Carol Dweck, Growth Mindsets and Motivation

Rockwell Collins - STEM Video Contest

Wednesday Found me Wondering and Whining (Just a little)

Some days I don't know how my colleagues tolerate my constant complaints about feeling exhausted following this strange bout with Shingles.  Just when I think I am back in the saddle the horse decides to give me a toss and add a kick to boot.  Again I must reflect on the wisdom of my elders and I can hear my grandfather say "this too shall pass".

Okay... on with the real reason I am blogging tonight.... over the past three days I have had ample opportunities to talk to teachers and administrators about science and formative assessments.  I sense a real mindset shift happening.  As Carol Dweck says on her website;

"In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities."

If you are curious about your own mindset, may I recommend that you take Carol Dweck's quiz by clicking on this link:  http://mindsetonline.com/testyourmindset/step1.php

The reason I thought of blogging about this today is also related to the fabulous conversations we had today at the Corridor STEM Initiative (CSI) Out of School Opportunities meeting.  Nannette and I posed a question to the group to seek their input on the goals to embed Engineering within school science.  We had many excellent contributions from the members of the groups; including the following comments:

• Ann (ISU Extension) stressed that we emphasize the need to link after school STEM opportunities to the school science and math curriculum to help build strong connections between the two.
• She further stressed a need for quality professional development for the after school care providers to ensure they were both aware of how their STEM programs supported the concepts students were learning in school ending by stating "after all they are the same kids".
• MaryLou (Work Place Learning Connection) emphasized the importance of showcasing STEM careers at the moment students were expressing appreciation and enthusiasm for the STEM activities (such as Designing a Windmill) they were engaged in experiencing.
• Jenny (Rockwell Collins) stated emphatically that the members of the P-12 Engineering in Education forum need to breakdown the silos between applied and pure science.  Stating these terms don't mean anything to students, parents or engineers.  She also expressed regret that there weren't more business partners attending the forum since they offer the practical perspective between school and career.
• Jenny also wondered out loud why no students were invited to attend the forum.  She encouraged us to reflect the needs of students simultaneously with sharing the needs of teachers.
• Nora (Science Station) wanted to make sure we helped the forum members appreciate that informal eduction builds confidence and helps motivate students to elect to take more math and science.  She also stressed that we need to start showcasing career choices in elementary school; paying attention to the way we package and market careers to make sure our message is geared toward the age of the audience.
• Suzie (GWAEA) suggested teachers encourage students to look outside the school for problems in their community that they could help solve; which requires professional development for all stakeholders.
• And finally an anonymous contribution on the yellow note card said; "I like the idea of 'honoring" the history and what is now being taught that fits or promotes engineering education."

These ideas will be considered and contributed to the entire group as Nannette, Rebecca and I participate in the forum tomorrow.  We were also asked to debrief the OSO committee on the results of the forum.  And what touched my heart was when Dick Whitehead (CCSD Superintendent) and chair of the OSO committee commended me for insisting on a place at the table as he saw the same need I did for practitioners (teachers) to provide input in such an important forum.

To meet that charge; I will end my blog and get some rest to make sure I have all of my mental faculties with me in the morning.  Since I have valued STEM education my entire teaching career; I am as excited to listen and learn as I am to contribute.

Getting Back into the Work Saddle - Slowly

I have heard others describe Shingles and now I know more than I had every wished to know about this virus!  If you are like me, getting a little older, may I recommend you consider seeking out the Shingles vaccine.  I plan to as soon as I am completely virus free as I never want a repeat performance.  Okay - as my Grandmother used to say 'nuff said about that....

Yesterday I spent part of the morning responding to emails and updating my calendar.  And then I had the distinct pleasure of attending an Adobe Connect meeting with two of my favorite AEA consultants - Jason and Tami.  We spent a productive 1.5 hours sharing information about a request to make the ELI resources available online.  I brought institutional memory and little else I am afraid.  But, hopefully the next time we meet I can offer a Mindomo to help all of us better visualize the content of each of the four years of ELI.  For those reading my blog who don't know what a Mindomo looks like or how it can be used; feel free to examine this link (URL = http://www.mindomo.com/) or click here to see one I created to use in a workshop on Teachers' Domain online resources.

Today I accomplished all seven items on my list.  I have a new 'app' on my phone that allows me to make lists quickly.  Nannette - since I know you love new app's why don't you see if you can find this one = Astrid Task for your iPad.  I am curious to know if it is available on both platforms as my phone is an Android version.

Time for some more R and R as I am still a little on the exhausted side of this virus.....

This Week in Review

As I enjoy the view from my window of the last of the fall leaves dangling from a few branches; I wanted to pause to record a few reflections about this past week.

