1. Middle School CIA Dec 13, 2010

2. Announcements  STEM District Committee  Programs, Curriculum  Need help to know about programs and events, newsletter articles

3. PD Opportunities  CRISP (Nov 13, Jan 29) Making Stuff Work  https://www.southernct.edu/crisp/index.php/ Professional_Development https://www.southernct.edu/crisp/index.php/ Professional_Development  Possible new grant, focusing on physics?

4. Other Announcements  Equipment/Books?  TVAL/Work with principals  Science Fair: Sign Up and decide now!  SCIENCE.. Part of SIP? Tiering!

5. Teaching/Instruction  some notes from observations  How do the students know what to DO?  How do the students know what to LEARN?  Needs to be WRITTEN and CLEAR

6. Teaching/Instruction  Student to Student TALK: guided and planned (see previous PD)  Higher Order Questioning: guided and planned  Worksheet vs. totally open labs, there is a middle ground  Expectation: students TOUCH stuff at least 2-4 times a week, lab experiment at least once a week.  Writing by students.. doesn ’ t have to be long, but should be frequent  And number one : THINKING is the goal. (not compliance work).

7. Assessment  8 th grade CMT practice will be coming  7 th grade Q1. Feedback on what happened?, what instructional changes are you making?  DATA TEAMS: how do your teams use science results? How do you bring them up? (Math/Physics connection for 8 th ? Measurement connection for 7 th ? )  What does item analysis of quarter one show us?  Have you looked at quarter two questions to give feedback

8. HOW do middle school students learn inquiry?  Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (2000) http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id= 9596  Learning Cycle: Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Apply, Evaluate

9. Inquiry, keys to learning  Understanding science is more than knowing facts  Students build new knowledge and understanding on what they already know and believe (constructivism/misconceptions)  Students formulate new knowledge by modifying and refining their current concepts and by adding new concepts to what they already know

10. Inquiry Learning  Learning is mediated by the social environment in which learners react with others.  Effective learning requires that students take control of their own learning.  The ability to apply knowledge to novel situations, that is, transfer of learning, is affected by the degree to which students learn with understanding.

11. Research base  Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11625.html pgs130-140 http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11625.html  Asking Questions  Designing Experiments (variables)  Engineering (desired effect) vs Scientific (which factors made a difference)  Observing and Recording  Evaluating Evidence

12. Essential features Classroom Inquiry  1. Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions  2. Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions  3. Learner formulate explanations from evidence  4. Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge  5. Learner communicates and justifies explanations

13. Freq asked ? About inquiry  Is it ever Ok to tell students answers? Y  Should teacher say no to student inves? Y  More impt inquiry or concepts? Both  How can invst come before vocab? Observe  Inquiry in every lesson? N  How can we cover everything? Deep  Structure vs Freedom in inquiry? Balance  Inquiry vs classroom management? PLAN  Materials? Teacher plan is lesson, not materials  How improve? Collaborate!

14.  In PLC groups:  Review ideas from teaching inquiry   Review q1 10-11 data share ideas   Review q2 09-10 data 