I will have a student teacher next semester. In addition to her leading my physical science classes, I’d like her to experience some other responsibilities that teachers have. Any suggestions? — Kimberly, Providence, Rhode Island Many people don’t realize the responsibilities that teachers have beyond the curriculum. Even though your student teacher will be eager to work with your classes, you’re very wise to help her get a more comprehensive picture of the related professional duties and responsibilities. Check the student teaching handbook from the college/university or contact the program supervisor to find out what activities they suggest or require. You could consider asking your student teacher to

• Attend faculty meetings, department or committee meetings, curriculum workshops, inservice activities
• Participate in non-instructional duties (homeroom, hall duty, study halls, etc.)
• Assist you with managing lab materials and resources during your planning period
• Attend student events (plays, concerts, athletic contests)
• Attend a school board meeting
• Learn about the requisition and budgeting process
• Prepare an “emergency” lesson plan for a substitute to follow
• Make a presentation at a department meeting on new technology or other skills she has

During my student teaching, I “shadowed” a ninth-grade student for an entire day—from homeroom period to the dismissal bell. This was a university requirement, and student teachers had an observation sheet to describe what happened in each class, what the student did, the teachers’ instructional strategies, and how teachers interacted with the shadowed student. It was an eye-opening experience. When our student teaching seminar class met, we shared our experiences and what we learned from them. We concluded the day was exhausting: It was hard to maintain a high level of interest and enthusiasm as the day went on, and some classes were more engaging than others. I had several “aha” moments throughout the day:

• The difficulties in getting from one room to another within the 3-minute time allowance
• The different expectations teachers had for acceptable class behavior
• How students had to adapt to different grading schemes used by the teachers
• The preponderance of teacher-led activities (I’m hoping this has changed over the years)
• The overall noise level—even in the classrooms it was hard to think or reflect quietly

But one observation was the most compelling. My student was a quiet, unassuming young man. On this particular day, not one adult spoke to him. He slipped into the classrooms and sat in the back. He did not cause any distractions. He didn’t raise his hand much, and no teacher called on him for a response, asked him a question, or talked with him one-on-one. So for eight periods he basically sat and watched and did what he was told. The cashier in the cafeteria did not even say “thank you” when he paid for his lunch. I hoped that this was not a usual day for him, but I suspect it was. I wonder what kind of memories he has of his high school days. Based on this “sit-through” experience, I vowed that my greatest responsibility as a teacher would be to make my class a safe and welcoming place, where all students are invited (and expected) to participate and where their efforts are recognized. I don’t remember this young man’s name, but observing his experiences as a student helped me to become a better teacher. I would recommend giving your student teacher a similar opportunity.   Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maysbusinessschool/381289757/

The children whom I see once-a-week in an hour-long afternoon science enrichment class show growth in their exploration of building using ramps and blocks to create pathways for balls. These materials have been available each session for about four months. An hour once a week is not much time to explore a set of materials but the children seem to be able to pick up where they left off the last time. They enjoy making the balls go into a goal, creating elaborate structures around a few ramps, and making especially long ramps. Their work had seemed stalled so I assigned a task before building. I wanted to see how the children, ages 3.5-5, would approach the difficult task of drawing the relationship between two 3-D objects so I asked them to make a set-up with any two wooden (unit) building blocks and draw a picture of it. Most of the children made simple line drawings of one face of the blocks with varying degrees of accuracy (some were more oval than rectangular), and a few children traced the shapes. I hoped that this practice drawing would help them begin to think of how 3-D objects can be placed together and that thinking before building might lead to new structures.
(Note: In talking with the children I was searching my brain for the name given to the rectangular block and couldn’t come up with it. Not a cube but a ________. An online resource, The Annenberg Foundation’s Interactives: Geometry 3-D Shapes, gave me the word I was looking for. These unit blocks are polyhedrons, 3-D shapes whose faces are polygons, and specifically right prism polyhedron because the opposite sides are equal and they meet at right angles. The general term “rectangular prism” is appropriate. The site has a cool section where these shapes are shown unfolded.)
Nora S. Newcombe’s article in the Summer 2010 American Educator, Picture This: Increasing Math And Science Learning By Improving Spatial Thinking, has a fascinating discussion about spatial thinking skills and how to improve spatial thinking with some simple techniques. Newcombe asks, “Since spatial thinking is associated with skill and interest in STEM fields (as well as in other areas, such as art, graphic design, and architecture), the immediate question is whether it can be improved. Can we educate children in a way that would maximize their potential in this domain?” “In addition to practicing spatial thinking tasks like those shown in the box on page 30, well-conceived symbolic representations, analogies, and gestures are also effective in improving one’s spatial thinking ability.” She describes a study that shows that parents using spatial words like outside, inside, under, over, around, and corner help preschoolers improve their spatial thinking. Although “precise answers are not yet possible,” Newcombe says, “However, we are beginning to have some good ideas about where to start, especially with preschool and elementary students.”