On Monday I had the opportunity to meet with Jeanne for coffee at Fusion in North Liberty to discuss a request for MS science units from Vernon MS; with Janine for tea at the Linn Mar student coffee shop to debrief her observation of my Assessment for Learning presentation to the Marion District Leadership Team; with Amy K. at her new office in the Linn Mar ESC to discuss the future of the FOSS Benchmark Assessments and to show her the STC assessment packet; and finally I met with Jason, Eldon, Steve, Julie, Christopher and Nannette via Adobe Connect to plan for our Uncovering Student Thinking in Middle Level Science Course:  Connecting with the Iowa Core (aka USTMSS).  A full day to say the least.

On Tuesday I participated in the College CSD Secondary Cadre where the morning was spent deepening these teacher leader's understanding of Assessment for Learning and the afternoon was spent supporting the HS cadre members as they planned for their December District Professional Learning Day.  I had the opportunity to facilitate a discussion on two articles on AfL and decided to use a Prezi to support the verbal instructions with visual cues.  Although I am a confident user of multimedia presentation tools - for some reason I still struggle with switching to their document camera.  I think I need more practice!  I will make a request of Karen and Ying to practice with their document camera before I am asked to present in front of the diverse group of cadre teachers to better model the integration of this technology in my practice.  I am gaining more experience working with the CCSD Secondary Cadre members as a result of this work this year; which is a stretch for me as, in the past, I have mainly worked with the science teachers.  I plan to check in this week with the HS administrators to process how this new role is perceived by both of them and their cadre members.

Wednesday was a day I planned to use some comp time and focus on cleaning up some of my emails.  As it turned out I spent the morning in the UIHC Family Health Clinic trying to determine what skin affliction I was suffering.  When I learned it was Shingles I became concerned with the fact that I may have exposed young, expectant teachers to the chickenpox virus ~ so I emailed those I had been in contact with since last Friday.  Probably unnecessary; but I would rather be safe and fully disclose the possibilities of catching the chickenpox rather than learn after the fact that I was the cause of someone else's illness.  I was also advised by the doctors to take a couple of days off work.... so I did....sort'a

Thursday I SKYPED with Steve about the GEI plan and the Physics Olympics Rules committee meeting.

Friday I CONFERENCE CALLED the Vernon MS Science teachers to discuss their plan to 'pilot' or 'scout' the Force and Motion and Planetary Science units.  In addition, Nannette and I spoke via cell phones to debrief her week and speak specifically about VMS's OSO grant and the potential for Deb to use Engineering is Elementary kits.

Both days I EMAILED and made PHONE CALLS to stay abreast of my tasks.

So much for sick leave!!!!

Back to Routine

As I expected the first and second weeks of November find my calendar filled with routines and planning meetings; including: 

• grant meetings,
• science team meeting;
• Central Region Meeting,
• collaboration with teachers at CCSD,
• planning for DLT meeting with Cindy D.
• planning for upcoming professional learning days at CCSD,
• preparing for meetings with administrators about science related topics,
• meeting with literacy, school improvement, and math consultants about common work,
• working with Austin Beers on a model of a General Education Intervention Plan for a hypothetical student in science,
• attending STEM committee meetings (Academic Committee and OSO Committee),
• and lots of emails. 

I had anticipated my month of travel all summer and fall and now that it is behind me I hope to hang onto some of the fresh ideas and new information as I get back into my routines.

Catching up on Sleep, Emails and Blogging after NSTA

This first week of November finds me recharging my batteries after a month of work and travel.  October will have to go down in history for me as I went from Central Iowa (ISTS at Ames) to the West Coast (FOSS EH Training in Berkeley, CA) to the East Coast (Science and Engineering Festival on the Freedom Plaza in Washington DC) to the Midwest (NSTA in Kansas City, MO).  Whew ~ I am tired just typing this list of locations!  All of these travels gave me much to think about AND reminded me why I love my job (i.e. teaches and students engaged in learning science that can be used to stretch their imagination and possibly improve their own quality of life ~ ad possibly benefit others.

So I will share some of the highlights of NSTA and encourage those of you who have questions to ask me for more details.  Also; if you have time log onto the NSTA Website to see some of the highlights.  Here my top ten list with relevant links:

10.  Dinner with my family as my sister and brother - in - law had just moved to Overland Park, KS this week.  (I had Dr. Pepper BBQ ribs!)
9.  The small back pack gift from NSTA ExploreVision
8.  The Sally Ride Training on the PASCO SPARK
7.  The FOSS Training on the revised Planetary Science kit
6.  The ASU Workshop on Conceptual Modeling in Physics
5.  The Exhibit Hall Drawing where the VAST Center won a Digital Microscope from
4.  The chance to meet Lindy Lacy from Kansas City Public Schools
3.  The key note speech by Jeff Goldstein.  Click her to see the blog post from the NSTA Executive Director.
2.  Lots of good conversation with Nannette, Peg Christensen, Tami Plein, Jason Martin-Hiner and teachers from AEA 10 who attended.
1.  Fabulous weather and a nice drive to and fro....

