Today we had our first science workshop with Richard. No word of a lie, I was bricking it beforehand. I did not have a very enjoyable experience of science in school, and I have never looked back on it as a positive school memory. However, Richard has certainly swayed my opinion completely in his workshop – something I had never considered would happen!

I thoroughly enjoyed preparing a little two-minute presentation and experiment to share with
my cohort. From researching different types of experiment, to reading more into them and actually trying them out! Obviously, being a very keen geographer, I HAD to go with a volcano! The earth’s materials are a fascination part of science! I may or may not have borrowed my sisters volcano, and used a mixture of bicarbonate soda and vinegar to create the effect of an eruption. I also created a little poster with some fun facts and statistics! (I have attached the video of my experiment to the end of this post, it was a lot of fun!) By allowing us to do this so early on in this module, I feel I will now be able to approach it in a different, more positive frame of mind. That little experiment has filled me with a new confidence of a subject I have pushed to the back of my mind for a long time now!

Science is an important subject and a lot can be learnt through it. I feel I could have done with a lot more of it when I was at primary for certain! Due to this view, I will definitely make the effort to focus on improving my anxiety of science, so I can develop my confidence and teach it to all those pupils! It is one of those subjects where you NEED to have all the facts, you would not be able to improvise as easily as you could in subjects such as Physical Education or Dance.

To improve my confidence, I will definitely look more into different areas of science. Especially things I feel may be of use to me in the classroom. I do think that anxiety towards specialist subjects is not due to a lack of intellect, but due to bad experiences in those certain subjects in the past. A trip to the Dundee Science Centre is definitely on the cards!!

I will also use this SMART target to ensure I am realistic:

Specific:  I am hoping to learn more about SCIENCE. I will make an effort to ensure I look into the different areas of science, as well as the curriculum for excellence documents regarding science.

Measurable: I do tend to keep track of what I have and have not done. I will be able to measure how closely I have met my target by how much knowledge I have taken in; and whether or not I do get around to doing so.

Attainable: I have kept my target simple and realistic. I won’t end up as knowledgeable as Einstein (baby steps will do!) but I will hopefully improve my knowledge.

Relevant: My target is relevant to today’s input and the curriculum area we focussed on!

Timely: I am confident I will be able to reach my target before the end of this module.

So yeah…. maybe science isn’t all that bad after all!