My name is Annie Poetker. I was
born and raised in Vernon Hills, IL, which is located about 30 minutes from
Chicago. In Elementary school I remember doing projects on the life cycles of
plants and putting beans in a zip lock with a paper towel and examining them everyday.
We would write descriptions on worksheets and draw pictures. We learned about
how to write science reports, what a hypothesis was, and how to correctly write
one. I can't put a specific grade level on any of these because it all blurs
together in my mind. I can remember science classes and teachers specifically
after 6th grade. I remember doing research on specific scientists
and projects on those. I also remember studying the planets and making models
of those planets. I preferred projects and experiments in class and remember
those more vividly because I enjoyed hands on work and projects that included
artwork.
I went to
high school at Adlai E Stevenson High school, which is not only one of the
biggest high schools in Illinois but in the country as well. It was easy to be
overwhelmed in that school because there were people everywhere and there were
a variety of different levels in each grade so often you didn't know the people
in your classes. I was shy in all of these classes but during group work where
we were forced to collaborate, I found myself enjoying those times more. So in
my high school experience I found myself remembering more experiments and
specific topics that I’ll now share. I took natural science my freshman year
where we studied rocks and rock formations as well as minerals and how to sort
them. I then took biology but I don’t remember much from that class except
studying organisms under microscopes. Junior year I took chemistry where we did
experiments with beakers and fire and all of the jazzy stuff that most people
think of when they picture science. We did experiments where we filled balloons
and made our own tie-dye. My last year of High School I took physics where we
studied velocity and force and did lots of experiments.
I then went
on to study Early Childhood Education at Illinois State University. Coming to
the university I had some experience with children but mostly babysitting and nannying
with very limited time spent in a classroom. I had no idea what age group specifically
I wanted to teach but I always remembered my Kindergarten teacher as my
favorite and I always saw her as a role model. So I knew I wanted to teach from
the beginning but I decided young children was the prime age group for me. In
college so far I have studied geology, physics, and anthropology. I know anthropology
is more of a social studies type of class but I combined it with science as
well because we did study artifacts and biology of animals. I took physics here
at the university because I loved it so much in high school but it was a lot
different here from what I expected. It was more the history of physics than it
was the physics that I took in high school. I did not enjoy this physics as
much because it was all lecture notes and while we did have labs they were on
the computer and were not very hands on. I learn a lot better in my science
classes when I am using the lecture notes and course information and
experimenting with it in hands on experiments.
I still am
not completely sure what age group I want to teach. Through the university I
have spent hours in a 1-year-old room, a preschool room, a kindergarten room,
and I am now in a 2nd grade classroom for PDS. These experiences
really helped me narrow down which age range I wanted to teach. I know I want
to work with kids in preschool or older. But I am still not able to pick a
specific grade. I haven’t seen science taught yet in the classroom but I am
excited to see it this school year and to learn about it in our classrooms
because I enjoyed it throughout high school. For this year and my future
classroom I want to make my science lessons as hands on as they can be. I don't
want to be a teacher that reads straight from the textbook. I have already
bought science books with activities and plans in them. I think small group
allows for more experiments because it will be easier for the younger students
to do more projects if they do it as a group.
I was
raised in the suburbs of Chicago where a lot of the students in my surrounding
neighborhood were from the same social class as the same ethnicity and me. But
my elementary school and junior high were combined with another high schools
district so the school was about 50% white and 40% Hispanic in cultural makeup.
Because of the cultural make up of the school a lot of my classes were not
officially bilingual but Spanish was spoken in the classroom. This helped me
some with diversity but I think I really learned a lot when I came to the
university and took classes in diversity. I think college has taught me the
most about diversity and how to teach students of different cultural
backgrounds. While at the university I traveled to Birmingham, AL with a
program called Alternative Spring Break where I taught 4th grade
students in the inner city schools and it changed my life. I fell in love with
those students and I have been contemplating working in urban schools since
that trip. I think it will be a challenge especially because I did not come
from the same background of my students but its still possible to find common
ground and I want to make sure all students know they have someone who cares
about them.
Here is a picture of
one of my classes in Birmingham, AL. They will always be an inspiration to me.
Annie,
ReplyDeleteI also found it difficult to remember my science experiences from grade school and early middle school. The bits and pieces that I do remember were hands on activities as well as the experiences that I remember well. You also remembered mostly the science activities that were engaging using hands on activities. I think this says something about those activities and how we as future teachers need to look at our activities that we teach to our students. Students remember most were they are fully engaged and experiencing science. I think that is one of the most beneficial ways for students to learn! I also enjoyed reading about your alternative spring break experience! I agree that it will be challenging, but it will also be so rewarding if you decide to work in inner city schools. You will definitely make a great teacher and role model to your students! :)
Annie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you most of what I remember from my science classes and experiences are doing worksheets and charts, but yet I do not remember the exact content of what was on those worksheets or what we learned. I also found it hard to put a particular grade with certain concepts we learned. The only thing that I was able to distinguish were the BIG hands on projects and experiments that we did. I believe for most people this is a big reality as well. I had a similar college experience as well with science classes, where they were a lot of lecture notes and very little hands on and it was hard to grasp the concept when all you had to remember it was the lecture notes that you took in class. I believe that it, is wonderful that you do not want to be one of those teachers that read straight out of the textbook. As we learned from our experience things that are hands on are learned better and retained more. While sometimes it is necessary to read specific facts or lecture for a small part to get the concept down and started talking about, it needs to be paired with something else and not just as a stand alone lesson. I think that it is wonderful that because of your experiences growing up in schools and through alternative spring break that you want to teach in a urban setting. I think that sometimes it is these kids that need our attention the most!