DOUBLE VISION

MY VISION and MISSION STATEMENT… after YEAR ONE

Part One:

One year of my masters program has certainly helped my shape and re-define what my vision and mission is as a 21^st century science educator. Through my time spent with other educators on the weekends and the reflective practices from month to month I have come to see my role and career in a whole new way.

My current BELIEF statements about teaching are:

1. Students learn best when actively engaged and guided in the discovery of knowledge

2. Science is a hands-on discipline and lab work is an essential component

3. Teachers must intentionally plan collaborative lessons and include focus on student process

4. Students must be challenged to inquire, question, communicate, and use critical thinking skills

5. Technology should be incorporated as needed and used to promote and enhance learning goals 

Part Two:

Where do our ideals come from? Are they innate, something we are born with? Do they come from our environment and our experiences with it? Or are they perhaps a combination of both nature and nurture? I am truly hoping it’s the latter. I believe that no educator goes into even one day of teaching hoping and planning to do a bad job… but there is always room for improvement. I feel that I could use improvement in many areas and taking time to reflect on my past, present and future has helped me visualize and see the continued changes necessary for my career as an educator.

PAST…

Growing up teachers lectured. Students listened, recorded notes, and took the test. There was no complaining there was no misbehaving and there was little change from this pattern. Good teachers gave interesting lectures and examples and good students listened carefully and studied diligently to master material presented to succeed on multiple choice exams. Rote memorization and facts were reality and this repeated procedure came to be…expected. Type A personalities don’t like change. That’s me. This is my background, my history, my prior knowledge. This is how I constructed knowledge and what I assumed being a teacher would be… just successfully repeating this lecture pattern again and again.  I went to college. In fact I went to college for seven years and things were the same. Scientific really.

When I got my first job I worked hard every day preparing my lectures, recording them in notebooks and re-writing them for students on the board.  I didn’t necessarily plan on this style… it was what I assumed I was to be doing. I changed jobs after five years and moved to a district that had more than one science teacher. I saw what others were doing, but really just continued doing what I thought was the best. I was growing, somewhat. I incorporated a lot of study and note taking skills into my daily practice because students were lacking and struggling in those areas. I worked hard on scientific vocabulary and good strategies for content area reading. I upgraded to using the SmartBoard and began using YouTube for live video clips of concepts I was covering with students. In fact this would be how I would describe where I am presently.

PRESENT…

After nine years of teaching I know a lot of things. I am good at classroom management and discipline. I know my students well and my district. I am very familiar with my science standards and the content I am expected to cover throughout the course of the year. I have specialized in the elective courses I like and have a pretty good following in both marine biology and anatomy. I am a good lecturer, have passion and enthusiasm for my content and teaching in general and enjoy dissections. I know how to prepare a good test and differentiate where needed for student success. I know where to go when problems arise and how to communicate effectively with parents and administrators. In fact, before starting my master’s program I was “pretty comfortable” with myself and my teaching in general. But… one year of masters weekends …    I now know that my curriculum is… expected. I now know that lecture is boring and frowned upon. I can see my students struggling to stay engaged in what I am saying… even though I am enthusiastic about saying it. They know vocabulary but don’t understand concepts. They pass tests but really struggle to “do” science. I can feel the change that is necessary. God it’s SO apparent I am almost drowning in guilt and overwhelmed by fear of what is to come. I have to throw away everything I have. Pitch it. Purge it. Start again. Start new. Holy shi*!!!

FUTURE…

I need to redesign ALL my units…backwards. Asking essentially: “What do I want students to be able to do and demonstrate?”  I need to teach them how to think and analyze critically. To give them opportunities TO DO science… not just talk about it! Labs and hands-on activities need to be the starting and focus point for my teaching followed closely by connecting concepts with collaborative teamwork and student-led discussion. I have to plan what the STUDENTS are going to do, not what I am going to say or teach them. I have to change the way I think about teaching and strive to be a facilitator for my students guiding them through the standards almost by surprise, by inquiry. One day can be completely separate from the next. I can see the integration of concepts and overlapping of ideas and scientific skills. Students must be asking questions and setting up their own experiments to answer their questions. I need to invest my prep time working on developing my own questioning skills and gathering up labs, lab materials, and equipment! To research new units, case studies, discussion and application questions!