Science, Science, Science

We're already a month into the semester! This has been a month full of course work, assignments, and project planning, but I've already learned so much. This month in science methods we have focused on a lot of things, but the one thing that really stood out to me was the science fair project planning. It seems as if we have already been working on this project for months because our group has been doing a lot of planning and prepping for our experiment. I'm excited to see how it's going to turn out and the group we have works so well together. Our group consists of us that are going to be student teaching together, so it's nice to have the chance to collaborate together and share ideas since we are all so close to taking over a classroom! I'm so proud of the plans that we have made and the progress we have made so far. This has really been a test of our flexibility and willingness to accept change because science is forever changing and not something you can specifically plan for. Our plants are looking great and they will soon be ready for some acid!
My struggles this month would have to be that since we are getting into the swing of things in the classroom and we had to do a lot of testing, science and social studies were pushed to the back burner. I have been talking with my CE and she is encouraging me to use science and social studies as much as I can since we won't be in the middle of so much testing when I take over in January. However, we will be prepping for the EOG so it's going to be crazy. Thankfully, my CE has been providing me with a lot or resources that I can use to teach science and I'm excited to implement them. These will be interesting activities so I think it will be a good relaxer for my students after all the reading passages and math problems. I would say that this brought me the most satisfaction as well. My CE is a great person and I'm so blessed with all the resources that she is giving me to teach in January. This shows me that she does see the importance in all subjects. The sad reality though is that when we are testing, we lose so much instructional time.
My action steps over the next month will be to continue working in my classroom and staying on top of assignments. I also hope to dive more into the science curriculum for 3rd grade to do some more planning on what I hope to do with my students!
This past month, I contributed to the science fair project group by giving ideas. We all work very well together and I know this will continue. It's nice to have other people going through the same thing you are to be there for support and encouragement! We plan to continue this.
My outside learning this month consisted of all of the news after the hurricane hit. This was such a sad thing that hit the coast of NC and I think about all the ways I can implement this event in my classroom. We didn't get hit very hard in this area, but there are so many places just a couple of hours away from us that lost everything. My students don't really see that devastation, but it's real and I think we need to talk about it. This would be a great way to integrate science and social studies because this has changed our history and made a huge impact. I saw a news article that showed an aerial view of all of the pollution that has taken over the oceans from the hurricane and it was crazy. This is a great phenomenon to show my students and learn their thoughts on it. It was one of my TTotW, so it will be added below.
This month I learned that NCTCS Standard 2 when it mentions community it means everyone that lives with or around my students. This consists of the community around my school and the community around my students. It's important for us to reach out to everyone to know what is going on. The more we know about our students, the better we can meet their needs. My school is very big on parent/community involvement, so I'm excited to be a part of this. I'm excited to be able to plan a parent night for 435 and present it to the principal. Who knows, maybe we will use it!
Listed below are screenshots of my TTotW.

This article talks about the gap that is occurring between students and learning in science. It gives ways that we can reverse this gap and ensure that our students are really learning! 

This had to have been one of my all time favorite tweets that I have found. I love virtual field trips after taking social studies and this one takes you on a trip to learn all about cows! (an animal that has a close place in my heart) I have completed some of it and it looks so fun! This would be great for any grade! 

Phenomenon! This would be awesome to just pull up and see what your students say and/or think.