What did you like about science? "Um, everything!!"

First I have to say that I was so lucky to have Jen as such an amazing partner! She really made this experience fun and made me more confident in myself in front of the class! We had a great last lesson the kids were honestly so sad to see us leave! Our teacher asked the class what they liked from science so far; one student said "Um, everything!!" and another said that she "had so much fun, every time!!" It made me so sad to leave but I've learned so much and had so much fun with these kids and that makes fond memories!

 My overall impression of the teaching experience was amazing! I had so much fun getting to know the students, seeing them learn new information and apply it to new situations, and really come to love having science lessons! The experience has really taught me so much about teaching and how to manage a class of 26 students!

I've learned that not all science lessons have to be lecture based. We were able to incorporate information during an introduction, have the students discuss what they've observed amongst themselves, have them perform an experiment, and then bring it back for a class discussion. At first it seemed as if it were a million things we had to accomplish but after a few lessons we had it down! Each component was very important for students to be able to make connections and become excited about science!

The feedback we received from our supervisors was very helpful. We read and listened to each point, and worked new techniques and ideas into our lesson as soon as we could. During our lessons we liked to switch the pace and have the kids meet on the rug in the library section. We mentioned we would be meeting back there and all the kids would hurry back to the rug and it would be pretty hectic. One of our supervisors mentioned that instead of letting them back there at once, we could call them back by quiet rows, color of their shirt, or other fun facts we could find. Since then, we've been allowing the kid with the best behavior to go back to the rug, and to go back to their seats it was the color of their shirt, birthday month, and today was by what pets they may or may not have. This helped tremendously with chaos-control as well as safety in the classroom.

Our classroom teacher helped us learn that even though we may be doing experiments and we can see the transitions and breaks in the class style, the kids get antsy and need to move around. This is originally why we started using the back rug for parts of our class. Also she helped me realize that because science experiments have definite steps and instructions, each needs to be explicit and repeated for kids to stay on track. We were going along with the kids but sometimes we wouldn't have their full attention, so making sure they were focused on one step at a time was very helpful and important.

I believe my content knowledge increased. By repeating each week what we had done the previous week helped me because I had to remember what we did and which points we covered in order to make sure they remembered! My knowledge of dissolving definitely increased because I was definitely sure that the sugar crystals were going to dissolve before the sugar cube! I feel like I've learned right along our students!

I've definitely learned a lot about science process skills and how they apply to the classroom. We can say each week that the kids observed, but we are always observing in anything we do. In order to really ensure the process skills were clear to us and to the students, we drew out each skill on colored paper and we hung them in the back of the class. We went over before each class what the process skills meant and how we used them during our experiments. I've learned that I need to visualize and go through the entire lesson in my head before the class in order to really evaluate which skills the students will be using. Now that we've been through them for each class, I can see how they are instrumental in having the kids understand what strategies they can use during science as well as any other subject!

My level of confidence has absolutely changed during this experience! I thought that I was going to be alright in front of the 3rd graders because I teach at a preschool, boy was I mistaken! I had to learn a lot of classroom management skills as well as how to interact with older kids who can read, write, and are super smart! I think that by doing it week after week and by being as prepared as possible, I gained more and more confidence each week. Also Jen really helped me feel more comfortable! I knew that if I'd forgotten something she'd jump right in and it was a comfort and confidence booster knowing I had such a great partner!

I think blogging was useful for me to reflect and really just remember what we did that worked and what didn't work. I know that after each lesson as a teacher I'll be writing down these same things so it was great practice. I think I will continue to blog after this experience! I think its mostly beneficial for me to get in the habit of reflecting after each experience I have and I could only hope that my blog will help others who may have questions!

I don't have any suggestions other than to keep this field component just as it is! It's lessened my worries about getting teaching experience before student teaching begins and it has helped me gain so much experience and great memories of my time in the GSE!