I’m looking for suggestions on how to have class discussions that are meaningful and help students with our learning goals, especially discussing current events or the results of our investigations. Sometimes it goes off-topic or students don’t listen to one another. —C., Virginia

Being able to discuss issues and ideas in a productive manner is important to the future endeavors of your students. Discussions, whether in small or large groups, can be used to focus and share student thinking in terms of summarizing, questioning, comparing/contrasting, making claims and arguments, brainstorming, decision making, and problem solving.

We may think students should know how to do this. But students may come with misconceptions about discussions. They may be used to the idea that a “discussion” means that the teacher asks questions and they respond. This teacher-led interrogation does not include student-to-student questions or in-depth conversations. Or consider what passes for “discussions” on television, where people shout, interrupt, ridicule, and engage in name-calling and other disrespectful and unproductive behaviors (not behaviors we want to encourage or reinforce in our classrooms!).

You may have realized you have to teach students to work cooperatively, take notes in a style related to the task, write informatively, and read science text. So it follows that students may need to learn how to discuss issues and ideas among themselves. As students mature, their interactions should change and the teacher’s input or level of control should decrease.

Some students may be reluctant to participate because of language issues. Some may feel insecure around their louder or more knowledgeable peers. Some students may have ideas to contribute but need support, encouragement, and feedback to participate.

Does your classroom physically support large-group discussions?

Desks or tables in rows may not be conducive to getting all students involved in peer-to-peer discussions: they can’t see each other’s faces, some students hide behind others so as not to participate, and teachers tend to focus on the students nearest to them. Try arranging the desks in a circle or open-U format. (You may have to practice with students to develop a routine for moving desks or tables efficiently.) Sitting in the circle with the students makes a powerful statement about the ownership of the conversation—the teacher is part of the discussion, not just an emcee or moderator.

Establish classroom norms for discussions. What kinds of behaviors or interactions are acceptable? Model the discussion behaviors you’d like your students to learn: attentive listening, wait time, courtesy, and how to channel enthusiasm or express disagreement positively. Resist the urge to “butt in” when the student says something incorrect or controversial. Ask other students to respond first. A question such as “What do you think?” “Do you have anything to add?” or “What did you conclude from this?” can encourage more students to participate.

Students may already have a page of “sentence starters” in their notebooks for written work. Perhaps a section on non-threatening conversation-starters or -continuers could be added: I’d like to know more about… Could you please repeat that? Why do you think that… Here’s what I think you said… What is your source? Can you give me another example? May I add to that? I agree/disagree with that because… Have you considered… I’m not quite sure what you mean.

Students can practice these behaviors in a Think-Pair-Share activity. Discussing ideas with a partner may help them to identify what they might want to say later in a large group. You could start by giving each student a brief reading on familiar or interesting content, such as a news article or website. In this way the students can focus on the process of discussion rather than the acquisition of information.

As students converse, whether in small groups or whole-class, observe what others are doing. Are they interested? Trying to get a word in? Left out?

Recognize that small-group discussions can be very spirited. Don’t worry about the noise level until and unless it gets to be a distraction or a disruption. Often teachers and students select an agreed-upon signal to tone down the noise level or stop the conversations to regroup as a class (e.g., flick the classroom lights, clap their hands, a small bell).

The November 2014 issue of Educational Leadership has articles related to talking and listening in the classroom. Several are available online without a subscription:

• Talking to Learn
• Now Presenting 
• Research Says: Get All Students to Speak Up

Explicitly Speaking, a recent article in Science and Children promotes scientific language and communications through awareness, modeling, supported practice, and integration.

This week, the Association of American Publishers PreK–12 Learning Group announced the year’s top learning resources, its 50^th year of providing this service to the education community. The 2016 REVERE Awards Finalists include resources from PreK to 12, from print to electronic, and from classroom to “beyond.” Among the impressive and diverse list of Finalists in this year’s competition are eight publications by the National Science Teachers Association. Finalists received the highest ratings from a corps of judges composed of professional educators and publishing-industry experts.

