My district is very specific about the course of study for middle school science, basically laying out a schedule day by day (which is not the case for most of the other subject areas). As a young teacher, especially back during my first year, this can be very reassuring (though some might call it a crutch). Trying to plan individual lessons can be stressful enough, but putting together larger unit plans can seem overwhelming at times. I did very much appreciated having the decision of what to teach taken out of my hands and just be left to worry about how to teach and manage my classroom.
That all being said, I really don't like they way we start the year. Basically our curriculum covers five major topics: water, disease, biotechnology, chemistry, and geologic history / evolution. I enjoy most of our topics, especially the evolution, disease and biotechnology. However, we start with the water unit. We talk about water properties, chemical structure, freshwater, groundwater, water treatment, water quality, conservation, pollution, ocean environments and ecosystems. All in all, we spend the first nine week on water. Nine weeks. A full quarter of the year. I have yet to meet an eighth grade student who finds discussing water to be interesting. It is my job to get them excited anyway.
The real key to getting students excited is to be an excited teacher. The problem is that I just don't find water all that interesting either. Students follow the example they see in the classroom. I do my best to be as interested and excited as possible. Maybe I am not a very good actor, or maybe my students are extra perceptive, but I don't think they are fooled. It is frustrating to be unable to start the year really grabbing their attention. I can get excited about geologic history (it is easy to get excited about dinosaurs), evolution, diseases, biotechnology or even chemistry. I can only imagine how nice it would be to start the year with something that gets them really excited. I can only imagine how nice it would be to start the year with something that gets me really excited.
We are six weeks into the year. Three more weeks of water. Three more weeks of working not only on lesson plans, but also on plans for how to set a good example as an excited teacher. Once these three weeks are over I can stop acting and actually get excited.
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3 other thoughts:
Zzzzzzzzzzz! A whole quarter on water! Eegads! I feel for you, though. The students really do know when we are not excited about something. Sometimes I AM excited about something, but the means by which I have to teach it kills my enthusiasm.
Do you know how they ended up with such a long water unit, and first?
I know that there is a lot about water in the state standards, so we have to spend a while on it. I would be interested to find out how long other districts deal with it.
We start with it because someone decided that it would be good to start when it is still warm enough to go outside and get some fresh pond water. Pretty terrible reason, if you ask me.
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