I inherited a classroom-lab from a retired teacher, and I want to replace some of the generic posters with displays of student work. One of my colleagues says this is not a good idea. She didn’t explain her reasons, but now I’m not sure what to do.
—Therese, Charlotte, North Carolina
I’ve worked on statewide projects in which I had the opportunity to visit K-12 classrooms. The classrooms were generally very colorful; the bulletin boards and walls included motivational posters, teacher-created displays related to seasons or holidays, or artifacts related to the teacher’s interests. But I was surprised by the lack of student contributions. In some places, the student work was limited to cookie-cutter artwork (e.g., snowflakes, hearts, pumpkins). In some classrooms, every available inch was covered with something, which I found very distracting. And there were a few with completely bare walls.
By having students create the displays or showcasing student work, you show that you value student work and that the classroom really belongs to the students. Students have a chance to learn from and celebrate each other’s work, as they demonstrate connections to the current content or the processes they are learning.
I would check with your principal or department chairperson to see if there are any guidelines about displaying student work. (There are some schools where this is not allowed.)
The purpose of student displays is to reinforce students’ efforts and creativity, not necessarily to reward perfection. I would not display answer sheets from tests or quizzes or assignments with teacher-awarded final grades on them. Likewise, papers or projects with a simple “good job” comment don’t provide enough feedback on why they are on display.
Here are some suggestions:

• Most science teachers have a bulletin board with important safety rules and lab routines. Instead of purchasing posters or making the signs yourself, have the students design and make them.
• With lab reports or other assignments, each group could select one from their group and use a sticky note to highlight a desired feature: This data table is well-organized. This graph shows…. Look at how the diagram is labeled. You may need to model this type of reflection and how to select and annotate the work. Students could use this strategy as a self-evaluation, too.
• Students could use digital cameras to document their activities and create mini-posters.
• Try to include something from as many students as possible during a semester or marking period.
• Invite students to contribute based on their interests and talents. One of my students did a good job of illustrating a lab report, so I asked her to create a larger version that I could use as a teaching tool with the class. (She was very pleased.)
• Remember that less is more and avoid cluttering every space. Students and classroom visitors should be able to focus on the work.
• Before you display a student’s project or report, ask his or her permission.
• My school did not have a laminator, so I used (and reused) plastic sheet protectors.
• Many of these ideas would also apply to displaying student work in digital formats on class webpages, wikis, or blogs.

I’ve seen elementary classrooms in which large walls or bulletin boards are divided so that each student has a personal space to show examples of their work, photographs, and articles. A middle school teacher I know started the year with totally blank bulletin boards (except for the one that posted emergency and safety information). As the year progressed, students filled them with their own work. At first the principal was concerned, but he eventually saw the ownership the students had in the classroom.
I am concerned about the practice in some classrooms and hallways of “data walls” on which student information is displayed. These often identify individual students by name along with their proficiency level or recent test scores. Having students chart their progress in their own notebooks can be useful, but I can’t figure out the purpose of a public display, other than perhaps to recognize the high achievers. The lower achieving students I worked with would not be motivated by seeing their names associated with low scores (They would think: I’m already at the bottom—why should I try?), and I would question the ethics of this public display in the context of student privacy. There are many other ways to make displaying their work a positive learning experience for students.
 
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rabi/2885547951/

It’s been one year since the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were adopted (on April 9, 2013). Since then, the National Science Teachers Association has been incredibly busy, learning what science teachers need, creating resources that will help with implementation, and most importantly, creating a new hub where all our resources are collated and that facilitates user-friendly access to the standards. Eleven states plus Washington, D.C. have adopted the NGSS, and we’ve been there to support science teachers every step of the way. Whether you’re in a state that has adopted the NGSS or not, you’ll find that the practices they describe can be applied in any science classroom. They are based on new research on how students learn best, and they are worth a look!

Earth Day 2014 is right around the corner (April 22), and I’ve noticed a huge number of NSTA members talking about Dr. Suess’s The Lorax on our members-only lists. Coincidence? I doubt it, because the book has a powerful message that appeals to both adults and children: We shouldn’t wait until it’s too late to think about becoming good stewards of the Earth. And that ‘s something that many of our NSTA authors focus on.
Steve Rich, author of Outdoor Science, urges us to get kids outside. Research shows that environment-centered education improves student achievement, and Rich shows teachers how to create outdoor learning spaces that can be used from year to year—with little extra effort or resources. These practical suggestions for creating, maintaining, and using outdoor classrooms work for both elementary and middle school students.
What’s your favorite book for getting students outside and into science?