Last week I challenged the children to first draw a ramp set-up that included at least two ramps and two blocks, and then build it. There were also sponges and plastic quart containers available. The children got to work drawing, some rushing to finish and some working more methodically. As they finished, they picked out materials and began building. Most of the 14 children referred to their drawings as they built, whether or not the structure closely matched the drawing.

One child announced that, “Mine’s not working!” I asked the group, What should he do?” and they responded, “Make a new plan!” He did. He went back to the table, re-drew his plan and then built a revised structure (which he was happy with) and continued working with for another 30 minutes. Two of the youngest children did not wander as they often did but spent the time engaged with building and ball-rolling. Another child had drawn a bridge-like structure with an up-ramp, level section, and a down-ramp. He tried to build it but could not get it to stay up. When I asked him what he wanted to do, he pointed to his plan indicating where he needed two supporting blocks. With a marker he drew in the supports, and then got two blocks to successfully build the revised structure.
To learn the most out of this activity, the children need time to investigate the relationship between the blocks, the slope of the ramps and the size and weight of the balls. They need time to play—did the ball make it into the hole?, time to compare—the heavy ball bumped off the path here but the light one kept going, time to think and talk about why, and time to revise their structures—“I’m going to make it better this time!” By designing, discussing their ideas, building, and revising their designs, I hope the children will gain experience with physical science concepts of force and motion while developing their spatial thinking.
Peggy

When I was in my undergrad science methods class, we learned about the value of inquiry in science. That was many years ago, and yet we’re still talking about the value of inquiry in science. I wonder if it’s because we still think of an “analog” situation: we do either cookbook labs (in which all students have to do is follow the directions) or we do full inquiry investigations (in which many students struggle). But rather than an either/or situation, this articles in this year’s Science & Children are showing how inquiry can be considered a continuum— confirmation inquiry (i.e., the cookbook), structured inquiry, guided inquiry, open inquiry. What differentiates these is the role of the students and teacher in asking questions, designing procedures, collecting and organizing data, and generating explanations and conclusions. The more input the students have, the “higher” the level of inquiry. The graphic in Inquiry Is Essential shows the relationship between levels of learner self-direction and directions provided by the teacher.
NSTA publications have many examples of how teachers can scaffold activities to guide students through the continuum, so that even a traditional activity can take on the characteristics of inquiry. (See The Many Levels of Inquiry in the October 2008 issue of Science & Children.) For this issue, I’ve noted the SciLinks topics that would support the content or include additional activities.

If you teach middle or high school and your students need some assistance in transitioning through the levels of inquiry, the strategies described in this issue could be helpful. The authors of Fire Up the Inquiry, Lose the Recipe, and Got Inquiry? describe how to adapt lessons to each of these levels–the same basic investigation, but with different levels of student input. The Mitten Problem discusses what to do when students have misconceptions that interfere with inquiry learning.  Overcoming Difficulties has ideas for working with bilingual students during inquiry lessons.  [SciLinks: Heat and Temperature, Insulation, Seed Germination, What Are the Parts of a Plant]
Water Pressure in Depth makes the point that although students may follow the directions and enjoy an activity, they may not really understand the science involved. By giving students more of a role in the activity, they may take on more ownership of their learning.  [SciLinks: Fluids and Pressure, Magnetism, Recycling]
One rationale that some teachers may have about inquiry is that there is too much content to cover. In 5 Strategies to Support All Teachers, one of the strategies is to connect the students’ ideas to the standards or curriculum goals. [SciLinks: Lakes and Ponds, Composting] From Adding Inquiry to Doing Science is a very honest discussion of a teacher’s efforts to transition from activities with predetermined outcomes to less predictable inquiry investigations. As she shows, younger students are indeed capable of higher-level thinking. [SciLinks: Autumn Leaves, Identifying Trees] Inquiry Follow-Up capitalizes on the curiosity and enthusiasm of pre-schoolers to investigate patterns of bird behavior at feeders. [SciLinks: Birds]
Two articles embed inquiry into the 5E model. Which Paper Towel Is Best? and Let’s Try It Out in the Air show how even a common investigation question can be kicked up a notch to incorporate more input from the students.[SciLinks: Wind Currents. See also The KidWind Project]
And check out more Connections for this issue (March 2011). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, there are ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, and other resources.