Role of the Teacher and Milieu in the Science Classroom

           The teacher is the facilitator of the learning that occurs in the science classroom. They are the one who provides the environment that will support learning and provides the some of the leadership that promotes learning in the students.  The context and environment in the science classroom is created by the teacher but must have the support of the students in order to maintain the cooperative and safe environment.  While these statements can be generalized to any subject area, it is especially important for science. 

            Science can be a challenging course to teach because there are safety hazards and a lot of activities that help to facilitate learning, but require a lot of classroom management from the teacher.

            The first science class I observed in my pre-internship placement showed how science needs direct supervision and direct instructions from the instructor. I was observing the science/art class.  These two subjects were combined for the day because the students were learning about plants and growing conditions and needed to plant their grass seeds in their small group.  There are 30 students in the classroom and there were 4 smaller groups of students.  One group at a time joined Mrs. Parker, the teacher in the reading corner to start their grass seed.  Even though the students were being directly observed by the teacher, there was still some confusion as to whether the grass seed needed to be buried, or how much to put in, and how much soil to put in the cup.  The students were looking at different variables that influence healthy growth in a plant so each had a control pot of grass seed and potting soil while others had bad dirt, some only gave their grass 2 hours of sunlight/day, another limited the water their grass received, and the final group planted their grass in a large container and smaller container to compare the differences of space. The other students who were not planting their grass seed at that moment in time were doing leaf prints by placing a leaf under a piece of paper and using a watercolour pencil to colour over the leaf and show the veins. Next the students went to the corner to put a bit of water on their watercolour pencil design and the reaction of the water with the pencil made the markings look like they were painted on. I think this lesson could have taught the students about hydrophobic and hydrophilic reactions a bit because of the art concept, but the planting of the seeds was messy and stressful enough I understand why Mrs. Parker focused on that activity over the art aspect. Providing supervision to 30 students is difficult, but having 30 students who sometimes need direct supervision for an activity and only having one teacher is definitely a challenge.

            After this experience I realize dhow important it is to provide hands on experiences for students, especially in science, but it is challenging when there is only one teacher.  It is easy to understand why some educators teach right out of the textbook, especially when there is a large class. It is easy and it ensures that all the students are safe and learning the required outcomes.  It is the role of the teacher to encourage life long learning, and I believe the hands on experiences and the ability for students to see things for themselves promotes life long learning.  Having a lived experience is much more memorable than reading something in a text book.  So, I believe the teacher needs to create a classroom where the students listen and follow the instructions given so they can learn and experience science for themselves.