From: Craig Fox <SciFox@vcnet.com>
Subject: Re: DISCUSS digest 8
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 1997 09:11:07 -0800
This discussion brings up a host of ideas that I have been struggling with for 30 years teaching science. Kye brings up some great points, especially about the amount of content. There is no doubt in my mind that less is more. If I can develop a theme the kids are interested in, and then look for connections (and have the kids do the same), it becomes a more realistic and interesting curriculum for them and me too. Every year is something different, full of risks and surprises, but always challenging and rewarding. Following a publisher's text and guiding the process with a multiple choice test is just not a real life experience. If I miss some content, so be it. The world is just progressing too fast for my students to memorize everything and learn all the terminology...just like it is for their parents in their jobs! I would rather give them the tools of science and let them practice on some relevant subjects that interest them. I find that with this approach, my students (honors and standard) keep recalling previous learning and weave it into the present problem facing us, much like the t.v. series CONNECTIONS. I personally feel that standardized testing is the easy way out for school administrations and state boards. It culls out the multiple intellingences Howard Gardner refers to, and we as a society lose some very creative minds. One solution is to create more realistic training for teachers in their college years and then maintain that support with ongoing seminars and curriculum building while teachers teach. The Japanese teachers have far more group planning time I understand. At present, teachers are isolated and go it alone...and texts and tests are the easiest way out. My original enthusiasm for teaching the way I do now came from a unique experimental opportunity many years ago. An English/literature/art teacher, social science teacher and I (science teacher) decided to teach about the history of America from the Civil War to present. I learned SO MUCH from my colleagues and still integrate those ideas into my science curriculum years later. It just makes sense. Happy New Year to you all! Craig