My favorite science teacher in grade school was my 6th grade science teacher. He was an energetic teacher who could make the simplest topic interesting and exciting. His classroom was filled with science pictures and inspirational quotes. He had plants growing in various places in his classroom. He constantly had lab equipment out to show us a demonstration. He had an aquarium with a garter snake in it and goldfish in another aquarium. He had pictures of Albert Einstein on the wall as well as diagrams of various chemical reactions, cells, organ systems. He also had a skeleton in his classroom that was named Mr. Bones that wore a bow-tie.
You may be asking at this point “What does this have to do with your masters?” Well, actually, it has a lot to do with my masters because in this classroom was my first experience with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the classroom next to his clock, he had the following quote posted on the wall: “Life is a journey, not a destination”- Ralph Waldo Emerson. Now back in 6th grade, I would stare at this quote next to the clock all the time because I didn’t understand it at all. I understood that it was supposed to tell us to stop looking at the clock, but I couldn’t help to think that the destination was always the point or objective. Even to this day, I still feel that this is true just like I did when I was a 6th grade girl, especially when it comes to my masters.
Overall, I have been so excited to get to the destination of completing my masters. I have been excited to finish for a number of reasons. I am excited to go up in the pay scale at my school. (Let’s be honest, every ounce of extra pay helps this day in age.) I am also excited to have that piece of paper to be able to tell people that I have accomplished my masters. I am excited to have that personal satisfaction that I have completed a higher level of education.
After looking back at my masters career during my capstone course, I’ve realized that my 6th grade teacher and Ralph Waldo Emerson have been right all along. Even though there are benefits to reaching your destination, the lessons I have learned throughout this journey will benefit me in ways that will continually enrich my life and will allow me to continue to grow as an educator. These benefits, in reality, are the more enriching benefits and the ones that will allow me to better myself as an overall teacher and human being. To take a look at these benefits, let’s start by going back to the beginning of my journey in Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Education program.
The first part of my journey was a class in summer of 2012. In the summer I took a class called Psychology of Schools and Learning in Schools and Other Settings or CEP 800. During this class, I was able to interview a student about their understanding of condensation. In this interview, I was able to sit one-on-one and record the student’s responses to questions about how condensation got onto a cold pop can. From this interview, I learned how to ask meaningful questions without guiding a student to the right answer, how much students hang on to prior misconceptions as well as how much outside sources can influence a student’s ideas and thoughts.
In the fall, I was able to take another class that allowed me to continue the learning on this journey. This class was called Teaching Subject Matter with Technology or TE 831. In this class, I was able to apply many different forms of technology in my classroom. I was introduced to exploring pinterest for lesson ideas or classroom decoration ideas. I was able to explore science360 and used a
few movies in my classroom to allow students to have another exposure to the content taught. I used Socrative to question my students and receive quick feedback about their understanding of the topic taught. I also learned how to use popplet to create online mind maps either for the classroom or in curriculum.
Not only did I get to experience many forms of technology that I can use within my classroom in this course, but I was exposed to concept of TPACK. This theory states that in order for technology to be effective within the classroom, it must carefully interlink with a teacher’s pedagogy or teaching practices/beliefs as well as the content of the classroom. The T in TPACK stands for technology. P stands for pedagogy. C stands for content and K stands for knowledge.
In the spring of 2013, I was able to take a class called Teaching for Science Understanding or TE 861A. In this class I was able to explore various types of formative assessments and learned how to use them within a lesson sequence. For example, I was able to use these formative assessments within my classroom during my water cycle lesson sequence and analyze the results before
the summative assessment. There was a sequence of three formative assessments within this sequence showing the changes in the students understanding of the water cycle. After I analyzed these results, I was able to show the results to my classmates and discuss these results online through a power point that I created to summarize the lesson sequence.
Also, we discussed the new Next Generation Science Standards in this course. We focused on the changes from the old standards to the new standards and how the concepts in the new standards have become more holistic, build on each other from one year to the next and that there are main cross-cutting concepts that are taught throughout primary and secondary education. We also had extensive discussion and analysis of the "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Cross-Cutting Concepts and Core Ideas" by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. This framework is what the Next Generation Science Standards are based upon.
