Science Notebooks

• What are some commonalities in the three articles you read and the presentation?  I see that the articles each demonstrate that the students are given ownership of the information and allows them to be an active learner.  It also gives the teacher insight into the students’ thoughts, understandings, and questions they may have or areas of curiosity.  

• Are you currently using science notebooks in your classroom?  If so, how are you using them.  If not, how might you use them?  I do not use science notebooks as described.  We use foldables in our classrooms which are simply 5 sheets of paper folded in a tab format.  This is a great way to create lesson/unit specific templates that the kids can maintain and use as needed.  We include not only content, but questions they pose, models, and drawings.  I really do like the idea of including a section in each for their questions or other things they might be interested in or question.

• What are two new things that you learned from the readings and/or PowerPoint or something that reinforces what you are already doing with science notebooks in your classroom?  I really was interested in the literacy component and reflected quite a bit on how I could use this to enhance the learnings of my EL kids.  I think I would really like to figure out a way to make them more interactive using technology and translating programs to help me gain a better understanding of what they know and think.  This would be a great reinforcer of literacy skills as noted in the readings.  Communicating their ideas can also take different forms including using more student drawings, diagrams or models to show their knowledge and conceptual understanding.

• What are some advantages and disadvantages you see of using science notebooks?  The biggest disadvantage of using science notebooks comes down to time and time management.  Teachers are always aware of the pacing that needs to take place.  Teaching the appropriate skills, providing time to use the notebooks, and responding to their notes all takes time.  On the other hand, the biggest pro would be that we would have an insight into what each students is doing, recording, and questioning in their notebooks. This would help us individualize the instruction, provide opportunities for MTSS, and extend the learning to a more personalized level.

• In what way, if any, do science notebooks help support what we have explored this week with regards to "How Students Learn Science"?  When given the opportunity to take control of their own learning, the kids will have a much better success rate at retaining the information and ideas when they are sharing and internalizing the content.  By having the notebooks, the children are able to share their thoughts, record their thoughts, and communicate these over periods of time with their classmates.  They can also use these to reinforce their learnings when confronted with similar problems or ideas.  Application is better when the kids have went through the discourse and learning opportunities.