I want to personally invite as many middle level educators as possible to attend the 6th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA. This year’s roster of middle level sessions explores a wide array of STEM education professional development. NSTA is partnering with other top STEM organizations to bring you the best content: 

• American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT)
• American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
• American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
• International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA)
• National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• STEMx, managed by Battelle

These groups will lead hands-on workshops geared toward teachers establishing STEM programs in their schools, STEM leaders in rural districts, and teachers who are new to computer science and engineering.

I am excited about the sessions lead by fellow educators sharing the best practices and their experiences from implementing STEM education in their classrooms. These sessions in particular would be valuable to educators who are new to teaching STEM. Sessions will include topics, such as, makerspaces, 3D printing, using physics to engage students in STEM, applying the inquiry model in STEM classrooms, robotics, computer coding, integrating engineering design challenges and STEM in physical and life science classrooms. With over 50 sessions in the middle level strand, there is something for everyone.

Most of all, I want you to attend the 6th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA to network with colleagues from around the world sharing their successes and failures in engaging students in STEM. The expo will be the perfect opportunity for attendees to pick the brains of their like-minded peers. You will return to your districts with new ideas, a plethora of resources, and a larger network of colleagues to lean on for support.

Kenneth C. Williams has taught in Prince George’s County, MD, Public Schools for 10 years at Oxon Hill Middle School. His first 5 years, he taught a range of math courses from Pre-Algebra to Geometry. For the past five years, he has taught PLTW Gateway, the middle school STEM course for Project Lead The Way. His undergraduate degree is in Physics from Lincoln University of PA and he has completed graduate course work in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida. He has been married for 14 years and is the father of 3 children.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2017 STEM Forum & Expo
Kissimmee/Orlando, July 12–14

2017 Area Conferences

Baltimore, October 5–7
Milwaukee, November 9–11
New Orleans, Nov. 30–Dec. 2

Many of the chemicals on the Department of Homeland Security’s Anti-Terrorism Standards Chemicals of Interest List can be found in high school storerooms. These chemicals may be prone to theft and unauthorized lab experiments. Some terrorist websites have even suggested that their operatives pose as students to acquire hazardous chemical, biological, or radiological agents (NAP 2011).

To meet this challenge, science teachers, their supervisors, and administrators need to provide a secure working environment by making their labs more secure.

Prevention strategies for workplace security

California/OSHA has guidelines for creating prevention strategies for workplace security. They include:

• a system ensuring that all employees comply with work practices designed to make the workplace more secure and do not engage in threats or physical actions, which would create a security hazard in the workplace.

• a system for communicating with employees about workplace security hazards, including a way to inform the employer of security hazards at the worksite without fear of reprisal.

• procedures for identifying workplace security hazards, including scheduled periodic inspections to identify unsafe work conditions and practices.

• procedures for investigating occupational injury or illness arising from a workplace assault or threat of assault.

• procedures for correcting unsafe work conditions, work practices, and work procedures, including workplace security hazards and procedures for protecting employees from physical retaliation for reporting threats.

• training and instruction about workplace security hazards, measures to prevent workplace assaults, and what to do when an assault occurs, including emergency action and post-emergency procedures.

Secure labs

To improve safety and security in school science laboratories, preparation rooms, and storerooms:

• entrances, exits, stairways, and hallways need to be kept clear to allow for safer evacuation.

• evacuation plans and emergency numbers should be posted in appropriate sites. All laboratories, preparation rooms, and storerooms should have access to a phone or intercom in case of emergency per OSHA’s Emergency Evacuation Plans standard 1910.38.

• all chemicals must be properly labeled, dated, and stored per the OSHA HazCom Standard.

• use appropriate housekeeping to reduce or eliminate trip and fall hazards, provide adequate clearance of sprinkler systems, provide access to emergency equipment, and have an unobstructed exit per the OSHA Housekeeping Standards.

• all doors should remain closed and locked whether occupied or unoccupied. Only science teachers, administrators, and custodians should have keys to laboratories, storerooms, preparation rooms, and chemical storerooms housing hazardous chemicals.

• emergency lighting should be available to assist evacuation in power outages as appropriate. The lighting should be inspected periodically to ensure operation per Emergency Lighting and Exit Sign Requirements.

• all laboratories, preparation rooms, and storerooms should have master gas shutoffs with appropriate signage and easy access.

Secure schools

Several recommended procedures for workplace security and safety in the school facility will help raise employees’ awareness, which is critical to make a school more secure and safer. Schools should adhere to the following recommendations.

• There needs to be a designated entrance and receptionist area to control access to the school. All remaining entrance doors should be locked.

• Once signed in, visitors should be escorted to designated work areas by employees.

• All employees should be required to wear visible photo identification badges.