Supplemental Resources

NSTA Press’s book Argument-Driven Inquiry in Life Science: Lab Investigations for Grades 6–8, by Patrick Enderle and colleagues, is a Finalist for Supplemental Resources in Science this year. The goals of science education today include helping students not only understand important concepts but also learn to do science. The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize that students need to understand disciplinary core ideas, be aware of seven crosscutting concepts that span the disciplines of science, and learn how to participate in eight key scientific practices to be proficient in science. One increasingly popular way to knit all these elements together is argument-driven inquiry, an innovative approach to lab instruction and the focus of this book of laboratory investigations in life science for middle school. The emphasis in these engaging labs is on argumentation—the process of proposing, supporting, evaluating, and refining claims in the science classroom. This book is part of the growing Argument-Driven Inquiry Series.

Professional Resources

In the category of Instruction and Classroom Practice, AAP named Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science, by Richard Konicek-Moran and Page Keeley among the Finalists. The book is an engaging combination of deep thinking about teaching and learning for understanding; field-tested, classroom-ready strategies that support conceptual understanding in grades K–12; and personal vignettes with lessons for all educators. Konicek-Moran and Keeley guide teachers in how to really think about “the major goal of science education in the 21^st century”: to help students understand science at the conceptual level so they can see its connections to other fields, other concepts, and their lives. Konicek-Moran is author of seven additional books with NSTA Press in the Everyday Science Mysteries Series. Keeley has authored 11 books with NSTA Press in the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Series.

Honored in the category of Specific Learning Populations this year is NGSS for All Students, edited by Okhee Lee, Emily Miller, and Rita Januszyk. Through rich case studies, Lee, Miller, and Januszyk vividly illustrate research- and standards-based classroom strategies to engage seven diverse demographic groups in science learning: economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, English language learners, girls, students in alternative education, and gifted and talented students. The case studies span all grade levels and science disciplines.

Two more NSTA Press Finalists in the Subject Areas category are The Power of Questioning: Guiding Student Investigations, by Julie V. McGough and Lisa M. Nyberg, and Solar Science: Exploring Sunspots, Seasons, Eclipses, and More, by Dennis Schatz and Andrew Fraknoi.

In The Power of Questioning, McGough and Nyberg invite grades K–6 teachers to nurture the potential for learning that grows out of children’s irrepressible urge to ask questions. The book’s foundation is a three-part instructional model grounded in questioning, investigation, and assessment. To bring the strategies to life, the authors provide vivid pictures as well as links to special videos and audio recordings direct from an elementary classroom in all its questioning and tumultuous glory.

In Solar Science, Schatz and Fraknoi provide grades 5–8 teachers with 45 lessons related to the Sun, including such topics as the Sun’s motions, the measurement of time and seasons in our daily lives, and the causes of both solar and lunar eclipses. The classroom-tested activities support the three-dimensional learning encouraged by the Next Generation Science Standards and connect to the Common Core State Standards. The book comes packaged with an observer’s guide to viewing the upcoming 2017 total solar eclipse as well as eclipse-viewing glasses that can help teachers model safe Sun-observation practices.

Magazines

In the REVERE Awards Magazine Finalists, NSTA Journals are honored for three publications this year. In the category of Professional Magazines, Science and Children’s “Engineering Encounters” is named a Finalist among Departments and Columns. “Engineering Encounters” seeks to both celebrate creative ways to incorporate engineering design into the elementary curriculum and familiarize teachers with ways that engineering and science overlap.

The Science Teacher’s “Teaching the Manhattan Project,” by Elizabeth Schibuk, is named a Finalist in Feature Articles for presenting a nuclear chemistry unit on the research effort that led to the development of the world’s first nuclear weapons. The article, marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan, offers teachers a way to teach the science and history of the world’s first use of a nuclear weapon in war, while acknowledging the emotional and moral impact of the discussion.

In the category of Single Issue Editorial awards, Science and Children’s September 2015 issue titled “Engineering and Design” is honored as a Finalist. The Next Generation Science Standards is leading the call for more emphasis on engineering in our schools. This issue of Science and Children includes strategies, ideas, and techniques to help elementary teachers bring engineering and the design process into their classrooms.

Each year the REVERE Awards honor the best in education resources and draws attention to the rich array of high-quality teaching materials developed across the educational publishing community. Congratulations to the authors and to the NSTA Press Books and NSTA Journals editorial, design, and production teams for receiving these eight Finalist honors in the 2016 REVERE Awards. For the full list of this year’s Finalists, visit the REVERE Awards pages and stay tuned for AAP’s announcement in June 2016 of the Winners in each of these categories.

