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Hello!

I completely understand your anxiety when thinking about teaching science. I felt the same way about teaching science for a long time. What changed was learning that it was okay not to understand everything. It is okay not to know the answers to every question a student may ask. What is important is that you take the time to research and learn from that question. Taking time to educate yourself is crucial when teaching anything, especially science. Unless you understand and love science, I feel that many people have difficulty connecting and wanting to teach science because of their anxiety. Please know it is okay to not 100% know. It is not okay to not 100% try to educate yourself for your students. You got this!

Emma Nelson

Wartburg College '24

Pre-service Teacher

Yuridia, 

Hi there! I can definitely relate to where you're coming from. Science was my least favorite subject during middle school and high school, so when I began college I was very nervous about learning to teach science. However, my science professor and science classes during college have really changed my perspective. Since there are parts of science you already enjoy and find highly interesting, I would say to bring that curiosity into every aspect of science - even the parts that are more difficult to grasp. I believe an attitude of curiosity is something that can help all of us prepare to teach science, and live our daily lives like scientists! Develop a habit of asking questions about everything around you! Start with your surroundings and the surroundings of your students. The Constructivist learning theory (Piaget, 1968) tells us that learners construct knowledge by combining already existing experiences with new information. In other words, we can gain deeper understanding when we start with things we know and build outward. When there are things we don't know as teachers, we can model to our students how to ask questions and pursue those. We certainly won't understand everything right away, but with excitement and willingness to learn, I believe we will be ready to teach students what it means to be a scientist and approach everything in that way! One idea being implemented in Iowa is using phenomena in our state to spark questioning, activities, and lessons (Iowa PBS). Investigating phenomena around your school could be a great place to start! I hope this helps - your students will be lucky to be in your classroom! 

Here is a link to the Iowa PBS Phenomena Website: https://phenomena.iowapbs.org/using 

Taylor Runchey (Wartburg College, Pre-Service Teacher)

Hi Yuridia! 

As a future educator myself, I genuinely understand where you are coming from and why you doubt yourself in teaching science. I share the same feelings as you because science has also never been one of my strongest subjects, and frankly, it still is one of my weakest areas as an adult and future teacher. However, reflecting on my experiences thus far in my university's teacher preparation program, I've learned that it is common and understandable for new teachers and perhaps even experienced teachers to have worries or concerns about educating, particularly when doing so in relation to a topic or subject that we don't feel suited for.

Nevertheless, to overcome the fear, the best advice I can give you is to make little, yet noticeable improvements in your daily teaching so that you eventually reach your high standards and feel comfortable with the subject. These improvements can include: asking colleagues for help/advice, incorporating student input in your practices, handling each day calmly, and constantly remembering that one bad day or one mistake will not define you as an educator. You'll never feel completely prepared, but trust your knowledge and intuition and you should be fine. Best of luck!

Hi,

I was intimidated by science at a young age. I stressed about having to be a long-term substitute for a 3rd grade class because I wanted to ensure they were getting a meaningful learning experience. What I have realized in my six weeks of teaching them each subject...science has become one of my favorite to teach! I feel like I am learning new things and also getting the opportunity to see how our youth see science in their everyday life and inside the classroom. For example, we disected lima beans yesterday and some students were excited and others a little standoffish. I did not like the slimey feel of the lima bean, but slowly removed the seed coat so my students could see what we had just read/saw in a diagram. Teaching science is an eye-opening experience for you as a new teacher and the students as well. Have fun engaging them with as many hands-on activities that you can. 

Hello there,

I can fully relate to this 'fear' and anxiety. I did not have the most positive relationship with science growing up. I find some science topics to be very interesting, while others I feel unsure about. This up and down mix of feelings and approaches toward science have really impacted my confidence levels in teaching science. While I am not full time teaching yet, I feel like there are some reassuring tips I have tried to remind myself of as I go along this process of working towards certification.

First off: remind yourself that it is okay to not know everything! I think we all have in our minds that because we are the teachers, we need to know it all. This is simply not the case! It is okay for us to be 'learners' as well. It is okay for us not to know everything. And I think it is also okay for students to see and know this. I was teaching a science lesson last week [a part of my Masters program's internship] and I had a student ask me a question I did not know the answer to. I was honest with the student, told them I wasn't sure, but praised them for their big thinking, and actually wrote down their question on the board for us all to research later/for me to find the answers to later on. I think science is a great opportunity for us to show students it is okay to not know, and there are ways for us to learn so we can know.

That leads into my second tip: utilize as many resources as you can! Generation Genius, PBS, Smithsonian, Khan Academy, and so many more are excellent resources in helping us plan lessons, while also learn the material ourselves. Lean on fellow educators, veteran teachers, and team members to help you understand content.

Most importantly, though, I would say: make lessons fun and student-focused. Some of the best science lessons I have seen taught were student-centered and did not rely upon the teacher talking and spitting out facts/knowledge. I could tell the teacher was going with the motions alongside the students and it was almost more enjoyable when the teacher and students were making discoveries together. If there are subjects you feel less confident in, maybe try to structure the lesson with activities that rely on predictions, experiments, inferences, etc. This way, they aren't so reliant on you lecturing/imparting knowledge. Besides, science is a subject that should invoke curiosity, questioning, problem solving, and out of the box thinking. I am anxious to teach science as well, but I think we can all rest assured that there are plenty of resources and ways to implement lessons that will make science fun and productive regardless!

Sincerely,

Haley P. 

~Master of Arts in Teaching Student (Elementary Education and Special Education) / Special Education Assistant~