In addition to the new students you’ll soon welcome, you may also be meeting new colleagues on your faculty. Here are two resources from NSTA to share:
There’s been a lot of excitement about a new column in The Science Teacher. The New Teacher’s Toolbox is designed for beginning teachers, with tips and advice from teachers who are willing to share their experiences. The column debuts in the September issue, but you can click here for a sneak peek at Michael Romano’s suggestions on Conquering the “So What Now” Moment. These one-page articles could be used as discussion starters at faculty meetings or shared with new teachers. Whether you’re brand-new to the profession or starting at a new building or grade level, I’m sure you’ll find some good suggestions. Even we old-timers can learn something new, too!
If you’re working with a new principal this year (or would like to keep your current principal up to date in science), NSTA’s Scientific Principals is a monthly e-mail newsletter designed for elementary school principals. Based on unit themes typically found in elementary science curricula (e.g., scientific inquiry, weather, sound, health, earth resources), each issue of Scientific Principals has a list of ideas, resources, and practical applications. Click here to view past issues or to sign up to receive future issues. You can suggest that your principal sign up, or you can sign up yourself and then forward the newsletter to your principal or curriculum director – the advantage is that you get to read it, too, and some of the information and resources are appropriate for the upper grades, too. The August edition features Dinosaurs.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulad/3529450101/

One of the advantages of being an NSTA member is getting a hard copy of the journal appropriate to your teaching assignment (Science and Children, Science Scope, or The Science Teacher for those in K–12). Even if you don’t get a hard copy, as a member you have online access to the others, including the searchable archives. You can read the articles online or download them as PDF files to read later.

As you’re skimming the table of contents of other NSTA journals, don’t overlook the Journal of College Science Teaching! Even though it’s geared for those in higher education, I’ve often found articles that are relevant to K–12 educators. In the July 2010 issue (there are four per year), there are several of these gems:
How many textbooks or curriculum guides still promote the misconception (often in the first chapter) that there is a single, accepted “scientific method” that is universally used? An article that really caught my eye was The Scientific Method Ain’t What It Used to Be. The author provides a guided tour of a web-based resource Understanding Science: The Way Science Really Works that every science teacher should become familiar with. It includes a model of inquiry processes (note the plural), common misconceptions about science and scientific research, case studies, and teaching suggestions (including how to modify your current lessons to “incorporate, reinforce, and make explicit the nature and process of science”) for all grades K–16. I could (and did) spend hours here. This is from the University of California Museum of Paleontology   which also created the Understanding Evolution website,  another excellent resource.

If you substitute “high school” for “college,” Achievable Inquiry in the College Laboratory: The Mini-Journal has suggestions for turning traditional cookbook labs into investigations that model the work of real scientists. The authors include a before/after comparison of traditional labs with the mini-journal ones, including student comments. The also include the checklist/rubric used to evaluate the mini-journal reports. It’s worth a look, especially for high school classes.
Another article of interest to high schools is Dual Enrollment: Postsecondary/Secondary Partnerships to Prepare Students. The author compares and contrasts AP, IB, and dual-enrollment options for high school students.

And if you’ve read the suggested books in the K–12 journals, And the Winners Are…Award-Winning Science Books of 2009 has suggestions to add to your reading list, with brief reviews/summaries.

Are you hearing that question too often from people who wonder how you are going to make the adjustment back to school now that we are into August? I used to say, “No, I’m not nearly ready” but have decided to follow a more positive model and say, “I’m getting there”. (I’m inspired by wording used by the Early Sprouts Garden Project science-gardening-nutrition-cooking curriculum developers, Dr. Karrie Kalich and colleagues. They have children taste the vegetables they grow and tell if they “like it a lot”, “like it a little”, or “didn’t like it yet.”)
Before the schools open up to teachers, I went to a “spa” for my brain, doing professional development through a training at the University of Northern Iowa. The UNI Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education offers workshops designed for teachers of 3-year-olds to second grade through their Center for Early Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CEESTEM).
One of the sessions was on “Ramps and Pathways” which Betty Zan and Rosemary Geiken wrote about in NAEYC’s journal, Young Children.  The discussion among the participants was vibrant and informative, making me realize anew how important it is to have planning time with other teachers. Naptime meeting are not enough—we need to meet to do science inquiry ourselves so we will be prepared to support our students’ learning with questions that move them along in their thinking rather than get them to parrot the correct answer.

