The Need for Data

Throughout the article Yes, We Can, there were many concepts that I support, but a few that I am unsure of. I completely agree with the author when she states that if schools collect data to support their views, it will be much harder for states and districts to ignore the issues at hand. It is one thing to believe that a specific teaching method or program works and a completely different thing to produce research and data that prove that this method is improving education for students. For example, East Hartford has been implementing Reader's and Writer's workshop in some classrooms. It is up to the teacher whether they want to use this new teaching method or stay with their traditional methods, as of now, but teachers who believe in this way of teaching are collecting data on their students progress and test scores constantly to present to the district and the state in order to change the way reading and writing are taught throughout the state. Many struggling schools buy scripted reading programs and do not get the results that they hope for. Using Reader's and Writer's workshop to teach literacy has proven to be quite effective and I hope these teachers can compile their results and make a positive change throughout their struggling district, and possibly throughout the state. Collecting data and proving your case is the only way to cause positive change, which is what struggling districts need.

The author seemed to place the majority of the blame for schools that struggle on the teachers. I agree that teachers need to be committed to their student's success and qualified in the subjects they teach, but I believe that there are many outside factors that affect student success, such as district-wide programs (ie. scripted reading) that teachers are forced to use in some places. In this case, the teaching methods that they use are not chosen by them and I don't think it is right to blame them in these cases. For example, some elementary schools in Hartford use this type of reading program and have not gotten very positive results. Some entire schools are forced to teach in this manner, which must be frustrating to teachers who want to see change and positive results and I don't think it is right to blame them for the success of their students.

Science in School

As we continue to discuss the methods of science teaching in class, I cannot help but think back to my years in elementary school and middle school. I honestly don't remember doing any science until sixth grade when we began to switch classes and I had an actual science period. I remember doing a lot of exciting experiments with Mr. Anthony and I don't remember doing a lot of book work. We had an egg drop, a solubility lab, a tank with different amphibians and reptiles in it, a pasta race, a moon journal and did many more activities. I remember measuring and making graphs of different results and posting them around the school. Going into middle school, I was so excited for science class, but it was a great disappointment. The majority of my science classes in middle school and high school consisted of watching videos, reading articles and textbooks and writing papers about the videos and texts that we were introduced to.

Science lost all of its mystery and excitement for me, which is why I am so interested in instilling this in my students. Science is so important in everyday life and I feel as if I am lacking in many of the skills learned in science classes, such as observation and critical thinking. I have noticed that the elementary school in East Hartford that I am interning in tends to do science every afternoon for about forty minutes. The first graders were just using a very simple classification method during science to group sets of animals together, which I was very excited to see.

While student teaching, I taught what I was told was a science lesson on the ocean to my fourth grade class. What it really was was a research paper based around a topic in science. The students were not using any of the process skills and this was a daunting task for many of them. We worked on this unit for about a month. Then, I learned that in fifth grade the students would be taking a science CMT. This research paper did not help them with this test and did not excite them about science. I hope I will get the opportunity to see more science lessons while I am interning at Langford and learn more about how to teach science in a meaningful way.