September2

Thisweekmygoalwastoincorporateapassionforsciencesothatmystudentswouldhavea
passionforitaswell.Ifeellike,althoughItried,Icouldhavedoneamuchbetterjobofit.The
sciencelessonsfromthedistrictwereveryscriptedthisweeksoitwashardtoseehoweach
activitywasactuallyscience.IknownowthatIcouldhaveswitchedoutactivitieswithsomethat
weremoreengaging,butIwashesitantwithapproachingmyct.Afterpreplanningwithyouand
havingyousuggestsomethingmoreengaging,IrealizethatmyctisopentothatandIfeellike
myFridaylessonwillgomuchbetterthanmypreviousonedid.
Welltalkmoreaboutdecookbookinglessons.Wecandothisinallcontentareashowever,I
thinkweareuncomfortablewithscience,sowetendtojustfollowtheplans.Imthrilledyouboth
steppedoutsidethebox:)

September10
ThisweekIcanhonestlysaythatIwasveryexcitedforsciencethisweek.Havingthechanceto
letkidsbehandsonwithtabletswasveryencouragingformeasateacher.Itmademewantto
domoreactivitieslikethisandtrustthekidstoexploreontheirown.Hearingkidsgetexcited
frommyexcitementandsayingthings,suchas"Iwantmyheadtoexplode"wasfulfillingasa
teacher.WhatIwanttoworkonmoreislettingkidsexplorebeforetheexplain.Iwanttoknow
waystoavoidfrontloadingthekidsandletthemfindtermsoftheirownbeforeIgivethemones.
Ithinkitwouldbegreatforyoutobringinthetabletsweeklyorbiweekly.LetmeknowhowI
canhelp.

September17
ThisweekmystudentsandIweredefinitelywillingtogetourhandsdirty.themysteryboxesI
hadlaidouthadjuicytomatoes,slimynoodles,etc.anditwassogreatthattheywerebeing
handsonagainandfeelingwhattheyarelearningabout.Onegirlcryingabouttouchingthe
tomatodefinitelywasunexpected,butIthinkit'sgreatthatshewasnaturallyreactingto
somethingshedidn'texpect.Theyrecognizedwhattheywerefeelingandpoppedtheirheads
intotheboxes.Eventhoughthoseweren'tthedirectionsatfirst,I'mgladtheywereconnecting
whattheyalreadyknowtoscience.Thankyousomuchforhelpingmetellkidsthedifference
betweensmoothandsoft!Iwouldhavebeenlostinexplainingitbymyself.Idefinitelywantto
trybringinginmorelessonswithtechnology.Iknowherearealotofcoolappsforsciencestuff
somaybewecouldcoteachormodelalessonusingtechnologytogether!
Ilovethatidea!Wecouldevenfindsomedigitalmicroscopestohelpyourstudentsobservethe
mealworms...gettingexcitedjustthinkingaboutallthepossibilities!

September24
Ilovetheideaofgettingtousedigitalmicroscopesformykids,theywoulddefinitelybewowed
bythatkindoftechnology!IwouldsaythatthisweekIcontinuedtolearnwithmystudents.For
mysciencelessonwehadtolearnhowtosortbyweight.Thedaybeforemylesson,students
gottoworkwithsortingweightandduringmylessonwelearnedmoreonhowtocomparetwo
items,decidewhatwasheaviest,whatwaslightestandhowtoproveittooneanother.MyNOS
claimthatwentreallywellwasthatsciencedemandsevidence.Attheendofmylessonwe

usedonegroupsitemstosortfromlightesttoheaviestwholegroup.Whenitgottotheheaviest
part,Ihadsaidwiththeclassthatthewhiteballwasheaviest.AsIbegantowriteit,the
monolingualinmyclassexclaimedhathedisagreedandhenheshowedmeusingthescale
thatthepurpleballwasactuallytheheaviest!Hewasusinghisscaletomakeaclaimandshow
metheevidence.NextweekIwouldlovetostayuptodateandusetechnologytoobserveand
predictaboutmealworms.
Ihavelotsofbooksforyoutotakeintotheclassroom,buthowaboutgatheringsomewebsites,
too?
Also,howelsecanyoufosterdebatesinyourclassroom?Thisisawonderfulopportunityfor
childrentoteacheachother.

