Week 3 SCED 330 and EDUC 410

SCED 330

This week was exciting in Science Methods. We did a lot, but what stood out to me was working on our ecocolumns in class. This has been such a fun project for me so far and I think it will continue to be so. We are building self sustaining ecosystems out of two-liter bottles. Complete with a terrarium and aquarium section. During class we have been catching creatures to keep in our ecosystem along with things for their new habitat to keep them alive and healthy. This is the kind of thing I love to do and so far I feel like I have been able to be a lot of help to the other students in this process. I am proud of this. 

Something else that we have been working on in Science is our Science Through My Lens learning experience. We are to be looking out for scientific occurrences happening around us, document them with pictures and have questions designed to inspire and encourage inquiry in students. I have started on this assignment and it is completely eye opening. I know these occurrences are alway going on around me but I have never really taken the time to notice them. This assignment forces me to always be on the look out and to see my world in a completely new light. 

I know I am going to be very busy and away from computer access a lot the week after next. So my action step for this next week is to get ahead as much as I possibly can so as to not get in a bind that week.

EDUC 410

We have started to look at task 4 of edTPA in 410 this week. Task 4 is the math section of edTPA. In this task the teacher is to teach a math lesson, review and reflect on the data from the lesson and assessment, revamping and reteaching the lesson using information gleaned from this data. In this class we are going to be doing this to get a better idea of how it is done. We are going to be completing a math lesson and teaching it to a group of our peers. Then we are to reflect on the lesson and use what we learn to reteach the lesson. This will be great for us to learn and be able to practice. Because we will be doing this in our student teaching and we must know how to do it.

Outside

My interview for the Education program at Gardner-Webb is next Thursday. I have been working constantly on trying to prepare myself for this. This type of thing is not my strong suit and I have been struggling with it. I have been working hard on myself these past weeks. My biggest struggle here is my belief in myself, as well as my mind freezing up. I have also been reviewing the Conceptual framework and NCTCstandards. Viewing these standards, I see how they have become almost second nature to me. I have gone from having never seen them at the beginning of the spring semester last year, to knowing them so well now. All of the standards are equally important, but I have found that the 1st one stands out to me the most. It says that teachers are to be leaders. I feel like this encompasses all of the other standards. As leaders we teachers should create a respectful environment for our diverse learners, know our content, know how to facilitate learning for all of our students no mater who they are, and be able to reflect and use this reflection to improve. These are the other 4 standards.