Heather Troy
OSU-Tulsa
OK

Scientific Journals: A Creative Assessment Tool

Wed, Nov 30, 2016 2:48 PM
Future Classroom

I found this article very interesting and a good way to incorporate other subject areas into the science curriculum we are using. I never thought about using a scientific journal as a way to form and assessment but I think this is a great idea. I know this was written about a 3rd grade level but I feel like I could incorporate it into a younger grade level by altering the expectations. This article talked about using essay’s, poetry, and letters in the students science journal and for the older grades I think this is a great tool to use for many reasons. It helps the students work on their different styles of writing, allows for them to get down on paper what they just discussed or researched, and this can also be used as a tool for teachers to determine any gaps the students still have in their learning. This helps us to know what the students have learned, what concepts they are still struggling with, and allows us as teachers to be able to go back and fix those gaps. I think I could even do this in the younger grades with allowing them to maybe draw pictures and use a word wall to “write” what they learned. I feel like it would be simpler with the younger grades because they would not be writing a whole lot but seeing if they can explain what they have drawn we can still get the concepts they have grasped or the ones they are struggling with. This is also a good way to work on students writing and see where they need help and where their strengths are. I feel like this is a good assessment tool to take back into my future classroom and use not just with science curriculum but with any subject area as well.

Classroom Management and Safety

Wed, Nov 30, 2016 2:55 AM
Future Classroom

I felt like this was a really great article to read as a future teacher, not just in a science classroom but also just in a general classroom. I felt like the way this article is written is extremely helpful and it gives great advice to helping not only teach and manage our classrooms but how to actually implement this in our classroom. I like how it talked about and discussed the first day of school with our students and what we should do as teachers to make sure we do not completely botch our entire school year in just the first day. It also discussed management vs. discipline, strategies to avoid, rewards and praise, and acknowledging differences in our classroom. I also feel like this was a great article because it discussed lesson planning for good class management and it also had great advice on how to teach safety in our classroom. That is something I will definitely take with me into my future classroom, because I never really considered actually teaching safety because it is something I feel most of us just assume that our kids will know. I feel like this is especially great to discuss with our students every time we sit down to do an activity or experiment. By continuing to discuss and practice safety it will become like second nature to our students and this will help them not only for the year we have them but they will be better prepared for life and their future in other classrooms. I loved how the end of the article discussed having and emotionally safe environment for our classrooms. I think as a teacher this is something I will try extra hard to implement in my classroom and make sure that all my students know that they are safe in my classroom no matter what and they can talk to me about anything they need to. My classroom will be safe not just physically but emotionally for any and all students at all times, even after they have left my classroom and are headed into other classrooms as well. As a teacher my first priority is my students and to make sure they are safe and comfortable in my classroom.

First Graders Can Do Science

Wed, Nov 30, 2016 2:29 AM
Future Classroom

I really liked this article and found it extremely helpful to me because I am planning on teaching first grade and I have been concerned with how I would be able to do inquiry based lessons with students that are so young. I liked the idea of directing students to concrete thinking by telling them that we like to test questions that begin with “What would happen if..”. I never thought about starting to have students develop their thinking this way and helping to lead them to deep thoughts. I also like how the article made sure to point out that with first graders things need to be simple and straight forward and to the point. I feel like this was something as a teacher, would be extremely important for us to remember. I would use the ideas in this article to really help me my first few years, and even years after to help my guide doing inquiry based lessons/activities/experiments in my classroom. This article helped give me ideas on how start helping students come up with their inquiry questions, how to help myself manage all the experiments, and how much work the students should do on their own or with my help. I also liked how this article talked about incorporating writing into it and putting the presentations together. I will take all these ideas back into my classroom and use them to incorporate more inquiry based lessons into my classroom. I can also use these in other subject areas and not the science curriculum. This article was extremely helpful and will be useful in my future classroom. I also think this article is important because we need to remember that students even as young as 1st grade can do inquiry lessons and not just inquiry questions that we come up with, but they can come up with their own questions as well.