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119 sats \ 3 replies \ @cryotosensei 17h \ on: Stacker Saloon
Happiness Journal 21/7/25
Work is starting to pile up, but I prepared for my Science remedial class nevertheless. The interesting thing is that I don’t actually teach these students Science in the regular curriculum. I am instead their English teacher. So, it’s a bit surreal to speak in a different register and use different lingo during remedial.
I put in effort for this remedial, taking care to bring in a cup of hot water and another cup of ice cold water. Leveraging these props, I could reinforce that the white white thing they see = mist = water droplets. I then showed them the real-life applications of condensation, specifically how a Chinese restaurant cut holes in the plastic container to allow water vapour to escape. Finally, coupled with an acronym WCLCW, I used several examples to painstakingly drum in how “water vapour in the surrounding air comes in contact with the cooler surface, loses heat and condenses to form water droplets”.
Not sure how much these kids did absorb, but I think I am a better Science teacher than I was 3.5 years ago. And if I keep honing my craft, my children will ultimately benefit from my expertise.
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I was a chemistry major in college!
But when I became an elementary school teacher, I was sorely disappointed to learn that the pri Science curriculum hardly covers chemistry. Mostly Physics (Physical Science) and Biology (Life Sciences). I think it’s because Chemistry is too abstract for the typical primary school kid. Take today for instance. I wanted to explain how the water molecules in ice need to gain heat to break the intermolecular forces between them. But I knew it would fly over my students’ heads. So I used phrases like break chains haha
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I’m sure they absorbed a lot. There’s nothing better in the natural sciences than a hands-on demonstration. I remember when I was a kid and had to rely on illustrations in books — the artist had their merit, but an experiment solved things much more effectively.
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