As my final post I am going to link to my NSTA Peronal Scheduler as a reminder to myself on which sessions I attended.

Erica's NSTA Conference Scheduler

Science & Engineering Festival Photos Taken from my Phone

USA Science & Engineering Festival

If you want to see who Nannette, Jim and I spent our weekend with go to this video link: USA Science & Engineering Festival.

If you want to want to participate in the Nationwide Wordle:  The question posed is : What will be the greatest discoveries and advancements science and engineering will bring us in the 21st century?

(send in your answer now).

 

When I submitted my answer the Wordle looked like this:

As I said yesterday in my Tweet - Jeff Weld estimated that we had over 5000 visitors stop at our booth (he made this estimation by the number of Smarty Bands (aka Silly Bands) we distributed).

The Air Trolley, Catching the Wind: Designing a Windmill, How Windy are You?, and Wind Turbine activities were popular and we have rare moments of calm. I enjoyed watching the adult volunteers from PTLW, I-Teach, CSI/OSO, and Teacher Externships interact with the budding young scientists, technicians, engineers, and mathematicians who visited our booth to learn more about wind energy. To a person they commented on how a child's face would light up when they had an Ah-Ha moment that led to the successful design of a windmill or flight of an air trolley or a personal best in the How Windy am I? anemometer activity or the comprehension of how many volts a two, three or four blade wind turbine could generate.

The memory that is etched in my mind is the face of the sub-five year old who after successfully designing a propeller system that would lift the load in the Designing a Windmill station - came over to the Air Trolley and said to me

"what do I get to learn here?"

I am exhausted and yet exhilarated.

How Many Windmill and Air Trolley Parts Can Two Teachers Stuff in a Suitcase

Whew!  I just finished stuffing < I mean carefully placing > all of the pieces and parts Nannette and I assembled for the Catching the Wind windmill activity and the Air Trolley Variables activity into my suitcase.  It all fit (well that is if you count the fact that I had to stow the hubs and propellers in my carry on bag) and I still had room for clothes.  But two pair of Khaki pants and two white shirts don't take too much room.  I hope the hotel has a laundry service or I shall have to go shopping.  That wouldn't be all bad!

So in case you are wondering what Nannette, Jim and I will be doing I have embedded links to the two video's Nannette made to feature the Catching the Wind:  Designing a Working Windmill and the Plane Sense Investigation from the FOSS Variables kit here for your viewing pleasure.  Sorry, I can't seem to locate the URL for the first one Nannette created; so I will post picture instead.

We fly to Washington DC tomorrow, so make sure to check out the Science & Engineering Festival link and follow my Tweets @EricaDLarson!



Reflecting on How Fast a Week Can Fly By When One is Traveling

As I reconnect with my blog, I am chagrined to realize it has been a week since I last posted.  In my defense it was a very hectic, travel-laden week as I left Wednesday (10.13.2010) to fly to San Francisco, CA to attend a 2.5 day training session on the revisions to the FOSS Earth History unit.  I traveled and learned with three teachers from College CSD; Gina, Chuck and Brenda.  They were selected to be a test site for the FOSS National Trials of the revised Earth History unit.  With that honor comes a great deal of additional effort in that they are to provide evidence about each investigation as they implement the unit.  I will be their support and have already begun by having the materials shipped to the VAST Center for preparation.   The next 3 months will be intense as I am expected to make classroom visits and provide observational evidence of how well students are learning the material through the designed investigations.  It will be fun and frantic!

As for my support for the STEM TiR; yesterday I spent all afternoon reading the OSO - CSI grant applications.  It was well organized; thanks to Nannette and Jim and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  I always feel when the readers are given clear, explicit instructions and defined expectations the inter-rater reliability is always high.  This was the case yesterday afternoon and I am proud to say we selected three very promising grant proposals.  I know Nannette and Jim will need to meet with the grantees to do some on-site coaching to ensure that they are able to enact their plans successfully (or in some cases refine their plans to ensure success); and I look forward to being of support in any way Nannette and Jim feel I can be of assistance.

Today; we tackled the final preparations for the Science and Engineering Fair in Washington, D.C., by refining the Wind Energy activities from the FOSS Variables kit and the EiE Catching the Wind kit.  We still have some work to do tomorrow ~ but I am pleased with the very engaging chart Nannette created to capture participants innovative ideas for wind mill blades they would like to build.  We also focused on the Engineering Design Cycle and defined the components of each phase of the plan for the other adults who will be facilitating our activities in the booth when our 'shift' is over.  Tomorrow we do the final prep and pack the materials into the extra suitcase I plan to bring.  I trust Nannette will help me remember the final, final details as I must also prepare instructions for the VAST Technician, Candice, to prep the FOSS Earth History for the CCSD teachers while I am gone next week to NSTA in Kansas City.

Travel....gotta love it!

