I teach at an international American school in Egypt. My school is only two years old and I am the only specialized science teacher. I teach middle school, grades 6 through 8 and I also teach 9th grade science. This means I have four different curricula to prepare for covering almost all branches of science; life, earth, and physical science. I have taught all branches of science for almost seven years now with various grade levels starting 2nd grade all the way up to 12th grade. I feel I have mastered my subject knowledge, and now because of my Master degree in education, I have mastered more skills at teaching science.
I feel I owe it to my students and colleagues to share this knowledge and all the tips I have gained to teach science in a relevant, effective, and modern way. Because of the lack of time, I have been unable to share as much as I would like and have only shared various articles, templates, and tips through emails and occasional staff meetings. However, in the next academic year, I have decided to take time off from teaching and focus on more learning through sitting in classrooms and substitute teaching. The goal is to gain more knowledge of how others teach science, and how to integrate different disciplines.
As a result, I will have much more free time and will arrange monthly, if not weekly, faculty meetings with elementary classroom teachers. I plan to share all the knowledge I have earned through my master program to perfect their science programs. I feel it is necessary because there is more focus in elementary school on Math and English than there is on science; partly due to lack of specialization, and partly due to lack of skill for teaching it. I also plan to create an online portal to post advice, documents, experiment videos, links, and for quick questions from those who need feedback, perhaps a FAQ or Q&A section on the website.
Unfortunately this is a private school and we do not work with a district here in Egypt, but we do have other sister schools in other part where perhaps I can visit occasionally for the same purpose. The online portal will provide quick access though.
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The online portal sounds like a great way of collaborating with colleagues. My district has been offering Moodle training. I have been a bit busy with Walden, but Moodle sounds like a great way of sharing through the use of technology. It is something I will be looking into in the near future.
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