Active Experience for Active Children, Science (2nd edition)

I started reading Active Experience for Active Children, Science today and found some great information about the benefits of collaboration in helping children construct meaning.

"The range of skills that can be achieved with adult guidance and peer collaboration far exceeds what a child can learn alone or in whole-class instruction." (Seefeldt 14)

It's so important that we as educators provide endless opportunities for students to interact with one another as they interact with the content.

Ch.4 Science as a Process

Chapter 4 had a lot of great ideas/activities that focus on developing process skills. I particularly liked the science notebooks and the Science Circus.

Science notebooks: Have students keep a notebook just for science. This will integrate writing and science, as well as art. Students can write reflections, ask questions, make predictions, sketch observations, and come to solutions/conclusions.

Science Circus: Set up several stations where students are asked to perform particular tasks and record their findings. Without realizing it, students use process skills when observing, inferring, measuring, recording, predicting, and investigating. Not to mention...it's FUN!

Teacher As Mediator

I really liked the ideas shared in Ch.2 with regard to teachers playing the role of mediator. We don't always need to give students "specific" directions. We don't need to constantly "direct" them. I think it's important, especially in science, for children to have the freedom to experiment, explore, and think outside the box.

Furthermore, when we allow students to hypothesize, explore and experiment, we, as educators, get a glimpse into their thought process. It's important for us to know what they're thinking and how they "construct meaning" if we are to guide them in their discovery.

Another New Favorite Quote

"Grasping terminology is not the same as understanding the concept of being able to apply it in a real-life context." -Robert E. Yager (1991)

Ch.3 The Teacher as Mediator and Facilitator of Student Learning

Janice made a great point regarding students and their learning. If students are to construct new meanings by building on their prior beliefs (constructivism), we need to view them as knowers. I realize that I mentioned this before, viewing students as knowers, but I thought I would emphasize it again. Students know "stuff," and it's important to remember that when teaching. Help them take the "stuff" they know and apply it to science to deepen their knowledge.

My Great Science Teacher: Update

I just thought I'd give everyone an update. I heard back from Mrs. Medeiros yesterday. She was touched that I had emailed her and she had so many encouraging and positive things to say. Sadly, she is closer to the end of her teaching career, than the beginning. This year is her 24th! year. I feel so blessed to have gotten a chance to be one of her students.

Science Journals

Having students keep science journals is also something I would like to do. That way, as Janice said, they can focus their attention on nature and natural events they encounter in their daily experiences. All too often we go through life without really looking or seeing things for what they are. I would like my students to explore the world around them and be excited to look deeper to discover things they never knew.