EDTEP 523 THEORY OF ACTION TC: MARITES P.

ANIAG

Myprofessionalphilosophyofscienceteachingisgroundedondevelopingstudentsto
becomecriticalthinkers,andthroughmeaningfullesson,Iwoulddevelopstudentinterestin
science by enriching their natural curiosity and by connecting science to their daily lives.
LookingbackatmyexperienceinteachingInheritanceUnittoagroupoffirstgradestudents,I
thought it was impossible to teach an almost abstract concept to these young learners. We
presentedaphenomenonofacatfamilywhereoneofthefourkittenshaveadifferentfurcolor.
Onestudenthypothesizedthatthepeculiarkittenmusthavegrowninadifferentplaceandis
notamemberofthecatfamily.WhenIasked,Canyoutellusmoreaboutwhyyouthink
growinginadifferentplacecanmakeyoulookdifferent?Shesaid,well,mymotherlivesina
sunny city and she has a darker skin color compared to all of us. Presenting a thought
provoking phenomenon allows students to explain multiple events in their own lived
experiences.RoseberyandBallenger(2008)discusshowthefirststeptobeingabletohave
successful science talks is to engage your students in a common activity with a scientific
phenomenon.
Afterprovidingahandsonexperiencetoshowhowtraitsarepassedonthroughgenes,it
promptedthestudenttosayOh,IguessPeachesisarealmemberofthefamilyafterall,shejust
looksdifferent.Howdidyouknowthat?Iasked.Shepointedatthegenesimulationsaying,
Parents genes get to decide what fur color you get. Many of our students revised their
previoushypothesisaboutthephenomenonandtheyarenowcurioustoknowwhichtraitdid
theyinheritfromtheirparentsorgrandparents.
Myexperienceinteachingsciencemademerealizethatifweprovideameaningful
learningenvironmentandopportunitiesforstudentstodeepentheirunderstandingbyengaging
theminansweringevocativequestions andhandsonexperience,thenwearesupportingthe
studentstothinkandtalklikeascientist.ZembalSaulet.al.(2013)saythatwhetherstudents
arediscussingorwritingscientificexplanations,thelearningtaskmustincludedataandmust
requirestudentstomakesenseofit.Engagingstudentsinmeaningfulquestionsanddiscussions
ensuresthattheywillbeabletoexplaintheworldaroundthemandenablesthemtothrivein
manyyearsbeyondtheiracademiccareer
Ialsobelievethatwarrantingapositivelearningenvironmentisequallyimportantto
creatingaclassroomculturewhereeveryonefeelssafetoengageinaconstructivecriticism.
Science teachers must commit in fostering a culture of critique ZembalSaul et.al. (2013)
wherestudentsarebeingtaughttoagreeandpolitelydisagree,thus,itisimportanttoseta
sciencechartertoguidethemtoworkcollectively.
Furthermore, my philosophy stems from my belief that in order to promote deeper
thought,teachingscienceshouldgobeyondthecurriculumbybringinginreallifeexperiences
andbyconnectingcontentwiththediversecultureandlanguagethatourstudentsbringintothe
classroom.IwasenthusedbyRoseberryandWarrens (2008) claim thatchildrenusetheir
everydayexperienceanalyticallytogeneratequestions,possibleexplanations,newperspectives
andinsightsintothescientificphenomenatheyencounterinschool(p.41).Hence,thisleadme
to believe that assessing students content knowledge should not be narrowed down to
standardizedtestingbutalsointegrateotherformssuchasinformalsciencetalktoallowteachers
toobtaininsightsintostudentslearningandunderstandingoftheexplanationbuildingprocess
(Settlage&Sutherland,2007).IbelievethattheknowledgeELLstudentsbringtoclassshould
bevaluedandeverychildmustseethemselvesascapableofdoingscience.
EDTEP 523 THEORY OF ACTION TC: MARITES P. ANIAG

Finally,asafuturescienceteacher,wemustcontinuetoparticipateinprofessional
developmenttoensurethatweareadjustingtoclimatechangeandbringinnewideastoour
classroom.

Co-Teachers

What makes science teaching meaningful

and successful?

Students:
Teacher: usesmakemultiple
personalstrategies
connections,
to
engage
supportinstudents
analyzing in data,
eliciting
critiquing
ideas,
others
talk ideas,
AST moves,collaborate
provide scaffolds,
with peers,
NGSS
uses
assessing
evidence
to to
inform
support
instruction,
claim and
reasoning,
responding capable
to student
of doing
ideas,science
and
analyses data and students thinking

Relevant
Advanced Students
Thoughtprovokingquestions Issues
Learners
Communi English Language
Handsonexperience
Reallifephenomena
Equitableinstruction with
Culture,ValuesandLanguage
Publicrepresentationofideas
AcademicVocabulary
Languagedemands
Accesstoresource
Sciencetalk
quesquestions
EDTEP 523 THEORY OF ACTION TC: MARITES P. ANIAG

References:

Zembal-Saul, C., McNeill, K. L., & Hershberger, K. (2013). What's your Evidence?: engaging K-5
students in constructing explanations in science. Boston: Pearson.

Rosebery, A. S., & Warren, B. (2008). Teaching science to English language learners: building on
students' strengths. Arlington, VA: NSTA, National Science Teachers Association.