Occasional Paper

Science Has Several Shades of Gray 

This past weekend was spent in the company of friends around a huge bonfire, gazing upon the stars. Occasionally we would see a plane or “space craft” zoom by the night sky. As I got to looking around our surroundings, a huge bonfire on the edge of a big field, surrounded by trees, I immediately thought of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, a Spielberg fill from the late 70’s.  And so the conversation turned to other life forms and if these life forms really did exist beyond our plant.

Now mind you, I do believe in a higher being, or God, if you so choose, but I also believe in the power of science. One of our friends does not believe in aliens. She strictly believes that there is one God and He is responsible for everything on and around our plant and in space. My husband, who gets a kick out of riling certain friends, totally egged our friend on about aliens and religion. During their word war, I got to thinking that science is not a black and white subject like the others.

In Math you have one problem with one answer. However, with science it is not so cut and dry. Many people do not believe in evolution and that we are descendants from apes. Others believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution is absolute law. I on the other hand believe in a little bit of both. It is proved that we share 98% of our DNA with Chimps and 60% of our DNA with chickens. How do I approach the subject of evolution with those students that don’t believe?

One of my college teachers when teaching evolution broached the subject very carefully. She stated that science had several shades of gray, evolution being one of those shades of grey. She also said that for the purposes of this class that evolution was an important part of biology and that we had to learn about it, but not necessary believe what we were learning about. I think that statement speaks volumes. I don’t necessarily expect my students to agree with me 100% of the time, but if I can open expand their minds and know that they are retaining the information learned then I will be extremely happy as a teacher.

Not All Books Are Just for Kids.

While in the Navy, I was underway, or out to sea a lot. On one instance we were out to sea for a week performing work up trials for our shock trial. Since I was on a new class of guided missile destroyers, the ship had to undergo strenuous test and trials. One of these said trails were the dreaded shock trials, where they detonate high level of explosives next to the ship’s hull to determine if the ship can handle the shock wave.  On the first trial we were in our assigned locations for what seemed like forever. We didn’t get to do the first shock trial that day due to the fact that sea turtles “might” have been spotted by PETA. Ugh!!!

            The next day was slotted for a repeat trail.  Not having anything to do, a senior enlisted member suggested that I read the first book of the Harry Potter Series. I had previously turned my nose up at the children’s book. Why would I read a children’s book when I was an adult? Having nothing better to do or read I picked up the book. To say the least, I had a hard time trying to put the book down. I read the whole book in the span of two days and had such a fever to read the next book in the series. I had the next two books in the series less than 24 hours after we pulled back into port.

            It still amazes me that I find children’s books and young adult books fascinating. It is a shame that it took me quite a while to arrive to the conclusion that I liked a broader genre of book. I enjoyed reading all the Harry Potter Books which I finished the last novel in my late twenties. I think that by providing different reading levels in the classroom setting, I should be able to reach all children. Not all will be reading on the same level or will they have the same interest. I think by having a broader range of material would be a benefit of the class.

High School Biology

During my sophomore year of high school I was enrolled in biology. I also think that was the same year that the class as a whole took the writing test. I guess the county wanted to see if the students could actually write about what they had been learning over the past two years. Anyway, once every six weeks, we would have to write a one to two page essay on something related to biology. We were not limited to what text we could use, a magazine, news paper, or library book. I liked to use the magazine, National Geographic.

I remember skimming the magazine to find something to write about. Sometimes it would take me hours to find something interesting to write about, and others I would have the whole assignment done in thirty minutes. At this point in my education I wasn’t too fond of writing, so it was a chore to me to complete this assignment. I think I got good grades on all of my writings, even the writings that were not biology related. I remember reading a bunch of great information that I would have never learned in our text that year.

I think this would be a great exercise to share with my future students. Picking a media source of their choice and writing a page or two about what they read and how it what impact it could have, sounds like a great way to be proactive about science as a subject. Science is an evolving subject and always changing. If by doing this assignment, I would like for them to know that and take that knowledge with them.

