P2P Principals Meeting December 10, 2008 Enjoy some breakfast and networking! We’ll begin at 9:00.

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 each meeting Keep side conversations to a minimum 2

October Review Provided Sharepoint instructions Debriefed chapter 1 of Ready, Set, Science! –A New Vision of Science in Education Completed a CTS for Properties of Matter Practiced using OTOP for classroom observations (Linda Block’s classroom on circuits) Finalized technology orders

Roadmap for Today Classroom Observations Metacognition Conceptual Change Properties of Matter

“Evidence is at the heart of scientific practice. Proficiency in science entails generating and evaluating evidence as part of building and refining models and explanations of the natural world.” pg. 19 “When students engage in scientific practice they are embedded in a social framework, they use the discourse of science, and they work with scientific representations and tools. In this way, conceptual understanding of natural systems is linked to the ability to develop or evaluate knowledge claims, carry out empirical investigations, and develop explanations.” –Ready, Set, Science! pg. 34

Observations Debrief Clarify criteria on OTOP instrument Determine indicators for each performance level Use data from observations and clarified OTOP to consider strengths and weaknesses in science instruction

OTOP Clarification Working with your assigned partner, generate a list of what you would expect to see and hear the teacher and students doing in the classroom that would exemplify the criterion you have been given. Now, determine the gradations for this criterion. What would be a 4 – characterizes the lesson? What would be a 1 – observed but very limited? What would be a 3? A 2? Prepare to share with the whole group, including your thought process, as you decided what distinguishes each gradation.

OTOP Clarification Individually, write what you think the 8 key factors are that represent effective science instruction based on the OTOP. Share your 8 key factors with a partner and as a pair, decide on the 6 most essential factors. Join another pair, and as a group of 4, determine the 3 big ideas/factors that you most associate with effective science instruction.

Observations Debrief Individually, review the observations from your school. Overall, what seem to be some strengths? What seem to be some weaknesses? What might be the impact on student achievement if these weaknesses were addressed? What are some possibilities for addressing the weaknesses?

"I know your teachers are very demanding and all the kids avoid you, but you have to go to school, Dear. You're the principal!"

Metacognition Take a moment to recall anything/everything you think of regarding the topic of metacognition. You have one minute to write down everything you know about metacognition. Do not stop writing until time is called. Rewrite words or phrases if necessary.

Questions to Ponder…

Questions to Ponder What is it? Why is it important to educators? What does it look like when used effectively in a science lesson?

K-W-L with a Twist Know Want to Know Learned What is it? Why is it important? What does it look like?

Rotating Brainstorm Move to the location your group was assigned and brainstorm answers to the question on the chart paper. When time is called rotate chart paper (clockwise) to a new group. When time is called repeat the rotation once more so that each group has had the chance to add ideas to all three charts.

Sharing and Updating The person in your group who most recently went to the movies will post your chart and report out. Take a look at your K-W-L Chart and make any revisions/additions you feel are needed at this time.

Looking for Evidence Scan through the lesson on Day One in the third grade section of the “Force and Motion Instructional Module” Identify segments/activities designed to have students thinking about their thinking. Share what you identified with a partner.

Thinking About Thinking About Our Thinking What did we do in our work today that was metacognitive in nature? Complete your K-W-L Questions?

Teaching for Conceptual Change Determine instructional implications for teaching for conceptual change

Instructional Considerations Where did the mass come from? Please complete the sequoia tree probe. Place your answer choice on a small post it and place on the “sticky bar graph”. View and discuss the clip from Private Universe.

Instructional Considerations Jigsaw chapter 3 in Ready, Set, Science! Expert groups meet, read assigned section and summarize key ideas. Regroup and share key ideas from your section with jigsaw group. Jigsaw groups – identify instructional considerations for teaching for conceptual change.

Instructional Considerations Read the case study, “Molecules in Motion,” on pages and pages 55 & 56 and note how the teacher implemented the instructional considerations for teaching for conceptual change. How might this information help you assist teachers in planning for and implementing more effective science instruction?

Update on Properties of Matter Work with Teachers Experience and dissect part of the measurement activity that teachers did for effectiveness.

Measuring Area and Volume Learning Targets I can write operational definitions for length, area, and volume. I can use standards in making measurements. I can use tools appropriately in making measurements. I can record the results of a measurement in an appropriate manner. I can use estimation in making measurements. I know that no measurement is exact.

“Glancing down supermarket shelves, we examine the prices but have to make an effort to register the weight of a cereal box or the capacity of a carton of juice. Weights and measures are a given. A pound or a gallon, like a mile or an acre, will be the same from Florida to Alaska. And so will a bushel of wheat and a cord of wood and a hundred other units of measurement. It is a language that is picked up automatically and spoken without conscious thought. Only when it changes, when half a gallon of cola became 2 liters in the 1990s, for instance, or a fifth of whiskey reappeared as 750 milliliters, is there a reminder that there is nothing certain about these units after all. They are not a given but an extraordinary construct, and one of the identifying marks of social life. Without the conscious decision to agree on a way of measuring, cooperative activity could hardly take place. With it, marketplaces and increasingly sophisticated economies can develop, matching barter, cash, or credit to whatever is owned by one person and desired by another.” –Measuring America, by Andro Linklater

How long is the pencil? Please complete the probe. Write the correct answer on an index card. Think-pair-share: as students grapple with measurement, what might be some instructional implications?

Operational Definitions Working with your table group, complete the activities as detailed in the handout. When you get to a “check,” please have one person raise his/her hand in the group to signal a facilitator. Share your thinking at each “check” with a facilitator before proceeding to the next part of the activity.

Take Home Messages These key principles of measurement must be developed overtime: Appropriate units –Use units of measure appropriate to the thing being measured. Identical units –Jelly beans vs hex nuts Measurement conventions –Understand the concept of standards Iteration –Repeated application of identical units Zero point Ready, Set, Science pg. 12

Roadmap for Today Classroom Observations Metacognition Conceptual Change Properties of Matter

For Next Time Next meeting – Jan. 16, 2009 Set up for next round of observations