Then, I journeyed onto the summer of 2013. This past summer I had the pleasure of taking an action research course called Action Research in a K-12 Science or Math Classroom or TE 861C. In this class, I was able to develop my own action research plan. I first
had to choose a topic of research. I decided my focus would be on the idea of condensation within the water cycle since my students had so much trouble with understanding this part of the water cycle in my Teaching For Science Understanding class. I also
decided that I would use Predict, Observe, Explain activities to address their misconceptions of this concept. Once I decided on my focus, I looked for literature that supported my focus and the use of Predict, Observe, Explain activities to address misconceptions. After the literature review, I had to determine the context in which I was conducting my research before I created my methods, so that my methods fit both the proposed remedy as well as the group of students and environment I was testing in. Finally, my methods were created. In my methods, I chose three Predict, Observe, Explain activities. The first activity was where students had to predict what will happen to glass in five minutes if ice cold water is poured into it. This is to emphasize that atmospheric water vapor condense on cold objects. The second activity was where students had to predict what would happen to a cold watch glass if it was placed over boiling water. The final activity was cloud in a bottle so the students can see water droplets not water vapor can be aloft in the air and it needs some dust to condense upon. All of these activities’ effectiveness will be analyzed through the results of students’ explanations in the Predict, Observe, Explain activities and a quiz that is taken before the activities, and three times after the activities to show retention of the new concepts.
After this extensive action research in the summer, my journey finally takes me to my last semester at Michigan State University, fall of 2013. In this final semester, I was able to take two classes. One was called Leading Teacher Learning or EAD 824 and the other was called Capstone Seminar or ED 870. In the leading teacher learning class, I had the opportunity to work on how adults learn, various strategies to use within Professional Learning Communities, and I was able to create a year-long plan for teaching learning in my school. In my capstone course, I was able to advance my technology skills by working with weebly and creating an online professional
portfolio.
So all in all, I don’t believe that my 6th grade science teacher or Emerson would argue the fact that the destination indeed has its rewards and in this case, the rewards would be the ability to put a masters of arts on my resume or the ability to go up in pay. Although, I believe that they were trying to point out something even more important. They were trying to point out that in the long
run, the greatest rewards actually come from the journey itself.
The rewards from my journey through my masters will be all of the new content, theories, teaching techniques, curriculum planning, etc. that I will be able to apply to my profession. These are rewards that I can continue building upon throughout my career. I will be
able to take this knowledge to various conferences or meetings possibly in science or even technology to have discussions with professors, researchers, consultants, and other teachers about these new ideas and I will be able develop these new ideas even further. Even better, I will be able to continue perfecting these rewards within my own classroom and the school that I work in to hopefully make me a more effective teacher and staff member.
You may be asking at this point “What does this have to do with your masters?” Well, actually, it has a lot to do with my masters because in this classroom was my first experience with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the classroom next to his clock, he had the following quote posted on the wall: “Life is a journey, not a destination”- Ralph Waldo Emerson. Now back in 6th grade, I would stare at this quote next to the clock all the time because I didn’t understand it at all. I understood that it was supposed to tell us to stop looking at the clock, but I couldn’t help to think that the destination was always the point or objective. Even to this day, I still feel that this is true just like I did when I was a 6th grade girl, especially when it comes to my masters.
Overall, I have been so excited to get to the destination of completing my masters. I have been excited to finish for a number of reasons. I am excited to go up in the pay scale at my school. (Let’s be honest, every ounce of extra pay helps this day in age.) I am also excited to have that piece of paper to be able to tell people that I have accomplished my masters. I am excited to have that personal satisfaction that I have completed a higher level of education.
After looking back at my masters career during my capstone course, I’ve realized that my 6th grade teacher and Ralph Waldo Emerson have been right all along. Even though there are benefits to reaching your destination, the lessons I have learned throughout this journey will benefit me in ways that will continually enrich my life and will allow me to continue to grow as an educator. These benefits, in reality, are the more enriching benefits and the ones that will allow me to better myself as an overall teacher and human being. To take a look at these benefits, let’s start by going back to the beginning of my journey in Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Education program.
The first part of my journey was a class in summer of 2012. In the summer I took a class called Psychology of Schools and Learning in Schools and Other Settings or CEP 800. During this class, I was able to interview a student about their understanding of condensation. In this interview, I was able to sit one-on-one and record the student’s responses to questions about how condensation got onto a cold pop can. From this interview, I learned how to ask meaningful questions without guiding a student to the right answer, how much students hang on to prior misconceptions as well as how much outside sources can influence a student’s ideas and thoughts.
