Exemplary means going above and beyond what is expected.
I have had a few teachers in my school career that could only be described as exemplary. I like to think about those teachers as teacher makers as well. Frequently when you ask education majors “Why do you want to teach?”, the reason is invariably that they had an exemplary teacher that inspired them and built their passion for the material.
Exemplary science teachers are champions of curiosity
When you think about the truly exemplary teachers in your life, chances are they pushed you to ask questions, they rewarded your curiosity and helped you foster a sense of wonder about your world.
My favorite chemistry teacher had a rule that I will implement in my future classroom.
There are (almost) no stupid questions
My teacher would take up to three minutes to answer ANY remotely science related question. If we couldn’t get the answer in about 3 minutes, both my teacher, and the student who asked the question, came back the next day with what they thought the answer was. No one was discouraged because they were curious.
Now there are bound to be students who just want to push as many buttons as the can get their hands on, and will ask actually stupid questions,
BUT
Most kids just want to know the answer. I was an incredibly curious kid and asked A LOT of questions. I LOVED the teachers that rewarded that.
https://twitter.com/MrPeterMurray/status/1040032701930262528
Teaching science can be an uphill battle
When you tell a group of kids they are gonna have to take chemistry this year, inevitably you are going to get some groans.
Most kids don’t react like this
Or this
Science can be really intimidating. Especially at the high school level when the class isn’t just called “Science”. But science can be so exciting as well.
An exemplary teacher gets their kids EXCITED about learning. Often this is done through labs and other activities, but let’s not forget, science teachers give their students the answers to the world around them. That can be fascinating and incredibly empowering
Exemplary teachers make science REAL
I love this channel on Youtube. It’s called Crash Course and its run by two brothers named Hank and John Green. They do a fantastic job of presenting the information clearly and in a fun way
“Give me five minutes to convince you that chemistry is not torture but instead, the amazing and beautiful science of stuff”
-Hank Green
Yes! Crash Course!
I think that page describes well how different people have different learning styles. Personally, I love those videos, and I will be sure to provide pages like that to my kids for anyone who may benefit from the way they teach. I’m sure other students will prefer the in-class activities, and that’s why I plan on having a variety of ways to introduce each topic.
Anyways, I agree that it all needs to be fostered by a genuine curiosity, and I love the idea that questions, no matter how stupid, should always be encouraged to keep that curiosity alive.
I really loved your blog! Throughout it, I kept thinking of my own experiences with exemplary teachers I had and how they shaped me into the person and future educator I am today. I especially loved the picture of the definition of “exemplary” because it included the phrase “suitable to be copied by other people.” Part of being a teacher is to be a role model. Students won’t be excited about a topic, activity, or assignment if you’re not excited about it too, so we really have to make sure we’re setting a good example for our kids. I really like the idea of taking 3 minutes to explore and answer questions asked by the students, but how would you deter kids from just asking questions to get you off topic?
Great question! To be completely honest, there was a time when I was a bit of a problem student and would do exactly that. I think most of the time it can be pretty easy to tell the difference between legitimate curiosity and a wasting time question. However, even a time waster can be turned into a learning opportunity. In my experience, the key is to acknowledge the question and give a a quick answer, or get the student to supply their own answer. Usually the student isn’t interested in answering their own question in front of the class.
Amazing post! I really like your point on how exemplary teachers are “teacher-makers” in addition to being exemplary, it was honestly eye-opening. I had never made the connection between being an exemplary teacher and being someone’s inspiration to be a teacher. What I would really love to see would be some ideas you have for different activities that you would want your students to be doing that would help you be an exemplary teacher and help your students learn through inquiry!
Thanks! Because I’m really interested myself in the chemistry of cooking and food, I’ve been collecting ideas for labs that involve food processes. Most recently Ive been writing a lab using pickling to teach concentration gradients and tonicity.
I think all of your points were extremely valid and accurate to the readings. To me, one of the most memorable quotes in your post is, “Exemplary teaching makes science REAL!” This is incredibly true! If a student is just taught by means of lecture, all of their knowledge is only made up of words. There are no memories or experiences that relate back to the concepts being learned. Experiences make science lessons more relatable to real-world situations. Why would a student think a concept was important if he or she didn’t know how it applied to the real world? I wouldn’t blame them for not thinking it was important. However, if the lesson is directly applied to the real world, it’s more fun, useful, and memorable! When you were in high school, were there any lessons that may have really resonated with you that made you feel like a scientist?
Thanks for responding! I had a fantastic chemistry teacher in high school who would bring in chemistry news anytime that a new discovery was made or interesting research came out. In particular, I remember a lesson that really made science real for me was when we covered atomic decay, and researched nuclear power and nuclear accidents in history. Its always nice to have examples of chemistry in the world outside of the classroom.
I really enjoyed reading your blog! I like how you kept me interested throughout the entirety of the post and included great visuals into it. I also really like how your old teacher would answers questions in such a positive and inviting way so keep students from getting discouraged or feeling “stupid.” I also agree with your tweet and how it is so simple to ask questions and find out answers within the classroom and on your own. I think this is the best way for us and students to really understand content and make connections. The crash course videos are GREAT! I’ve used several of those in my past and I think they are a great way to summarize a topic or to show before digging deeper. I definitely want to incorporate some of those into my classroom. Overall, really great post!
Thanks! I firmly believe that the best way to keep kids engaged is to make them feel heard and valued. A kid should never be made to feel stupid.
The crash course videos are fantastic! A couple of my teachers in high school used them and I always thought the information was really well presented. I plan on using them in my classroom as well.