My science story

Hi all! So, I've started a blog... So, I want to be a teacher... What's the big deal? What's the story here?

Well, I'm about to tell you.

I've wanted to be a teacher since I was a youngster in elementary school. I have vivid memories of science lessons that took place over ten years ago and it seems essential to me that I understand what made them so unforgettable. I truly enjoyed partaking in experiments as a kid because it was a break from the mundane. Being able to - and encouraged to - get my hands "dirty" during lessons proved to be a great way for me to learn the material.

Aside from experiments, I have one memory of my fifth grade teacher telling us that she was going to swing a bucket full of water over her head. Oh the horror that was going through my mind! I just knew that my teacher was going to end up soaking wet with water all over the floor. However, as you may know, this did not happen. What did happen was this: my teacher swung the bucket over her head completely, the water stayed put, and my classmates and I were in awe. We wanted to know how this could be. Drawing our attention like she did sparked an intense interest in my class that day. We were intent upon learning how she did it.

Viewing my fifth grade teacher's introduction to a lesson from a student-teacher's point of view, I recognize the importance in gaining student interest prior to beginning a lesson. However, part of me chooses to remember this as the fifth grader I was, and embracing the desire to know as much as I could about science.

What I didn't know, however, was that I was learning about science outside of school nearly everyday. I spent my afternoons on a neighboring street playing with other kids; our fun and games taught us about science around us. My friends and I made mud pies, we played with leaves as they fell, we learned to tell the difference between sticky snow (good snowballs) and the fluffy kind, we understood that the temperature dropped later in the day, we rode skateboards on driveways that had a decline, we sledded down hills, and so much more. Now, I recognize these playful times as informal lessons in learning about the seasons, types of precipitation, temperature, gravity, and we even touched on bits of physics. 

What I thoroughly enjoy about my childhood experiences with science is that my formal curiosity in the classroom led to my informal investigations of the real world. I hope that my future teaching methods will yield similar results and desires among my students.

And that, as they say, is my science story.

Until next time. :-)