Influence outside my classroom.

Right now I would love to say that I feel that I have a great deal of influence outside of my classroom. I feel that I have some influence but not as much as I strive to possess. I am one who juggles many things daily as I am sure most people do. I am not only a teacher I am a mother, wife, coach and graduate student. That is a lot to juggle. I feel that I do a good job on all accounts but would love to spend more time in each aspect of my life. I do not feel that any part of my responsibilities has fallen to the wayside but I could do more if there were only more time.

I collaborate on a weekly basis with the other science teachers in my department. With that being said it may be just sharing what we are planning on for the week. other times we sit down to come up with lab activities. This is when I feel that we are really making strides in the collaboration department.

One area that I would like to focus on in the near future is being able to talk with the elementary teachers and high school teachers. We could sit down and discuss what we felt the students needed to know and be able to when they enter our classrooms. This would help out the students and it would make it easier on each teacher. We could focus more on inquiry and not just the basics. There are often times that students walk into my room and they do not have the basic skills in order to be involved in the lab activities. I spend the first 6-9 weeks going over what they should already have an understanding of so we can work effectively in the lab. I have been in the elementary setting and I know that they are pushed to focus more on reading and math. If we could spend more time in the other subject areas then the students would have the potential to more motivated and willing to expand on their previous experiences.

Where's our Sputnik?

I can remember as a small child how excited I was when we studied space exploration in school. When sputnik was launched it sparked something in the American society. It sparked people to want to research and look to the stars. It sparked writers to focus on stories that involved space and what we could find out from space research. This also sparked kids to want to be astronauts and work for NASA. Now it seems as if the push of our government is to fight terrorists and to send foreign relief to the oil countries. Don't get me wrong I believe that we should help other countries in need.  The article brings up an interesting point about what our country chooses to spend a great deal of funds on. I understand that many countries look to the U.S. for help with matters. But when will it be our turn to receive the help of our government. 

There is has been a big push to improve education. the only issue is that it seems that funds are not being set aside. We must help our own citizens and invest in our future generation. We need to focus on those STEM careers. I think that there is a interest in the STEM careers but there must be something that will get people interested in the jobs that will boost our economy and that will help with technological advances.

Sputnik was of great importance and interest back in its day. This was a way to get involved in the race for space. Now it is hard to say what would spark this same interest. I know that by continually comparing our nation to other nations is not the way to go. Just like kids no two are alike. Our country is not exactly like other countries. we have our own strengths and weaknesses. We have to play on our strengths. As educators we must make sure that our students are given all the advantages and are taught the basic skills. Once we can build the knowledge base of our students then we can help mold them into the creative and critical thinkers we need to make the advances in the areas of science and math.