Dr. Smirnova began the semester hoping we would be able to see ourselves as scientists through this course and then realize that in life, all people are really scientific. Out of all of the course objectives and expectations achieved throughout the semester, the following were the most significant for me:
- "Be able to engage elementary school students in their own learning by providing meaningful science experiences for them, facilitating their explorations in the classroom, and helping them seek answers to their own questions"
- "Learn how to plan for meaningful science experiences that are aligned with the guidelines in the National Science Education Standards (NSES), the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), including the New York State K-4 and 5-6 Science Core Curriculums"
- "Integrate technology into all facets of the process of becoming a science learner and a good science teacher"
- "Appreciate the importance of understanding and interacting with nature as a way of protecting the planet for years to come."
This leaves me with professional growth. This class has taught me how to give and take constructive criticism, which was a first in my educational career, and opened up many resources for me professionally. This class was not focused around our learning inside of the walls but rather focused around activities that we could all use in our classrooms, use to get job, use on interviews, use for our students, etc. This class was all practically applicable to our futures and taught us how to work in teams, collaborate, and take/give professional feedback. While this was painful at the beginning, by the end it was a welcomed way to improve. This class brought me connections to Smart Board Training, Kappa Delta Pi, a Leadership Conference, CELL conference, Cultural Expo, and also facilitated in getting my name professionally in a newspaper.
I now leave this course confident in my teaching abilities, philosophies, constructs, methods, and modalities. I understand how to teach through constructivism principles and how to create hands-on, minds-on experiences which cement learning for students due to it being them creating their own knowledge. I feel comfortable running a whole-class lesson and I also feel confident in writing full lesson plans. This class was exactly what I needed to take my education, professional career, and personal achievement to the next step. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate with such an outstanding professor and colleagues.
The following are the names of my colleagues whose blogs are the ones I commented on. Their names are hyperlinks to their blog post and my comment. Below that is the link to two of my blog posts which have been commented on by peers.
Veronica, This post is very essential and really great all together! I like the idea you had produced for your project. This project looks like it had included much thought and testing to prove your theory. I like that you included a great amount of details as well as pulling details from articles to back your thought up. You can tell you put a lot of time and effort into your project. Great job overall, I enjoyed reading! on Music and Memory: Friends or Foes?
on 5/5/16
Great post, Veronica! I thought your idea of how you came up with your project was so interesting and very original. I found your results shocking; I would have probably put the same hypothesis as you did, because I cannot study with music playing as well. Your project definitely taught me something new. I also like that you incorporated research articles into your study. It sounds like you had a great experience participating in your first science fair. My only wish is if you could have explained the procedure of your project a little bit clearer, because I was slightly confused. Overall, I really liked reading your blog! on Music and Memory: Friends or Foes?
on 4/27/16
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