My Reading Journey Part 2

Growing up I didn’t read the classic novels that so many children read. My mom, an elementary education teacher, picked out the Newberry Award books to add to my library collection. When I was required to read for an hour during the summer I remember looking at the pictures in the award books. I think the pictures in the Whipping Boy piqued my curiosity enough to start reading about them. I loved the story about the Whipping Boy and thought it funny how a prince had a boy to take his punishments for him. I read many Newberry Award books throughout school including: Sarah, Plain and Tall, Jacob Have I Loved, Bridge to Terabithia, Sounder, and my favorite – A Wrinkle in Time.

As I went through middle school I found myself reading more and more of the Newberry Awards book. These books were either required reading for class or reading just for fun. It wasn’t until high school and college when I got into the classics like 1984, Animal Farm, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird and my favorite – The Great Gatsby. To say the least, I preferred the Newberry Award books to most of the classic novels. I found most of the classics to be very boring and dry. There were a few that caught my interest, like the Great Gatsby.

By reading outside the norm (the Newberry Award books), I don’t have to require my students to read the classics. I learned that both books were widely used throughout my education and both were required readings. I think what matters the most is not “what” you read, but that you read period.

My Reading Journey Part 1

            I hated reading when it was required in elementary school. In fact I almost failed second grade since I couldn’t read. I had problems with sight words and that in turn led to comprehension issues. My mother, being an English major and an elementary school teacher worked with me the whole summer on reading. She made sight word flash cards. I remember being quizzed on the flash cards before I could go outside to play.  I hated the flash cards and had the hardest times with the “th” words like through, thought, though and so on. I still have a hard time with these words when I do a quick skim through materials.

            Once I had my sight words down, my mother would make me read for an hour a day. During the summer, after lunch, she would make me spend time in my room with my vast collection of books. I thought it was tortured to be confined to my room instead of playing with friends. So as first I would flip through the books just looking at the pictures, counting down the minuets. Eventually something clicked in my mind and I started to read the books instead of just looking at the pictures. As it turned out much of what I was reading was what I had picked up in the picture. From then on out, I have been an avid reader.

            As a mother with children who also struggle with reading, I can appreciate the heart ache my mother went through teaching me how to read. Both children have reading comprehension issues that showed up in the first grade. Both my husband and I agree that reading is very important in a child’s education and we encourage our children to read on a daily basis. It is a rule in our house that 30 minutes before bed time, they both read. On the weekends, they both have to read for an hour before playing with video games or friends.  Since we have started this practice, my son has slowly overcame his battles with comprehension and is enjoying reading more and more each day. My daughter enjoys reading, but is slowly making progress.  She compares the pictures to what she is reading and that helps her understand what is going on in the story.

I think being able to identify with students that have trouble reading will be very helpful to me as a teacher and to them as a student. By identifying the problem, I feel that we can work together to find the solution to their issues. There is more than one way to comprehend subject matter.

How to teachcomprehension to students with learning difficulties.

My First Attempts at Reading

My earliest memory of trying to read is from a very young age at around five. I can remember my mother looking inside a book for a rather long while. I did not understand what she was doing and wondered what had her so captivated. When she finally walked away from the book and set it down on the coffee table I rushed over to inspect the book. As I flipped through the pages I was confused as there were no pictures. The book was filled with page after page of letters in no certain order. How could someone find this so very interesting I remember thinking to myself?

My second attempt at reading was very embarrassing to me as a young child in Kindergarten. Since I was new at school I had recently made a new friend and wanted to spend lots of time with her. Seeing that my new friend was going to the restroom, I too wanted to go and chat with her. By the time I had raised my hand and had gotten permission from the teacher, she and another student with cowboy boots and a boy were already gone. As I made my way down the hall to where the restrooms were I remember looking at the signs. I stood for quite some time trying to ponder which one I should pick. To say the least I picked the wrong one.  As I timidly walked into the room I didn’t notice my friend or hear her response when I called her name. Naturally, like any kid the age of five, I looked under the stalls and to my horror I saw the cowboy boots! I quickly ran out of the boy’s restroom and into the girls where I finally found my friend.

At the young age of five I was really confused and embarrassed by reading. I didn’t understand or make sense of what was on the pages of books. How could someone be so fascinated by a book? As I have grown up through the years I am an avid reader. I even find humor about my Kindergarten bathroom horror story.