Your input needed - Math/Science Teacher Experiences

[Kent K25]

Ok...In a little less than a week school will be starting and I'll be teaching my 8th-9th grade math and science classes.

So...what I was looking for from anyone who reads this is some of you best/worst memories and advice of things you loved or hated that your math/science teachers did to make class great or terrible.

Now I hope you will give me some credit and know I won't do the totally obvious stuff that drives kids crazy (starting every period with a quiz, etc) but I'm more than happy to hear your horror stories, just please accompany them with something you liked that I may be able to build on.

Thanks. I'm looking forward to the horror stories and successes!

http://teachercomic.net/comics/tc5.png

[blueeyes]

I was in love with my 8th grade science teacher.... massive crush.

Something must a stuck my degree is in Clinical Lab Science.

I just took a poll includes an 8 and 12 year old

What is your favorite thing about science?

The anwer unanimously was expirements.

What is your least favorite thing about science?

12 year old " the boring stuff" What is boring? "I don't know, like not doing expirements"

8 year old "nothing"

Ok so I have no horror stories myself about science except it has taken me 4 years to get over poking someone with a needle.... I cried everytime I had to do it. I loved disecting frogs and other thing that came with taking a science classes.

This past school year I volunteered to go to my sons 6th grade class and talk about my profession. I took SBA plates and the kids and I went around swabbing toilet seats, and water fountains, and any other gross disgusting place we could think of. One girl wanted to swab her eye!! I love 11-12 year olds. I grew the plates for them over night and took them back to the school so they could see what microbes grew. I took scopes in and set up slides of blood cells. The kids loved it. The teacher told me later that they talked about for weeks. Occasionally I will see some of the kids in the grocery store and stuff, they get all excited and tell there parent who I am. Anyway I have been invited back and I am way excited.

My advice do as much hands on as you can, and they will love ya!!

Chere'

[TreeHugger]

Mr. Green and Mr. Russell, my two favorite teachers, both science teachers. Science was engaging, stimulating, fun and interesting. (this was high school). Both teachers LOVED their subjects and you could tell, and that rubbed off on us students. Both had great personalities and were knowledgeable and respectful and even entertaining at times!

Not a single fond memory of math....

No horror stories. :-)

[Kent K25]

Thanks for the input guys!

[greyhair biker]

Math & Science...my favorite subjects, right up until I discovered girls :naughty:

[blueeyes]

Math & Science...my favorite subjects, right up until I discovered girls :naughty:

The study of Chemistry

[Felicia]

Math and science were my favorite! :2thumbs:

I liked an organized lectures with on-point examples. I was a fanatic note taker....used lots of different colors pens and pencils. :mrgreen:

Once I figured out the structure of the lecture, I was good.

Science: w/5 Who, What, When, Where, Why....and of course How

Math (and Law): IRAC Issue, Rules, Analysis, Conclusion

I did get bored quickly in math, but I could earn bonus points for working the challenge problems. :five:




:popcorn:

[Mtnman1830]

The worst thing about math was, well, the math. Didn't even try to understand it. Then it came around and bit me in the ass when I was trying to juggle partying and college.

Needless to say, I had to re-take the class :(

Science is great! I remember disecting a fetal pig and sheep eyeballs.

I had hopes of some hands-on stuff while taking my Biomedical Core semesters, but it didn't happen.

Watching videos just dosen't cut it.

[R]

From the other side: last summer I taught photography at our college, East Central University in Ada (http://ecok.edu/). I felt like I was doing a pretty good job, but was quite surprised when one of my former students and I ran into each other three months ago and she told me I was the best instructor she had in her college time. I was stunned. A week later I told the story to the guy who hired me to teach the course, and he said that happens a lot with teachers who love what they do and teach about it.

I guess the point of the story is this: teach only for as long as you love it. When it becomes grind, set it aside for a while.

[theking648]

i'm going to assume your teaching at snow canyon middle school... but math and science suck :lol8: .....Sorry. i don't like math because i suck at it, and i like science but i suck at it.

I'm so glad i'm done with high school.

what ever you do, don't teach at the high school.


good luck :2thumbs:

[Last Child]

My advice do as much hands on as you can, and they will love ya!!