Gotta Love SKYPE

I love being a 21st Century worker!  Today Jason Martin-Hiner (AEA 1) and I had a 45 minute SKYPE conference call to discuss the best way to store and retrieve the ELI artifacts.  Currently they all reside on the WebBoard and I was able to Share My Screen with Jason so he could see where I had placed things.  I am always so embarrassed to show off my e-files!!!  As a 20-year veteran of the classroom; I have never quite felt comfortable doing business over the phone (shhh! don't tell my GWAEA Supervisor).... Thus the SKYPE video call is a perfect way for me to conduct business as I was easily able to discern Jason's frustration, relief, confusion, and joy through his entire gamut of expressions.  I must figure out a way to include at least one SKYPE video call to each of my PBS TeacherLine online participants in my fall/winter course.  The PBS TeacherLine directors encourage us to personalize the course and what a better way than to actually 'see' and 'hear' each other (facilitator to participant AND maybe even participant to participant)!  Hmmm!  Wonder if Lia will allow me to swap one written assignment for a SKYPE video conference session.... I don't want anyone to think I am a dinosaur... at least when it comes to the use of technology to enhance learning....(the picture below is from the museum at Ft. Peck in MT taken during my Summer Trek to Glacier NP and back).

Nannette; I followed Stacey Behmer's Tweets all day at ITEC ~ she felt the Keynote was hilarious.... do you agree?  May I ask who spoke and what the topic was?  Also, please hyperlink any relevant web links related to the ITEC conference in your blog post about these two days so I can be a virtual learner! 

Nannette ~ shall we set a time to meet via SKYPE while I am away in California?  I think the time difference might through us off a little... but why don't we discuss it tomorrow and see if we can figure out a good time to connect while I am away.

Office Work to Support LEA Work

Whew!  To think some individuals (like my sister who works for the USDA) got to celebrate Columbus Day as a Holiday while I barely had time to eat my lunch!

Whenever I put 'office day' on my calendar I know the day will fly by faster than I can blink my eyes....there is always so much to catch up on during these precious few moments spent at my cubicle at 6th St (fondly called the Northern Facility of GWAEA).  If I were to list what I did today it would include:

• emails to:
• Cindy at Marion ISD about an upcoming professional learning + FOSS units at K and 6 - 8th grade;
• Greg Leytem at CCSD about the upcoming FOSS training in Berkeley;
• Gina, Brenda and Chuck about the arrival of the FOSS Earth History kits for the National Field Test + logistics for our travel, ground transportation and lodging while in CA,;
• Amy at Vernon MS about additional FOSS kits;
• Amy K. at Linn Mar about K-6 STC assessments;
• Tammy C., and Sheri S., at GWAEA PD office about the USTMSS course;
• Sue S., and Amber W., about 5th and 6th grade collaboration on the topic of Science and Literacy connections;
• Kristen at Creek about the upcoming 6th grade collaboration
• PLUS phone calls to:
• Deb about ISTS expenses for Nannette
• Amber about 5th collaboration at CCSD on Wednesday
• Cindy about scheduling a meeting for AfL planning
• Jim about reading the OSO grants and the plans for the USA Science and Engineering Festival
• PLUS work on the USTMSS Google site and Meeting Wizard to plan our Dec - April course sessions.

What I did not get accomplished today will have to get done tomorrow as the clock ran over 4:30 by the time I caught up on correspondences and meetings!  What was it Scarlett O'Hara said in Gone With the Wind;   "After all... tomorrow is another day."

Iowa Academy of Science ~ Iowa Science Teacher's Section Fall Conference Reflections

Thursday and Friday found me attending my 22nd IAS/ ISTS Fall Conference!  Dean Hartman helped me remember when I joined as that was the year Dean was Fall Conference Chair and the conference was held in Cedar Rapids.  

On Thursday, Nannette and I first attended the Iowa Department of Education Quarterly Conversations hosted at McFarland Nature Center where we had a rich afternoon full of sharing and reconnecting with many Science Consultants from around the state.  Then off to the ISTS Evening Banquet honoring the Presidential Excellence in Math and Science award winner and showcasing the IPTV production on the History of One Room Schoolhouses throughout Iowa.  The food was good, the conversation was invigorating and the video was informative.

During the Friday all - day conference; I attended many of the Exhibitor's booths and learned about:

• the progress of the Iowa Bedrock Map,
• Whiterock Conservancy
• the Blank Park Zoo
• Drake online courses
• Pasco Probes
• resources free from the USGS

Sessions I attended taught me about

1. STEM resources offered by IPTV (one I particularly loved was the NOVA titled The Secret Life of Scientists.  I highly recommend that you watch Mollie because I loved the MIT cheer she modeled! 
2. GPS and GIS at UNI (Chad did a nice job highlighting the benefits and challenges of using technology to help students model important ESS concepts).  I strongly suggest that you visit his website to learn more about his efforts to capture video of GSI Field Trips (like the one I attended yesterday) to share as virtual field trips with educators and students across Iowa.
3. Galileo was the post-lunch keynote speaker and he was a consummate educator.  I most appreciated his human model of his Natural Numbers in his inclined plane experiments.  I will view that Force and Motion investigation differently the next time I get the chance to facilitate that unit with Julie.
4. Jason's former physics teaching college Matt presented on his UNI Masters Thesis and introduced us all to a new resource titled:  Ranking Tasks in Physics; a resource I want to locate.  He also mentioned a standardized test to measure student reasoning in Physics - Jason is going to get that information and share it with me soon!
5. I ended the day assisting Richard Heathcote in our presentation on the Whiterock Conservancy 2011 ISTS Field Trip.  You can learn more about that by going to my YouTube video.

