Articulate: This year will be transformative for me as I fully embrace not only Standards-Based Grading, but also a new approach to teaching science. My focus will shift from being content-centered with skills supporting, but often assumed rather than explicitly taught, to a primarily skill and scientific-thinking based approach. I am very excited about the opportunities this will lead to - already I have developed experiences that allow students to independently explore topics that they identify as interesting and gain a deeper understanding. The final products of these experiences truly embrace the Big Blue Head, students will learn about topics, make connections and then determine what to DO with the information. The DO is what scientific thinking is all about! Observe, Predict, DO, Reflect, DO again!
If I am able to meet the goal of having every student be able to think scientifically, then it won't matter the content, they will have a strategy to figure it out on a systems level and then make adjustments. We don't know what science break-throughs are in the future, but the scientific process will always be relevant. However, in order to engage in the process, students need a clear and concise path that helps them to become thoughtful scientists. By developing school (and hopefully district-wide!) transferable skills and practices students will be able to meet the challenges of any scientific content.
If I am able to meet the goal of having every student be able to think scientifically, then it won't matter the content, they will have a strategy to figure it out on a systems level and then make adjustments. We don't know what science break-throughs are in the future, but the scientific process will always be relevant. However, in order to engage in the process, students need a clear and concise path that helps them to become thoughtful scientists. By developing school (and hopefully district-wide!) transferable skills and practices students will be able to meet the challenges of any scientific content.
List of Learning Scales
UNIT ONE
Transferable skills - please note that these are a work-in-progress! The science team will be looking at these and making decisions about them over the next few months as we determine the best way to move forward with implementing NGSS
Ecology Unit
Report sheet for Ecology Targets
Ecology Summative 1
Ecology / Universal Summative - this is a summative that will be collaborative between science & humanities. The structure is set up so that we can repeat the process several times over the course of the year with various content and rotating final products.
UNIT TWO
Evolution and Climate Change unit
UNIT ONE
Transferable skills - please note that these are a work-in-progress! The science team will be looking at these and making decisions about them over the next few months as we determine the best way to move forward with implementing NGSS
Ecology Unit
Report sheet for Ecology Targets
Ecology Summative 1
Ecology / Universal Summative - this is a summative that will be collaborative between science & humanities. The structure is set up so that we can repeat the process several times over the course of the year with various content and rotating final products.
UNIT TWO
Evolution and Climate Change unit