Idioms, they are clever words with a meaning that have transcended time. I remember when I was a kid my mom would tell me, "that is the pot calling the kettle black". I understood the meaning but the history behind those words took me longer to understand.
I remember the day I had the aha moment when saying those words. As a child of the 80's we really didn't have cast iron kettles or pots. I am not sure where I was or how old but I do remember the connection to a black pot and black kettle. It those moments when you audibly make a noise at the connection.
As a student teacher many moons ago in my first internship I had to teach one lesson. I was given the reins to a fourth grade science lesson on earthquakes and plate tectonics. One of the students had an aha moment that day. It was one of my first times teaching a class and to hear a kid audibly make a sound when they understood the topic makes a life long impression on you.
I love aha moments. They seem to forge a memory in your brain that you can not forget. It's when all the little pieces of your learning and knowledge come together in a way that you have a deeper understanding of the world around you.
I am at the turning point in my life. I am at the point where my kids are getting older and I am still young but old enough to know better. Life as a stay at home mom can come to and end, but what do I do next is a big question.
I recently read an article that girls between the ages of 11 and 15 lose interest in math and science. I will not go into all the statistics behind the research but they are alarming. As a teacher with a degree in math and science this breaks my heart. I got my Master of Arts degree in 2002, my degree is in math and science education. This was before STEM was a movement. Little did I know I was ahead of my time.
It is obvious to me that STEM is important to me. I am and have been about teaching science and math for many years. I love to tutor girls with math troubles. As I read the article the other day it was clear to me that I need to be in the classroom with girls between the ages of 11-15 years of age teaching science or math. My latest aha moment, I can be the one to bridge the gap. Maybe this is my pie in the sky to thinking, that I can make a difference.
After the past few years of science teachers in my own girls lives I have to say the experience was not positive. Just in the past three years we have had a science teacher in her last year teaching which was okay but not stellar, a fabulous science teacher, a horrible science teacher that actually got moved from the classroom. We have had a new teacher leave after Christmas for her "dream job". She actually told the kids this when she left the classroom. That lead to a permanent substitute for the remaining of the year. These teachers are all in the middle school classroom where the students are between the ages of 11 and 14!
With all this going on and the article I read I felt like this is where I need to be. I want to be an advocate for science education because this is where I see the need. I want to be that teacher that helps these kids have aha moments in science. We need these kids to have aha moments, our future depends on it.
I remember the day I had the aha moment when saying those words. As a child of the 80's we really didn't have cast iron kettles or pots. I am not sure where I was or how old but I do remember the connection to a black pot and black kettle. It those moments when you audibly make a noise at the connection.
As a student teacher many moons ago in my first internship I had to teach one lesson. I was given the reins to a fourth grade science lesson on earthquakes and plate tectonics. One of the students had an aha moment that day. It was one of my first times teaching a class and to hear a kid audibly make a sound when they understood the topic makes a life long impression on you.
I love aha moments. They seem to forge a memory in your brain that you can not forget. It's when all the little pieces of your learning and knowledge come together in a way that you have a deeper understanding of the world around you.
I am at the turning point in my life. I am at the point where my kids are getting older and I am still young but old enough to know better. Life as a stay at home mom can come to and end, but what do I do next is a big question.
I recently read an article that girls between the ages of 11 and 15 lose interest in math and science. I will not go into all the statistics behind the research but they are alarming. As a teacher with a degree in math and science this breaks my heart. I got my Master of Arts degree in 2002, my degree is in math and science education. This was before STEM was a movement. Little did I know I was ahead of my time.
It is obvious to me that STEM is important to me. I am and have been about teaching science and math for many years. I love to tutor girls with math troubles. As I read the article the other day it was clear to me that I need to be in the classroom with girls between the ages of 11-15 years of age teaching science or math. My latest aha moment, I can be the one to bridge the gap. Maybe this is my pie in the sky to thinking, that I can make a difference.
After the past few years of science teachers in my own girls lives I have to say the experience was not positive. Just in the past three years we have had a science teacher in her last year teaching which was okay but not stellar, a fabulous science teacher, a horrible science teacher that actually got moved from the classroom. We have had a new teacher leave after Christmas for her "dream job". She actually told the kids this when she left the classroom. That lead to a permanent substitute for the remaining of the year. These teachers are all in the middle school classroom where the students are between the ages of 11 and 14!
With all this going on and the article I read I felt like this is where I need to be. I want to be an advocate for science education because this is where I see the need. I want to be that teacher that helps these kids have aha moments in science. We need these kids to have aha moments, our future depends on it.
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