Who do I want to be? How do I want to impact my student’s lives to make their experiences unforgettable? How do I make science fun? How do I create critical thinkers? How do I become an exemplary science teacher?
These are all questions that have been running through my head since I started my science education major.
It takes me back to my experiences in middle and high school. I had some great science teachers and I had some awful ones and I have some that I don’t even remember. The awful ones would just hand us a packet and have us read and answer questions throughout the entirety of the class and expect us to learn all that there is to know about a subject. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Students all learn differently and enjoy different subjects so having every student read and answer questions is not going to make a lasting impact on them and reflects poorly on you. Now, the teachers I do remember concepts from were definitely exemplary teachers; not because they were easy and I got an A, but that they were challenging and engaging and furthered the interest of all the students in the classroom.
I want to be an exemplary science teacher.
Before I get into what an exemplary teacher is, let’s start with a video from Ranger Nick:
Now, I’m not going to become an exemplary science teacher overnight; it takes effort and requires a few things:
Engagement:
- Engaging students can leave a lasting impression on their learning and can shed a more positive light on difficult topics.
- Having students interact with an activity, their peers and even the teacher can help them understand that everyone is capable of understanding science.
Excitement:
- Showing students, you are knowledgeable as well as passionate about science will only get them to want more. It may also encourage them to ask more questions and be engaged with the labs they are completing. As a student, I always remembered my teachers who had a fire for science and never made it seem uninteresting or boring.
Curiosity:
- Now this is something you can pass on to your students but it is still an important piece to an exemplary teacher.
- Picture this: a student has a question on why something is the way it is and you don’t know the answer. Take a moment like that to show your students that learning never stops and make it a teachable moment.
- Show them you are similar to them and are learning all the time as well; you’re not just a robot feeding them information. Following that curiosity in front of students to encourage them to do that themselves.
Being memorable:
- A student isn’t going to remember a teacher, let alone the content, if the teacher isn’t memorable in some type of way. I still remember my favorite teacher growing up and it wasn’t because they were a bad teacher, but because they cared about my personal life and being sure to help me learn the content thoroughly.
- They make each an everyday an adventure through science and keep students focused from start to end of each day.
Students will be learning each day, and not all learning is done in the classroom but as a teacher, you can give them the tools and ability to do so outside of the classroom. Below are five secrets to accelerate a student’s ability to learn:
Activities of exemplary teaching:
Certain activities will allow for inquiry based learning and engagement with the world around them. You can try:
- Give the students a few straws, paperclips, paper, rubber bands, pretzel sticks, marshmallows and any other materials of your choice. Have the students work together in small groups to build something with the materials that they think represents the current content. Then, have them share with each other what they made and how it relates to the topic being taught.
- Have the students each bring their own rock to class. Then, have them do research and work together to figure out what kind of rock each one is and why they think it is that.
- Have the students create a song that includes certain terms or concepts that tie into the current content. Then have them share the songs with each other to help review the topics.
- Take the students to a local park or outside area. Let them find different plants and organisms and have them work together to create a food web of the ecosystem. Then, have them share with the class how they created their different webs.
An exemplary teacher is one that engages their students at all times and goes out of their way for the success of their students. I want to be an exemplary teacher! #EDT431 #scienceteaching
— Kacey Kopack (@kopack_sci) September 12, 2018
Exemplary teaching starts with you. It starts with me. It starts now.
I think the “memorable” component of exemplary science teaching is one that comes as a result of the others and isn’t so much something that we work toward. The things and teachers that I remember the most are the ones that didn’t seem like they were trying to be.
I also really like the questions you opened up with; I think the one about critical thinking is really what’s at the heart of the topic here. I feel like critical thinking is something that goes untaught until college, at least from my experience, and is something students need more of. How do you think you can encourage your students to become active, critical thinkers?
I think I can encourage students to think critically by giving them the tools to do so. I want to drive their curiosity and make them excited so that they want more each day and ask engaging questions that the whole class could discuss. I think that by showing them different ways of researching or different ways of looking at the world will give them the opportunity to think about what they are really learning and not just see it as what will be on the next test. I want to give them opportunities to explore topics on their own or with their peers so that they can develop those critical thinking skills for the long run.
All-around great post! I really liked how you mentioned that becoming an exemplary teacher isn’t going to happen overnight, that it’s something that we have to work on every day so that our students can benefit from it. I also really liked your activities, especially the one where the students were building something that correlated to the content! With the activity where you went to the park, you could even tie in the biology of the organisms themselves on top of the food web!
I really agree with everything in this blog! My favorite section is the examples of activities that you can do to make your classroom exemplary. Also the last picture of the quote is a really powerful statement so I like that it was one of the last things to be put in the blog. Also all of the requirements to be an exemplary teacher are spot on, but do you think there could be more requirements as well? Great job!
Thank you! Honestly, the possibilities are endless with what could really be considered an exemplary teacher. There are definitely more that I could list but I wanted to sum it up with what I thought was most important. As I listed with the bullet points underneath each quality, I tried to go in depth but also leave it open to what someone may consider exemplary themselves. The students are going to want to be like their exemplary teacher and so I think with these, it is what the students will notice most!