science in the elementary school
dr. michael b. leyden
345-adam -- or -- 581-5728 -- or --
fax: 581-2518 -- or -- e-mail: cfmbl@eiu.edu.
Goal i: thinking big
elementary teachers are drawn from a population that is generally ultra-
conservative and think small.
Look at michael leyden's life: el ed major - lived at home - taught 12 mi
from home - married at 23 - 2.0 kids by 26. What an exciting guy. Humans don't develop great
teaching ideas and unique philosophies with that lifestyle. I sure didn't. How could I ever "change schools" -- or classrooms ? I decided it would be impossible unless I began to "think big."
we aren't risk-takers and don't think of ourselves as --
- teaching in a foreign country -- ( did it )
- living alone -- ( do it )
-
- competing in the Ididerrod -- ( nope )
- earning a doctorate -- ( check )
-
- taking a course in auto mechanics -- ( sort of )
- writing three books -- ( done it )
-
- parachuting -- ( no - big sissy )
- getting a pilot's license -- ( see sissy comment above )
-
- and being expert in something other than laminating.
this causes severe educational & life problems because we . . .
- have a small bank account of life experiences to share . . .
- have small bank account because our behaviors cause low salaries.
when "Leyden's Law" is enacted . . .
- teachers wouldn't receive ten-ure for ten years . . .
- cannot teach within 600 miles of their hometowns . . .
- must have taught in three school districts . . .
- in two non-adjacent states.
imagine the confidence THOSE "big-thinking" teachers would have.
this course opens each day with "news and views" . . . as you discuss worldly things (& the hidden science therein) found in news clippings you bring to class. Clippings about --
- the stock market
- this week's "game"
- democracy
- S-T-S issues
- drugs
- mtv
- beaches of venice
Teachers must become conversant with "the big picture" of life in our world -- so they can ponder whether our curriculum prepares students with the skills they will need to survive ( literally ) in it.
Once you begin to "think big" you'll be uneasy about the "teaching"
we do in schools and appalled at the lack of science in the curriculum.
You'll want to change that. You will change that. But you can't make changes unless you have the power. You won't have the power unless you have the knowledge. You don't get the knowledge unless you think big ( as you study 10 hours a day ).
On the Internet are five assignments that will help you plant seeds
that will germinate BIG IDEAS in your brain.
Goal ii: operative knowledge of teaching strategies
There is a problem with methods courses as they hold out the hope that there is a magic powder that can be sprinkled on every lesson to make it "work." The only thing that will make a lesson work -- is the work the teacher exerts to prepare - execute - evaluate the learning experience.
But such a deal i make for you --
Here are five teaching strategies that
will be modeled in this course. When these concepts are added to a huge amount of mental and physical preparation ( 2 hours of homework for every class period ) -- they will design exciting learning experiences for students and teachers that will really "work."
process science
rationale:
an alternative to learning all the "stuff"
the learning cycle
rationale:
too many terms without meaning
discrepant events
rationale:
piaget theory - disequilibrium & turning on the brain
synectics
rationale:
the power of connections
s-t-s: science - technology - society
rationale:
science has a price ?
since these are practices that seem to "work" in elementary school science classrooms -- they should "work" in this one.
After you "work" a minimum of two hours of study per one hour of class time -- we will test to see if these methods really "work."
Goal iii: knowing some stuff
these are the "true science topics" studied in the course - as opposed to the
science education topics. They will vary each semester.
in the Mac Lab of the SSB are several "disks" --
- science education
- earth science
- miscellaneous activities
- the course
which are loaded ( about 1,000 pages ) with individual files. Yes -- I designed and typed them all. Each "page" you see on the Net takes about 3-4 hours of 'work ' to produce.
The science content and processes of these folders represents my 39 years
of schooling and teaching and typing.
Here are some of the folder titles ( with tons of files in each ):
Wall Street --- moon --- planets --- pendulums ---
acid rain --- S-T-S --- synectics --- process science
They will be your textbook.
I will not say to you --- "we just did a bunch of pendulum activities -- go to
pull the information on Pendulums off the disk or Net."
Specific pages will not be assigned --- as a college senior you will
automatically know that these are topics in which you should be versed
to score well
(a) in life -- 93% of which will not be spent teaching
(b) on the tests and quizzes.
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