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If You Give a Teacher a Flyer...
I was fortunate enough to attend the Climate Summit pre-conference day at the 2019 CSTA Conference in San Jose. In addition to wonderful speakers, the pre-summit offered participants an opportunity to sit in on roundtable sessions to learn about the…
Grading NGSS in the K-2 Classroom
Grading can be an indecisive process, to begin with. Add in new standards, new curriculum and science notebooks, and it becomes a whole new ballgame.
Reviewing NGSS Instructional Materials with a Lens for Equity
There’s a lot of discussion around instructional materials and what materials adoption you should be going through right now. In my opinion, the best part of an adoption process is the professional learning around the standards as seen with the CA…
How I Teach Science in Three 25 Minute Sessions
I have a passion for science. However, even with my dedication to my favorite subject, I find it difficult to find the time to teach science at the elementary level with a mountain of subjects piled on my desk.
Engaging Students in the LA River through Interdisciplinary Science
On September 20th, 2019, youth around the world left class and joined fellow students, staff, faculty, and community members to speak out about climate change. This date ideally corresponded with a field trip that a group of students in the Los…
We’ve Only Just Begun
CA NGSS adopted! California Science Framework written! Instructional materials State approved! California Science Test (CAST) Assessment results are on their way! We are done! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that combination of reality and pixie dust…
A Remedy for the “Opportunity Myth”: Bringing the NGSS Progressions to Life with TK-12 Teacher Collaboration
“So my students used bromothymol blue as an indicator to investigate cellular respiration and photosynthesis,” the 9th grade Biology teacher proudly explained.
New School Year, New Science Opportunities
As teachers, we often finish the year saying, “Why didn’t I…?,” or “I wish I would have.” Then we begin the school year with “This year I am going to….” Well, here is my “I am going to…!”I am going to teach more science than I did last year!
High School NGSS- “Where’s My Curriculum?”
At long last, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) curriculum is finally here! The state has approved 29 instructional materials for use in K-8. The list can be found here. But wait a minute, those are all K-8, what about high school?
Region 1 Update
It does not seem that long ago that the bell rang to conclude the last day of school; but, here we are, getting ready to start another school year. For many of us, summer included taking a well-deserved vacation or maybe, it was catching up on all…