When you walk into my classroom...

When you walk into my classroom, you will see a teacher who is thoroughly enthused about the subject matter being learned, implementing strategies that support student-centered learning, as well as those that provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement for students across all learning abilities to access the content material. Students will be continuously engaged in the lesson as they work both collaboratively and individually to complete project-based assignments that are authentic and meaningful, connecting them to the content and applying it to the world around them. Indeed, while the teacher will spend some time during explicit instruction to guide and facilitate students’ learning, their deeper understanding of the content material will be achieved through critical thinking, problem solving, and exciting hands-on experiences that model and demonstrate the subject matter. During these times, the teacher will circulate throughout the classroom to provide feedback, individualized instruction, and additional assistance to those in need, in order to ensure that all students are achieving the learning goals.

Art, technology, experiments, projects, reading, writing, classroom discussions, presentations, models, demonstrations, simulations, field trips,are among the many activities students will be engaged in to enhance their learning experience. Students will learn Science in a way that relates to them, and allows them to develop a stronger understanding and appreciation of the natural world in which they live. It is my job as their teacher to see that these goals are achieved.

Active Learning: The Machine Comes to Life

I’ve had a pretty amazing experience so far learning how to be a teacher as both a student taking classes to earn my teaching credential and a teacher in the classroom. My job allows me to apply the knowledge I gain from my classes to the actual classroom… Such instant gratification to be able to self-assess my own progress in applying the strategies I’ve learned! In this way, I am actively learning, which is a very important method of gaining a deeper understanding of teaching strategies, and of any content for that matter.

Active learning has become a big theme in my education at National University, and it is great that I am experiencing it for both my students and myself. In the classroom, I have learned to become the facilitator of knowledge, rather than the “sage on the stage”; The students and I work together to complete tasks, learn new material, and solve problems; Yes, we are actively learning. In fact, I have found that the students are more engaged in their learning when they are more in control of it, reducing the need of my constant guidance. In a sense, when students are more independent in their learning, it is as though “the machine comes to life”, and I don’t need to crank the handle. With such relief, this conserves my energy so that I can focus on providing feedback and further assistance to those who need it, thus enhancing my ability to support student learning!

Pre-Assessment

Today, I administered a pre-assessment to a group of 6 students to test their understanding of food chains and food webs. They paired up and were given ten minutes to draw and label a food chain and food web that represents the food they eat on a daily basis. During this process, students were encouraged to think about the “big picture”, keeping in mind the various trophic levels involved in producing the many forms of food we eat. I started the activity by modeling a food chain and food web of my own, drawing it on the board and labeling the parts to assist students who needed additional support to understand the directions.

The students discussed their ideas with their partners, quickly brainstorming before sketching their diagrams. Overall, the process was quite fluid, as students were able to incorporate many elements into their diagrams while pausing at times to reflect on their thoughts and ideas. I walked around the room to monitor students’ progress, providing feedback when necessary.

I was quite impressed by the diagrams that were submitted. Their accuracy revealed an adequate understanding of food chains and food webs, and varied in complexity among the groups. What I found the most interesting about this pre-assessment activity is that it allowed students to explore their knowledge to create new knowledge, and generated a compelling discussion after the groups shared their diagrams with the class. 

The pre-assessments were evaluated based on the following rubric, which effectively addresses the elements that were required in students’ work for proper assessment:

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Drawing - details	All assigned details have been added. The details are clear and easy to identify.	Almost all assigned details (at least 85%) have been added. The details are clear and easy to identify.	Almost all assigned details (at least 85%) have been added. A few details are difficult to identify.	Fewer than 85% of the assigned details are present OR most details are difficult to identify.
Accuracy	95% or more of the assigned structures are drawn accurately and are recognizable. All assigned structures are labeled accurately.	94-85% of the assigned structures are drawn accurately and are recognizable. All assigned structures are labeled accurately.	94-85% of the assigned structures are drawn accurately and are recognizable. 94-85% of the assigned structures are labeled accurately.	Less than 85% of the assigned structures are drawn AND/OR labeled accurately.
Labels	Every item that needs to be identified has a label. It is clear which label goes with which structure.	Almost all items (90%) that need to be identified have labels. It is clear which label goes with which structure.	Most items (75-89%) that need to be identified have labels. It is clear which label goes with which structure.	Less than 75% of the items that need to be identified have labels OR it is not clear which label goes with with item.

