An Opener of Doors

Exciting and Kinda Scary

carvingwordsintothewall — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:13:04 -0400

Just found out that my teacher’s son has an upper respiratory infection, so he is going to have to stay home with him tomorrow. That means that I’m teaching… every single class. Kind of scary, since I’m used to him being there for support, but I’m sure that I’ll survive it, no matter how bad it gets!

In other exciting news, I found out my Praxis scores today! If you don’t know much about the Praxis, they are tests that assess your knowledge in your content area, as well as teaching strategies. The scores are out of 200. A passing score in Biology is a 146 and a passing score on the Principles of Learning and Teaching 7-12 is a 161. I scored a 168 and 191 (!!!) respectively. The level of excitement that I feel about not having to take these tests again is indescribable! I’m so happy =D

Student Response Gold

carvingwordsintothewall — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:34:45 -0400

My favorite thing about teaching has to be interacting with the students. Every period provides some kind of comic gold. Today, the students were in top form. Here are just a few of the things that made me chuckle today.

Student: You know who you remind me of when you wear your glasses?

Me: Who?

Student: Taylor Swift (One look at my profile picture reveals why I find this humorous)

Student: (To the special ed. teacher) I’m going to need you to turn around, ok?

Special Ed. Teacher: Why?

Student: I have to scratch in my nether region. (Granted, he usually doesn’t ask before he does this, so we’re making progress.)

Student: So, to get four sections, we fold the paper in half and then in half again? (Not to mention that he’s actually folding it as he’s asking me)

The assignment today was to choose 4 of the characteristics of life and draw out examples for them. I made a point that all drawings should be appropriate for school, especially for reproduction.

Student: (For the characteristic “Responds to Stimuli”) Would it be inappropriate for me to draw someone with their eyes burned out because they looked directly at the sun?

And from the same student later on, still trying to figure out something for Stimuli

Student: You know, this one reminds me of my mother and uncle… and their feud.

Me: Ok… how?

Student: Well my mother hits my uncle with (some sort of electrical something) and then he attacks her back.

Me: Well, that’s certainly a response to a stimulus, but I don’t think you should draw that.

I’ve also been grading some of the lab reports that they have turned in. One of my favorite answers has been this (and I’m paraphrasing):

-The error for this lab comes from human error because humans make mistakes and mess up on things and there’s nothing you can do about it because nobodies perfect and you just have to live with it and do the best you can do.

I’m exhausted.

It’s time to revel in another one of my awkward videos!...

carvingwordsintothewall — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:15:07 -0400

It’s time to revel in another one of my awkward videos! Today I’m responding to Spenser, who gave me some great questions to talk about. I’m giving a little taste into what all my semester of student teaching involves, as well as some insight about what I will actually be teaching.

Gender Gap in the STEM Fields (cont.)

carvingwordsintothewall — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:18:00 -0400

americasnexttopteacher:

As part of my masters program, we run an after school science club for girls at a local inner-city high school. I think the beauty of this is something that I want to bring into my classroom - it’s not suggesting a career for students, but rather making science accessible, which is something that students of any gender struggle with.

I’m not sure exactly what to do to ensure gender equality in the classroom. My idealist teaching says teach to individuals, not groups of people. That is, I won’t teach boys a certain way and girls a certain way just because they identify with a male or female gender.

That being said, a cool activity may be to have students draw/sketch what they think a scientist looks like on the first day of class. Most students will draw a man with glasses, a lab coat, and glassware. Use this as a ticket out the door. Throughout the course, work on breaking down these misconceptions. Scientists are not always male, nor do they always wear lab coats. Try to use unconventional examples too. (Name a female scientist. Now name one that isn’t Marie Curie.) By the end of the course, students should feel comfortable drawing someone in the lab or in the field, someone working with DNA or observing animals, etc.

Basically, it’s not about making girls comfortable in the STEM world, it’s about making sure that they know that they are a scientist, whether they take a STEM job or not.

I absolutely agree with all of this! I think that a big reason more girls don’t choose the STEM field is because they can’t create that vision of themselves as a scientist. There is a typical view of what a scientist looks like, and I think your idea is a great one to start breaking the stereotype of scientists.

I think that providing a wide variety of accomplished scientists to students is important as well, to show that you don’t have to be a white male to accomplish great things. I got a deck of cards from the NSTA conference that are almost like baseball cards, but with scientists. I’m hoping to blow them up and display them in my classroom to show that science isn’t driven by a certain gender or ethnicity, but rather a desire to answer the questions of the world.

Gender Gap in the STEM Fields

carvingwordsintothewall — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:44:58 -0400

New Data on STEM Gender Gap

The U.S. Department of Commerce released new data on Wednesday on the gender gap in science and technology fields — stressing the economic impact on women. The study noted that women hold almost half of all jobs in the United States, but less than 25 percent of those in STEM fields. This trend continues even though women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more, on average, than do women in other fields. And the data show that of those who study STEM fields in college, women are less likely to seek out STEM jobs. Of men with a STEM degree, 40 percent work in science and technology fields, while only 26 percent of comparable women do so.

