Reflection Page
Teacher Standards:
I read the NETS Content and Curriculum Area Standards in Science, K-4.
As a teacher, this would be important for my students because it's
essential that students ask questions about what they are learning,
either out of curiosity or simply because they are unsure of the
material covered. Asking questions deepens student understanding and
forces them to look more in depth at that topic. It's also important
for students to perform experiments. Doing so may bring on questions,
students are also allowed to collect data here (to analyze), ultimately
resulting in making students come up with a reasonable explanation for
the outcome of that experiment. This may be done as a class, or
individually.
The Science Standard, and all it entails, is a
very important subject area that sometimes gets left to the back burner
in elementary education. This Standard covers Physical Science, Life
Science, Earth and Space Science, Science and Technology, Science in
Personal and Social Perspectives, and Science as Inquiry. All these
topics have importance to them and should be taught, or at least
introduced to students. As a teacher i believe it's important for all
my students to show competency in these areas because they will be
facing these topics for the rest of their lives. It's important for
students to know what some characteristics of organisms are, or what
kinds of changes happen in the Earth and sky. By teaching these types
of things to my students, I am broadening their horizons and deepening
their learning.
To show competency in this area, a teacher could
have students do an experiment, using some basic kinds of lab
equipment. During the process, they would collect data, write down
questions they had, make their predictions, and at the end make their
reasonable explanation for what happened. This would show deeper
understanding of the experiment they just did. Another example would
be, more specific to a topic, making a chart of changes that occur in
the sky. Then, after they have made that chart, write down any
questions that they would have about these changes. Just because a
student knows about changes in the sky, doesn't mean they know why they
happen. After all this, these questions could be answered as a class,
the teacher adding in any material needed to suffice for the lesson.
Student Standards:
I
read the NETS Technology Foundations Standards for all Students. This
was all about why students, and how students, should be able to perform
using technology for various different things. I believe it would be
important for students to be competent in the technology area because
our society is becoming such a technology based society. It's going to
be necessary to understand the technology around you, especially in a
school setting. I also believe it's important for students to have a
positive attitude towards technology for the very same reason. There is
no sense in struggling with it, when all it's going to do is follow you
around. If a students becomes negative about technology, more than
likely they will get frustrated far more than they should. Using
technology, especially in a classroom, should be a good experience. It
may not always be enjoyable, but it at least should be good.
I also think competency in this area is crucial
because of the different things students will need it for. Not only
needed, but much more of an assistance, with their work. With
technology at your hands, it makes life a little bit more easier and
little less work for you to do. Also, when used properly, technology
can give you very accurate information. Technology also gives you a
great way to be extremely creative. Students can only benefit from
technology, being one of the main reasons why they should become very
competent in this area.
An example of competency in technology, for a
student, would be to do a research project. Gathering different data
from websites, like magazine articles, newspapers, government
information and then writing a paper on it, using Microsoft Word.
Although this may sound simple, if this task could be performed without
much difficulty, students will have it a little easier. Another way to
show competency would be to create a power point presentation for a
class. This would entail students getting the information they need,
putting onto a slide in a creative fashion, and pulling it up to
present to the class.