For many students, science itself is a new language, with specialized vocabulary and an emphasis on observations and evidence, rather than feelings or opinions. Even the graphics in books and websites go beyond being decorative to include the language of tables, diagrams, graphs, captions, sidebars, and footnotes. The featured articles in this issue demonstrate classroom- and teacher-tested strategies for developing language skills in the school classroom.
“Poets and scientists both seek to observe, explain, and understand the world around them. Poetry’s brevity, conceptual focus, and rich vocabulary make it a natural teaching tool for connecting with science” is the big idea of Observe, Explain, Connect* The article describes how teachers can “take 5” to introduce and share poems. The authors also include a sample lesson plan in which poetry is used to jump-start a science lesson (I wonder if this would be the “Engage” part of a 5E lesson?) [SciLinks: Reading and Writing in Science, Recycling]
Friction in Different Languages* describes a “sheltered instruction” approach to working with English Language Learners in a science lesson. Using a 5E format, the instructors designed a lesson in which students investigated friction. The lesson incorporated video, hands-on exploration, and experimenting with different surfaces—a good lesson that could be adapted for all students. See What Causes Friction (Science 101) if you need a refresher on the concept. [SciLinks: Friction, Force and Friction]

Putting the “Her” in Science Hero* describes an interdisciplinary unit in which students are exposed to the work of female scientists. You might ask whether in 2014 this would be necessary? Try the activity suggested in the first paragraph: Ask students to name three scientists in one minute. As the author notes, many will say Einstein and struggle for the other two. The article describes a class activity in which students learn more about female scientists and create presentations on their work.
Assessments in the Arguments* describes how “round robin” journaling can be used to assess student knowledge before, during, and after instruction, followed by round robin white boarding. In both of these strategies, students examine each other’s work and evaluate their arguments.The author describes the logistics of what this would look like in a classroom, using light as the topic to be investigated. All of the language processes (reading, writing, speaking, listening) are represented in this lesson. [SciLinks: Light]
As the authors of The Poetry of Plants* (Teaching Through Trade Books) note, April is National Poetry month—a perfect time to integrate poetry and science. In addition to two featured books, the article has two 5E lessons: Is a Seed a Living Thing (K-2) and Food for Plants (3-5). In addition to the science concepts, students use and write poetry as a way to learn and communicate. (I once observed a lesson in which high school students created haikus based on their investigation of cells—very creative and engaging!) [SciLinks: What Are Living and Nonliving Things? Photosynthesis]
A lot of time is spent on reading and writing in the classroom, but sometimes speaking and listening—the other components of language—are overlooked. In Creating Effective Classroom Interactions* (The Early Years) the author describes her reflections as she examined a video of a lesson in her classroom in which young students were asked to share their experiences. She shares the lesson, along with suggestions on how to create and learn from your own class videos. [SciLinks: Ice]
Students are never too young or too old to hear a good book, article, or story read to them. Gather ‘Round* (Methods and Strategies) has suggestions that teachers of any grade level can use for doing read-alouds and includes activities for before and after the reading. (I liked the Science A-Z chart for identifying vocabulary.)
Discussing nutrition and food choices is the theme of A Healthful Balance* with an emphasis on portion size and caloric balance. [SciLinks: Nutrition]
*And check out more Connections for this issue (April/May 2014). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, there are ideas and links for lesson plans, handouts, background information pages, data sheets, rubrics, trade books, and other resources.
 

NSTA was in Boston last week, where more than 11.5K science teachers gathered for our national conference on science education. It was no surprise that all the selfies seemed to be group shots—because that’s what science teachers do, they share! So we can’t think of a better way to give you a taste of the rich, collaborative experience we had in Boston than to tell it through the voices of the attendees who shared their stories with us.
The conference kicked into high gear on day one with Mayim Bialik speaking on the power of one teacher. A “proud product of the public school system,” Bialik told us about the teacher who inspired her to become a scientist and then sat down with NSTA President Bill Badders to answer questions from the audience. One of our bloggers featured a great image of Bialik talking about “science, teaching, and the Big Bang Theory.”
But what about lesser-known presenters? Apparently the experience builds character. We already knew that science teachers were super heroes, and now we have the proof. The “Hashtag WORTH IT” blog post features one of our favorite stories of the week, and one we heard over and over in various iterations. One teacher, inspired… becomes presenter, sees herself in a new light, and becomes a next generation superhero!
Blogger Nicole Fuhrman shared some really fun stories with us that show the lighter side of the conference–especially focusing on the super networking–and talks about how important building relationships is in effective classroom management. And that’s what everyone was doing in Boston last week, learning and building their professional learning communities.
One of the most important professional collaborations we strengthened last week is focused around the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A day-long NGSS forum facilitated a deep dive into the Next Generation Science Standards with writers, state science supervisors, assessment experts, and  was the highlight of the week for many, especially the NGSS curators who gathered to learn to use the newly launched NGSS Hub, with user-friendly access to the standards.
Other conference highlights included Bill Nye speaking about Dancing with Mars, Meet Me in the Middle Day, the Elementary Extravaganza, the 2014 Teacher Awards gala (where NSTA’s own former Executive Director, Gerry Wheeler, received the NSTA Presidential Citation), a tropical flamingo roaming the Exhibit Hall, and these top 10 from Ms. Goldstein.
We heard over and over how energized teachers felt by the experience–and our staff felt the same. And it’s not over! NSTA will be heading to New Orleans next month for the 2014 STEM Forum and Expo. Ainissa Ramirez will be the keynote speaker, and strands will focus on Primary, Upper Elementary, Middle Level, High School, Partnerships, and Administrators.
See more of the story:

• Highlights, news and featured reports from the 2014 NSTA National Conference, 3-6th April 2014 in Boston, MA, from WebsEdge/Education TV.
• NSTA’s Boston 2014 Facebook album

Bonus Feature: Who was the most photographed personality at the conference? An extremely nonscientific survey of Twitter pics reveals a tie between YouTube guru Paul Andersen and the Flamingo, with the Geico Gecko and Schmitty the Weather Dog coming in a distant second…
 

With a nod to David Letterman, here are my top 10 reasons for spending time in the exhibit hall:

10.  Interacting with people. You get a chance to meet and talk with other members and vendors.

9.  Planning ideas for your summer “vacation.” Lots of information about summer programs, travel opportunities, and graduate study.

