As educators, we need to look at how we teach in order to best prepare our students to compete in a global society. The best thing we can do for our students is to teach them how to become life-long learners. Hence, one of our district initiatives is to create classrooms that are student rather
than teacher-centered. In other words, we are changing the way we teach.

For instance, instead of the "Sage on the Stage" type of teaching of the past, we are advocating the "Guide on the Side" model. Consequently, our teachers are starting to change how they deliver information and answer students' questions. Instead of reading about science and answering the questions at the end of the chapter, teachers may ask the student how they might be able to find an answer. Of course the teacher would have resources available in order to find the answer. It's the old "Give me a fish, and I will eat for a day. Teach me to fish, and I will eat for a lifetime!" mentality.

As a result, things are starting to look different in our classrooms. One of these changes is not having a textbook for each child. Instead, there are computers and Activboards with Internet access, books collected from the library on the given subject, visits by experts in the field of study, materials collected by the teacher, as well as an abundance of hands-on materials leading to experiences where students can discover their own answers to questions asked.

What I just described is a classroom filled with the energy of students engaging in their own learning. These are classrooms where students have
many opportunities to question, think, wonder, investigate and draw their own conclusions from the world around them. These are classrooms where their
teachers are right along side them, sometimes learning something new themselves. What better model could we give our children?

As you have probably concluded, I am very excited about this direction for teaching science. However, I also know that this is new territory for most teachers. We are at the beginning of a new era in teaching that is unlike the way most of us were taught. However, the direction we are taking is based on educational research. Ask any students about hands-on investigations and you will surely see the excitement aroused. Learning by doing is they way they learn best, and the way they love to learn!

Science Supervisor, Donna Kinn