Questions as the Foundation

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     Science is all about questions. Being curious is the foundation of good science. I teach from a place of directed curiosity where I guide my students towards a deeper appreciation for the world around them through a mix of collaborative and individual classroom experiences. 

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     Through my time spent as a graduate student at the University of Virginia, I have learned about the variety of researched teaching strategies shown to be effective in engaging students and helping them to cultivate keen observation and critical thinking skills. Science in the classroom, first and foremost, should be taught in a constructivist approach, meaning that the students should act as co-creators in the learning process. The teacher is not the end-all/be-all source of knowledge in the classroom, rather, it is through the guidance of the teacher, coupled with the creativity and curiosity of the students, that true learning takes place. 

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     A science classroom should be a place where genuine thinking and creating new knowledge comes first. Respectful classroom dynamics between teacher-and-student and student-and student ensure that everyone can learn to the best of their ability. There are numerous ways to ensure that students are getting the assistance they need to succeed in the classroom, but all of them center around a relationship-based respectful approach, in my mind. I meet the students where they are and I offer assistance and resources to push them further towards developing and strengthening their vocabulary, refining their scientific skills, and deepening their understanding of the world around them.  I don't believe that one type of teaching style or one type of guided aid will serve all of my students equally well, therefore I am prepared to get to know my students to identify their struggles and to offer tailored, differentiated help, as needed. My belief is that everyone has the ability to achieve great things. Some students are ready to jump right into the work and some will need a little time to test out the waters first. My classroom is a place for both types of learners to co-exist and learn from each other. 

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The Science Classroom as Setting

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       Science is an important subject to teach, but how should it be taught to adolescents? The challenge of teaching science at the secondary level to a classroom full of adolescents who, as mentioned previously are undergoing a great deal of brain re-patterning and are hardwired to take risks, lies in figuring out how to channel the resources at hand.  First and foremost, in the classroom, each teacher must find their own way to connect emotionally and empathetically with his/her own students in order to build respect and rapport. This relationship building lays the foundation for content to sink in. Beyond the student-teacher relationship, lie the actual instruction and assessment, forming the base of the educational exchange of core content ideas. In the biological sciences, this content must be explored both experimentally and analytically in order to provide a full immersion in the subject. The classroom must function as a place where students feel free to explore ideas in a productive and stimulating environment.

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     In order to understand the knowledge within the world of biology, appropriately informative and interesting readings should be utilized to prompt in-class discussions as well as to prepare students to explore concepts investigated via labs. Every successful science unit should incorporate a mix of content-rich readings grounded in real life examples and in-class demonstrations of the various phenomenon being discussed. Furthermore, labs should serve to allow students to gain proficiencies in using scientific instruments as well as practicing careful observation, data collection, and synthesis. Labs can be used to teach scientific theories or they can be a platform for students to explore and test newly generated hypotheses.  In order to make the material come to life for the students, each unit should contain a variety of instructional techniques, readings, solo and group work, and content-related experiments. When a variety of activities, grounded in a overarching unit, and taught towards incorporating student engagement and risk-taking, secondary science classrooms can become invaluable settings for inquiry! 

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