8.  Playing with cool science-related toys (I mean teaching materials), such as robots or models.
7. Getting ideas to share with colleagues and students. For example, organizations such as USGS, NOAA, NASA, and publishers have a wealth to share.

6. Learning new strategies at vendor mini-classes. And there’s usually a drawing at the end to win some of the tools.

5. Being introduced to new species, such as a big brown bat.
4. Picking up freebies to take home. How many birdfeeders will be put  up on Monday?


3. Seeing new technologies. This is the first time I saw a 3-D printer up close and personal.
2.  Gathering information on science equipment.

And… 1. Meeting a terrific group of students who are designing prosthetics and building biodiesel processors.
 
 
 

The Elementary Extravaganza was pulsing with energy as educators from many settings rushed in at 8am to get personal attention from the hundreds of presenters who were ready to share their work. Thanks to the sponsors–www.BioEdOnline.org, Delta Education, School Speciality, ScienceCompanion, and Carolina, as well as NSTA.
The setting with presentations at round conference tables made it possible for everyone to do the hands-on activities, share their experiences, and ask their questions.
To find the handouts for the many presenters, go to the NSTA Boston conference sessions schedule, search for “Elementary Extravaganza” and click on the links to the handouts.
Which Elementary Extravaganza or conference session did you find useful? Share your resource links in a comment below.
The Ramps and Pathways table I was staffing featured physical science and engineering design materials–see how they engaged the educators! (Handouts ran out but will be uploaded onto the NSTA session schedule.)

On the train to Boston on Wednesday, the view for most of the ride was gray and dreary. But coming out of the station–blue sky and sun! After what seemed to be an endless winter, I hope that was a sign to indicate the bright ideas we’ll learn from our colleagues here at the conference.
In addition to the general sessions and a stroll through the Exhibit Hall, I went to a session hosted by Gary Nakagiri, an educator from California on “Developing a Toolkit for the Next Generation of Science Leaders.” He demonstrated with us the use of case studies to examine beliefs and facilitate the change process. I’m wondering if a collection of case studies around the implementation of NGSS would be a helpful resource?
We’ve all heard of amusement park physics and seen projects that related physics and music. Using the nearby Philadelphia Museum of Art (yes, the one whose steps Rocky ran up in the film), a team from Drexel University has developed an app for “Physics in the Art Museum.” The app can be accessed for free through the App Store. Search for “Drexel” (right now, the app is best used on a iPad). You can use it without going to the museum, because photos of the art work are included in the app. I visted the Boston Museum of Fine Arts this evening after the conference (it has later hours on Thursdays), and I found myself looking at art from a new perspective!

I’m looking forward to learning, collaborating, meeting, laughing, learning, sharing, and getting a break from the usual schedule while attending the National Science Teachers Association’s conference in Boston. It’s one of several NSTA yearly conferences so if you aren’t attending this one, check the schedule –there might be an area conference or an expo near you.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children will have a booth on the Exhibit floor, and members of the Early Childhood Science Interest Forum plan to meet and share what we’ve learned from the sessions we attend.
Will I get to see the “Make Way for Ducklings” pond? I’m not sure yet. I will get to be part of the fabulous Elementary Extravaganza where over 100 presenters share their useful, fun, and informative activities, lesson plans, student work and  science and engineering tools for children from preK up to sixth grade.
I’ll have a table where Dr. Beth Van Meeteren and I will have materials on the Ramps and Pathways physical science activity for you to try out! This activity engages children in learning about motion, and can develop into a science inquiry when children have time to remain involved over weeks and months.
Let’s share our what we find useful in comments below!
 
 
 
 

This is my sixth conference with NSTA — my first, in 2008, was in Boston as well. When I tried to walk through the NSTA Science Store this morning, it was packed virtually shoulder to shoulder (the lines are considerably shorter now if you want to get some NSTA gear or pick up a few NSTA Press books). The crowd who came to hear keynote speaker Mayim Bialik was more than the room could hold, so a number of people were redirected to another room so they could still attend.

As you can see from this photo, there were a lot of science educators eager to enter the exhibit hall this morning, too.
If you couldn’t make it to Boston this year, check out http://www.nsta.org/conferences/nstatv.aspx where daily videos from the conference are being shared. A lot of attendees are sharing their experiences on Twitter using #NSTA14.It’s been a busy day already, and it’s still early afternoon!
What’s your favorite part of an NSTA conference?