• Employees should be trained to approach unaccompanied strangers in the workplace by asking to see their identification or visitor badge.

• Employees should be trained and be provided with vinyl gloves to sort mail. Protocols should be in place to deal with suspicious items.

• Employers should develop lockout, lockdown, shelter, and evacuation procedures for employees and students. Appropriate drills should be exercised per government regulations.

What’s more, OSHA requires schools to have emergency preparedness plans as part of their security programs. They include:

• alerting employees when there is a security issue or threat at the workplace site,

• emergency escape procedures and escape route assignments,

• procedures for employees who remain behind to correct the emergency situation,

• procedures to account for all employees after an evacuation,

• rescue and medical duties for employees with those responsibilities,

• procedures for reporting fires or other emergencies, and

• names and titles of people to contact for explanations or further instructions.

Submit questions regarding safety in K–12 to Ken Roy at safesci@sbcglobal.net, or leave him a comment below. Follow Ken Roy on Twitter: @drroysafersci.

Reference
National Academies Press (NAP). 2011. Prudent practices in the laboratory: Handling and management of chemical hazards. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

NSTA resources and safety issue papers
Join NSTA
Follow NSTA

Are you ready to integrate science practices into your classroom?

How feasible are student-directed science investigations within the curricular expectations at your school? How can you create opportunities for student-directed investigations in the classroom? Have you ever considered partnering with a scientist to add depth to your lessons?

These are some of the central questions of the new book Dive In! Immersion in Science Practices for High School Students by Karen J. Graham, Lara M. Gengarelly, Barbara A. Hopkins, and Melissa A. Lombard.

Dive In! explains the important ways in which science instruction is evolving. “As instruction shifts to what we term science practice integration (SPI), teachers must abandon a rigid, step-by-step, inauthentic approach to science (e.g., formerly the scientific method) and are expected to implement an authentic approach to science, actively engaging their students in the science practices,” the editors state.

For some teachers, making this shift requires a new way of thinking and planning. Dive In! offers strategies to get started. The book is the outcome of a collaborative study that brought together high school teachers and graduate-level scientists from the University of New Hampshire to participate in inquiry-based projects. The study helped participating teachers to gain experience with doing authentic scientific research and developing ideas that would enhance their classroom instruction.

The great thing about this book is that it’s practical and easy to apply to your own teaching. Dive In! looks at the challenges and benefits of making the instructional shift to integrating science practices; offers troubleshooting advice to help you navigate potential problems; and provides field-tested lesson plans.

The vignettes explain teachers’ challenges and successes in implementing the outlined strategies. You can see your own struggles or challenges in other teachers’ stories and also see that there is a solution. Each section includes reflection questions that help you analyze your current teaching practices and create a new way of thinking about classroom instruction.

For example, section three discusses how to scaffold science practices in the secondary classroom and offers strategies that teachers have used such as a biology teacher who taught her students to take responsibility for designing their own procedures, and a chemistry teacher who supported students’ development of statistical analysis early in the school year so that they could make sense of the data they would encounter throughout the year.

You can read the sample chapter “Collaborations to Enhance Secondary School Students’ Engagement with the Science Practices” to discover practical examples of collaboration between the secondary school teachers in the PROBE Project and their graduate student scientist partners. The vignettes are both engaging and insightful and offer plenty to ponder.

Dive In! Immersion in Science Practices for High School Students is available in print or as an e-book.

I coach teachers at an elementary school. One teacher is trying to improve his science instruction (one of the school goals), but he’s struggling with classroom management and organization during class activities. I’ve shared some ideas, but I’m looking for more. —S., Pennsylvania

Many teachers did not experience hands-on science as students and may be unsure how to create planned and purposeful opportunities for their own students. If science is the only time in which students are expected to work in groups, with hands-on materials, or with less structure, they may think of science as free time or not as important as teacher-directed lessons.

In addition to observing the teacher, notice what the students are (or are not) doing and how the classroom is arranged. Ask the teacher questions like: What went well—and why? What were the greatest challenges? What do you think about…? Did you notice today when…? What would happen if…? What works well for you in other subjects? His responses and your observations could lead to an action plan that could include strategies such as (and these were among those suggested to me by a mentor when I was struggling!):

• Begin the activity or investigation by stating the purpose, outcomes (e.g., report, graph, drawing, summary, notebook entry), and how it connects with the learning goals or expectations of the unit.
• Establish routines so students know what kinds of behaviors are expected and acceptable.
• Prepare and label materials in advance and have designated places for them to be accessed and returned.
• Assign and explain group roles before starting the activity.
• Stop an activity when students engage in unsafe behaviors.

Above all, encourage the teacher to give himself time to persevere and to reflect on each activity as part of a continuous effort to improve.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlook/7152722/sizes/s/in/photostream/