As you probably know, the science courses proposed by this committee last spring did not have enough enrollment to run. This was a disappointment to everyone involved. Thank you for your hard work in contributing to the development of the courses and advertising them with your colleagues at the building level.
As we move forward with this committee, my proposal is to shift focus somewhat to return attention to the SCIED 458 course taken by interns in the fall. In the past, committee members have offered suggestions about revisions to the course. I think we should continue to do this, but extend to having committee members attend class when possible and share specific examples of teaching science to children at their grade level. I am interested in knowing more about what you think about this. Looking forward to re-convening our group soon!
FYI: I think our name is changing to "PDS SCIED Advisory Group."
As we move forward with this committee, my proposal is to shift focus somewhat to return attention to the SCIED 458 course taken by interns in the fall. In the past, committee members have offered suggestions about revisions to the course. I think we should continue to do this, but extend to having committee members attend class when possible and share specific examples of teaching science to children at their grade level. I am interested in knowing more about what you think about this. Looking forward to re-convening our group soon!
FYI: I think our name is changing to "PDS SCIED Advisory Group."
We will be offering Parts 1 & 2 of Teaching Science as Inquiry Using Light & Sound Content in Summer 2008 and Fall 2008, respectively. Hopefully the course announcements are making their way to all ten elementary schools and both middle schools. Everyone is welcome! However, we are limiting enrollment to 24 in each course.
The course announcement can be downloaded from a previous blog entry. Registration directions are provided here. The SCASD contact person is Julie Gosselin (jag21@scasd.org). Carla Zembal-Saul (czem@psu.edu) is serving as the PSU contact.
It was a small group, but we had a great conversation! Special thanks to MJ, Kimber, Candy, Dottie, Marcia and Annmarie for sharing their ideas and suggestions for possible changes to SCIED 458. Deb pointed out the need to engage interns in talking to children about their science ideas earlier in the semester. We brainstormed ways to do this in relevant ways. Here's what we came up with...
In 458 we will engage interns in learning science content, such as plant growth, through inquiry-based investigations and video-based case materials. Interns will experience learning science themselves in ways that reflect scientific inquiry; they will observe the teaching of similar content in elementary classrooms through video cases; they will observe interviews with children about the content pre and post instruction. Then, in late September, all interns will conduct 1-2 developmentally appropriate interviews with children in their classroom about the same content. This will provide interns with early experiences interviewing children. It will also provide us with a powerful opportunity to "pool" the results of these interviews across grade levels, which will provide insights into possible learning progressions.
The interview will be kept simple and be conducted during a center or even during non-instructional time so as not to interfere with regularly scheduled classroom learning activities. The results of the across grade comparison will be shared back with mentor teachers.
MJ will assist in sharing changes to the 458 syllabus with mentor teachers during the fall. We also discussed having a blog for the 458 syllabus and class. A monthly reminder will be sent to teachers with a link to the blog and notification of upcoming events and how to support interns in being successful. Once again, MJ will provide support through the SCASD science office. Thanks!
At our last meeting we discussed the design of the summer/fall course on teaching science as inquiry through sound and light content. The course announcement is attached. Please post suggestions as comments to the blog entry.
I'll make one more set of revisions before sending it out to SCASD
teacher later this week.summercourse08.pdf
For our next meeting, we will be discussing revisions to the SCIED 458 course (elementary science methods) taken by interns in the PDS in the fall. Please review the syllabus before the meeting. Also, read Chapter 5: Talk and Argument, from Ready, Set, Science (see Resource Page).
Looking forward to seeing you next week!
Next Meeting:
Wednesday, April 30th
3:30-5 PM
College Heights Conference Room
Looking forward to seeing you next week!
Next Meeting:
Wednesday, April 30th
3:30-5 PM
College Heights Conference Room
PDS SCIED Planning Team:
Thanks to everyone for voting on our next meeting day and time. As you might expect, none of the choices worked for everyone. However, it looks like we will have solid attendance on Monday or Tuesday. Given that our last meeting was on a Monday, I think we should try Tuesday this time.
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, March 18th
3:30-5 PM
College Heights Conference Room
To Prepare:
1. We agreed to read Ch. 5 of Ready, Set, Science before the next meeting (Resource Page).
2. Bring feedback from your colleagues about their professional development interests/needs. A sample letter from Donnan is posted on the blog.
3. Look over the SCIED 458 syllabus and be prepared to discuss any suggestions for revision that you may have.
We are looking forward to seeing you on March 18th.
Carla & Deb
Thanks to everyone for voting on our next meeting day and time. As you might expect, none of the choices worked for everyone. However, it looks like we will have solid attendance on Monday or Tuesday. Given that our last meeting was on a Monday, I think we should try Tuesday this time.
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, March 18th
3:30-5 PM
College Heights Conference Room
To Prepare:
1. We agreed to read Ch. 5 of Ready, Set, Science before the next meeting (Resource Page).
2. Bring feedback from your colleagues about their professional development interests/needs. A sample letter from Donnan is posted on the blog.
3. Look over the SCIED 458 syllabus and be prepared to discuss any suggestions for revision that you may have.
We are looking forward to seeing you on March 18th.
