By Francis Eberle
Posted on 2011-09-12
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-09-12
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-09-11
With ten-plus inches of rain, even fenceposts sprout with fungus.
Peggy
With ten-plus inches of rain, even fenceposts sprout with fungus.
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-09-09
Teaching spatial awareness is part of most early childhood standards, such as the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework (Understands directionality, order, and position of objects, such as up, down, in front, behind.), and it is part of national standards for K-12 curriculum such as the National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas . Joining in a traditional fingerplay teachs positional vocabulary:
Up and down, round and round (draw circles in the air),
Put your fingers on the ground.
Over (hold hands above lap) under, (below legs) in between (hide in between your legs)
Now my fingers can’t be seen!
Hands in front, hands behind , now my hands I cannot find.
Here’s my left hand , here’s my right,
Hands and fingers back in sight! (wriggle fingers).
How else can preK-grade 2 teachers prepare their students to understand their position in their room, their building, their community, their world, their “place in space”? There are many resources on teaching using representations—models and maps—available through the National Science Teachers Association elementary school journal, Science and Children. The September 2011 issue has many “free” articles for teachers who want resources for teaching science but are not yet members. People who are members can send the link to colleagues to alert them to interesting articles such as the “Guest Editorial: Minds, Models, and Maps” by Kenneth Wesson who says, “The dynamic back-and-forth process of shifting images from the mind’s eye to paper and to tangible models is when children make their most creative and memorable connections.” He offers easy-to-implement strategies for incorporating illustrations, models, and maps. Another free article by NSTA 2001–2002 President and science education consultant Harold Pratt, describes the National Research Council’s new Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas in “Introducing A Framework for K–12 Science Education.”
Children feel empowered and can see details when they make a really big model of a spider and her web. Join Marie Faust Evitt and her class as they hunt for spiders and make BIG connections in “A Web of Learning: Beyond “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” preschool students learn science content naturally”. And in The Early Years column I write about helping children build mental and visual maps of their area by taking walking fieldtrips and documenting their observations on a simple map. Even if your walking fieldtrip is just around the school building, children can look for traffic signs, interesting plants, and signs of animal life. This year the other teachers and I will take walking fieldtrips with the 3-year-olds too!
Peggy
Teaching spatial awareness is part of most early childhood standards, such as the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework (Understands directionality, order, and position of objects, such as up, down, in front, behind.), and it is part of national standards for K-12 curriculum such as the National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscut
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-09-09
I just started my first teaching position (middle school Earth science) and already I feel overwhelmed. It seems like I need 36 hours in a day. What can I do to get everything done? Does it get any easier?
—Ted, Fargo, North Dakota
Congratulation on your new position! I’ll answer your last question first. Yes, things do get a little easier after your first year when you’ve established routines, developed your basic lesson plans, and organized your lab/classroom. But even veteran teachers wish for more time. After students are dismissed, the teacher’s job continues with planning and preparation, evaluating assessments, faculty or department meetings, and professional development programs. So take a deep breath, celebrate your successes, and permit yourself to make (and learn from) a few mistakes.
Transition time is important. Some teachers like to arrive very early. They use this quiet time to get materials ready for class, catch up on reading, enjoy a cup of coffee, chat with colleagues, and prepare mentally for the day. Other teachers stay late to organize the classroom, prepare for the following day’s activities, review student work, contact parents, answer emails, and reflect on the day’s lessons. I often found myself doing both—but I always left with a clean lab prepped for the following day.
In the frenzy to get everything done, don’t neglect your physical and mental health:
As a science teacher, your most important focus is on instruction: lesson planning, implementing inquiry-based activities, designing or selecting appropriate assessments, and using technology appropriately. You’ll also have 100+ students to get to know. To accomplish this, prioritize your planning time with a focus on what enhances your instruction and interactions with students:
Above all, don’t be shy about asking your mentor, other science teachers, or your principal for advice and suggestions on time management and classroom organization. You’ll soon learn who the go-to people are in your school (including the school secretary and custodian). We all want you to learn and be successful!
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnm-photography/5745534007/
I just started my first teaching position (middle school Earth science) and already I feel overwhelmed. It seems like I need 36 hours in a day. What can I do to get everything done? Does it get any easier?
—Ted, Fargo, North Dakota
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-09-07
Professional development strengthens teaching skills and introduces the latest research about learning.
By Eric Brunsell
Posted on 2011-09-07
— The Scientific Process
Berkeley’s Understanding Science website is a great resource for learning more about the process of science. The resource goes much deeper than the standard “PHEOC” model of the scientific method by emphasizing peer review, the testing of ideas, a science flowchart, and “what is science?” checklist. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/
Understanding Science also provides a variety of teaching resources including case studies of scientific discoveries and lesson plans for every grade level. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/index.php
— From AAAS Science NetLinks
Science Netlinks provides hundreds of reviewed lessons and other resources keyed to science topics. Many of the lessons use engaging news stories about current science discoveries. This month’s Science NetLinks newsletter highlights resources for UNESCO’s International Literacy Day (9/8), United Nations’ Ozone Day (9/16), and the World Heart Federation’s World Heart Day (9/28). http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/news/news_sept2011.php
— Science Spotlight
“In an effort to help preserve endangered rhinos and primates, biologists have converted skin cells taken from the animals into pluripotent stem cells, which can grow into nearly anything, given the right conditions. They might even grow into egg and sperm cells, eventually, the researchers think, suggesting a cell biological route to conservation.” http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/09/06/stem-cells-from-skin-suggest-a-way-save-endangered-rhinos-and-primates/
— The Scientific Process
Berkeley’s Understanding Science website is a great resource for learning more about the process of science. The resource goes much deeper than the standard “PHEOC” model of the scientific method by emphasizing peer review, the testing of ideas, a science flowchart, and “what is science?” checklist. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/
By Francis Eberle
Posted on 2011-09-06
NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle
NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle
By Debra Shapiro
Posted on 2011-09-02