I feel like this is probably the area that I will work at the most when I get my own classroom. The gap doesn’t stem necessarily from that girls are not as good as science as boys, but rather that they have developed this mental image that scientists are men. Gender equality is already an issue that I’m very passionate about, so I think that this will be a good way for me to make a difference through my career.

Other science teachers, how do you encourage your female students to consider choosing a career in the STEM fields?

Are you familiar with the service tumblr has that you can text in some of your posts or even call and leave a voice post.
This might be handy for you if you want to update something random about your day during planning.

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 06:35:33 -0400

I knew that you could text in posts, but I didn’t know you could call in. I may have to try that once I get going!

I tried to post this last night, but I fell asleep while it was...

carvingwordsintothewall — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:12:50 -0400

I tried to post this last night, but I fell asleep while it was uploading!

This is my first video ever, so it’s a little rough, but let me know if you like this format over reading. This is a lot quicker for me so it may mean that I get to post more often!

I am SO excited that you created a teaching blog! This way, I don't have to bother you every single day with questions about your day, since I am extremely curious. You're going to do so well!

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:09:37 -0400

Haha, thanks! I’m hoping that I actually stick to this blog. Goodness knows my side blogs usually lose steam after a couple of weeks.

Just as a note, this is probably going to be a 2-3 times a week blog until I get into a solid routine. I promise there will be a good post tomorrow with some exciting news!

carvingwordsintothewall — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:47:33 -0400

That Old Familiar Feeling

carvingwordsintothewall — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:56:00 -0400

Ah, the first day of school. It’s just not the same in college. Today was really a lot of fun. It’s nice to be on the other side of the first day for once. To not be the terrified freshman, or the senior who is just ready to graduate. It was pretty entertaining to just sit back and observe.

Here’s a breakdown of my schedule to give a little perspective for today’s post:

1st Period: Pre-AP Biology

2nd Period: Pre-AP Biology

3rd Period: Pre-AP Biology

4th Period: Biology I (We also have several students from Special Education integrated into this class)

5th Period: Biology I

6th Period: AP Biology

7th Period: Planning

Today was interesting to say the least. I think that this semester is going to be really great experience, in that I will have a very diverse group of students. I’ll get to teach students in Special Education, who have a wide range of exceptionalities. I’ll also get to work with a lot of Freshmen, but also get to have a class of Seniors. I’m really looking forward to this year!

That being said, I do think that this year is going to come with its own set of challenges. I have very little experience with students with exceptionalities in the classroom. I’m glad that there will be a Special Education teacher in there with us, not only to help keep the students calm, but to help me know how to differentiate instruction for them. That class is also my biggest class of the day by far, which presents its own challenges separate from what I’ve already addressed.

The other Bio I class, 5th Period, were definitely the best kids all day. There are only 9 of them in the class, which is going to be very refreshing after the 28 in 4th period. I think that I’m going to start leading their class tomorrow, which is much quicker than I thought, but still exciting. They’re not going too heavy on the content this week, so it won’t present too much of a planning challenge on my part, but will allow me to go ahead and jump right in to interacting with the students.

Today’s High Point: Just getting back into the swing of things, the whole day was pretty good!

Today’s Low Point: Lunch. I thought they were supposed to be starting some kind of healthier school lunch initiative. The only vegetables available today were mashed potatoes and french fries. I will definitely be bringing my lunch tomorrow.

Goal for Tomorrow: Keep trying to learn everyone’s names, including other teachers and students.

I'll be student teaching in a high school biology classroom in the fall as well! I don't think there's many of us biology folk on here, so it's nice to see another science teacher!

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:02:39 -0400

Good Luck! Feel free to dole out any advice you have, I’m always open to suggestions =)

Opening Day

carvingwordsintothewall — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:00:36 -0400

School starts tomorrow, so today was full of fun housekeeping tidbits. It was chock full of boring stuff like setting up a webpage, blood borne pathogen training, and review of everything that needs to be covered in homeroom tomorrow morning. It does look as though the school has their stuff together, and I appreciate thorough planning SO MUCH.

The administration is very supportive, yet laid back. They give the teachers a lot of freedom about the way in which they set up their classrooms, and how they handle discipline issues.

The most significant part of today for me was that I got to spend the whole day with my supervising teacher, as well as the other teachers in my department. I think this semester is going to be awesome! I still can’t get over how well the Biology teachers work together. It’s how all departments should work, but seldom do.

In addition, they’re hilarious. I enjoy that they don’t try and censor themselves around me. They actually treat me like I’m a colleague in their department, which is really awesome. I think that this semester is going to be both enjoyable and eye-opening.

The three bio teachers went ahead and planned out the first three weeks of class, and I’m glad that he wants me to get teaching as soon as possible. I think it’s going to be really hard to just sit and observe the first week or so!