Why Teaching?

This semester has been one of those draining semesters that is starting to make me burnt out on being a science major. I've found myself completely bogged down with homework and studying. I've just been crazy stressed out, and then I start to wonder if teaching science is meant for me. These thoughts pop into my head as a struggle to understand my current chemistry homework assignments. So I've been thinking why did I choose Biology education as my major? Now I am going to refresh my own memory as to why I am passionate about teaching science, as well as enlighten ya'all on the journey that has led me to this major. When I started school  I was pre-med with the end goal of being an occupational therapist. I've always had a knack for science, especially biology and anatomy. When I was a freshman in college I felt very uneasy about my major. I just knew that occupational therapy wasn't for me. I then applied to work at Timberlake Ranch Camps. My first summer at camp turned into a life changer. I was a cabin leader that summer and spent my entire summer hanging out with awesome kids of all ages. This job helped me come to the realization I love to teach and have a passion for youth! Before taking this job at camp my interactions with youth had mainly been young kids at my local church. When I worked at camp I got to work with middle school and high schoolers as well. I absolutely loved working with that age group. I began thinking that maybe teaching is a career choice I should consider. I picked up a few teaching classes my sophomore year which helped me confirm what I already knew, and that was that I am meant to teach.  I returned to camp the following summer as the first aider. Which is so much fun! I get to combine my passions all together. I love children, Jesus, medicine and teaching. This job allowed me to interact with kids more on a science side of things. The thing about campers is they get really paranoid about everything when they are away from their parents. So I spent a lot of my summer calming campers down and explaining to them that they are okay and why the cut they got on their big toe actually won't kill them. As I continue on in my career at Timberlake Ranch Camps God continues to show me that teaching is something that I am called to do with my life.

Evernote

Alright, So this week our tech of the week is Evernote. I can see how it could be super nifty in the classroom. Having students use this to turn in notes they've taken in class would save paper and things I would have to take home to grade. It also would be an easy way for a teacher to share information or notes with students. The thing that I don't like about it is I was taking notes over chem and to me it's a lot easier to write out formulas and equations by hand then trying to make it work on a computer. I also know that I am a lot less likely to be distracted if I bring a notebook and pencil to take notes with as opposed to a laptop.  You can take a look for yourself at a few notes I took! The notes I took are pretty brief. I was just reviewing information and I omitted equations from my notes because I wasn't sure how to enter all of that into the computer.
 Chem 109 Notes