As a science teacher leader for my school district I am constantly in contact with other science teachers. We attend monthly meetings together to collaborate and share ideas with one another. We also communicate through email. We talk to one another about quality science that is happening in our classrooms and around our schools to encourage one another to spread the word.
The main challenge that I have continued to encounter is the lack of time to talk with colleagues and the lack of time to spend teaching science. My district puts a big emphasis on teaching reading and mathematics, with district assessment in these areas every three weeks. I continue to talk with colleagues about integrating science and technology into our reading, writing, and math lessons.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
What's our Sputnik?
Friedman makes some excellent points in his article. I agree there is no reason to waste all our time, energy, money, and our lives on trying to help countries who do not want to help themselves. There will be no long term change unless they want it to take place. So instead of focusing on the "war on terrorism" what should Americans do?
I say they should place a higher value on education. We need to do more to promote STEM careers. Science teachers alone can not make the difference for our country. We need everyone to buy into the fact that if we don't get our students understanding science, technology, economics, and mathematics at high levels we will continue to fall behind. The internet has really changed the way the whole world gets information and communicates and no one can say what will be next. If we don't prepare our young students to understand how to solve problems and collaborate with one another using our current technology we are preparing our students for jobs that do not exist. I think that Americans need to teach our students to read and write, but we need to place a higher focus on science and technology in our classrooms. Students will learn to read and write and use those skills when they are working through different scientific inquiries. I believe that we could change the destiny of the United States by changing to a focus on science education. Teachers can not teach science without teaching students math, technology, reading, writing, social studies, and every other content area.
I say they should place a higher value on education. We need to do more to promote STEM careers. Science teachers alone can not make the difference for our country. We need everyone to buy into the fact that if we don't get our students understanding science, technology, economics, and mathematics at high levels we will continue to fall behind. The internet has really changed the way the whole world gets information and communicates and no one can say what will be next. If we don't prepare our young students to understand how to solve problems and collaborate with one another using our current technology we are preparing our students for jobs that do not exist. I think that Americans need to teach our students to read and write, but we need to place a higher focus on science and technology in our classrooms. Students will learn to read and write and use those skills when they are working through different scientific inquiries. I believe that we could change the destiny of the United States by changing to a focus on science education. Teachers can not teach science without teaching students math, technology, reading, writing, social studies, and every other content area.
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