Crowell, Andromeda (Science Teacher, Orange High School, Hillsborough, NC)

During college I was on my way to becoming a scientist when I decided to get my education license on the side. During my student teaching internship, I was set to teach my mostly anti-science group of students a controversial topic in biology. I was not really looking forward to it, but I put my heart into designing lessons anyway, and actually an amazing thing happened. During one of the activities I designed, I noticed that not only was everyone in the class engaged, but they were genuinely curious and asking questions. After we finished for the day, I even had a student come up to me and say that now they could really understand why people supported some of the controversial ideas. That’s a moment for me because for a period of time I was able to help someone find their curiosity in science, see it as relevant to them and understand more about the people around them because of it. I hope that by learning to act as scientists in my classroom, my students are better able in the future to understand the natural world and the people in it and, maybe, solve some of the world’s problems.

Although most people think of science and humanities as separate fields of study, in reality they are highly interrelated. Scientists may have different methods and modes of thinking than humanists, but in the end science is just a curiosity about the human condition. After all, it’s the relationships I build with people and the understandings students develop about each other and the world that drives me to continue to teach science.

Subjects

Science / Teaching / Students /