My Science Autobiography

My name is Kelcey Soule. I was born and raised in Germantown Hills, IL. Germantown Hills is a small town about 15-20 minutes away from Peoria. I went to grade school and junior high in Germantown. I do not remember very much about science from my early elementary years. However, the science that I do remember is a mixture of hands-on experiences and sitting while listening to my teachers talk about the subject. I enjoyed science throughout grade school and junior high!

One of the first science activities I remember was in kindergarten. I assume we were talking about weather and we were specifically talking about tornadoes that day. My teacher some sort of bottle and she swirled it and then turned it upside down. When she did that there was a small tornado at the bottom. We were able to see what a tornado looked like and how it moved. I am not sure if I remember this because I was extremely afraid of storms and tornadoes or I thought it was really cool.

There is a planetarium in Peoria at the Lakeview Museum and in third grade we go to there because we were learning about the solar system. We sat in this big room with a round ceiling at the top and the people that worked at the Museum showed us all of the constellations and talked to us about them. This was a really cool way for us to learn about our solar system instead of talking about it and looking at pictures in our books. Another cool activity we did was about the metamorphosis cycle. Instead of seeing pictures and our teacher talking to us about it; we got to have it happen in our classroom. We got to watch our caterpillars go through the entire cycle in our own classroom and then we let them go once they turned into butterflies. We also all had to make our own volcanoes. We were able to make our volcanoes however we wanted but we also had to make them erupt.

I do not remember a lot of my science experiences from junior high. After I completed sixth grade they became to have more lectures than activities for us to do. I had a great sixth grade teacher and she always had a project for us to do and also we were always making something and observing. Everyone had a plant in the classroom that they each had to grow. Everyone observed their plant and took measurements as they were growing. We also each made small boats out of materials of our choice. Then we had boat races to see how well our boats survived with the environment, how well they could float, and how fast they could go based on the materials we used. Eighth grade was when the experiments with other materials began and the dissecting of animals. I still remember the smell when it was dissection day. We dissected a variety of animals, such as starfish and frogs.

After I graduated from Germantown I went to Metamora Township High School. In high school I took Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. We did a few hands-on experiments, projects, and small group activities. I learned a lot better when we did the hands-on activities. Science in high school was never my favorite class to go to. Most days our class time was spent by listening to lectures.

The town that I am from is very small and not very diverse.  Everyone was the same race and everyone spoke English. Even when I went to high school is was the same thing.  There were less than ten students of a different race than I am.  So, I did not grow up with much diversity and everything I have learned about diversity has come from my classes during college. I have learned a lot from this university about different cultures and how to teach students with different cultural backgrounds. My clinical experiences have allowed me to work with diverse classrooms and learn from my students.

My teaching philosophy is mostly about the students being hands on learners. However, I know that not all of my students will learn the best that way therefore I will be sure to incorporate other activities so that all of my students needs are met. I do not want my students sitting at their desks and listening to me talk to them about science. I want my students up and moving around the classroom or outside. I want them to discover new things and be active in their learning. From my own experience, I remember more when I was up and doing something in the classroom, working with materials, or going places. I want to provide those experiences the best I can for my students. I also want science to be engaging and fun. It is not just a bunch of boring information. There is so much they can learn by working with the materials, making discoveries themselves, and asking questions.