In the fall, I was able to take another class that allowed me to continue the learning on this journey. This class was called Teaching Subject Matter with Technology or TE 831. In this class, I was able to apply many different forms of technology in my classroom. I was introduced to exploring pinterest for lesson ideas or classroom decoration ideas. I was able to explore science360 and used a
few movies in my classroom to allow students to have another exposure to the content taught. I used Socrative to question my students and receive quick feedback about their understanding of the topic taught. I also learned how to use popplet to create online mind maps either for the classroom or in curriculum.
Not only did I get to experience many forms of technology that I can use within my classroom in this course, but I was exposed to concept of TPACK. This theory states that in order for technology to be effective within the classroom, it must carefully interlink with a teacher’s pedagogy or teaching practices/beliefs as well as the content of the classroom. The T in TPACK stands for technology. P stands for pedagogy. C stands for content and K stands for knowledge.
In the spring of 2013, I was able to take a class called Teaching for Science Understanding or TE 861A. In this class I was able to explore various types of formative assessments and learned how to use them within a lesson sequence. For example, I was able to use these formative assessments within my classroom during my water cycle lesson sequence and analyze the results before
the summative assessment. There was a sequence of three formative assessments within this sequence showing the changes in the students understanding of the water cycle. After I analyzed these results, I was able to show the results to my classmates and discuss these results online through a power point that I created to summarize the lesson sequence.
Also, we discussed the new Next Generation Science Standards in this course. We focused on the changes from the old standards to the new standards and how the concepts in the new standards have become more holistic, build on each other from one year to the next and that there are main cross-cutting concepts that are taught throughout primary and secondary education. We also had extensive discussion and analysis of the "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Cross-Cutting Concepts and Core Ideas" by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. This framework is what the Next Generation Science Standards are based upon.
Then, I journeyed onto the summer of 2013. This past summer I had the pleasure of taking an action research course called Action Research in a K-12 Science or Math Classroom or TE 861C. In this class, I was able to develop my own action research plan. I first
had to choose a topic of research. I decided my focus would be on the idea of condensation within the water cycle since my students had so much trouble with understanding this part of the water cycle in my Teaching For Science Understanding class. I also
decided that I would use Predict, Observe, Explain activities to address their misconceptions of this concept. Once I decided on my focus, I looked for literature that supported my focus and the use of Predict, Observe, Explain activities to address misconceptions. After the literature review, I had to determine the context in which I was conducting my research before I created my methods, so that my methods fit both the proposed remedy as well as the group of students and environment I was testing in. Finally, my methods were created. In my methods, I chose three Predict, Observe, Explain activities. The first activity was where students had to predict what will happen to glass in five minutes if ice cold water is poured into it. This is to emphasize that atmospheric water vapor condense on cold objects. The second activity was where students had to predict what would happen to a cold watch glass if it was placed over boiling water. The final activity was cloud in a bottle so the students can see water droplets not water vapor can be aloft in the air and it needs some dust to condense upon. All of these activities’ effectiveness will be analyzed through the results of students’ explanations in the Predict, Observe, Explain activities and a quiz that is taken before the activities, and three times after the activities to show retention of the new concepts.
After this extensive action research in the summer, my journey finally takes me to my last semester at Michigan State University, fall of 2013. In this final semester, I was able to take two classes. One was called Leading Teacher Learning or EAD 824 and the other was called Capstone Seminar or ED 870. In the leading teacher learning class, I had the opportunity to work on how adults learn, various strategies to use within Professional Learning Communities, and I was able to create a year-long plan for teaching learning in my school. In my capstone course, I was able to advance my technology skills by working with weebly and creating an online professional
portfolio.
So all in all, I don’t believe that my 6th grade science teacher or Emerson would argue the fact that the destination indeed has its rewards and in this case, the rewards would be the ability to put a masters of arts on my resume or the ability to go up in pay. Although, I believe that they were trying to point out something even more important. They were trying to point out that in the long
run, the greatest rewards actually come from the journey itself.
The rewards from my journey through my masters will be all of the new content, theories, teaching techniques, curriculum planning, etc. that I will be able to apply to my profession. These are rewards that I can continue building upon throughout my career. I will be
able to take this knowledge to various conferences or meetings possibly in science or even technology to have discussions with professors, researchers, consultants, and other teachers about these new ideas and I will be able develop these new ideas even further. Even better, I will be able to continue perfecting these rewards within my own classroom and the school that I work in to hopefully make me a more effective teacher and staff member.