My Journey of Teaching Science to Technology Based Learners!

       It's crazy to think that another summer has gone by already, but here we are! This past Tuesday (August 28th), I found myself in Dr. Smirnova's Science and Technology Methods course. One of the first things we did that day was watch a video (linked below) that showed how much time students of today spend with technology, and how little it it used in their learning. In 2018, this cannot be the reality. Everybody, from toddlers to the elderly, uses technology during their daily lives, and it's a shame that it isn't used more often in the classroom. Since students are already using it all of the time, educators must take advantage of this, and find fun, engaging, and creative ways to use technology in the classroom to benefit student learning. Throughout this course, I hope to learn more ways to incorporate technology into my everyday classroom routine, for the benefit of both my students and myself.

"Schools tell the students what to think, not how to think"

 
      In the TED Talk below, Sir Ken Robinson discusses how creativity is not always valued in schools as much as it should be. Teachers often focus just on the curriculum, and nothing else. The students that do well with this material are deemed "smart", while students who struggle with this material lag behind their peers. It shouldn't be this way. Of course students need to still learn math, writing and the rest of the core curriculum, but there should also be more of a focus on kids who show creativity, but may struggle with other subjects. We all know a person from our school that was an excellent artist, or really good with their hands, but struggled when it came to the regular school curriculum. People like that often hate the thought of school, as it causes them nothing but frustration.  As Robinson said during his talk, "Schools tell the students what to think, not how to think". This is true, and it does a great disservice to all students. Schools should help nurture student creativity, not kill it, which in many cases is what happens. Especially in subjects such as science, educators should let students show their creativity and use sense of wonder to help enhance learning. Hopefully, educators will start doing more of this in the future, as it would benefit everybody.