1. Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew?

Yes, I can relate what I learned to what I already knew in several ways. Before switching to an elementary education major, I was a health promotion major until my junior year. During that time, I took a lot of chemistry classes. During these classes, memorization was pushed and being able to recall definitions. As a result of this, I feel confident in my ability to remember key concepts in chemistry, but I struggle to explain them in a clear way. Through both lab and lecture experiences, I’ve gained a better understanding of these concepts and the vocabulary needed to explain them to elementary students in a way that makes sense for the specific grade level. I can apply my previous knowledge to refresh my own understanding and then adapt it to an elementary school level when I am teaching students.

  1. How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future?

One thing that I can apply to my future teaching is the use of simulations in learning. There are many free simulations that are useful especially for chemistry experiments. Since chemistry has many things that are not visible with the naked eye, simulations can be very helpful tools for students to understand. For example, we used a simulation during lab to look at the characteristics of solids, liquids, and gases. From the simulation, we were able to analyze the characteristics and learn things about each form of matter. 

3. What are new or remaining questions? 

One new question I have is, “Should you mention topics in lower elementary grades that students won’t fully learn about until upper elementary?” I think it might be confusing for kids if these things are never mentioned at all, but at the same time, you wouldn’t want to go into too much detail too early. Certain topics are only appropriate for certain grade levels, depending on their comprehension level. I am wondering how you strike that balance of giving them a foundation without overwhelming or confusing them?


 

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