ABSTRACT
In my experience as an Earth science teacher, too many students in high-need urban schools enter the science classroom with the preconceived notion that science is not for them. In this chapter, I discuss my attempts to facilitate my students’ development of a “scientist identity” so that they might learn to speak and think like scientists. In doing so, I hope to equip my students to be able to say, “I am a scientist!” Through a letter to my fictitious student, Dante, I explore my research question: In what ways can student-led current events discussions help foster a “scientist identity” in my classroom?
