“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”

Albert Einstein's words are a powerful driving force within my teaching style. Some teachers might be appalled to be proven wrong or not being able to answer a question asked by their students, holding onto some sort of pride that reinforces artificial power structures. I believe that questioning is the most incredible skill a student can learn. Learning is a process, a cycle in a sense. It does not cease to progress, although we may come back to certain things we learned to reflect and ask new questions.

Today was a great day. We are finishing up an introduction to cells and cell theory in preparation to move into the realm of ecology. I think it is important to begin with a knowledge about the most basic unit of life (cells) and move outwards to think about interactions between complex organisms.

My grade sixes are in the midst of completing their first bit of group work. Their task was to work with a group of 4-5 students to create a poster about one of the 7 Life Processes. Each group had to summarize a short bit of information and create pictures to represent how living things work through these processes.

It has gone well so far! It is interesting to watch some of the students work together in groups. The students whose heads are closer together, collaborating and sharing ideas seem to have produced the most incredible depictions. This activity has allowed me to see how different students and classes work in groups. It gives us a chance to reflect also on group dynamics and what it means to work as part of a team.

Their final science project in May will be completed in teams. I want to build a strong foundation before this task so that the students are more likely to be successful with the intricate project. Stay tuned for more information about this.

In one of my classes, a student inquired about the usefulness of learning about the structure of cells. We began discussing how studying cells leads to innovations in the medical field. We talked about how this might connect to their lives and the lives of people close to them. One student posed a question:

"How much money do you think you would make if you discovered a cure for cancer?"

This lead to a discussion about morality. The majority of the class indicated that they would not expect any compensation because they would be happy to cure those who are suffering. About 5-6 said they would sell it for as much as they can.

I found this to be an interesting insight into the minds of these students. It got me thinking again about the influence society and institutions have on us as we begin to understand them.

I sure hope the 26 or so students who raised their hands for no compensation hold on to these values as they become more aware of the way the world works.

Five-weeks in and a long awaited update...

I have not updated this blog as much as I originally anticipated. What can I say, I have been much busier than I ever imagined (in a good way!). Those who told me that the first few years are the hardest were definitely not lying. Couple the general chaos that accompanies teaching with moving to a foreign country and you get one heck of an transition period. I feel like I've been white-water rafting down a racing river for the past 5 weeks, just barely taking in all of the beauty the landscape has to offer.

 A new set of cultural practices, norms, and a language I have only begun to grasp have been challenging additions to my first year of teaching. After completing the in-service week in mid-August, the school year began with full force!

The first week we were slowly introduced to our students. Welcome assemblies, tours of the building, going over procedures/routines, ice breaker games and all that fun stuff filled up the week. It flew by extremely quick, as if I were going 100km/hour down that majestic river. 

By the end of the week, I was feeling hopeful, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I was hopeful about all the upcoming year had to hold. I was excited both to get to know my students better and to inspire their curiosity in one of the most fascinating subjects, science! Lastly, I was nervous about learning 192 names, making an impact on the students, and learning to balance all elements of my new life.

Picture break....

Students collaborated to create rules.

The second through to last week seemed also to pass by within the blink of an eye. No sooner did I begin my weeks with class meet then they ended Friday afternoon with an exciting science lesson for 6C. 

A goal that I have been working on is giving myself time to reflect on my lessons and teaching practices. With few breaks in-between classes and a hectic schedule that leaves little time to cross off all the tasks on my to do list, this can be challenging. I try to fully reflect on at least one lesson for each of the six classes I teach. 

Each student has unique academic, emotional, and social needs. These combine to create unique group dynamics in each class. A learning activity that goes extremely well in one class may go horribly wrong in another, not be engaging for students in another, and lead to different topics of discussion. It is incredibly interesting to think about the various factors that interact in each environment for these outcomes to occur. 

I chose to begin with biology and a unit called Life As We Know It to kick off the year. I want to get the students thinking about what it means to be alive, what we know about life, the possibility of other forms of life, and the interactions that occur between living things. There is SO much to explore. Narrowing down what to cover and adapting it to an appropriate level has been crucial to planning. Figuring out ways to bridge the language gap and meet the needs of various learners has also been something I keep in mind. 

It can be challenging to teach a subject like science to a group of students in english when it is not their first language. There are a lot of context specific words. Scientific inquiry involves establishing a base knowledge through research and reading. Each week I make progress towards meeting this need. I try to include swedish keyword translations, use visual cues, and have strong students act as translators to explain difficult concepts in Swedish.

The most exciting thing about teaching science has to be all of the new things I am learning about the subject! Each day the connections become more prominent and my curiosity soars to new heights. The scope of what I am interested in has changed drastically. I have always planned to go back to school but the possibilities of what to study have expanded to territories I never would have explored in the safe comfort of my social science background.

These challenges I am facing as a first year teacher and new-comer to Sweden will, I think, be beneficial in the end. Each day I learn more about my the type of teacher I want to be. I learn what works, with who, and at what time. I learn to prioritize and work more efficiently. I learn to be okay with the fact that I am never by any measure going to be able to get everything done. I learn to reflect on my failures. Most of all, I learn to approach everything with an open-mind and child-like sense of wonder. 

Development Talk Reports (similar to Midterms) must be completed in the next few weeks. I will also be co-coaching cheerleading for grade 6-9 girls, and wrapping up my ecology unit. 

Between planning, teaching, assessing, evaluating, creating, mentoring, and guiding....  I'll be planning for my trip to spain Oct 26th to Nov2nd! I am incredibly excited to visit Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona with some of the other teachers. 

I'm thinking  it will be a much needed refresher by the time 10 weeks of teaching wraps-up. 

I leave you with a quote: 

And this....

....because it's incredibly fascinating to think about how quickly technology has developed/change (and continues to do so) during my lifetime.