For a look at the content offered feel free to review the ISTS Fall Conference Advance Program (this was a PDF that I downloaded and then reuploaded to my Google Documents for reference.)  Nannette and I debriefed our day on the drive home; but I still look forward to reading what she posts on her blog as a post-conference reflection.

NSTA Science Scope October 2010 Issue: Science Process Skills

I would like to encourage a few comments to this question: In light of the research on how students learn science + the statements about 'Science Process Skills' vs. Science as Inquiry Abilitites and Understandings in the National Science Education Standards (published in 1996) + the draft of the revised Science Education Standards would NSTA Science Scope devote and entire issue to Science Process Skills? To read more; follow this link.... October 2010: Science Process Skills!

Closing the First Semester MS Kit Trainings

Monday and Tuesday of this week found me at the VAST Center co-learning with the teachers and facilitators all about Chemical Interactions and Planetary Science.  I am always amazed at how well these units have been designed and constantly wish for 'one more day' with each of the units to allow us to explore more deeply and continue thinking about how middle school students learn science.  One consolation is that in each of the sessions we emphasized the upcoming course; Uncovering Student Thinking in MS Science:  Supporting the Iowa Core.  To learn more about the content of this course I invite you to following this link to our Mindomo Tool. 

Today (Wednesday) I started my day with Christopher at the USGS getting an in depth training session on their Groundwater Model.  In the interest of learning, I used my new Android cell phone video camera function to record Jim's explanations, questions and descriptions about how to make the model serve the learner's needs.  I will do a more detailed Blog on the power of modeling in Earth/Space Science after I edit my video.  That way I can learn how to embed video into this Blog Site.

Tomorrow, Nannette and I travel to Ames to attend the Iowa Department of Education Quarterly Conversations.  There I plan to provide an update on the work of our ELI Teacher Leaders as they used summer time to put the final touches on their Public Engagement Products.  Friday we attend the Iowa Academy of Science; Iowa Science Teacher's Fall Conference, which always provides opportunities to network with science educators from around the state (and a fabulous luncheon complete with a tantalizing dessert).

What a beautiful fall day!

My Own Virtual Reality

This Friday I explored the concept of virtual coaching with the high school science teachers at CCSD and virtual reality modeling actual reality with Nannette related to her visit to Mt. Vernon.  Both stretched me into more innovative and creative ways to interact and represent our understanding of both effective pedagogy (e.g. using Google Document comments to provide feedback and coaching on the CCSD Assessment for Learning mini-lessons) and meaningful content (e.g. a Nannette's report that one student had an idea to create a virtual model of the inside of a cell).

These experiences led me to wonder; "Where would I record this kind of support on the new data collection tool we were given at our team meeting on Thursday?"

I wonder if it would be a good idea to identify the HAT (e.g. CONSULTING, COACHING, FACILITATING, or PRESENTING) I am wearing when I record the data for the services I am providing to my districts?  That way I could put the term virtual in parenthesis behind each HAT when I use technology and distance tools to support effective science instruction, curriculum, and assessment classroom practices.  I will post this thought on our VAST Team Google Site to see how others react to this proposal.

FYI:  The crinkling noise you are hearing is my brain making new neural pathways :-D.   I need to post a picture of flowers from Crested Butte to allow my brain to relax.

Common Learning; Common Work

As we gathered today to collaborate and learn as a team I was almost overwhelmed by the magnitude of our workscape.  I have not felt that way for many years (FYI, this is my tenth year at GWAEA).  Undoubtably because we have had the capacity to do the work that has been defined for us by our districts, our Agency, our VAST Center and ourselves.  It amazes me how important it is to me that we have enough dedicated individuals 'on the bus' to ensure we can serve district needs and be innovative, creative and on the 'cutting edge' of science education reform.  I am also extremely grateful that we have the services of a Teacher in Residence to ensure that the valuable work of the CSI OSO committee is able to be done well.  I struggle to imagine what I would be feeling if GWAEA did not have a TiR to increase our collective capacity to serve the STEM needs that are beginning to blossom and emerge. 

I know that the saying goes; Bloom where you are planted, but I am also aware that it takes effort and individuals to sow the seeds and nurture the environment to ensure all can germinate and grow to their full potential. 

