Blog Post #1
June 29, 2012
1.
Since I graduated from elementary school, junior
high school, high school and college long ago combined with working in a
non-science industry for many years, my life (since returning to education) has
been nothing but exploring means of improving my content knowledge. The vehicles have been numerous, sometimes
horribly boring, sometimes absolutely thrilling but always deepening my
understanding. This was all a necessity to not only improve my content
knowledge and understanding for the classroom but to pass the damn series of
CSETs. I have re-learned and learned an
incredible amount over the past 2 years between my own exploration, my St.
Mary’s education and work with my 2 Master Teachers, most particularly Sandra
Johnson-Shaw at Mount Diablo High School.
I have always been a life long learner. I am passionate about the
outdoors, flora and fauna, ecology and preservation. Returning to education has
taught and required me to look far beyond the surface of these areas of
interest. I have had to “peel the onion”
rather than be simply an observer.
When I decided to pursue my
credential and became aware of having to take the CSET, I went into study
mode. I researched and found tons of
sources for readying myself for the pursuit. One of the things I began to do
was take online courses through iTunes U.
To refresh my content knowledge, I took Biology 1A and 1B, Integrative
Biology, and currently, Earth Science and Planetary Science. So far, I have taken classes only through Cal
but found iTunes U offers classes from a plethora of Universities and in a
number of subjects. It has been a great resource as I reteach myself the
basics.
Just another aside, I am a strong
believer in experiential learning. As Ball and McDiarmid point out in their
article and eloquently express in their conclusion “people construct
understanding of phenomena from their everyday experience --- f rom their
activities in their environment, from what they see adults around them doing,
from messages they receive from others in the community (Cohen)”. We must be doers to construct understanding
for both our students and ourselves. And
just because I want to include pictures, I am including a recent trip trekking
for Mountain Gorillas in Uganda. What an absolute thrill this was. I learned
that preservation and conservation doesn’t require wealth but rather a unified
population believing in the cause. Uganda, despite being a third world country,
in many ways is far beyond our level of commitment to the world’s ecology and
preservation of that ecology.
 |
2.
The spirited conversation in class only
reinforced my feelings about the article. While many of us focused on different
aspects of the article, most of the conversation was in line with my feelings
about my pedagogy and continued learning.
My opinion has not waivered since I decided to read the description of
this MAT program and entered it. I am here to increase my content knowledge in
order to become the best teacher I can be. This article and our class conversation
supported that desire to erase misconceptions and eliminate as many gaps in my
content knowledge and understanding as possible.
3.
My
desire to explore the content standards and increase my content knowledge in
the area of Earth Science has only increased since the initial 401-class
exploration of a line of inquiry.
Initially, I thought I wanted to explore the area of the Krebs Cycle,
photosynthesis and glycolysis but after the first class (exploring on line
researches and reflecting), I have become fixated on Earth Science. I might be
biting off more than I should in my line of inquiry but I am in no rush to
complete the Masters program. I want to explore in depth an area I don’t have the
content knowledge I desire. I down to move beyond keeping one week ahead in the
textbook. I do not want to teach that
way. That style of teaching feels very uncomfortable and rings true of the
concerns expressed in the Shulman article Knowledge
and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform.
