Science Leadership Support Network Enjoy some refreshments and networking. October 2007 We will begin at 9:01 The SLSN is supported by KDE and PIMSER

Goals of SLSN Participants will: Articulate the “big ideas” in science, together with teacher and student understandings (content, process, relevance) that underlie them. Develop a broader understanding of assessment and how to use a variety of assessment strategies in support of student learning. Develop and act on a personal vision of leadership for sustainable improvement in their school or district.

Group Norms Start and end on time Put cell phones on silent Be respectful of all comments Everyone participates Exercise the rule of “two feet” Come prepared for the meeting

Roadmap for the Day

Instructional Model for Science Learning Target: I can identify areas on which to focus in order to develop a robust model for effective science instruction.

“Unless and until there is a focus on how to develop the teaching skills required to help all students meet more rigorous standards and master the curriculum (and all teachers use assessments to improve instruction), student achievement is unlikely to improve more than marginally.” –Tony Wagner and Robert Kegan, Change Leadership

Qualities of Good Science Instruction Examine the categorized list of criteria generated by this group for “good” science instruction. Working with your table group, match your criteria with one of the 10 questions from Marzano for developing models of instruction. Where are the areas of strong correlation? Where are the gaps? What criteria need operationalized?

Considerations for a Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student progress, and celebrate success? What will I do to help students effectively interact with new knowledge? What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge? What will I do to help students generate and test hypotheses about new knowledge? What will I do to engage students? What will I do to establish or maintain classroom rules or procedures? What will I do to recognize and acknowledge adherence and lack of adherence to classroom rules and procedures? What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with students? What will I do to communicate high expectations for all students? What will I do to develop effective lessons organized into a cohesive unit? 10 Questions from The Art and Science of Teaching

“Without agreed-upon definitions (or at least a clarification of how a person is using a term) and observable data that support the person’s assessment of the lesson, conversations about teaching and learning remain ethereal, reinforcing the teaching profession’s weak craft knowledge base, professional language, and standards of practice. We need agreed-upon criteria.” –Tony Wagner and Robert Kegan, Change Leadership

Qualities of Good Science Instruction Spend-a-buck –You have 4 “quarters” (colored dots). –Based on the comparison of our criteria to Marzano’s framework, “vote” for the question(s) you feel we need to explore in more detail.

Characteristics of High Quality Teaching and Learning Examine the draft KDE science instructional model Where are the areas of strong correlation with Marzano’s considerations? Where are the gaps? How are the criteria operationalized? Are the criteria clear?

“Berliner ultimately concludes that effective teaching is a dynamic mixture of expertise in a vast array of instructional strategies combined with a profound understanding of the individual students in class and their needs at particular points in time.” –Robert Marzano, The Art and Science of Teaching from “In Pursuit of the Expert Pedagogue”

Personal Communication Learning Target I can distinguish class discussions as AFL from other classroom discourse. I can determine what needs to be explicitly taught in order for students to be successful on reasoning tasks.

Personal Communication Questioning Questioning strategies that promote reasoning Conferences and Interviews Class Discussions Considerations and deliberate planning Oral Exams Journals and Logs Science notebooks

Class Discussions As you watch the video clip of the teacher using a class discussion as AFL, note 3 or 4 key points to consider. What distinguishes a class discussion as AFL from other classroom discourse?

Are class discussions and writing papers performances of understanding? “They can be. If the paper is more than a mere report, if the student puts forth an opinion or point of view and defends it with evidence and arguments, she is certainly engaging in a performance of understanding.” “If the discussion requires that students puzzle out new problems or questions, draw conclusions, make predictions based on evidence, debate issues…” –From The Teaching for Understanding Guide pgs

Promoting Reasoning Examine the sample task. Identify what students would need to be explicitly taught to be successful on this task. Examine the scoring guide. Revise your list if necessary. Using the scoring guide and your quality criteria, identify the “strong” example and the “weak” example. Examine the student work and determine possible instructional “next steps.”

Ch. 7 Performance Assessment In table groups, share the one or two strategies or considerations you identified from Ch. 7 in the CASL book that would be useful for you or the teachers with whom you work. Share why you selected these.

Science Notebooks Learning Target I can scaffold instruction to support student learning for data analysis and writing explanations.

Writing in Science: How to Scaffold Instruction to Support Learning Science Session Engagement –Date and Focus Question Active Investigation –Record data, take notes, make illustrations or diagrams Shared Reflection Application Writing Session Shared Review –Questions about shared reflection of conclusions based on focus question Shared Writing –Model structure Scaffolding Independent Writing –Use scaffolding to complete notebook entries

Science Notebook “Rules” Date, in numerals, the first page of the entry. Write a focus or investigative question for each lesson. Write something about each science session. Write legibly (not necessarily their “best handwriting”).

Science Session

Engagement Write the date in numerals on the first page of your notebook entry. Write the focus question on the top line of your notebook entry page.

Active Investigation: Solids and Holes Lance had a thin, solid piece of material. He placed the material in water and it floated. He took the material out and punched holes all the way through it. What do you think Lance will observe when he puts the material with holes back in the water? A.It will sink. B.It will barely float. C.It will float the same as it did before the holes were punched in it. D.It will neither sink nor float. It will bob up and down in the water. Write the letter of your prediction. Explain your thinking. Describe the “rule” or reasoning you used to make your prediction.

Active Investigation: Solids and Holes Strategy for using probe: Commit and toss –Wad up your paper and throw. –Do this a few times to thoroughly mix papers. –All A’s to one corner, B’s to another, etc. –Chart number of each answer and sample of explanations Investigate Revise explanation based on data

Active Investigation: Solids and Holes Design investigation. –What variables will need to be controlled? Determine how to organize data. –What will you measure? –Minimum of 3 trials

Writing Session

Shared Writing Model structure as the students provide the content. Focus of writing will be on:  Comparing and contrasting  Cause and effect  Reasoning  Data analysis  Drawing conclusions from data Other frames needed? –Explanations

Scaffolding Data Analysis Writing Introductory/topic sentence: –This graph/table shows… Summarize the data: –Qualitative data More/less; longer/shorter –Quantitative data Actual quantities/measurements Concluding statement(s): –Therefore, I think… Outliers, inconsistent data –Some data were inconsistent. I think this happened, because… Connection to the real world –This information could be important because…

Scaffolding Explanation Writing Claim Evidence Reasoning

Scaffolding Explanation Writing Claim –Make a scientific claim or statement that is related to the question Ex. When a solid object has holes punched all the way through it, it… Evidence –State how the evidence supports the claims Ex. Evidence from my investigation that supports this claim is… –Discuss the conclusiveness of the evidence (e.g., Is it enough to support? Were there inconsistencies in the data? Was the sample enough to support the claim?) The data was consistent/not consistent for all ___ solid objects tested for each of the three trials. However, there were limitations on the types of solid objects tested… Reasoning –Use a scientific principle or idea to describe why the evidence supports the claim or statement The scientific principle, which explains the observations, is density. Density is a characteristic property of matter and is defined as the ratio of mass to volume of an object…

Roadmap for the Day

Take Home Messages A shared vision of good teaching is essential for robust improvement. A wide array of personal communication techniques can be employed to uncover student thinking in order to inform instruction. They require deliberate planning. Science notebooks should be used to help students learn science content, to think scientifically, and to communicate scientifically. Specific scaffolds can help students learn to communicate scientifically.

For Next Time November 30 th Reading assignment –Ch. 1 and Ch. 2 in Writing in Science