How Does Science Learning Happen?

Students LOVE science study!

I always leaned more towards the arts and humanities rather than science and math as a child. Yet I loved music and patterns which was a great inroad to math learning.

With regard to science, I enjoyed the outdoor world and cooking, but I wasn't as curious about how the physical aspects of the world worked. Instead I was much more interested in psychology, sociology, religion, and literature.

With deepening standards in the areas of science for elementary school students, I've had to to spend a lot of time thinking deeply about how students learn science while also strengthening my own background knowledge in the subject.

Typically at elementary schools, science was often a last consideration, the subject we taught after we focused on math, reading, and writing. But now, we're focusing much more on science topics, topics that I believe are well-led by the state's relatively new science standards, our systemwide science support, students' love of the subject, and the general community's push and interest in this discipline.

So what does this mean for me as a teacher and for my learners? The following actions have helped a lot:

• Transforming my classroom to a science learning lab with great tables, storage cabinets, and lots of hands-on science learning materials.
• Easy access to science information via video and text online and offline. I have lots of resources with which to teach science well.
• A grant to work with the local Audubon organization, specifically we are working with our students and Drumlin Farm naturalists and environmental educators/experts to strengthen the environmental aspect of our science study.
• Collegial interest and collaboration with regard to teaching this subject well.
• The intersection of social emotional learning (SEL) and science standards.
• Turning the standards into easy-to-understand and investigate questions. 

The focus now is to continually deepen my own knowledge and ability to teach this subject well. That work involves the following:

• Continually bettering the teaching/learning environment by making materials easy to access and use for all members of the learning community, especially the students.
• Deepening my knowledge via reading, research, and study. I'll likely sign up for a summer science study course, and our team is writing a grant to develop our knowledge in this area too.
• I will continually develop and deepen students' learning experiences in the subject area to reflect the latests cognitive research with a focus on engagement, empowerment and good education in the subject. 

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions as I continue down this worthy teaching/learning path.