While visiting relatives and talking with a neighbor I learned how useful video conferencing is for keeping young children in touch with their families. A niece talks nightly at bedtime with her son who is staying with the grandparents while she is completing her preservice training and the neighbor talks weekly with her granddaughter, reading books to her while the child eats breakfast and shows how she can get her shoes on.
Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears posted an online primer for understanding climate–Climate Literacy in the Elementary Classroom by Susan M. Buhr and Mark S. McCaffrey with strategies for becoming climate-literate. They present a guiding principle—Humans can take actions to reduce climate change and its impacts—and seven Essential Principles beginning with, “The Sun is the primary source of energy for Earth’s climate system.” The positive wording teaches what we–teachers and our young students–can do.
What has been your best formal or informal learning experience this summer?
Peggy

I am trying to decide how to arrange my classroom with 22–27 chemistry students per class. Last year, my desks were arranged in the traditional manner: rows with an aisle. This year I’m thinking of setting the desks up in pods of four or in pairs. Do you have any advice on desk arrangements?
—Melanie, Huntley, Illinois
We’ve all seen pictures of (or even experienced) classrooms where individual student desks were bolted to the floor in straight, orderly rows. This is certainly the exception rather than the rule today. But there are several factors to consider as you explore different seating arrangements.
Safety is a priority. If you’re in a typical chemistry lab, you probably have an area with lab tables and a “classroom” section with individual desks or small tables. This area is probably not as large as a regular classroom, so your placement options are more limited. Whatever arrangement(s) you use, be sure students can enter and exit the classroom efficiently and  backpacks, electrical cords, and other materials can be kept out of the walkways.
Logistically, determine the focal points of the classroom (e.g., whiteboard or projection screen, demonstration table) and be sure that your arrangement allows students to see presentations. Put materials such as handouts, staplers, calculators, or pencils where students can easily access them. If space is tight, count the number of students in your largest class assigned to the room, add one or two to allow for move-ins, and ask if extra desks can be stored elsewhere.

Review student individual education plans to determine any special seating requirements. Make sure seating arrangements can accommodate the visual, auditory, and physical needs of your students as well as any assistive technologies or devices they use. (One year my seating arrangements included space for a student’s service dog.)
No single seating arrangement is “best”—each has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the learning activities. If you use a mixture of instructional strategies in your class, you’ll want to consider using a variety of seating arrangements.
Traditional rows of desks or tables facing the focal point are often used for teacher-centered activities (lecturing, giving directions, or presenting on the whiteboard) or for independent activities (tests, silent reading). Many teachers use this arrangement as the “default.” However, there are “dead zones” in the corners and the back of the room with this arrangement; students in the front center also are more likely to get your attention. While this arrangement minimizes distractions, it also limits student-to-student discussions since students are looking at the backs of other students.
With a U-shaped arrangement, students can see each other, which fosters student-to-student discussions within a large group. This is also useful for teacher-centered presentations, as you can maintain eye contact with all students. As students work, you can zip across the inner space  to provide assistance where needed. For large group discussions, you can close the U into a circle and sit with the students, sending the message that you are part of the discussion. However, this takes up a lot of space, and some students may be easily distracted during independent work.
If you do a lot of collaborative activities, consider pushing desks together. Pairs of desks are good for turn-and-talk activities, and groups of three to four are appropriate for cooperative learning. You can also use the lab tables for small group work, unless equipment and materials are set up for another class. In pairs or groups, be sure students can still see a screen or focal point for instructions or debriefing. This arrangement could be distracting during independent work.
Here are two examples of classrooms I’ve visited where teachers had routines in place to align the seating arrangements with the learning activities:

• Students came into the middle school classroom and sat at individual desks in rows. They worked independently on a bell-ringer activity while the teacher took attendance and then introduced the lesson. The students pushed the desks together in pairs for the first activity. The teacher debriefed with them and then had each pair team with another to form groups of four for the next activity. The teacher monitored the discussions and assisted the groups. At the end of the lesson, the students returned the desks to the rows (default).

• Students in a high school chemistry class sat in a U-shaped formation, oriented to the front of the lab where there was a demonstration table and the whiteboard. The teacher easily maintained eye contact with all students as he presented the material, since no one was “hiding” behind another student. This arrangement was conducive to the think-pair-share activity the teacher frequently used. As the students did practice problems, the teacher looked over their shoulders and assisted when necessary. For group work the students moved to the lab tables. They then returned to the desks for the lesson summary.

Some teachers may worry that changing the seating arrangements, particularly during a class period, is confusing and time-consuming and that students prefer a consistent arrangement. In the classrooms described above, the seamless transition between activities doesn’t happen overnight. The teacher needs to communicate the reason for the change and the norms for appropriate behaviors.
Let us know how your new arrangements work!
Image:  http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4168858547_e03f9d324c_t.jpg

For many of you, the school year is starting soon. Summer certainly flies by quickly! But if you have a little prep time left and are looking for new materials to add to your curriculum, check out SciLinks, NSTA’s online database of vetted web pages.
You can access the websites in the database either by using the codes in a SciLinked textbook or NSTA publication or by searching for a keyword and grade level on the site.
Keep reading to find out how can you use SciLinks.

