The Journey Begins With You
The loosely translated Chinese proverb states that “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” In other words...you gotta start somewhere! Have you committed to transforming your instruction for the new WI science standards? Depending on your starting point, your journey may only take a few tweaks or it may take a full reset and a completely fresh approach to teaching science. Either way, you need to take that first step to reach your destination.
Wisconsin’s science standards are based off of the Next Generation Science Standards. The vision laid out by these standards pushes us to challenge our students to deeper understanding through deliberate sense-making activities. Certainly, the way most of us learned science would not have lived up to this vision. Unfortunately, some instructors are still using these outdated instructional practices. Our understanding of the science itself and how students learn has evolved. Just as we have in ELA and math, we must evolve with it science to give our students the highest quality STEM education that we can.
As I have traveled the state and worked with teachers from all grade levels, I see many varying degrees of preparedness for meeting this new vision. Some districts adopted the standards ahead of the state and began preparing their teachers years ago. Others were deep into Common Core adoption and waited on digging in to new science standards. This is often the case when I speak with elementary teachers. However, as the new standards have lead to new state assessments, there is no time like the present to take that first step.
The Einstein Project wants to help! We are now offering a new free, monthly online professional learning called Einstein Online. Once a month we will run a live online PD session designed to help you deepen your understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards and improve your science teaching. Watch them on your own or with a cohort. Recordings of each will be available after the live event, posted with additional resources and activities that you can do to reinforce what you learn. Use this an opportunity to build your foundation for your next generation instruction. Our first session, “Sense Making Magic: Fostering Deeper Understanding with NGSS” is on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at 4:00 - 4:45 PM CT. It only takes on step to get started! I hope to see you online.
Interested in learning more about changes and new ideas shaping the future of science learning? Register to attend the STEM Innovation Summit at UWGB on November 8th. Click Here to Register