Monday, October 15, 2007

The Modern Biology Teacher

Take some time and reflect on at least one take-a-way you had from Mr. Wallace's conversation about what it is like to teach Biology in a classroom in the 21st Century. Reflect on his thoughts about creationism, intelligent design, and evolution.

14 comments:

laurenp said...

Mr. Wallace's conversation I thought made a good point. He really opened up to me a lot of things about creationism and evolution. That creationism has no place in science and I agree with him, I think that evolution should be tought to students in a classroom, because if you really think about it creationism and evolution are two way different subjects and do not belong in the same subject of science, because religion is not science. The fact that he reconizes that is I think important because a lot of times people don't focus on what creationism and evolution really is they just focus on the dabating part of which one is right or wrong or the things that prove it.

DennisRocks said...

Wow, Mr. Wallace is my hero! He explained all the concepts that he was talking about in depth and I am very grateful for having him to come and talk in class. He really opened my eyes to how the debate on the issues of creationism and evolution is still ragging on today. I had always thought that it was resolved in the 1920s. Like Mr. Wallace said, it is very hard today to be a biology teacher; different curriculums present different things that are needed to be taught. You never know what you will be teaching, some days it could be creationism, in others, it may be evolution. Overall, Mr. Wallace is a great speaker; he is confident, pulls the audience into the conversation (asks questions to the audience), and he explains everything.

Anna K said...

Mr. Wallace's presentation was wonderful! It really opened my mind to how important the issue of teaching creationism and evolution in schools is. I believe that both should be taught because everyone should know the details of both sides to be able to choose what they truly believe. I agree with him on the matter that evolution isn't a religion and has facts to support it up until the beginning of earth. The rest we might never know for sure. I also believe that creationism has nothing to do with science and it should be taught in history class. Many different religions should be taught so the students can discover what they truly believe in. Over all, he gave a magnificent presentation.

Jackie N said...

Mr. Wallace did really well coming in and opening up our minds on creationism and evolution. This debate is important, and will go on for a very long time; the two sides have their own argument. I agree with him that creationism does not belong in the subject of science, it is a strong religious belief. People need to think about the facts that support which one they believe in. I believe it's hard for teachers with no option having to teach evolution, some believe in it, some dont, their own opinion will not open up. This opens up a topic to really think about which one we believe in. Mr. Wallace made me really think a lot more on evolution and creationism.

samh said...

Mr. Wallace did a very good job discussing with us the idea of evolution and creation. He did a great job expressing his veiws on the topic and he allowed us to thik for ourselves and didn't try to make us lean one way or another. Also it was good that he reminded us of the debate that is continusly going on over this subject and he reminded us that there are hundreds of things that can be debated with this subject. It was good to hear from a teacher kind of what to expect when we begin learning about this and it was nice to have him remind us to come to our own conclusions.

Averee said...

I took a lot away from Mr. Wallace's conversation with us. I grew up believe that evolution was the theory that we cam frommonkeys, but after listnening to Mr. Wallace, I nowhave a better understanding of what exactly evolution is. I may not necassarily believe in evolution, but I know have a more open mind about it because I understand it more.
I can't imagine how hard it is to be a biology teacher in our day and age. In our district, the teaching of evolution is required, and, if you don't beieve what it says, keeping you personal opinions from affecting the teaching enviornment can be tough. Teaching is already pretty tough, with all the things teachers re required to teach us, but to teach something that so many people have such strong opinions about must be really difficult.

annies said...

I thought it was weird that they were calling it intelligent design rather then creationism. I think teachers should be able to teach both evolution and creationism. But I also think it should be called creationism, rather then intelligent design. I can go both ways on this subject. Because I believe in the theory of evolution, and creationism. Because I can understand that people look like we evolved from monkeys. I was never taught about how the Earth was "created in seven days", so all I have ever known on this subject, was monkeys.

kellyS said...

It seems like it is really difficult to teach one without having an opinion,or offending sombodys beliefs. Now a teacher can choose to teach Evolutionism, and I'm a little confused if now that is the only way they can teach it. If it is then that is kind of like the Butler Act but just opposite. I think that this is a very tricky subject to teach.

angelicao said...

I thought that Mr. Wallaces lecture was very interesting because I've never reall thought about how hard it must be to teach evolution. I todays world everyone is aloud to have their own beliefs, but not aloud to share it in the classroom because it might offend someone else with different beliefs. Like in elementary school when we werent aloud to have christams parties because it would leave out the children who didnt celebrate christmas because of their religion. There are many people who believe in evolution, but yeta again, there are also many religious people who dont. So they tell teachers not to teach it in schools.

alexe said...

I thought that Mr.Wallaces convorsation with us was very interesting. The way he went into detail to explain to us what each subject meant and what they were about was very interesting. His thoughts really impacted my thoughts on evolution and how it should be taught in schools today. I would really enjoy another talk from him agian in our class in the near future.

berekm said...

During Mr.Wallaces speach i was thinking back to 7th grade in New York. We were tought that we came from monkeys and before that we were fish and lizards. But after that talk he gave us im not sure what i beleive. I think it was good for him to come in and teach us that and clear up that evolution is not a reliogion. That was a good idea to talk to us about that.

seand said...

Mr. Wallace seemed like a very knowlageable person. I have grown up believing in creationism because I went to a Christian school all my life. I though Mr. Wallace made some very good points about evolution. He really made you think about what you believe. I agree completely with him in that what you believe is a very personal thing. I don't think people should be a certain faith just because their parents want them to. I think everyone should choose what they want to believe and Mr. Wallace made it very clear that he feels the same way. I think it was good for him to come in and talk to us because it really got us thinking about what we believe.

ethan l said...

Mr. Wallace had a great speech. It made me think about 6th grade and how they tought us about buddah and it made me kind of mad because they also taught evolution and they did even give creationism a chance. He was very good at talking to us and asking questions also.

seanb said...

Mr. Wallace did a wonderful job presenting. He was able to show both sides of evolutionism and creationism. He stated his beliefs but did not just take shots at the other beliefs. I believe in both creationsim and evolution. Although some people might not agree with what he says i think he did a very good job.