Ever since I realized that I could be a science teacher I wanted to focus on teaching only that, but knowing that I would have more job choices if I accepted math made me apply for both positions,besides high school chemistry. I finally got the chance to teach science, and that has been a blessing in many ways. Finally students get to ask interesting questions!
For about 4 weeks we were now asked to teach 7th grade math instead of 7th grade science, as we are not a state tested area. Most of my students were not looking forward to it, and some of my good science students became terrible math students. I felt like a different person teaching different students. On the one hand, most (but luckily not all) the excitement was gone. On the other hand, terrible science students, even some newcomer students became excellent math students, they did not want to go back to science!
Now that we're done with state testing I feel that those kids who liked math better are now doing better at science. While math made me lose some kids temporarily, I gained others and I've kept them on the good side. I just hope that regardless of how each student did on state testing, each and every one of them learned something that will make their lives easier. Besides having students become better readers and writers, hopefully my science classes will make their lives more interesting!
