Becoming an exemplary science teacher is something every person teaching science should strive to do. But first, what exactly is an exemplary science teacher?
Exemplary science teaching involves a number of things including:
- involving students in their own learning
- make sure to teach in a variety of ways because everyone’s learning style is different
- engaging students in the lessons
- make connections to the real world
- allowing for creativity and innovation in the classroom
- being flexible in your lesson plans
- sometimes a question may spark a discussion that may be more valuable and foster more learning than whatever else you had planned — let it happen!
- student-led discussions and activities
- allowing students to participate in hands-on learning through labs or inquiry
- let students actually do and experience the science you are teaching
The quote above is very much aligned with exemplary science teaching. This is showing that teachers have the ability to guide students in the right direction so that they can truly learn, instead of lecturing to them. Teachers should provide the materials for students to ask questions and explore science for themselves so that their curiosity can remain an integral part of their education.
Don’t believe me? Listen to this guy talk about teaching!
Becoming an exemplary science teacher means creating lesson plans that align with this ideology. Some ideas could be:
- taking students outside to observe and make predictions about different kinds of leaves, trees, plants, or nature. Students should ask questions about nature after exploring and observing.
- designing an open-ended lab to help teach students about pH where different common household solutions are present and how the pH can affect reactions. Students should be provided with sufficient solutions and reactions to test.
- allowing students to build a cardboard boat to race in the pool to learn about laws of physics and engineering.
- constructing a game “on an island” to learn about evolutionary forces where students are players. Different evolutionary forces can be introduced throughout the game so that students can see the effect they have on the gene pool.
Students should be able to see the connections between learning science and their lives. They should be asking questions and teachers should be facilitating discussions and inquiries about our world.
The tweet below explains some ways to encourage inquiry in the classroom to support learning!
Teachers are beginning to think about going back to school, and with the start of a new year comes new skills and teaching methods to try. Here are 8 simple ways to support inquiry-based learning: https://t.co/a2jvHULk2E
— Canada 2067 (@Can2067STEM) August 31, 2018
After reading through this post, I hope that there is a better understanding of what it means to be an exemplary science teacher and how to make your classrooms a place for better learning and exploration!
Margaux! That quote you shared about showing students where to look is my philosophy to a tee when I teach! That’s so cool that you included it, I love it. I also think that connecting science and every day life is crucial, especially since not everybody in the classroom is going to be a scientist and connecting the classroom to real life makes things more applicable and understandable. In that TED Talk, Danny Doucette refers to the typical science test as “gateways” to progress; I like this analogy a lot. We use an analogy in the 181 lab of using science as a “window,” and by that we mean using science as a way of approaching and understanding the world. I feel like science education doesn’t currently work with that mantra. How do you think you can help connect with those students you know just aren’t genuinely interested in science? I know understanding your students individually and what they like and then gearing content toward them in some cases helps, but I’m curious what you think!
Thanks! I really loved that quote as well. It sums it up well. As far as connecting with uninterested students, I think you’re right that gearing content towards them and knowing them personally is the obvious first step in trying to engage them. After that, I think it’s important to make sure that you are excited about the material as well. Those sort of attitudes are contagious and even if the students are uninterested, that might make them think that there’s actually something really cool to learn and see in the world. Also, the more the students are involved, the less like a typical class it will feel. If the students are actually doing things and not just copying notes, there’s a much greater probability that they will enjoy what the content of the class is. However, connecting the content back to them and their lives is probably the most effective way to get the kids interested.
This is a really great post! I really enjoyed the list of activities that you could add to make teaching exemplary. Also the quote “the best teachers are those that show you where to look but not what to see” is a very true statement! I agree with that tremendously. Do you think exemplary teaching can go father than just the subject of science or can it be incorporated into reading or math the same way? Great job!
Thank you! I think that it can definitely go beyond just the subject of science. I can see it potentially being more difficult in math or English because those are a bit harder to see in your life in a concrete way as opposed to science where we can see or demonstrate processes or how things work. I still think that math, for example, could be done in a similar way. There are a variety of ways to teach math that have real-world applications that would be more interactive and student-led than just lecturing at the front. English seems a little bit more complicated in that regard but I am sure there are still ways to apply the same principles!
I really liked this post! Within the section where you listed qualities, I really liked how you worded the hands-on quality as letting the students “do and experience science.” I say this because it was a new way of thinking about, as “hands-on” typically makes you think of touching but “experience” makes you think about all 5 senses that could go into a student’s learning. I have also seen that TED talk before and have found it fascinating! In the lesson plan section, in high school, we actually did the cardboard boat construction and it is honestly a great way to get students to work together as well as solidify physics concepts. The other activities seem to be student-led as well which I think is awesome in the science classroom. I have also never seen the quote from Rosalind Franklin and I think its a great one to sum up why science class is important. Overall, great post, it really had me thinking!
Thanks so much! I picked “experience” because you can’t always build something or throw two things together and see what happens. Sometimes it is more of seeing how the world around you is working and how the pieces fit together. We also did the cardboard boat lesson in my physics class in high school and it really got everyone involved and helped us to understand a number of different physics concepts, and of course, it was fun to actually test the boats. Our teacher basically left us alone for the duration of that project as well so it was definitely a completely student-led discovery and lesson.