Reflective Performance

Trang Nguyen

Nicholas Kim

Science Autobiography

At the beginning of the semester, you had an idea of a good science teacher candidate. Within this assignment you describe the differences between a good and a bad science teacher candidate.

  1. What were your thoughts then? My thoughts, back then, were limited to the approaches and preparations teachers must have. I believed a good science teacher candidate must be updated with the latest technology, review recent popular studies that’s posted on internet, and be actively studying as if we are still teachers. Although we are full-time teachers, we are still learners as well as instructors. I’ve seen many teachers with decades of teaching-experience stick with the same teaching method and strategies every year. Therefore, I believed that a good teacher candidate should be updated with new information and techniques as well as try other methods of teaching. I realized that my thoughts, back then, weren’t practical where I could implement it into my classroom. They are some-what accurate in terms of thinking big as a science teacher, but my thoughts now are more accurate and straight-forward as a teacher in a classroom.
  • What are your thoughts now? I have not thought of implementing different cultures into the lesson. After seeing many science lessons in this course with implementation of Korean culture, I want to go beyond one country to multiple countries. Learning science is exciting itself, and for me, implementing other culture’s idea on that specific topic is more exciting. For example, when I made a lesson plan on soil, rather just having hands-on activity such as planting a sunflower seed, looking at other exotic plants outside of United States that’s interesting will expand the knowledge of students in science. We think that all plants grow in loam, but some trees live underwater and creates ideas beyond what we know. This is science. Not just one answer but having exceptions.
  • If your thoughts changed, why have they changed? Almost every class days throughout the course, the professor implemented different cultures into her lessons. This aspect creates an additional extension to the lesson where students could think outside of the box as an American student.  Also, during the Community Science Project at the Greater Dallas Korean School, I realized the importance of implementing this. My partner and I taught lesson over fermentation, and if we didn’t implement Korean culture into our lessons, I doubt students being more excited than they were.

Science in Your Classroom (5 pts)

  1. What is your personal philosophy for the teaching of science?  For me, science takes me to a whole different set up classroom. Typical copying what the teacher is writing, white papers and notebooks, black pencils, sitting down, and keeping quiet isn’t what I believe in. I am more entertaining, moving all desks and chairs to the side, thinking outside of the box and if possible, outside of the classroom, using colors and music, technology integrated, and hands-on activity with science tools.
  • How do you plan on incorporating science into your future classroom? If I do get the chance to teach science in my future classroom, I would like to tell students constantly to think and behave as scientists. When students are making bad decisions in terms of words and actions and thinking straight-forward, I want to tell them that scientists don’t behave this way. Also, students may think that scientists are only adults with college degrees wearing lab coats, but no. Even a child could be scientists, and there are many children who made a difference in this world by behaving like a scientist. I hope to incorporate science in my classroom by following the characteristics of a scientist.
  • How confident are you in your ability to teach science in the future? Support your philosophy with readings, textbook, articles, class discussions, and other sources. In terms of my teaching approach, I cannot see nor teach science when students are in their seats all the time, copying down what the teacher is writing, watching videos or lectures, and reading textbooks. I am an entertaining teacher who would like to implement games, arts, and hands-on activities throughout my lessons. Now, in terms of my ability to teach science, I am confident in being a good teacher but not sure of being an excellent one. According to the previous lessons taught by my classmates in Science 4312, I’ve observed many lessons with different topics that were valuable in learnings, entertaining, and memorable. Using my classmates lesson ideas, if I teach my students that way, I believe I would be an amazing science teacher. Of course, I must leave a room for improvements and I plan to, I believe my peers have an awesome idea. Furthermore, coming from a different background, my ability to teach science will be greater than those without different background. This will come in play when implementing different cultures into my lessons.

Reflection over the Course (5 pts)

  1. During the whole science course, we developed our lessons in a specific format that includes 5 Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate). Furthermore, we emphasized the use of technology, hands-on experiences, and culture-integration. Because for kids, science excites them knowing that it involves hands-on experiments, through this course, my ability to teach science in my future classroom expanded to make hands-on a mandatory aspect. Many times, students copy what the teacher is writing and fills out worksheets. I do not believe this, and especially for science, my philosophy is to be active, entertaining, and hands-on.
  2. What recommendations would you make to improve the course in the future? In this course, I hope to see implementation on more cultures all over the world. Also, I hope to experience more hands-on activity, for this gives future teachers more ideas of what to do in our future classrooms. In a typical college class, we are expected to go over the Powerpoint, do quizzes and test, but because we’ll be teaching at an elementary school, I hope to practice more what students will get to do.

Kymber Curtis

Science Autobiography (5 pts)

At the beginning of the semester, you had an idea of a good science teacher candidate. Within this assignment you describe the differences between a good and a bad science teacher candidate.

  1. What were your thoughts then?
  2. What are your thoughts now?
  3. If your thoughts changed, why have they changed?

In the beginning of the semester I had no idea what to expect of a classroom elementary science teacher. I thought that their duty was just following the curriculum and making sure the students learned what they were required to learn. I never thought about the different cultural backgrounds we could include in our teaching. However, after this current semester I learned that being a science teacher is not just about teaching science. It is about developing ideas on howto keep the students engaged. I learned that there are so many ways to teach the same thing, and that as teachers we must think outside of the box. The reason my thoughts changed is because I realized how boring it is sitting in a desk and just listening to somebody teach. For students to be successful I believe that they must be engaged. During the semester I learned many ways to teach a concept while keeping the students engaged. Science night at Blanton Elementary was a great example. So many different groups with many different topics all putting their heads together to create something engaging for the students. It was a great experience.

