As a student, I never had much interest in science. My science teachers never really made it exciting and I struggled to make myself study and learn the subject. Of all subjects, science was always my weakest area.
When I began my student teaching program, I received horrible news. Not only was I put in an eighth grade classroom but I was also assigned to teach science. After hearing the news, my stomach ached. I dreaded it more and more each day. However, it turned out that the placement was a blessing. I had to study hard at night to teach the subject the next day. Yet, it grew on me. I learned to work with the children and to find interest in science.
My student teaching could not have prepared me more for my first teaching job. My very first paid job was teaching eighth grade. I was once again assigned to teach science. This time, I felt much more prepared and confident.
There are still many things about science that I do not know. However, I have developed a strong love for teaching science. I discovered that science is a very easy subject to relate to real life and create hands-on activities. There is no reason for a science class to be boring.
My school system has now started placing less and less emphasis on science. Test scores are measured mainly by language arts and math. Many teachers are being required to only teach science in connection with language arts. While it can be successfully done, there is much more to science than teachers are allowing students to learn. Science has slowly fallen in the cracks. In my next few articles, I would like to discuss the field of science. I hope to spark some interests among teachers to once again bring science and experiments into their curriculum.
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