I would have to agree with this statement for science for sure. The science classes that I enjoyed the most seemed to be the ones where we actually "experienced" science.

Math was always one of my favorite subjects. I had some great teachers and some down right bad ones. Math, generally speaking, is probably the harder of the two subjects to keep students interested in.

I'm not sure if this really will help because I can't give an exact example. But there is one math teacher/professor that has always stood out in my memory. He was a Calculus professor at Utah State University. He had such a great understanding of math and the mathematic principles that he could explain these principles in very simple to understand terms. I guess you could say he could "dumb it down" to something so simplistic that most of the people in class could understand what he was teaching. You could tell also that he LOVED math. The very next professor I had definitely knew his math but was so technically wired that his method of teaching was very hard to grasp. Plus he had a very heavy accent and was difficult to understand.

So I guess I would have to say that in the math department the simpler you can explain the sometimes confusing principles and rules the better?


I guess the point of the story is this: teach only for as long as you love it. When it becomes grind, set it aside for a while.

I think this is fantastic advice. All of my favorite teachers/professors were the ones that you could tell loved what they were teaching. On the flip side, the teachers/professors that I disliked the most were the ones who seemed to care less about what they were teaching. The students are very perceptive and will definitely tune it to that.

A lot can be said for "Passion".

Good luck!

[stefan]

i think however you get there, the ultimate goal is to teach so that someone actually understands what they are doing and why they're doing it and not simply mimicking and hoping for the best. the biggest obstacle to overcome is the language - many don't like it, but it's a disservice to them down the line if they don't understand it and its meaning. we learn through language (this is not any different) and language is powerful when used well.

[rockgremlin]

8th and 9th grade I imagine can be tough. Tough age to teach to.


Advice from the Gremlin:

Discipline - I remember one of my favorite high school courses was History. The teacher was a laid back dude, dressed casually (in fact, he dressed in reggae clothes, and had a pony tail), was fair and easy-going to all of his students. BUT - if you were talking during his lectures you'd better be prepared to leave class early. He would single out all students that were misbehaving, and give them one chance to shape up. The next time they misbehaved they would be out in the hall for the remainder of the class, no ifs ands or buts. I always respected his attitude - and so did the class. Almost all of the students in the high school loved him. He had a laid back attitude but wasn't afraid to consistently discipline. It always annoyed me when teachers would ignore misbehaving students. It detracts from a learning environment, and it isn't fair to the other students.

Play Fair - Jr High kids don't like surprises. DON'T issue exams for material that hasn't been previously brought up in lecture/reading. Students should be rewarded for studying and showing up to class. When you put crap on exams that hasn't been covered, it's frustrating (at least it was for me) and defeats the purpose.

Be Available - Some of my best teachers in high school were the ones that were more than willing to help out on assignments or projects. In addition to helping after class, they would also give us their cell and/or home phone #s, with times we could call for help. This was particularly helpful in math courses.

Good luck, and I hope this helps. :2thumbs:

[offpiste]

wow, totally different curriculums. That will be fun to prepare for. Keep it moving, keep them moving, don't stand and lecture, use your personality and have fun.
The Gremlin hit it on the head "consistancy" be fair and direct. No surprises post things you want them to know and remind them of those expectations.
Harry Wong, "The First Day" great book if you haven't read it. I recommend it.
Passion, Variety and Consistancy key. For 8-9 grades movement, groups, and exploration let them learn it, then explain it to them. They will have fun and so will you watching them figure it out.

[Kent K25]

Wow, I lost track of this thread, stopping getting email updates of new posts on it.

Lots of great advice and well wishes. Thanks everyone it's all been noted!

[KapitanSparrow]

Hmmm, math I get, and I hated it. But what was science again? General stuff about geography, biology and everything else combined? Sorry I didn't go to grade school in the U.S.

For math, best use examples that can be used in real life.

[stefan]

But what was science again?

the systematic study of the natural and physical world through observation and experimentation ... very general.

[KapitanSparrow]

Well that's exciting in itself :2thumbs:

[stefan]

so is good vodka :2thumbs:

[KapitanSparrow]

Good vodka is ice cold and consumed in good company :cool2: