Handouts are available at the bottom of this post.

Video Transcript

Hi Science Teachers,

Welcome to Science Teacher Summer School, Episode 11.

I’m Kent Lui, and something you may not know about me is I have a sweet tooth and just recently, I had half a box of cereal for dinner. I’m not talking about some healthy, high fibre, organic cereal. I had 3 bowls of honey comb – the high fructose, simulated flavored children’s cereal – with whole milk. Although it was tasty, it will not be repeated for some time. Now, let’s get to work.

I’ve been teaching for roughly 17 years and I’m still constantly learning more and reflecting on my craft. I love talking with older colleagues because they give me insights I may not have thought of before. I love talking with fresh teachers too because they help light a fire in my belly again. Recently, I spoke with a colleague who has been teaching for 9 years, and our conversation made me think about how I used to teach as a younger teacher and how I teach now. In this episode, I open up the vault and share what I used to do with students on the first day of school as a younger teacher and what I do now as a seasoned one. So, what have my first days been like?

When I first started teaching, chicken soup books – you know, the ones filled with inspirational quotes for daily struggles – were really popular. At the time, I wanted to offer something similar to my students. So, I created a handout called Mr. Lui’s Chicken Soup. It was filled with quotes on a range of student questions like why do I have to learn this or what do I do if I’m feeling lazy or why should I try my best. I would give this handout to every student to read on the first day, and then have students share their favourite and provide a reason why. Some of my favourite quotes from the list include

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” by Yoda

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” by Martin Luther King Jr.

“People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up.” by American Poet Ogden Nash.

Check out realsciencechallenge.com/summerschool11 to download a copy of Mr. Lui’s Chicken Soup.

Another year, I wanted to do something related to mindfulness and sensory deprivation chambers – you know, those water tanks in which people float in darkness for half an hour or more – came to mind. I wanted to bring that same experience to my first day with the kids. So, before class started, I had students wait outside my door while I shut off all the lights, set up LED tea light candles around the room, and placed paper grocery bags on each desk. I had students come in without talking, sit down at a desk, and place the paper bag over their heads. I would have them sit there quietly for a few minutes, take some deep breaths, and observe and be comfortable with the silence. Then I would ask them a few questions to answer silently in their heads – such as, what is something you are really good at? What are some of the goals you have for science this year? Imagine you accomplished your goals – what would it look like and how would you feel? Some students felt the experience was pretty cool while others thought it was weird. But, it was definitely memorable, and I explain to students afterwards that I want them to be in the right mindset for science this year – which is why we started with this activity.

For the last few years, I started the year by introducing CER and doing an activity where I show students personal artifacts I have stored in my classroom and then I have them write a CER statement about my personality. Go back to Science Teacher Summer School Episode 2 for a few more details. They need to analyze the artifacts I show them and come up with a conclusion about me. It’s a good way for students to learn about me and practice CER at the same time.

This upcoming school year I’m thinking about doing Chicken Soup again. This whole process of reflecting on what I did when I first started teaching made me want to recapture the spirit of the work I did back then and blend it with my outlook today. Maybe I’ll call it Chicken Soup 2.0.

That’s all the time we have for this episode. Please leave questions in the comments section below. Our next episode is our last episode of this series, and I want to end off by talking about what parents think about Science education. You don’t want to miss it.

Thanks for watching. And, remember to science everywhere everyday.

Resources

Handout(s): Chicken Soup 2.0

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