Changes in Teacher Scenarios

The first activity that I would not teach is number 13 where the students go outside each night and sketch the phase of the moon. I do not like it because I did this in a previous class, and I feel that a student does not get much out of it. I would change it because it does not get the students very involved and there are better ways of having the students positively included in the classroom rather than having them do this work at home. I would change it by doing an in-class activity that covers the same material of moon phases. As we did in class, and we also covered in my previous class, you can use different materials to act out the phases of the moon. By using the flashlight as the sun and a ball as the moon, possibly with other materials, you can see the phases of the moon very easily. This gets everyone in the class involved because it can be done in small groups, and they can then have a whole class discussion where everyone reports back to the group. Again, this allows students to be actively involved in the activity, and allows them to discuss their findings with the entire class. They can also compare their ideas with the ideas of everyone else through the discussion or by discussing it in their small groups. This is a more effective inquiry process than having the students look at the moon every night.

The second activity that I would not teach is number 6 where the teacher requires the students to participate in a science fair. I do not like that the teacher requires the students to do this because it takes away from the fun of exploration and experimentation with their project. If they are forced to do, they see it as an assignment and are just doing to it for the credit. If a student does not want to a project like this, then they will likely get very little out of it. A change I would make is having it be a voluntary project for extra credit or some other incentive. I would also do a science fair type project in the classroom where the students could work in small groups on the project. This would get all the students involved without all of the pressures of completing the experiment on their own at home. This makes it a better inquire practice because the students are actively involved in the classroom where they can ask questions. They can discuss what is happening with their group members as well as the teacher, allowing them to talk about their ideas and compare them with the other students. They will overall get more from this because they are hearing multiple perspectives on the issues that are taking place. Because they are getting more chances for discussion as the project progresses, it makes for a better inquiry experience. They are actively engaged in the experience along with learning new information and discussing these ideas and findings with other classmates and the teacher.