Science in Your Classroom (5 pts)

  1. What is your personal philosophy for the teaching of science? 
  2. How do you plan on incorporating science into your future classroom? 
  3. How confident are you in your ability to teach science in the future? Support your philosophy with readings, textbook, articles, class discussions, and other sources.

My personal philosophy for teaching in general is that for scholars to be successful they must be engaged. I believe that every student learns differently and due to this we must keep our classroom and teaching methods diverse. This goes for every subject not only science. However, when teaching science, I plan to differentiate every lesson and keep an active learning environment. If my scholars are succeeding, I am succeeding. I plan to incorporate Science into my future classroom by keeping an open mind and keeping an open floor to all different kinds of questions my students have. I believe as teachers we still have a lot to learn, but I will do my best to either answer my student’s questions, or better educate myself on the topic so I can. I want to tell my students to think of themselves as scientists. The world is always changing so they must keep an open mind to the surroundings around them. In my future teaching I am very confident in teaching Science. I believe that I have developed the proper amount of learning to be trusted in a Science classroom after observing the previous lessons taught by my classmates in Science 4312. However,there will always be more for me to learn. With I promise to continuously educate myself as times and methods change. I plan to include technology in my classroom. I believe that technology is important for students. As the world develops technology is becoming a very popular thing. As technology continues to change, I plan to change my classroom and teaching with it.

Reflection over the Course (5 pts)

  1. How has this course helped you to develop your teaching philosophy and/or ability to teach science?
  2. What recommendations would you make to improve the course in the future?

This classroom has helped me develop my teaching philosophy by giving me a first-hand experience in the field. Days like science night, the community service learning project and the evening at Blanton elementary are perfect examples. I not only got to learn new concepts, I got to practice teaching them in the field. I think that I have developed most as a teacher through my active engagement in the teaching environment. Through the different quizzes and discussion boards I have been able to better educate myself on the content knowledge needing to teach science. Through the course I became better educated on lessons in a specific format that includes 5 E’s (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate,and Evaluate). After being better educated on this I believe that I will be better prepared for the development and teaching of lessons in my future classroom.If I had to recommend anything to better the course I would suggest more content-based learning. I felt that I learned a lot about being culturally diverse and keeping my students engaged. However, I do not feel like I learned very much content-based knowledge. I think maybe the discussion boards should include more content-based discussions.

Andrea Garner

Science Autobiography (5 pts)

At the beginning of the semester, you had an idea of a good science teacher candidate. Within this assignment you describe the differences between a good and a bad science teacher candidate.

  1. What were your thoughts then? Before taking this class I wasn’t really sure what it really took to be a good science teacher. I just thought you needed to know about science. I thought that all they had to do was follow the TEKS and make sure their students learned about certain topics. I think that many people don’t realize how much actually goes into being a teacher and coming up with lesson plans that actually keep the students engaged and reaches them.
  2. What are your thoughts now? This course really made me realize how much goes into being a science teacher and how important it is to make good creative lesson plans for your students. This course taught me the importance of the 5 E’s and it really showed me exactly why each one of them is important. It is so critical to make sure your students are engaged and retaining the information you are giving them because sometimes it can just feel pointless and repetitive to students.
  3. If your thoughts changed, why have they changed? My thoughts did change in the sense that I really understand how much time and passion it takes to be a teacher and to reach your students. It’s not just all about the curriculum, it also takes a lot of creativity and motivation to stay on top of things like the newest and latest technology and making sure that you are able to relate lesson plans to your students. I think my thoughts changed a lot after we went to Blanton Elementary and got to present our group lesson plans to multiple different students and multiple different age groups. It was so fun to see how making things hands on got them so excited and they were actually interested to learn about all of our different lessons.

Science in Your Classroom (5 pts)

  1. What is your personal philosophy for the teaching of science?  When it comes to teaching Science, I think it is so important for Science to be hands on. Experiments, activities, educational videos, field trips, all of it is so important and will reach the children way more effectively than worksheets or copying things from a book. It is also important to use technology in a science classroom.
  2. How do you plan on incorporating science into your future classroom?  I plan on incorporating science into my classroom in many different forms. I will make sure my students understand that Science is always all around us. The air we breathe, the weather, the changes in the sky, the way things happen. I will always be sure to help further their love for Science by making my science lesson plans fun, relatable, and up to date. To do this I will incorporate technology and hands on experiments in my classroom.
  3. How confident are you in your ability to teach science in the future? Support your philosophy with readings, textbook, articles, class discussions, and other sources. I am confident in my ability to teach science in the future because of everything I have observed in this course and also in my observations at my elementary school. This semester has made me way more confident than I was going into this class. Learning the importance of the 5 E’s and how to use them has really helped me realize that while Science is very important and can be portrayed as hard, it can also be so much fun and interesting for the students if it is presented correctly. Using workbooks, textbooks, and just copying notes down or doing worksheets won’t get my students to fall in love with Science. But constantly including experiments for them act out in class or always using a hands-on activity will allow them to see Science as fun and fall in love with it.

Reflection over the Course (5 pts)

  1. How has this course helped you to develop your teaching philosophy and/or ability to teach science? This course has helped me by showing me all of the different ways there are to make science fun and hands on. By observing all of the group lesson plans, I was able to physically see all of the many ways to make different science lesson plans fun and educational.  Science night at the elementary school also played a big mart in helping me to develop my teaching philosophy because it was such a great experience with the students. It showed me that it doesn’t always have to be a huge drawn out experiment. It can be something short and sweet, but showing them that we care and taking the time to come up with activities for them made a big impact on their interest in the topics.
  2. What recommendations would you make to improve the course in the future? My favorite thing about this course was the Science Night. The actual experience was so beneficial. I think all of content courses should have more opportunities for seeing what to expect with actual students, rather than discussion boards and quizzes.