I am not one who weeps at good-byes; but I do tend to get more philosophical and introspective!  So farewell to Stacey and thanks for enriching our team for the past year!  Good Luck!

I have posted a link to a TED video that I found fascinating and wanted to invite those who are following me to view it and post a comment to express what you were feeling and thinking as you watched it!  Call it my little mini-research study :-)

Jeremy Rifkin on "the empathic civilization" | Video on TED.com

Jeremy Rifkin on "the empathic civilization" Video on TED.com

Teachers Teaching so Students Can Learn

As I reflect on the past three days of VAST Middle School Kit Inservices (Earth History on Monday and Weather and Water today) PLUS the two fabulous afternoons I have had working with dedicated, smart, passionate teachers (CCSD Consensus Mappers Tuesday and the Teacher in Residence cadre today) I am hopeful for our future.  I say this with awe because I am constantly reminded that the real change for quality science happens each and every day in classrooms all across GWAEA.  There are so many teachers who make time (and sub plans) to constantly learn more about their science units through on-going professional development ~ that it is almost hard to believe that every child doesn't have the same opportunities to learn rich science concepts.  The impact of the classroom teacher is powerful and somewhat frightening.  I am so relieved to say that every teacher (and that is 32 so far this week) has their students best interest both at heart and constantly in mind!

Meeting the Needs of Teachers and Learners Through Meetings!

It is hard to believe that I last entered a blog entry on Wednesday as it seems like a week has passed since then!  The message I want to share with those who are "following" my blog is that I have learned over time that the best way to effect change and advocate for high quality science education for all learners is to meet teachers and administrators where they are in the change process.  In other words, sometimes a good face-to-face meeting can make all the difference in the world when it comes to advocacy of science literacy for all. 

Evidence of that can be found in the following 'fact':  Thursday after a 1/2 hour meeting with the two 6th grade teachers at Vernon Middle School (aka Deb Menken and Becky Knudson) I left with a clear understanding that those two teachers really understood the benefit of adopting high quality (aka FOSS MS Kits) curriculum to both enhance their ability to teach science AND ensure that all of their students had the opportunity to experience and learn science.  Deb shared with me that she was reluctant to consider 'kits' because she thought that gave the appearance that she didn't know her science ~ but after one year of teaching the Chemical Interactions unit; she is a self-confessed convert.  Both she and Becky are hungry for the FOSS Force and Motion unit.  PLUS they inquired about other FOSS MS units that would benefit their 7th and 8th grade curriculum.  Short conversation with huge benefits to the over 300 6th - 8th grade students that attend Vernon MS.

I also want to thank Nannette and Jeanne for deepening my understanding of the VAST Online Toolkits and publicly share that I think the addition of the Atlas Strand Maps for:

• The Designed World
• The Nature of Technology
• The Nature of Mathematics
• The Nature of Science
• Habits of Mind

to each of the units within the Toolkits, when appropriate will be a tremendous addition that will enhance the toolkits tremendously.  Thank you Nannette for offering the idea and thank you Jeanne for tailoring Nannette's idea to those specific areas of the Project 2061 (AAAS) Atlas Strand Maps.  Evidence of what a great team can add to benefit teachers!  To me this is evidence that the GWAEA Science Team still has a "soul".

Integrating Technology to Enhance Advocacy for Science

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a GWAEA PD course on using SmartBoards.  I learned a great deal from the two very SMART facilitators, Christine and Margaret.  I highly recommend this course to those who are in need of learning more about integrating this technology into their curriculum. I set a personal goal to find out how to have this software added to my GWAEA laptop so I can design a presentation using SMARTBoard technology to use in an upcoming meeting or inservice.  I have the knowledge and the motivation and only need the software to fully utilize this technology.

While learning about the General Education Intervention Plan I became aware of a new technology tool called the GEI that will be very useful for gen ed teachers as a way to use the Problem Solving Model, presented in our agency-wide training last year, to make meaningful interventions for struggling learners.  I set a goal to seek the Science Team's permission to invite either Robyn or Austin to facilitate a common learning experience for us to create a 'model' GEI plan for science as a way to both learn the tool and develop a model of a GEI plan for a typical student struggling in science.

Finally, while working with the two 6th grade teachers from Vernon MS as they researched the FOSS Force and Motion unit; I guided them to the FOSSweb URL Force and Motion link to look at the electronic teacher's guide to get a clearer idea of the concepts and skills addressed in this unit.  They both thanked me for reminding them of the usefulness of the FOSSweb site and for helping them find what they needed quickly to be able to make an informed decision.... the end result of that 1/2 hour meeting was they both unanimously agreed to propose adoption of this unit pending kit availability.

The use of technology in this way makes my job so much more fun to do!!!!

