My teacher brought up a beautiful concept this past week called teaching in the margins, as introduced in an excerpt by Ann E. Haley-Oliphant. In order to explain this concept to you, I want you to first imagine a mowed pasture or tilled farmland. Everything within the center of that field is identical-- row by row of the same corn or grass, but if you travel to the edge of that same field, a diversity of wildlife appears. There may be wildflowers, weeds, trees, and birds. This is the margin. The margin is special because of its wild, untamed, and untouched nature, and the same can be said for teaching in the margin, which aims to bring about an unsystematic outcome. To understand this, imagine the cornfields to be minute-by-minute structured lesson plans and the margins to have the freedom to meander through a topic, or sprint to the next (student dependent). Teaching in the margins can be uncomfortable and scary for both the students and the teacher because there are unexpected turns, but it is in those times of uncertainty that curiosity, wonderment, and learning flourish. Teaching in the margins may sound very similar to a teachable moment, but there is an important difference between these teaching methods. Teaching in the margins is typically a planned lesson, which aims to promote exploration and inquiry, while a teachable moment is a spontaneous decision to deviate from a lesson plan.
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What is exemplary science teaching? You read the question, but what is it really asking? To answer that, let's take a look at the definition of exemplary. According to Google: "Representing the best of its kind" "Flawless" "Faultless" Now wait a minute, are you suggesting you hold the secret to the perfect teacher? No, but I believe that should always be our goal-- to better ourselves as teachers in order to better the lives of our students. This is my suggested path to becoming the best teacher you can become: Science is one of the most tangible subjects in school:
In inquiry learning, the students are at the head of the class, posing questions and solving their own problems in order to discover more about their world, while the teacher guides them along but doesn't hold their hands. In this way, exemplary science teaching can be seen less as the traditional teacher and more as a partner in exploration. Let's look at some examples of this in action! Mrs. Connors planned an activity for her high school environmental science class. She wanted her students to learn how humans are impacting the environment around them, and she posed this topic to her students. Their task was to go out in their communities and investigate potential environmental hazards.
I invite you to step out of the classroom and explore the world with your students because what they think matters, and the world is a magical place that gives rise to their undying curiosities.
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