October8th
ThisweekinscienceIhavecontinuedtolearnandremainexcitedaboutourLTImealworms.As
wemoveintoclassifyingourmysteryorganisms,Ihavenoticedthatmystudentsknowledgeis
growing.
Exciting!!
I'venoticedthatbymenotgivingawaywhatitis,theyareabletogetcloser
andclosertodiscoveringitontheirown.
Thisisthebeautyoflearningthroughdiscovery
They
wentfromthinkingthebeetle,pupae,andmealwormswerethreeseparatethings,however,by
observinggemthisweektheyhaveconsideredthefactthatthepupaeisababy"worm"I'm
blownawayandexcitedtoseetheirthinkingdevelop.Itrytokeepremindingthemthatscience
demandsevidencesowehavebeenworkingonrecordingeverythingweseeinourscience
notebooks.
Excellent!Youllcontinuesayingitallyear:)
Iwanttocontinuallycarrymyown
sciencenotebookaroundsothestudentscanberemindedthatIamalsoascientistandweare
alwayslearning.Iwanttohavestationsoragallerywalkformyclassifyinglessonwhere
studentscanmovearoundtoeachbookaboutmealworms,caterpillars,earthworms,etcalong
withtabletsatthestationsthathavevideosofeachsotheycandiscoversimilaritiesand
differencesbetweentheorganismstheyarereadingaboutandheorganismstheyhaveintheir
crittercage.
YoucanalsodofolderwalksremindmeandIlltellyoumore.

October15
ThisweekinscienceIhavegivenmychildrenopportunitytousetechnologytoexploreand
debunkmisconceptions.Thewholetimewevehadourmealworms,thekidshavebeen
convincedthatitsanearthwormandthethreeorganismsinthecagearethreecompletely
differentthings.However,onmyclassifyinglesson,Isettheroomupsothattherewerefour
differentstations,oneforeachorganismwheretheyhadbooksandtabletstolookup
informationandpicturesonthatspecificorganism.Whentheygottothemealwormstation,they
knewimmediatelythatthewormlookingorganisminthecagewasamealworm.Throughthem
researchingtheywereabletofindoutthatthereisoriginallyanegg,thenalarvae,apupae,and
thenabeetle.Onegirlexclaimedthatareyoutellingmethishasbeenamealwormthewhole
time??
LOVEit!
andtheboywhoalwaysfeedsmecomplimentsexclaimed,Waitaminute,
thesearentdifferent,thebeetleisjusttheadult?
Supercool!
Theydecidedtotellthedifference
betweeneachorganismslifecyclelikethebutterfly,themealworm,andtheearthworm.We
evenmadeananchorchartthatsaidEvidenceweneedto
prove
thatourorganismisa_____
Ihadthemfillintheblackafterourexplorationandthenfillthechartupwithhowwecanprove

whatourorganismisbecausesciencedemandsevidence.
Isntitawesomethatlifecycles
vary...evenamonginsects?!Mindblowing?:)

Onasidenote...haveyouseenTheMartianmovie?Mynewfavoriteline,weregoingtohave
tosciencetheshitoutofthis!hehe!