Enhancing Education Through Technology

This Monday I spent the entire day at College CSD for their Professional Learning Day.   The reason this is a priority for me this year is that they are in Year Two of their Science Curriculum Review.  In Year Two; they spent three days this summer developing Consensus Maps for K-12 Science using their version of Curriculum Mapper.  In addition the entire district is engaged in a K-12 focus on Assessment for Learning as CCSD was invited to attend the Iowa Department of Education Assessment for Learning Training Sessions hosted by IDE AfL team (of which Phyllis Anderson is a member) during the 2010 - 2011 academic year.  As a district, they graciously offered to design their Professional Learning Days toward a district-wide focus on Assessment for Learning as a model for other districts throughout GWAEA.

I have been asked to serve on the district PLD design team and to serve as an active member of the HS Cadre.  This morning the entire district focused on:

• Balanced Assessment Systems (theory)
• Zone of Proximal Development as a way to understand how to alter the learning gap (theory)
• The definition of Clear Learning Targets (demonstration and practice)
• How to write Success Criteria to match the clear Learning Targets (demonstration and practice)
• Embedding both into their practice by designing mini-lessons using AfL Rubrics and examples and models of strong and weak work (coaching and transfer)

This district uses Google Sites and Documents for the majority of their collaboration and work to truly reflect how teachers use technology to enhance both their curriculum work and their instructional practices.

In addition, when I worked with the 7 - 12 grade teachers on Consensus Mapping in the PM, I used a Formative Assessment Classroom Technique from Page Keeley's book to build community and surface their preconceptions about Consensus Mapping. The F.A.C.T. was called Visual Synectics.  Another F.A.C.T. I recommended tot he HS ESS teacher was Representation Analysis.  I sent her this Sidewiki to help her think about how to implement this F.A.C.T. in her class this week.

I have learned so much about how to effectively Enhance Education Through the Use of Technology (i.e. E2T2) as a result of time spent with these teachers and administrators.  My only wish is that the other districts I serve would push me as hard and demand my services as much!  Oh well!  Some day......

Blending Technology and Person-to-Person Meetings to Focus on the Learners

Ending the week on a high note, as I reflect on Thursday and Friday I felt the heading I have given this post captures the last two days.  Thursday was book-ended by teacher collaboration at CCSD with a focus on teachers as learners in the upcoming Professional Learning Day.  Friday began with person-to-person interactions between myself and the HS Science Teachers at Prairie HS as we discussed their curriculum consensus mapping work and extended into the morning with work with Sara Larkin on the necessary modifications and adaptations to make the Chemical Interactions unit accessible to visually impaired learners.  These meetings tug my heart as I tried hard to be an empathetic listener and a tenacious advocate for quality science education for ALL learners.  Some days I struggle with empathy, especially when the focus seems more teacher than student-centered.  But, onward I go.

The use of technology for meetings was also evidence both days as Thursday morning Jason (AEA 1), Eldon (AEA 9), Laurie (AEA 267), Christopher, Stacey, Steve and I all met to debrief and plan our Uncovering Student Thinking in Middle School Science:  Connecting the Iowa Core course.  Nannette also attended this meeting and offered the following observations; I quote: "This morning I'm watching a video conferencing meeting between several AEA's together talking about a class they had led in the summer. They were sharing feedback, discussing participant performance on defined outcomes, technology and a course offering in the fall. There were 9 participants who were science consultants; How they offered the course, how many hours to offer it (evening or Saturday or summer) was a discussion. There is not money to release teachers during the school day. I'm learning about how tricky it is to get teacher training in. These consultants are enthusiastic about helping the teachers out. They also are discussing how to get the math teachers to work with the science teachers on STEM activities; They are coming up with a plan to spread the class out so the teachers don't feel like they're using up all their Saturdays They came up with four Saturdays (Dec.4,Jan.29, Feb.26, and April 16) to offer the course."

Thanks to Nannette for offering these astute observations.  To help us plan we used the following three Web 2.0 Tools:

• Mindomo
• Google Sites
• Meeting Wizard and Meeting Mix

Following that meeting, Stacey, Christopher, Nannette, Steve and I discussed the option of using technology to collaborate to re-initiate our study of the two books:  Ready, Set, Science AND Taking Science to School.  I noticed that directly after we posted those SKYPE notes, Jeanne entered a comment on our VAST Team Google Site to get the discussion going.   

THUS, if I want to ensure the success of this experiment (i.e. using our technology tools to collaborate on-line in a threaded discussion on these two books - I must read my assignment and post my responses to the VAST Team Google Site by early next week. This I pledge to do by Tuesday evening!

Finally,  I ended the week with a generous offer by Stacy Behmer to collaborate with Nannette and I on some changes to the two CSI Google Sites Nannette owns.  We accomplished a lot in 50 minutes (e.g. archiving 2009-2010 files, reserving space for new files, adding gadgets and calendars and learning how to make and save changes to the design).  I watched the clock carefully to make sure Stacy got to here hair appointment on time!  We owe Stacy a lot for agreeing to give up her 'off contract' time to work with us on this time-sensitive request.

