This week I have been working on creating different lesson components for teaching Force, Motion, & Energy. As I have been working, I have been thinking back to one of my favorite lessons with my 8th grade students. I was teaching Newton's Laws of Motion. We were working on some notes together and I could tell that my class was feeling a bit tired and lethargic (this was the period after lunch). I decided to liven things up a bit. I stood up and without warning, kicked an empty lab stool across the floor. EVERYONE perked up! It caught everyone off guard- lots of students giggled, everyone was totally awake! We then discussed which laws of motion were in play. It worked so well, I ended up doing that year after year as a part of my lesson. Isn't it funny how sometimes we plan to teach one way, but end up doing something totally different in the spur of the moment, and it ends up working even better than what we had planned? That is one of the things I LOVED about teaching. Teaching gives us the opportunity to be CREATIVE and SPONTANEOUS! It allows us to read the room and adjust according to our students' needs. I especially LOVE teaching science! Science teachers are like the ROCK STARS of the school! I mean, where else can teachers kick stools and students make crazy concoctions like Ooblek (Non-Newtonian fluid) and blow things up?!?
As you plan, remember to leave room for flexibility. Sometimes the things that are unplanned have the biggest impact!
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