Over the past six weeks I have encountered a completely new experience. Completely different from my previous course of study, my beginnings at the Warner School have been both enlightening and extremely meaningful. I feel a greater connection with my new community than I ever felt in previous programs and for the first time, I believe that I am doing what I am meant to do.
As a student in EDU 487 Integrating Science and Literacy, I have become cognizent of new technologies, methodologies, and practices which will greatly aide in my future career. I believe that by engaging students using practices introduced in this course, I can best facilitate learning in my classroom and provide my students with unique experience which, I hope, will foster a greater respect and appreciation for the sciences.
In addition to the practices which make a great science teacher, I have also recognized the role of the educator in the classroom. Rather than serving as a font of knowledge, I hope I can help facilitate individual discovery and inquiry among my students, allowing them to feel a sense of ownership in their education.
Lastly, I believe that the experience we have had as students of science in our role of designing, implementing, and analyzing our own experiment, we have had the opportunity to return to the learning of science and gain a better appreciation of the students’ role in the process of science education. It is my hope that I will, to the best of my ability, utilize and build upon the skills and ideas I have gained in this class in my future experiences in the classroom.
As I look back on the beginning of my Warner School education, I can only say that I am anxious, ecstatic, and invigorated to continue my studies and enter the classroom. Six weeks ago my life was in a period of massive transition, and now I can honestly say that the choices I have made since then have been some of the best of my life.