Recommending sites to students. As a teacher, you can provide logins for students to search for sites, or you could give them a printed list of suggestions. Perhaps you’ve used the “Favorite Websites” feature of SciLinks, in which you can create your own selection of websites to share with students. For interested or advanced students, you might go to the next grade level or you could go down a level for students who may struggle with the text.
You could suggest sites to supplement or update the textbook information. Share a login with the librarian so that he/she can remind students of this resource. If your students use the technology at a local public library, perhaps the staff there could be alerted as to how and why students would access this.
In group settings. Why just talk about science topics when there are many sites that lend themselves to illustrating the concepts? Building bridges, watching volcanoes erupt, seeing animals congregate around a water hole at night, or accessing photographs and video of various topics bring these topics to life. If you have a projection unit, using a simulation or video clip with the class or a small group of students could be an engaging experience for them – and the resources are free and ready when you are.
With the new Quiz Manager feature, you can create questions for a particular website in the SciLinks database and assign students to complete them. You can keep the questions just for your class, or you can choose to share the questions with other SciLinks-using teachers, creating a common item bank.
Teacher learning. One thing I’ve enjoyed over the years is using the SciLinks websites to keep current on topics such as the human genome or climate change. I especially like the earth science topics (I taught life and physical science, so I’m continuing to learn). If you’re unfamiliar with a topic, searching for sites geared to middle or high school students would be a quick and painless way to learn more about it.

As part of a three-year professional development project for elementary and middle school science teachers, the directors and coaches wanted to have a culminating activity to demonstrate what the teachers had learned. In addition to the questionnaires and surveys, they decided to do a local version of The Iron Science Teacher. I was invited to be one of the judges. Here’s how it worked.
—Ms. Mentor, reporting from Sidman, PA
For three years, 60 teachers from 15 school districts participated in an ongoing professional development project at the Appalachian Intermediate Unit in Pennsylvania., as part of the Mathematics and Science Partnership program, funded through the PA Department of Education. An intensive two-week summer program was hosted by faculty from St. Francis University who then regularly visited the participating teachers’ classrooms during the school year. The project helped schools to purchase materials and technology for the science classes. Four teachers assisted their colleagues as coaches. The coaches set up a Ning networking site for teachers to share lesson plans, photographs, ideas, and suggestions. But there was a nagging question: How to pull this all together and provide teachers with an opportunity to demonstrate what they learned?
They found their answer in a takeoff of the Iron Chef television program done at The Exploratorium in San Francisco, California: The Iron Science Teacher. The coaches and project directors decided to host a local version as the culminating activity for the project. This activity would provide a way for teachers to demonstrate their ability to plan hands-on science lessons.

Fifteen teams of 3–5 teachers received a box of common materials (rubber bands, a cork, craft sticks, plastic bottles, balloons, paper clips, some beans, wooden blocks, tape, and more). Each team had access to a laptop and printer, and general supplies such as glue sticks and staplers were available. One of the participating school districts volunteered the use of their labs for the competition. The teams had one day to develop a lesson using any or all of the materials, but all lessons had to incorporate a cork as the “secret ingredient.”
The lesson had to include three components: a student hands-on activity, based on a concept from the state science standards for that grade; a related technology resource (such as an online simulation, access to additional information, enrichment activities, or an online graphing site); and a connection to another content area such as mathematics or writing.  Rubrics were provided for all three components.
In the judging, each team evaluated the other lessons in a peer-review process. The lessons were also critiqued by a panel including a university faculty member, the project director, two project evaluators, and me.
The results were an amazing collection of ideas. With the cork as the secret ingredient, it was no surprise that several investigations related to buoyancy. Other lessons included fermentation (using beans in a corked bottle) and combining simple machines to make catapults and wind generators.  Unfortunately, there was not enough time for live presentations, so the descriptions had to be detailed enough that someone could understand and implement the lessons without much explanation.

It was difficult to judge, but the rubrics helped. All of the lessons showed the teachers understood the science content. But the lessons also showed the ability to work collaboratively and a high level of creativity in incorporating technology and in designing an interdisciplinary component. These were all included in the goals of the project, and the Iron Science Teacher activity was an effective culmination. As one elementary teacher remarked, “When I started this professional development project, I never thought I could design something like this myself—a hands-on inquiry activity with simple materials.” The lessons have been posted on the project Ning.
If they do this again (and I think they will), I’d advise video recording the teachers at work to capture some of the conversations. I’d also suggest video recording each team describing and demonstrating their lesson. These videos could be used in other professional development projects.
On another note, if you’re in San Francisco next spring for the NSTA conference, be sure to visit the Exploratorium. It’s a science wonderland, and the home of the original Iron Science Teacher!