The students seemed to enjoy using their creative skills to draw their diagrams, and had sufficient prior knowledge to complete the project. In fact, some students were able to create complex diagrams that incorporated elements not found in nature that interact within our food chains and food webs, such as factories and laboratories where many processed foods are created. Therefore, the pre-assessment activity was quite successful, and was not in need of immediate improvement. If I were to make any changes, however, I would integrate the use of multiple senses and technologies to create a more dynamic, interactive activity.

The Ambiverted Gemini

I’m a Gemini (the twins); I have two opposing personalities that allow me to be both an introvert and an extrovert. According to Susan Cain in her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, I am an ambivert: both intro- and extroverted! This means I can remain reserved in social situations, give care to listening and observing others, and be introspective and self-aware. However, when my social environment changes to a lively crowd, I can become more expressive and social, contributing to the energy around me. In essence, I am adaptive to the people around me. I can sense the energies they express, and quickly respond by interacting with them on the same wavelength.  

My Learning Styles "Gravitate" Me Toward Science...

My personality reflects my learning style, and has ultimately been an important influence on the content area I have chosen in my career as an educator. As a learner, I exhibit traits of an active and reflective learner, intuitive learner, visual learner, and global learner. These are important qualities to understand why I enjoy science so much.

As an active and reflective learner, I prefer to simultaneously think through learning concepts while actively engaging in them. I believe science requires an intimate connection between both learning strategies, as much of it relies on observation, analysis, and experimentation working together to produce a result.

As an intuitive learner, I am able to understand abstract and mathematical concepts with relative ease, and can identify relationships among various concepts. As a visual learner, I learn with ease through the use of visual aids such as pictures and diagrams. My abilities as a global learner allow me to arrange concepts to fit together and understand the big picture. These learning abilities are important because science is a highly abstract, mathematical, and visual subject, and extends beyond the application of simple concepts; rather, it requires one to have the ability to think and visualize multiple facets of concepts in order to realize the connections between them and, ultimately, the big picture. Earth systems are an excellent example of what I am talking about here. We cannot see them as a whole, as they are measured to the vast extent of planet Earth. However, we can see their effects on our immediate environments, formulate mathematical calculations to understand their nature, and design models that can illustrate their effects on the Earth as a whole. These, among many other approaches to understanding the concepts that contribute to the complexity of Earth systems, allow us to visualize them in the big picture.

Erika Wittig Shrader

Hello, Everyone!

I am studying to earn a Single Subject Credential at National University to teach Science. I graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Earth Science, and enjoyed every minute of my experience there. It was quite extraordinary to learn about the Earth and its dynamic systems that interact to create the beautiful and interesting world around us while roaming through the pristine landscape of the Central Coast during class field trips and journeys of my own personal explorations. I fell in love with teaching when I participated in programs at Cal Poly to teach science to young students through fun hands-on activities and experiments. Using the University's learning motto of "Learn by Doing", all students, including those at Cal Poly and the young ones who came to visit, were able to truly gain an understanding of the concepts they were learning by creating and manipulating models, and to see for themselves how things work through the use of their senses. The effectiveness of the "Learn by Doing" motto has carried on into my life after Cal Poly as both a lifelong learner and educator. Now, as a student at National University, I am thrilled to be learning how to put my plan of becoming an educator into action, and gaining valuable knowledge of how to be the teacher I aspire to be.

Aside from being a science nerd, I also love surfing, yoga, art, traveling, music, dancing, food, and so many more amazing things! I am currently working as an Instructional Assistant at a local elementary school for 2nd grade students with special needs, and am very honored to be helping them to achieve success, and watching them grow. Working with students with special needs is very important for me to gain an understanding of their behavior and capabilities, and to practice implementing methods of assisting them with their individual needs. This experience, I believe, will be an incredible benefit to all of my students as a teacher in mainstream education. Thanks for reading!

-Erika :)