October22
NoIhavenotseenthemartianmovie,butIwanttoo!ThelastmovieIsawwasCrimsonPeak
anditwasAWESOME!
Nocommentabouttheline,weregoingtohavetosciencetheshitout
ofthis!?Isnthilarious?!
ThisweekIhavecontinuedtolearnandknowtheamountofworkincludedinteachingaSTEM
lesson.IwontgodeepintowhathappenedbecauseIwanttoleavethatformyblogforyouto
read,butitdidnotgoasplanned.IbelieveIintroducedtoomanynewthingsatonceinmy
lessonthatmykidswerejustoverwhelmedandexcited!
Thisisntalwaysabadthing
The
behaviorwascrazyoutsideandIthinkthatsbecauseIdidnotsetupclearexpectations.
However,Ilearnedfromthatexperienceandretaughtthelessonyesterdaytocombineday1
and2.Wewereabletostillgetthesameexplorationeventhoughwewereinsideandkidswere
incontrolofhowmuchforceairIpushedintotheballoon.
Thisissuperinteresting!Wouldyou
suggestmodifyingyourlessontodoitthisway?
Thenwehadtheconversationofwhyisthis
important?Whyarewedoingthis.Wediscussedthatwewantedtosetourballoonintomotion
andIbegantoreadtherequestforproposal.BeforeIevengotintothesecondsentencethe
kidswerewhisperingtoeachother,wearegonnabuildacar!Iwassohappythattheywereso
engagedandreadytosolveproblems.
Wahoo!!Thankyouforfosteringthisenvironment!
Then
whenIhadaskedwhowearegonnabeifwearecreatingsomethingtosolveaproblem.They
allshoutedEngineer!ThenIaskedwhatdoesanengineerhavetodobeforetheycanstart
building.Onegirlsaidthatyouhavetomakeaplanforyourthinkingsootherscanseeyour
thinking!
What?!
Thenthekidnexttohersaid,Yeahitslikeablueprint!
SERIOUSLY?!
Im
continuallylearningthattheyhavesomuchknowledgeandcomplexthinkingthatIneedtolet
themgetout!BeforeIevenshowedmymaterialsandmadeananchorchartaboutthem,they
werealreadytalkingaboutwhattheycanusetobuildtheircar!Awesome!
Ittrulyisamazing!
Youdosuchanexcellentjobofallowingthechildrentothinkontheirown.Thankyou!!

10/29/15Noresponse

Thisisourlastdayreflectingonourteacherdispositionsinscienceandourattentiontothenatureof
science.

Atthebeginningofthesemester,weclaimedascienceteacherneedstohavespecifictraitstoensure
studentshaveapositiveexperiencewithscienceeducation.Thesetraitsincluded:givingstudent
choicepassionforsciencewillingtogettheirhandsdirtyuptodateontechnologyelicitsand
debunksmisconceptionsknowsstudentsinterestsisexcitedknowtheamountofworkincluded
continuestolearnattendssciencePDsopentotrynewthingsutilizesadditionalresources.


WhatdidyoulearnaboutYOURself(asascienceteacher)asyoutookonthesetraits?
Whatdidyoulearnaboutchildrenlearningwhenyoudemonstratedspecifictraits?

Howdothesetraitsinfluenceyourphilosophyofscienceteachingandlearning?

I'velearnedthatthereisalotofworkthatgoesintonotonlyjustbeingateacher,butbeinga
scienceteacher.Ittakesalottocreateanenvironmentthatisfreeforexplorationandstudent
thinking.I'vebeengratefulthisyearforhavingstudentswhoweresotalkativefromdayoneand
sharedtheirthoughtsallthetime,butI'velearnedIhavetobepreparedforifIhaveaclassof
studentswhoareshyanddon'tfeelcomfortablesharingtheirideasjustyet.HowcanIbringthat
outofthemandlettheirinnerscientistshine!IfeelthatbycreatinglessonsthathavetheNOS
andthefiveEsitcreatesanenvironmentwherekidsareinchargeontheirthinking.I'velearned
thatasateacherIdonothavetoloadthekidswithcontentforthemtolearn.IfIprovide
explorationsthatallowthemtolearnthecontentontheirownorwiththehelpofclassmates,I
willbeabletoworkalongwiththesmallgroups,takeanecdotalnotesontheirthinking,andhelp
themtoclarifyorchallengetheirthoughts.Iwanttogetstudentstoseethemselvesas
scientists.Theyarenotjustparticipatinginafunactivity.Theyaremakingdiscoveriesand
becominghandsonANDmindson!