Cl-Ev-R Way of Learning!

          This week was a week full of learning. On Tuesday we created the water cycle in a bag, which is definitely something I will be using in my future classroom. I have been amazed by all the different activities and experiences we have done so far this semester. I never did any hands on experiments when I was in school so these are all new ideas to me. If I can do hands on experiments that interests the students like those of the water cycle, I will be following NCPTS 3, “Teachers know the content they teach” under “Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty.”

            Today we learned about the word Cl-Ev-R, which stands for claim, evidence and reasoning. First you have to make a claim of what you think will happen then you have to provide evidence of why it happened and then you have to explain how it happened. This is similar to the scientific method and will increase the involvement and learning of students.

What I struggled with most this week was trying to figure out why the foam container with holes in it did not fill with water. It was hard to find the information online as well. Finally after searching a few websites we found that an object floats when the weight force on the object is balanced by the upward push of the water on the object. Since there was no weight on the foam and because of the buoyancy of the water, it was able to float.  I was most proud that I was able to remember the whole water cycle when creating our water cycle bags. It doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment, but I have forgotten a lot of information that I learned when I was younger and the water cycle was one of the things that I didn’t struggle with. Creating the water cycle bags also brought me the most satisfaction because I would have never thought you could make a water cycle in a bag. I was really excited to do this experiment so I can only imagine how fun this would be for elementary school children.

For the next week my action steps are to continue working on my unit plan so I can stay ahead, start working on my text facilitation project so we can get ahead on that and to finish our science experiment for the week. This week I contributed to class discussion and I contributed to our science group project experiment. Next week I can continue to participate in class discussion and continue to help my group with the science project.

Chapter 3’s text facilitation group did a really good job with using creativity. The video they used to explain constructivism was very clear on how to help transform teaching to get the students involved. They had great visuals and videos linked in. I also liked how they included an infographic in their powerpoint.

For my outside research I found an awesome website called the “energizer.” This website is a great way to get involved with science and create your own science. There are different games, examples and instruction on how to make a flashlight, how to make a compass, a telegraph set and many more different hands on experiments. This is a great website for Cl-Ev-R to be used on. More information can be found on the website below.

 (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2017, from http://www.energizer.com/science-center/steady-hand-game?&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=ENE-HHB-16_NonBranded_Science%2BCenter&utm_term=science for kids&utm_content=sffV00nlC_dc%7Cpcrid%7C187099817989%7Cpkw%7Cscience for kids%7Cpmt%7Cb

          The latest news that I have researched is Hurricane Maria that is happening in the Caribbean. Today it was recorded as a category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph. Puerto Rico experienced deadly flooding on Wednesday and Trump has declared this hurricane as another major disaster.

Visuals, G. (n.d.). Where is Hurricane Maria heading? Mapping the storm's path. Retrieved September 21, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2017/sep/19/where-is-hurricane-maria-heading-mapping-the-path-of-destruction

 My first tweet this week is from Amy Fast. Amy makes a great point, so often teachers and schools try to measure how students are doing instead of asking them how they are doing. Just because a student is doing well with their work, doesn't mean they are doing well in life and if a student is doing bad with their school work, then chances are there is more going on in their lives that we as teachers should and need to care about.

 My second tweet is from Trevor MacKenzie and his tweet is exactly what we have been learning and practicing in class. Starting the lesson with a question that causes the students to use inquiry is so much more powerful than starting the lesson off with a textbook or assessment. By asking the students a question, it immediately starts the lesson off with them thinking and will help to get them involved. 

 Lastly, the tweet from Tom Loud is also very powerful. Going off of my first tweet, teachers need to care and believe in their students. We may be the only ones who do believe in them, and we may be the ones that help them change their future.