo, was kind enough to let me “pick her brain” a little with some general questions/ concerns that I think many of us have about how to effectively teach science, which is my focus question.  The “interview” is a little lengthy so I will be splitting this topic into 2 separate posts.  This first post addresses some of Sarah’s background, and also introduces us to her “way” of teaching, which she says is based largely on consideration of constructivist learning theory…enjoy!

What is your background in teaching?  I am currently in my second year of teaching. My first year was in South Sioux City, NE, and I am currently teaching in Waukee. During my first year I worked in a district with limited resources and a low-income, primarily Hispanic student body. My biggest struggles in South Sioux were finding materials to support my instruction and finding ways to meet the needs of students with profoundly varied background knowledge. This year, in Waukee, I essentially have access to unlimited resources and the students are much more comparable in terms of shared prior experiences. Another huge difference is parent involvement, which makes a big difference when I am trying to support struggling students. Parents in Waukee are far more involved than were parents in South Sioux.

Did you complete your student teaching in a science class? If not, how did you “prepare” yourself for knowing content?  I did not complete student teaching in science class - I was in a 3rd grade placement and a 6th grade LA placement. I had a relatively strong background in science from my high school and college days, but I primarily prepared for classes by reviewing the 6th grade science curriculum and exploring a variety of 4-7th grade science texts to see what content was being presented TO students, then using higher-level texts to refresh my own understanding of the content as a whole so I could better teach it. Even though you don't teach 6th graders that level of information, knowing it yourself helps to accurately teach the concepts and address questions and issues that come up as your class is learning and prevent teaching misconceptions.

What has been the biggest challenge with the “way” that you teach science?  The biggest challenge is getting students accustomed to the way the class runs. Students are used to classes working a certain way, and they take awhile to adjust to meeting different expectations and thinking in different ways than they are used to. It takes a lot of patience and consistency to get them to the point where they embrace the class. Another challenge is figuring out how to get students to the mastery level of objectives when my approach is largely based on guiding students to understanding. For example, we are currently in a life science unit, and one of the objectives is that students can identify 6 characteristics that all living things share. I'm working to guide students to discovering these 6 characteristics over the course of the whole unit. We are 4 weeks in and most classes have agreed on 3 for sure and are still working on the last 3. Figuring out how to help lead them to the other characteristics without telling them is tricky! You just have to get comfortable with the reality that it will take a substantial amount of time for students to deeply learn any concept.