My Name is Marcin and I have just graduated from Montclair State with the degree in Biochemistry. I am hoping to finish graduate school and become a chemistry teacher in High School. This is the first blog that I have ever created but I am not nervous about it at all. I do feel that I know enough to keep up with the technology to keep up in that class, and am confident that I will learn enything that is necessary to do well.
When I chose to become a science major I never knew that it will be so hard to graduate and get my degree.
The transition between taking college preparatory classes in high school to taking university level courses were a horror to start with. In my first semester my grades suffered, and I have seen as many as half of the class fail. I had to myself rethink everything, from the amount of time I spend studying to how I study. Chemistry is hard, and every year is a nightmare. I never really failed until I took the dreaded physical chemistry class. Then I failed it again. The summer before I took it again I have spend studying nearly every day and I passed while about half the class failed. Last semester out of the class of 48, only 21 people passed the class, many of those who failed were in my class a year earlier. This is why if you wonder, they have bumper stickers that say "Hunk if you passed p-chem."
I feel that now I can pass anything after getting through that nightmare, and keeping up with technology is nothing compared to what I have gone through.
When I become a teacher I am hoping to teach my students to be problem solvers, and to learn the logic of being problem solvers. In high school you get by memorizing problems, and partial credit. In chemistry there is no way in hell you will get any partial credit, and if you are planning to get a degree you have to learn the logic that is associated with solving the problems. I feel that since I am still young I wil have a better way of connecting, and understanding my students. And I hope that this class will prepare me to be a better teacher.
Technology plays a huge role in learning in today's world. Having a laptop and access to wireless internet gave me a huge advantage that I did not havej when I first started going to school here. I personally found access to online set of unlimited number of spectroscopy problems for my organic chemistry class, that was unavailable when I took that class the previous time. I was able to interpret the spectra, write the molecular formula, and the structure of the compound, and I got the answer right away whether I was right or wrong. I got an A for the class. My mother learned how to use internet in her job, and now has access to the site that translates Polish to English, and therefore was able to keep her job as well as improve her english skills. I am hoping to learn a lot more in Curr 518.
And this is my first blog, but I am not worried, this is nothing after passing p-chem.
About Myself
I enjoy reading books and magazines. For physical activities I do distance running, was captain of the cross country team in High School. I also enjoy doing pchem problems, and after every test I go to the web site with the test and I solve it, for the very simple reason; now I can solve them. And I have graduated, unlike so many of my friends. Also I enjoy working in the garden.
Good Luck to Everyone!!
Marcin
What are your thoughts about the video and article? They both describe the backdrop of technology and the expectatiosn of its use in schools.
ReplyDeleteHi Marcin! As an English major I cannot even imagine how hard it was to pass physical chemistry, congratulations! I definitely agree with you when you say you want your students to become problem solvers and use logic. These are important things to learn in both the classroom and in life. Technology plays a huge role in todays world, as you said, and being connected to technology opens doors to new ways of learning and new depths of information.
ReplyDeleteHey Marcin, I have a very similar story to yours except the roles are revised. When I was in high school my grades always suffered and I struggled in class. Once I graduated I enrolled in Community College and then Seton Hall University. It was then that I was had to ability to pull my grades up and be more confident with my study habits. In the four years that I have spent in college my lowest grad was in a science class. I had to take "Human Biology" and I just barley passed. So I could only imagine how hard a class like "P-Chemistry" can be. Luckily in this day and age if we hit any problems we can use technology to help guide us though and learn. I too am very excited and hope to learn a lot in CURR 518.
ReplyDeleteSciences classes should, at first thought, be the most technologically updated department in a school but often times are lacking much like the rest of the departments. Better technology for Biology, Chemistry, and Physics students allows for more demanding labs but, on the same token, gives students access to more precise methods of measurement and calculation.
ReplyDeleteWe need science teachers, so good luck Marcin!