Steve Montgomery Teaching Statement, Goals, & Reflection

I believe to effectively teach science, a variety of things that need to be taken into consideration. First, there are some general things that need to be considered. Like any teacher, I would need to develop a good relationship with my students. I want them to feel comfortable and safe in my classroom. This will help them to learn more effectively. I also want to establish a strong control over my classroom. I dont mean like a dictatorship, there is always time for fun and laughter, but the students need to know that Im in charge and that when I say its time to get down to business, I mean it. My classroom will be a welcoming environment to all different kinds of people. I understand that everyone is different and have unique obstacles to overcome. I can teach all of them effectively by having understanding, compassion, and making appropriate accommodations for each students situation. I would also want students to know that the learning environment was open to any questions they may have pertaining to the subject (No stupid questions). In many of my high school classes, and throughout college, people would be confused about something but would be afraid to ask questions because of how the teacher would respond if they did. I will be sure to offer plenty of extra help opportunities all of my students. The way I will teach science is presenting a broad topic with engagement, and then exploring it further while investigating smaller sub-topics that connect back to the bigger broader one. For example, in class we talked about the water cycle, but there are many aspects of science that go into the water cycle. I may start class one day by engaging students with a demo or short video, then guiding them through an exploration activity on the water cycle. In the following days I could cover things in more detail such as the processes of evaporation and precipitation. I

could discuss some aspects of how weather works and plays its part in the water cycle. The students would think we had moved on to another topic however they would actually be further strengthening their understanding of it. I need to be sure that whatever subtopics I decide to use, there is a way for me to tie them back to the original broad idea, while still having some important lessons of their own. I think another important aspect of teaching science is using inquiry in the classroom. I am a firm believer in direct instruction, but with the addition of inquiry learning, science can come to life for students. It is vital that students understand the scientific process, and how it can be used to solve practical problems. This of course means doing lab work. I think labs are a fun and more exciting way for students to learn science. When I was in school I always got excited for days when we got to do labs because instead of sitting and listening to the teacher all day, we got to learn and discover for ourselves. Doing labs gets students thinking about how to solve problems. They have to figure out the problem, diagnose it, analyze it, and use critical thinking to figure out a solution. Labs are a great way to instill that wow factor into students. Its a way of showing them how amazing science can really be. Science is not easy thing to learn. For many students it is their hardest, least favorite class. It will be my job to make it as enjoyable and valuable to them as possible. I plan to do that by presenting good solid information in a variety of ways, as to keep them interested and curious. Presenting broad, not easily answered questions, that cause them to think critically and keep them engaged in the material. I also plan to challenge them in the classroom and out. We may do a lab one day and it may stir up some questions that I could have them look up and investigate on their own. I also plan to offer plenty of extra help and must keep an open mind. After taking my class my students will be better prepared in many life skills such as problem

solving and critical thinking. They also will be exposed to a variety of topics which may influence what they decide to study in higher education. I think that the best thing for me to do in my first few years of teaching will be to talk with other teachers who are more experienced and learn from them. Also, taking feedback from my students on what they liked and what worked best for them. Doing all of that will make me the best I can be. Professional development is important in every career, but is especially important in education. We as teachers are constantly learning and developing with our students. We need to be up to speed on the latest methods and techniques, as well as being current on our subject area. I have 3 professional development goals that I will be working towards as I begin my teaching career. (1) I will develop great relationships with my fellow teachers and supervising administrators. This is a goal for me because I believe these relationships will help me gain valuable knowledge on teaching methods/techniques and procedures that will make me a more effective teacher. (2) I will establish great communication with my students and their parents. Meeting this goal will help to show I care about students success and can help me to get the parents on my side to help a student should there be a problem. (3) I will seek further education and work towards earning my masters degree. This is a goal for me because I aspire to one day become a school administrator and ultimately a principal. My view of what inquiry based learning is has changed drastically since it was first introduced to me in methods 1. I first thought it meant just doing activities with students that were hands on such as labs. Now, I realize it is much more than that. I would explain it as guiding students discovery through scientific curriculum with the use of exploration activities. There are varying levels of inquiry as well. Open ended is the most extreme, where students create the question and the solution. Guided is most common, where the teacher presents the

students with a problem and the students work to create a solution. The key difference between inquiry learning and direct instruction is that students discover things on their own rather than just having it told to them. When students discover things on their own it gives the material more meaning and helps them to encode it better. My views of science instruction have changed slightly over the last year in methods 1 & 2. I first thought inquiry was pointless and would never work in a real classroom. I saw it as how science could be taught in a perfect world, with well behaved and self motivated students. Although I am still a believer in direct instruction and practice, I now see that inquiry can be very effective when used properly and has its place within science education. Inquiry can help keep the students interested in the subject matter and gives them a sense of purpose in the classroom. Its a good behavior manager because it limits time off task. I plan to use a lot of discourse in my student teaching and first job. I think its important to put it in students minds early that science is a field where one can achieve good things but a group working together can achieve great things. This is not only true for science but for all areas of life. I like to have my students share results among other groups when we do an activity. There are often disparities and we discuss them as a class. Students are often interested as to why their results were so much different as another groups. I help them to understand why, and that sometimes its the bad results that can tell us the most. Balancing standards, curricular goals, state requirements, and national requirements will be tricky at first. During my student teaching I plan to have some discussions with my CT to understand how they manage it. As of right now I can only go off the little experience I have and what we have talked about in class. While writing my unit and year-long plans, I noticed that it wasnt that difficult to cover most all of the state standards. The most difficult part will be

covering the standards while still preparing them adequately for the national tests. I will review my students progress on the tests each year. This analysis will show me where they struggle the most. Then the next year I can make sure to cover that material longer, or in a different way. In my practicum this semester we did that with the scientific method. The science teachers at Goodrich had noticed that their students were scoring low in that section of the NESA testing. We took a week to cover the scientific method in detail to help improve that. I know so many people that think science is boring and pointless. They either had poor science teachers, or never had anyone tell them the benefits of a strong scientific understanding. On several occasions I have set down with such people and discussed it with them. Science education can inspire people. It can open windows in peoples minds that they never knew were there. So many different fields of science exist that usually everyone finds an interest in at least one. If someone finds something theyre passionate about there is nothing stopping them. Good science education can lead people to peruse higher education and become contributing members of society. Science education also teaches important life skills. Some of these skills include: problem solving, critical thinking, interpreting data/graphs, logical thinking, deductive reasoning, cause & effect, and various scientific techniques. Lastly and most importantly, it creates a smarter society. People who are scientifically literate can see things in both short and long term. They have knowledge on how things work and know that its important to question everything. These people make more educated decisions in everything they do which can be very influential on others based on what position they hold.