My Philosophy of Teaching Science!

This past semester was crucial in forming my personal philosophy of teaching science. I never was comfortable with science as a student, so I didn’t think I’d be comfortable teaching it either. I struggled with the subject in school, and didn’t enjoy it much. However, this semester I learned a bunch of new strategies and ways to make science class fun and engaging for students!

In my opinion, the inquiry model of instruction is often the most appropriate way to teach science. You still need to conduct direct instruction lessons as well, as these help students form new knowledge and learn new concepts. But, science is best taught through the 5 E’s of inquiry: engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. Through this model of learning, students really get a chance to immerse themselves in the material. The inquiry model should be taught the day after a direct instruction lesson for the best results. This will allow the students to take notes and learn the new information on the first day in the direct lesson, and then think about what questions they still have an inquiry about the next day. This helps students develop their problem-solving skills as well, as a good inquiry lesson lets students explore their questions independently or with peers. A very important part of the inquiry model is making hypotheses. A good hypothesis is the crux of inquiry lessons; the students need to know what essential question that they are inquiring about and they need to provide a tentative explanation before continuing with the process.

Technology is also a great way to get students engaged and interested in science. In 2018, we have so much awesome technology that allows us to see the world like never before. Science teachers need to use all of the technology at their disposal in order to best support these 21st century learners. Students in today’s society learn best through technology, so it’s only right that 21st century science teachers use it to the best of their abilities. This semester alone, I’ve found so many great sites to use in the classroom such as voicethread, mentimeter, voki and many more. These resources are easily accessible, and they really will benefit the learning of all of these technologically based 21st century learners!