Farewell for now!

Now that Science Methods is over I almost don't know what I'm going to do with my time. Many of my thoughts revolved around this class, so now that it's over I don't even know what to think. There are so many memories I have from the class, from staying up late in the library with my friends, and all the crazy adventures that came with that. I'm so lucky that took this class this semester because everyone in that class is truly amazing. Everyone worked so hard this semester and I know that it'll be just as fun when we all go back. I've learned a lot this semester and I'm glad it's over, but now its time to look to the future... Social Studies Methods!The semester was long and hard, but I can't wait to get back to it.

My edTPA Experience

EdTPA is all they tell you about. It's a lot of work and it's scary. I was so lucky that I had a group of people going through this with me. I would say the way to do edTPA is truly one step at a time. Trying to do more than one or two tasks in a day is exhausting. I started some of the tasks in the middle of the semester and the helped me tremendous as the final weeks of school rolled around. I think for next semester I'll start more of the tasks earlier as well. When I first began I was very confused but having two people who already taken Social Studies helped me a lot. The whole experience was overwhelming, and I'm so glad it's over for now. Even though I struggled I feel stronger as an educator and I feel as though I can do edTPA. This was great practice and I can't wait to get started on the next one.

E-Folios Oh My!

I can 100% the finishing my e-folio was one of the most rewarding feelings of my life. There was some joy that came from making the e-folio. It had me thinking about many things I'd never really thought about before. Putting together everything I had done this semester on to one website really put into perspective how much work I did this year so far. The edTPA tabs alone leave me such a sense of accomplishment. It was not easy I can say that for sure. Everything looks the way I wanted it to and now I know for next semester exactly how I'm going to make my e-folio. Making this e-folio gave me a lot of insight of how I would like to even make a classroom website for my future classroom.

SMO

Skills to be Developed:

   -Communication Skills

   -Inquiry Skills

   -Collaboration Skills

   -Writing Skills

   -Presentation Skills

   -Verbal Skills

   -Problem Solving Skills

Vocabulary Words:

   -The Outer Planets

       -Jupiter

       -5th planet from the Sun

       -Saturn

       -6th planet from the Sun

       -Uranus

       -7th planet from the Sun

       -Neptune

       -8th planet from the Sun

       -Dwarf Planets

Science Fair Project!

During this experiment I hope to find out if it takes more salt in water to make different types of eggs float. I’ve discovered through this experiment that it does not take more salt to make different types of eggs float. These results are important because this shows how the salt changed the density of the water.I enjoyed this experiment very much and even though my hypothesis was wrong I still learned so much. Below are some of my observations.

For this experiment I had to look up resources so I could have a better understanding of my experiment. When performing Scientific experiments research is very important. This research helps develop the experiment or even can help clarify some of the findings like it did for me. The article I picked was called Why is Salt Water Heavier than Tap Water? From the article Why is Salt Water Heavier than Tap Water? I have discovered that many items that will not usually float in tap water will float in salt water. This is because salt water is more dense than regular tap water.This information is very helpful for my experiment because I will be seeing if different eggs need different amounts of salt to make the eggs float. This article gives me a good base knowledge for how salt water and tap water are different, and why some items float in salt water and not tap water.
This is my virtual poster board:  

This article helped me more towards the end of the experiment. It answered some questions I had regarding my experiment. Through the Scientific method I discovered that the reason all the eggs floated, not matter the size, was because they all had the same density. I learned that salt water changes the density of water, and that is why they all float. My hypothesis was wrong, but like I said before I think that this was a better learning experience. This is why the Scientific method is so important because it gives students the opportunity to learn from their "failures" so to speak.  I knew that it needed to do with density somehow, so I looked for an article related in that way. 

Overall, this was a wonderful learning experience and I cannot wait to have my students start using the Scientific method in the classroom. There is so much to learn from all different types of Science Fair experiments. I would have my students use a voicethread as well to explain their experiments to the class. The voicethread was a wonderful way to explain my experiment and go over the Scientific method a few more times. I want my students to feel okay about not succeeding in their experiments because it will spark a sense of curiosity in them and help them strive to find the answers they need. 

Why Is Salt Water Heavier Than Tap Water? (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://sciencing.com/salt-water-heavier-tap-water-8735703.html

Plate tectonics and boundaries

The Earth Science project I did with my group was based of plate tectonics and how how they work. Through this project we explained how there are different types of boundaries and how they look. There's a short video explaining it to kids the different types of plate tectonics.

My Fieldwork Experience

This semester I did my fieldwork at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. My fellow teaching candidates and I worked in the fourth grade class.  This was a wonderful learning experience because I was able to see what kind of teacher I want to be. It helped me learned why types of lessons I would like to teach in my classroom one day and gave me the confidence to teach a lesson in front of a full classroom of students. It also showed me what works and what doesn't giving me insight in to how I can be an effective teacher in the future.  We did a direct instruction lesson about the outer planets, and beyond. Then we did a direct instruction where the students had to find the missing data from Astronaut Annie's twitter. The kids loved it when they found out Miss. P was the one responsible for hacking Astronaut Annie's twitter. It was so wonderful working with all of them. All the students asked wonderful questions and kept all of us on our toes. I loved teaching for them and I can't wait to go back and visit them next semester.