Erica Tillotson - Elementary Science Methods Blog

  What did you learn this week?  One thing that I had learned this week was about the gap in a classroom. The gap is where some students may be gifted and some may be a little bit more behind compared to other students. You can give students who are gifted an extra challenge, and help make the assignment a little easier for students who may be a little more behind.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already know?  I had already known about conductors and inductors but I did not know that metal was a better conductor than wood. I also learned why metal was a better conductor than wood, which is something that i had previously not known before.  What are new or remaining questions?  What is the best way to differentiate instruction during a lesson for all students (struggling, in the middle, gifted)? 

  What did you learn this week? This week we learned about the particle theory of matter and how it can relate to elementary learning. We learning about the theory of matter, and explaining it.  The theory of matter can be shown by making different models. I also learned that different temperatures of water affect how M and M's dissolve.  2.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? In the future classroom, I really liked the M and M activity that we did. This was engaging and something that I would like to use in the future classroom. I think elementary students would enjoy this activity, and would also be beneficial for their learning by drawing and explaining their models after.  3.  What are new or remaining questions? -  What level are students introduced to particles?  -  What level would the M & M experiment be best for? 

  What did you learn this week? One thing I learned this week was about effective teaching and how to be an above average teacher. Clarity is super important when trying to be an effective teacher. The more clarity you have the higher student achievement will be. It is important to teach on purpose, and teach for a purpose. It is effective to have a purpose for why you are doing everything, and not because you think it makes sense to do it  2.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? One thing that I learned that I am going to apply in the future was learning about the different elements of being an effective teacher. There were three different. aspects we learned regarding this, being clarity, opportunity cost, and ongoing process. These three are going to help when I first start to teach in the future, and specific ways that I can improve my teaching.  3.  Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? A part that I...

What did you learn this week? This week we learned about observations, explaining, and questioning. We used different candies to make very descriptive observations. I learned about how important it is for students to first learn about how to make observations to be able to then move on to the explain and explore phases of an investigation.  Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I had already knew about observing, and have had a lot of experience with this from my previous classroom experience. Many different times in elementary school, I remember having to first just observe something, and then after we would start asking questions about what we were observing and seeing.  How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I liked the different stations we did, with observing, explaining, and questioning. I would like to use these different stations and worksheet in the future in my classroom. I think this activity was very fun an...