As a science leader, I am trying to create change in my school and my district so that others will see how important STEM education is for all of our students. I have started this change at my school by becoming the outdoor lab coordinator. I make sure that each grade level gets outside to use the lab at least once a year by having my 6th graders teach the other grades a lesson outside. I have also convinced my grade to let me teach science all day making sure that my students get science every day. We have also started a science club and summer science camp as well as adopted a hands on science curriculum.
The common barrier that I have to overcome is that fact that the big push is for language arts and math. Even though science is test by the state in 6th grade it is not tested in all grades and it does not effect our schools grade. This means that it does not have as much priority as language arts and math. I am continually pushing for others to see science's importance in our school systems.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
WHERE is our Sputnik?
Just like the movie, Waiting for "Superman" implies that students are waiting for a better education system. We are all waiting for a nation that is really focusing on education. Thomas Friedman discusses our nations priorities in What's Our Sputnik?. He describes how it took the Soviet Union launching Sputnik for the US to kick it into high gear in education.
Today we are being compared with other nations in education and we keep coming up short. I feel that we are spending so much time, money, and energy fighting in other countries that we are not fighting our own battles at home. It is wonderful that we are trying to help others. I think about going on mission trips yet on the way to the airport we pass someone who is homeless and needs something to eat on our home territory.
So what are we waiting for? What will it take to spend more time, money, and energy on education? We continue to see the test scores but when will the cavalry ride in and save the day? There are students from other countries coming and getting high paying jobs due to their push to excel. We need more of that. Are we too comfortable in the place that we are in? When we will see that we need to push harder to reach our goals? I'm not sure. Many teachers are making the shift to real world applicable STEM teaching. We are focusing more on science, technology, engineering, and math so that we can make those advances but society has to be behind that push.
I'm not sure what our "Sputnik" will be all I know is that we need to figure it out soon before we are further behind that what we can come back from.
Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our Sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.
Today we are being compared with other nations in education and we keep coming up short. I feel that we are spending so much time, money, and energy fighting in other countries that we are not fighting our own battles at home. It is wonderful that we are trying to help others. I think about going on mission trips yet on the way to the airport we pass someone who is homeless and needs something to eat on our home territory.
So what are we waiting for? What will it take to spend more time, money, and energy on education? We continue to see the test scores but when will the cavalry ride in and save the day? There are students from other countries coming and getting high paying jobs due to their push to excel. We need more of that. Are we too comfortable in the place that we are in? When we will see that we need to push harder to reach our goals? I'm not sure. Many teachers are making the shift to real world applicable STEM teaching. We are focusing more on science, technology, engineering, and math so that we can make those advances but society has to be behind that push.
I'm not sure what our "Sputnik" will be all I know is that we need to figure it out soon before we are further behind that what we can come back from.
Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our Sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.
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