I was a good way to end the week and I want to state publicly, for Nannette's benefit, that I also benefit greatly from working with her as she adds new perspective and a diverse POV to my sometimes set in cement ideas.

Today I learned that to post to my blog from my phone I must send a TM to 256447. How helpful it will be to blog from my phone rather than my computer!

Science and Literacy (Sept. 15, 2010)

This day was a combination of speaking, writing and listening as I worked on email and personal communications.  The morning flew by as I had the opportunity to discuss several topics with Nannette, including Science Curriculum  Review at Mt. Vernon, EiE kits, the upcoming IMSEP conference call and our mutual experiences with blogging and daily logging our activities.  I also had the opportunity to speak with Julie about the WGBH Online course titled:  Motion and Forces in our World (briefly) and of the proposal to begin a Science Team Book Study on Taking Science to School and Ready, Set, Science as one way to be more informed about the revisions to the National Science Education Standards.

My burning question is are these going to be the Science Common Core or is yet another committee working to write the Science Common Core?

This afternoon I met with Kristen Robinsen (6th grade teacher at Prairie Creek) to discuss the use of the resource titled:  The Essentials of Science and Literacy and the companion Facilitator's Guide titled:  Science and Literacy a Natural Fit during their every other Thursday collaboration throughout the year.  We had a nice discussion and Kristen emphasized that this would help their team meet their building goals.  I will be a learner in the group when my calendar affords me the opportunity to join them.  I look forward to continuing my work with this group of teachers as they continue to integrate literacy strategies into their one hour block of science time each day. 

What a luxury it would be to have an entire hour for science each day!

Aligning and Planning

Today was an interesting day for me as I began by attending the Iowa Core Alignment Tools workshop.  There I learned about Outcome #4 and the tools available to districts to meet their identified targets.  Three 'vendors' shared their products:  Power School (GWAEA); I-CAT (IDEA); and Curriculum Mapper.  I had the pleasure of sitting with the Linn Mar Curriculum Directors (Amy, Bob and Dirk) and gained insights into how they are planning to meet Outcome #4.  I stressed that I was eager to help them facilitate the alignment work with their science teachers and we discussed how they might use a combination of the Power School and I-CAT to meet their targets for Outcome #4.  This conversation motivated me to revisit the DRAFT of the Science "Common Core" to see what changes were in the works. 

This afternoon I collaborated with Steve Bartlett to plan Day Two of the Weather and Water Kit Training.  We accessed the FOSS Consultant Page and carefully examined the national facilitators plan.  We made some meaningful decisions regarding "recovery" and plan to have teachers experience signature activities from Investigations 3 - 9 AND help them better understand the content offered in their Teachers Guide.  I will do Investigations 3 - 5 in the AM; and Steve will facilitate the PM sessions.  This plan allows me to serve as the "soft" facilitator for the TiR meeting between Nannette, Susan, Yukiko and Lori in the PM of Sept. 29th.

In summary; today was about alignment:

• of district work
• of VAST work
• of TiR work
• of my personal beliefs about teachers teaching and learners learning

The constant need for alignment is the driver for action!

Test from phone

Balancing is a Daily Challenge

I am new to this world of blogging but wanted to take a chance and stretch myself.  This day, September 13, 2010 was a beautiful Monday.  I began my day by attending the VAST Balance and Motion Kit Training to refresh my memory of the Big Ideas of that 1st and 2nd grade kit.  I remembered that the focus was on how to balance objects on a balance point using counterweights and as FOSSWEB.COM states; "We live in a dynamic world where everything is in motion, or so it seems. But not everything is moving the same way. Some things move from one place to another. Other things go around and around in a rotational motion. Still other things are stationary, stable for a time, balanced on a thin line between stop and go. These are the global phenomena that students experience in this module, Balance and Motion." 

After that I had the opportunity to work with Jeanne, briefly, on continuing the IES grant proposal.  We discussed the draft of the Abstract and clarified some of the next steps.

Then off to an Agency Advisory Meeting, my first.  I learned some new things about how GWAEA works and in particular how this Advisory Commitee works.  Next I will figure out a way to collect input from the Central Region members to be able to represent them properly.

Finally,  I had a quick SKYPE conference with Nannette to discuss the OSO (Out of School) Committee meeting minutes and Google Site.  As we worked I shared my screen to be able to illustrate my point.  Nannette is also now a proud "owner" along with Dick Whitehead and myself.  Our collective next steps are to work with Stacey Behmer to:

• upgrade the Calendar gadget
• embed the YouTube videos
• other ????

I had the opportunity to accomplish many important tasks and work on some on-going projects today.  To experiment with using this blog as a daily log I am going to share this site with Nannette as a model of keeping a daily log.  At this time I do not plan to share it with anyone else until I feel more confident in my ability to use it effectively and efficiently.