Carla & Deb
Donnan sent the note below to her faculty following the SCIED meeting yesterday. Maybe others in the group could do something similar at their schools???
***********************
Our PDS Science Team met yesterday afternoon and we had a great discussion about the SCIED 458 syllabus and about the possible professional development for the summer or on-going work throughout the school year.
Two content areas discussed for possible courses were Light and Sound (has implications in many divisions) and Field Natural History (course taught by Mark McLaughlin at Shaver's Creek where our Schoolyard Project had its start). Are either of those topics of interest for a possible summer course or is there something else that you would like to learn. Please let me know your thoughts so that I may share them at the next PDS Sci.Ed. Meeting in March.
Thanks!
Donnan
***********************
Our PDS Science Team met yesterday afternoon and we had a great discussion about the SCIED 458 syllabus and about the possible professional development for the summer or on-going work throughout the school year.
Two content areas discussed for possible courses were Light and Sound (has implications in many divisions) and Field Natural History (course taught by Mark McLaughlin at Shaver's Creek where our Schoolyard Project had its start). Are either of those topics of interest for a possible summer course or is there something else that you would like to learn. Please let me know your thoughts so that I may share them at the next PDS Sci.Ed. Meeting in March.
Thanks!
Donnan
We held our first meeting of the newly reconstituted PDS SCIED Development Team on Monday, February 11th at the College Heights Conference Room, 3:30-5 PM. The following people attending:
Terry Ceschini
Paije Davis
Kris Hall
Marcia Heizmann
Kimber Hershberger
MJ Kitt
Judi Kur
Lori Maxfield
Cheryl McCarty
Virginia Squier
Donnan Stoicovy
Deb Smith
Carla Zembal-Saul
Annmarie Ward from the Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS) joined us as a special guest. She shared her interest in providing tailored professional development opportunities for SCASD teachers.
We reviewed the SCIED 458 syllabus and comments from the January 22nd mentor retreat. One area that appears to need serious attention is how to help new mentor teachers better understand course assignments so they can assist interns in being successful. Ideas included holding face-to-face meetings at the beginning of the year, providing copies of syllabi, reminding mentors of the URL for the PDS web site (e.g., bookmarks), and creating brief summaries of major assignments with notes about how mentors can assist interns.
Before embarking on revisions to SCIED 458, we decided to read Chapter 5 from the newly published Ready, Set, Science! Deb and Carla will be ordering hard copies for members of the committee, but for now the document can be accessed online.
The group also discussed possible professional development opportunities for SCASD teachers. In the past, the goals have been to get teachers together in grade level groups, connect to particular concepts in the curriculum, and tailor dates/formats to meet the needs of participants. Virginia suggested that we include brief/condensed options (e.g., 1.5 hours at school) that would be hands-on and could be taken for Act 48 credit. Deb discussed her prior work with teachers in which week-long summer sessions were focused on content, and were then followed by monthly meetings during the school year that engaged teachers in thinking about how to translate what they learned to the classroom.
The most likely content topics for professional development this year are sound and light, which is evident throughout the SCASD curriculum, and field natural history (already developed and offered through Shavers Creek). Committee members agreed to check with colleagues at their schools about interest in these courses/topics.
Thanks to Deb for bringing delicious treats!
MJ was able to schedule the College Heights conference room again for our next meeting, Monday, March 3, 3:30-5 PM.
Terry Ceschini
Paije Davis
Kris Hall
Marcia Heizmann
Kimber Hershberger
MJ Kitt
Judi Kur
Lori Maxfield
Cheryl McCarty
Virginia Squier
Donnan Stoicovy
Deb Smith
Carla Zembal-Saul
Annmarie Ward from the Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS) joined us as a special guest. She shared her interest in providing tailored professional development opportunities for SCASD teachers.
We reviewed the SCIED 458 syllabus and comments from the January 22nd mentor retreat. One area that appears to need serious attention is how to help new mentor teachers better understand course assignments so they can assist interns in being successful. Ideas included holding face-to-face meetings at the beginning of the year, providing copies of syllabi, reminding mentors of the URL for the PDS web site (e.g., bookmarks), and creating brief summaries of major assignments with notes about how mentors can assist interns.
Before embarking on revisions to SCIED 458, we decided to read Chapter 5 from the newly published Ready, Set, Science! Deb and Carla will be ordering hard copies for members of the committee, but for now the document can be accessed online.
The group also discussed possible professional development opportunities for SCASD teachers. In the past, the goals have been to get teachers together in grade level groups, connect to particular concepts in the curriculum, and tailor dates/formats to meet the needs of participants. Virginia suggested that we include brief/condensed options (e.g., 1.5 hours at school) that would be hands-on and could be taken for Act 48 credit. Deb discussed her prior work with teachers in which week-long summer sessions were focused on content, and were then followed by monthly meetings during the school year that engaged teachers in thinking about how to translate what they learned to the classroom.
The most likely content topics for professional development this year are sound and light, which is evident throughout the SCASD curriculum, and field natural history (already developed and offered through Shavers Creek). Committee members agreed to check with colleagues at their schools about interest in these courses/topics.
Thanks to Deb for bringing delicious treats!
MJ was able to schedule the College Heights conference room again for our next meeting, Monday, March 3, 3:30-5 PM.
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