There has been a good deal of activity at the Department of Education with the ESSA and on Capitol Hill recently.

But first, a shameless plug—mark your calendars now to join NSELA (National Science Education Leadership Association) and NSTA for a joint webinar on the new federal education law–The Every Student Succeeds Act– on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. This webinar, geared for science teachers, science district leaders and administrators, will examine the new law with a focus on science/STEM education and teaching and learning.  Learn about the key changes from No Child Left Behind and NCLB, where (and how) you can find and access federal dollars for science and STEM programs, and bring your questions (cause if we can’t answer them, we will find someone who will.)  The webinar begins at 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. MT / 3:30 p.m. PT. Learn more and register here.

Department of Education

May 2-6 is Teacher Appreciation Week.  You can follow #ThankATeacher on social media and tell the world about your amazing students and colleagues (think selfies with students, parents and colleagues) at #WhyITeach.  Tuesday, May 3 will be National Teacher Appreciation Day, and two NSTA members—Mary Colson and Steve Long—will be joining President Obama for a special ceremony honoring the Teacher of the Year at the White House that day. More on their stories next week.  Access the Department of Education’s digital workbook here.

ED officials have released a STEM Funding Guidance document outlining how states, districts, and their partners can access federal funding for STEM education purposes through K-12 programs at the Department. Read more here. (Note that many of these programs are for the 2016-2017 school year under the ESEA (No Child Left Behind). ESSA is expected to be in place for the 2017 school year.)

After issuing guidance following a negotiated rulemaking session on a number of issues in the new federal education law, the Department of Education is now accepting thoughts and comments thru May 25 on possible guidance that will help the “public understand the law, how ED is interpreting the law, and to provide clarification and examples of best practices.” Some of the STEM related areas include Title II and Title IV funding. The department is accepting input until May 25 at ESSA.guidance@ed.gov

Update on Appropriations

As previously reported in the March 21 Legislative Update, NSTA is part of a new coalition that is seeking full funding ($1.65 billion) for the ESSA Title IV A, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants. This flexible block grant, which is authorized at $1.65 billion in FY 2017, will provide funding to districts for activities in three broad areas:

1) Providing students with a well-rounded education (e.g. college and career counseling, STEM, arts, civics, IB/AP)

2) Supporting safe and healthy students (e.g. comprehensive school mental health, drug and violence prevention, training on trauma-informed practices, health and physical education) and

3) Supporting the effective use of technology (professional development, blended learning, and devices).

Specifically, in regards to the use of Title IV A funds for STEM, districts and states can use grant monies to expand high-quality STEM courses; increase access to STEM for underserved and at risk student populations; support the participation of students in STEM nonprofit competitions (such as robotics, science research, invention, mathematics, computer science, and technology competitions); provide hands-on learning opportunities in STEM; integrate other academic subjects, including the arts, into STEM subject programs; create or enhance STEM specialty schools; integrate classroom based and afterschool and informal STEM instruction;  and expand environmental education.  

The President’s budget request calls for funding of only $500 million for the grants, far short of the $1.65 billion authorized by ESSA lawmakers, and suggests the funds should be competitive. Advocates, including NSTA, believe this amount is “grossly inadequate,” and is meeting with appropriations lawmakers to ensure robust funding for this program.

An Ed Week article this week discussed how the two sponsors of the new ESSA law—Reps John Kline and Bobby Scott—sent a letter to appropriators seeking more money for the new ESSA block grant.

Nearly two dozen technology companies, education companies and advocacy groups have also written a letter to appropriators urging them to fully fund the ESSA Title IV block grant. Read the letter here.

Also this week, an open letter from leading tech companies, governors, and education leaders asking for funding for computer science also ran as a full-page ad in The Washington Post and delivered on Capitol Hill.

With the current spending limits of the 2015 budget agreement, spending on education for FY2017 programs will be extremely tight.  Stay tuned.

Out of School Learning and STEM

NSTA was one of the hosts for the April 28 Capitol Hill event that focused on the effectiveness of informal STEM education programs and outcomes associated with sparking student interest, engagement, motivation, and persistence in STEM education.  At the event, the STEM Education Coalition released a 10-page white paper that makes the case why informal and afterschool learning must be an integral part of policies to improve STEM education across the board.

Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. e-mail Peterson at jpeterson@nsta.org; follow her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

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

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