The Get Real! Science Blog

This week in GRS we resumed our talk about what teaching in a 21st century classroom means to us. Our opener for the class focused on the difference between ‘Cover’ and ‘Uncover’ curriculum. That is to say, the difference between discovery based education and education strictly concerned with covering the curriculum or the standards posed to the educators. (see below)

After the opener was finished we focused in on these guiding questions for the night;

What are the critical elements of a successful reform-based science classroom?
What are the implications for professional learning of the reform-based classroom/NGSS?
What is understanding?
[…]

As the new New York State science standards begin to be rolled out this summer and into the next school year there are a few things that I hope for as it happens. Before I begin though, I should let you know a little more about how I see effective science instruction happening.

It is my belief that knowledge is active and is transmitted best through the continuity and interaction of direct experience. This is a belief that influences daily my mission and philosophy surrounding my role as science teacher; a role that has allowed me to fulfill a fundamental […]

As we start new semesters and prepare for our last student teaching placements, we begin to think critically about what our classrooms will look like next year. In this week’s seminar and EDU 448 classes, we began envisioning our ideal 21st century science classrooms.
We started EDU 448, by brainstorming our perceptions of the “important 21st century skills” we hope to teach our students. As future teachers, we aim to prepare students for the lives they’ll lead in the 21st century. 

After reviewing our notes from the Costa Kalick article, we engaged in a “what if” dialogue. We took turns […]

Last Monday my cohort and I had the pleasure of visiting a local K-12 school in a rural NY town. During our daylong visit, we met with administrators, school teachers and students and soon learned of the school’s lack of funds. Despite being financially strained, we observed effective uses of the school’s resources, both the indoor and outdoor ones. For the indoor resources, those that reside within the classroom, we watched how two science educators implemented the resource of technology to enhance student learning. The sixth grade teacher shared how technology supported students’ innovative experiments. In their sustainable trout […]

Generating a sense of community amongst students and faculty is an important goal as the first few days of school turn into the first few weeks. When we feel apart of something, integrated into the experience, we are forced to become active participants. A sense of community is an integral part of generating this integration. If you have read this Blog you may be realizing that I speak often and highly of the school I left in order to return to Rochester. So I want to apologize for starting to sound a bit like Phoebe but I would like […]

“Is it seriously mid-June already? What happened to the last two weeks of my life?” I’m pretty sure most of us in EDU 487 felt like this at some point during class. This week was crunch time for our Investigative Design projects and Christa’s face pretty much sums up our feelings about the workload… (Not that we’re complaining of course. It all turned out great, I promise!)For Tuesday each group wrote a rough draft of the final paper, prepared a first attempt at the presentation, and began their inquiry maps. Andrea kept us in good humor, and asked us […]