Chapter 6: Writing Cases From Your Own Experience

What would you have done if you were in Sandra's shoes?

So overall I would say that Sandra was right for what she did. I do think that her words may have been sort of matter-of-factly instead of calming. I think the only thing she would have done better is to state that it wasn't her fault and that this is a learning experience. Not every lesson goes perfectly the first time, actually almost none of them go right the first time. Explaining this and letting her know that she is not in the wrong would help. Sandra seems to be more aggressive and protective of her students than she probably needs to be in this situation.

Who do you think was at fault?

I think Sandra was at fault because of the way she responded to the student teacher. She could settle down the kids, but was unable to settle down the student teacher. It is her responsibility to help the student teacher through this experience instead of making the student teacher feel worse about the situation.

What do you think teachers can learn from Sandra's case?

I think teachers need can learn that they need to make sure that their student teacher knows they are not trying to impede their learning, but letting them have another chance to revamp their lesson and do better the net time around. To learn from what happened that day and build on it so that they can perform a good lesson. Give them helpful hints on how to make the lesson better. 

I'm on the Case!

Kaboom, Kaput: 

In this case it looks at how the student teacher reacted when the classroom starts to descend into chaos. When disorder settles in, what do you do? In this case study the host teacher swoops in to save the, but there won't always be someone help to help when things start to get out of hand.

This is what I think of when I think of this case study. Of course the disorder does not reach this magnitude, but it could happen at any moment.

Surfing into a Science Research Quandry:

Not as much a case study, but more of a look into how studying science teaching is beneficial. Reflecting on experiences to learn more than what the theories talk about. Real life application is the name of this game.

Imagine watching a recording of yourself doing a lesson and seeing how many mistakes you make during the recording. Things that you know you should have done differently and how you can now noticed different things happening during the lesson to improve. 

Help! How can I teach without supplies: 

This case looks at a science lab in a small town that has trouble getting enough supplies for the students to do labs. The science lab teachers decides to turn to grant writing and fund raising to get money for supplies and it pays off. Another problem arises thought when other teachers want to use their supplies. This caused problems because they were not coming back in the same condition they were originally. To let them borrow or not? She worked hard to get the materials so why should she share if they tear up her hard earned materials.

This is a picture from the movie The Borrowers and I could definitely seeing the other teachers being the borrowers.

Spider! Creating an Interdisciplinary Web Support Science Inquiry :

Weaving multiple disciples into one lesson can be a challenging task, but it is much more rewarding for the students. In this case study the teacher combines multiple disciplines by using different centers that are all on the same theme of spiders. She runs into the problem of taking more time to cover material, but for the students it is much more meaningful.

This collage is a lot of different pictures that comes together to form one picture. This is just like taking a lot different disciples and using them to form on lesson.

Chapter 1

1. Give examples from your experience of problems or issues that were mainly (a) structural, (b) involving human relations, (c) political, and (d) symbolic.

The main structural problems I have had are rules that pertain to the use of cell phones in the classroom. Now not every teacher follows the schools policy on cell phones, but it is hindering at times because they make such a great tool for students to use when they are faced with questions that don't have a direct answer. Human relations comes in when trying to get the students engaged in activities. Sometimes it is hard to keep the students interested when teaching certain topics in science, but I try to relate it back to things they are interested in. Then again, not all students have the same interests so keeping everyone happy is a challenging task. I have not dealt a lot with the political part of the classroom, but when it does arise I try to resolve the problem much like a counselor would. It is hard to do this during class so I would often do this during group activities or after class when all the other students were busy. There was one time when one of my students had a dispute with me and we resolved it in the hallway. Sleeping in class I take as a symbolic issue because it says to me that they are not interested in the lesson and that it is so boring that it put them to sleep. The whole issue with hats honestly bugs me because I don't think the students in this age even know that wear a hat in the classroom is symbolic for being defiant in the traditional sense, but only because it is against the rules. I personally don't have a problem with them wearing a hat.

2. Draw a concept map of your overall concept of yourself as a science teacher.

3. Give an example from your life of learning something important from a story or narrative. Choose something that you could not or would not have known if you had not heard of read the story.

Something that I felt was influential that I read was a children's bible with picture stories. It helped give a moral compass. The stories show that being kind to others and doing all we can to help our fellow human being is the most important in life. This being said, I am not an active Christian or pretend to be. I do believe in the possibility, but the stories and the lessons they teach are crucial. Every religion has these stories and it is to help people develop a good moral compass and it strives to bring about peace to mankind. If I did not read these stories I am not sure I would have turned out the way I am and I think that no matter what you believe in, stories in any religious teaching are good for people to hear or read because of their value as a literary document.

4. Describe an incident or event from your own school days that made a lasting impression on you. Members of a group can share their stories.

One story I can tell if when I was in the school chorus and during a rehearsal the boy next to me was playing with some metal object and distracting other students. I decided to take action and swiftly take the item from him to stop the distractions because we were suppose to be singing for our parents.  I then was given in school suspension for my own distraction and was not allowed to go to the mall with the chorus. This was a big deal to me at the time because it was what every kid in 5th grade looked forward to doing. I asked myself if I in fact had done the right thing and why after explaining the situation to my teacher she did not understand it was for the better of the group. It made me question if it is simply better to take a backseat in these situations because the only reward is punishment. As my adult self I agree with what I did then and decided that even though it may cause more trouble for me, that it is better to help others than to be selfish. Getting myself in trouble is better than having more in trouble and the show ruined by some else's misdeeds.

5. Do you feel more excited or more apprehensive about teaching science? Discuss this with a classmate or group to share your feelings.

Well since I teach science already I feel about the same as I did. Having taught it in the middle school, high school, and TA'ed at the college level, I think I can say that I am still excited about teaching science.