{"id":3027,"date":"2020-09-16T13:03:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T17:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=3027"},"modified":"2023-01-27T16:31:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T21:31:02","slug":"margins-exploring-the-mysteries-of-life-with-our-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2020\/09\/margins-exploring-the-mysteries-of-life-with-our-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Margins- Exploring the Mysteries of Life with our Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I wanted to start with this quote from former Civil Rights Leader & U.S Rep, John Lewis. This quote has a lot of applicability to many scenarios in our political and social world, but I think it can extend to teaching in the margins as well. Going to the margins means taking risks alongside our students, and engaging in science in a way that is truly authentic. I think getting into good and necessary ‘trouble’ in the science classroom can look like so many different things because the margins are an unknown territory, due to the authentic nature of student curiosity (or teacher initiation) that drives its’ destination. Margins are where student exploration and creativity will explode. These unknown places are where there is potential to know through the process of inquiry. Allowing students to engage in the “how’s?” and straying away from the “what’s?” are a good indication you’re giving your students the opportunity to head to the margins. So buckle up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does teaching in the Margins look like?!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I created this diagram to help explain what teaching in the margins means. In this diagram, the margins are depicted as the edge, the place that only exists because of its surroundings (Margins cannot exist without the center of instruction). If you can visualize margins as a place for potential and possible growth, imagine someone pinching & stretching out the spot where the margins reside (blue triangles), eventually both bubbles will get bigger and bigger. By spending time in the margins there is now more room created for knowledge and action. The center of instruction also grows, and it becomes healthier when the margins push to new possibilities. Margins are the connecting points between knowledge and action, teachers and students, students and students, and students and content.
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Margins in nature…<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In This Ted Talk below, Karen Maeyens explores the power of asking questions. She explains how asking questions can have a snowball effect, generating more questions, and more things to be curious about. Asking questions are a great way to embark on a journey to the margins! This can be done in all aspects of life, including the science classroom. She discusses how asking questions can lead us to creating our own, innovative maps in which we investigate. Maeyens sends a powerful message about how being curious and asking questions can take us to diverse areas to explore and make sense of our surrounding world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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