I believe that the quotation from the experienced teacher is very true. A teacher can spend a lot of time teaching and explaining a concept but it ultimately comes down to the student. If the student is able to understand what the teacher is saying, then the student is learning. The teacher cannot learn for his students. As we reviewed in class a couple of weeks ago, there are different levels of learning. If the teacher has the student simply memorize the information, the teacher is adhering to a formal- science- curriculum. The student is unable to retain a lot if he simply memorizes facts. However, if the teacher adheres to an informal-science-curriculum, he is forcing the students to think outside the box and to take their thinking to a higher level. If a student is able to relate what he is learning to everyday life, or if he is able to explain and teach concepts to other students, the student has reached the highest level of understanding. As teachers, this is the level we want our students to be at by the time we are finished teaching a topic.
Going back to the idea of formal-learning-curriculums, many students believe that they can pass a test by repeating back to the teacher the exact definitions that the teacher has given to them. For some teachers this is acceptable however, I believe that it is absolutely unacceptable. When I was in elementary school, there were many times when I believed that if I wrote what I thought the teacher wanted to hear, I would receive a good grade. The majority of the time, if not every time, I did very well on the exams or essay where I wrote what I thought the teacher wanted to hear. I did not actually understand what I was writing most of the time but I continued to write down exactly what the teacher had taught us, almost word for word, just so I would do well in that class. I believe that this is a common practice in schools and it is something that teachers must urge children to avoid. If teachers ensure that their students are able to relate topics to their everyday lives, then they are ensuring that the students will not just write down whatever they believe that teacher wants to hear. Teachers are ensuring that the students learn concepts on the most advanced level possible which is extremely beneficial to the students.
In the story, “Icicles,” Mr. Wilson refrains from correcting the students when they proceed to weight the icicle incorrectly because Mr. Wilson wants to allow the students to explore and learn from their mistakes. I do not believe that it is a waste of time to allow children to explore different answers and options when working on their own. One of the most effective ways of learning, I believe, is learning from your mistakes. When a student is conducting an experiment and he does not get the answer right away, giving the student the answer does not help the student understand why he got the question wrong. Mr. Wilson was right to allow the children to explore the question and finally come to their own conclusions. If he stopped the students, they would not ever fully understand the question or the topic.
I live in Long Island, New York. I live very close to the ocean, which is one of my favorite places to go. I also have a vast majority of trees in my town. This allows me to have access to a large variety of natural artifacts that I would be able to bring into my classroom in order to prompt discussions or lessons. I could use sand from the beach and dirt from various places near my home in order to allow my students to compare different types of earth. I could bring in leaves from different trees and have my students classify the leaves according to the type of tree they are from. I can also have my students analyze ocean water compared to tap water, have them observe organisms in salt or pond water, or understand the concept of evaporation and what happens when salt water evaporates.
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