Module 1

Science Lesson in my Classroom
On a typical day in my classroom I will read the standard for the day, introduce any new key vocabulary, and hook the students with either a Brain Pop on our topic or a Discovery Education Video about what we will be learning on that specific day. One of my favorite unit to teach is Constructive and Destructive forces so I am going to describe one of those lessons. This was a culminating activity so I showed a Discovery Education video on landforms. We discussed key vocabulary such as volcano, jetty, canyon, delta, and mountain. I then divided the class into groups of 5 or 6. I gave each group a landform topic, a plastic tray and about 5 minutes to brainstorm how they were going to create a model to show this landform. At my teacher table I provided sand, pebbles, water, dirt,water bottles, vinegar, baking soda and larger stones. They were to decide as a group which of these items they wanted to use to show their specific landform. The groups came up to gather their supplies and it was their turn to show me their process of thinking. After they were finished they had to write on an index card the processes that were used to create their landform and why they chose the materials that they did for this experiment. Then the class took a gallery walk around to all the other groups where an explanation was given from the group members. I used this time as an informal assessment of the group members ability to correctly portray the landform and description of the processes used to form these landforms. My motivation for this lesson was that I wanted the student to see how the processes we had been learning could actually work in a much smaller scale to help bring the science to life.

The use of technology in the classroom
After reading all the articles and book chapters this week I was reassured as to why technology in the classroom is important. Our world is constantly changing and we must equip our students with the abilities to conquer new ideas and new items through the scientific process. Allowing our students the ability to explore through the use of technology can be so vital to their success in life. It's crazy to think how when my fifth grade students get to be graduates that the jobs they are going to go to college for may not even exist right now. This goes to show why we should use the proper lesson formats, experiments, and experiences to engage our students in science. The ultimate goal is to have our students apply what they learn in our classroom into their everyday lives but we must have strong intentions for what it is we are wanting them to take away from a lesson. There needs to be thought out ideas and we ourselves must be very intune with the technologies we use in our classroom. It's important as a teacher to also go back and learn new technologies to feel confident in our use of them before we try to use them in the classroom. Professional development is never a bad thing. Our trade is to be a teacher and we must constantly learn new and innovative ways to engage our students in the science process. I enjoy using technology in my classroom and want to continue learning new ways. My school just bought three ipad carts that I would love to incorporate into lab for my students. I am sure there are applications out there that can apply directly to my curriculum to help in my want to bring science alive in the classroom. My extent of technology this past year was using Discovery Education, Brain Pop, Powerpoint, Voki, and Glogster. I would like to expand even further into the various uses in my classroom.

Concept Mapping- I think concept mapping is a great way for students and teachers to make connections of their instruction and ideas. Sometimes kids ideas are all over the place so we think but they might be making connections we just don't understand. If we use this idea of concept mapping these students might have an easier time showing us their learning.