ideas that can be used to demonstrate a strong commitment and application for each principled procedure
Pedagogical
1. Teachers plan alone and with colleagues within and across disciplines and grade levels. They plan inquiry-based science programs for students by developing yearly and shorter term plans with students based on their interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences. They select educational and assessment strategies to support student's development of science understandings in a nurturing community of science learners.
Strong commitment to inquiry would include plans that followed science inquiry methods within their procedures. Over time would include teacher directed and student directed inquiry with all ranges between with the teacher directed inquiry being used to model at appropriate times and student directed when students will have an opportunity to be successful. (inquiry)
Ability to plan alone and with others can be demonstrated with the inclusion of plans authored by you as an individual and you and other educational professionals.
Plans with quality assessment would have assessment throughout all plans and include diagnostic, formative, summative, and generative for multidimensions of science and appropriate outcome levels described.
Ability to plan would also demonstrate competence in sequencing activities in multidimensions to facilitate students' consruction of concepts and generalizations in a relatively short period of time and also planning for a school year.
Quality plans would include ideas that would unquestionably motivate students to learn science and create a desire for them to communicate science ideas that will create a community of science learners.
2. Teachers facilitate learning by modeling skills of scientific inquiry and attitudes such as curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism in their interactions with students to show students how to focus inquires and discourse about scientific ideas and challenge them to accept responsibility and full participation for their understanding of science.
Ability to model skills of scientific inquiry and attitudes can be demonstrated in video tapes, reflections, peer and supervisor evaluations, and plans where you (the teacher) model science inquiry and/or process skills and abilities along with the requisite attitudes that are beneficial for scientists to be successful in a manner that students can understand and perform them selves. (inquiry) (attitudes)
3. Teachers assess their teaching. They continually and systematically gather data of their teaching actions and in-actions from personal, student, and colleague observations. They inquire, analyze, reflect on the data, and draw conclusions to guide future actions and in-actions to improve students' understanding and ability.
Desire, ability and quality of self assessment and reflection can be demonstrated in video tapes, reflections, peer and supervisor evaluations where with reflect and critically discuss your teaching using quality indicators of outstanding teaching methodology about the success of facilitating meaningful science learning in multiple dimensions of science. (quality indicators) (dimensions of science)
4. Teachers assess students. They continually and systematically gather data on students through multiple methods with their own, students and colleagues’ observations of students’ actions and in-actions as they relate to their understandings. They analyze the information alone, with students, and colleagues and make recommendations to help students set and achieve goals, assess them, and report their progress to teachers, parents, and other interested people.
Quality assessment of students can be demonstrated in video tapes, reflections, peer and supervisor evaluations that include descriptions of assessment techniques and results that include a variety of important science concepts/ generalizations across different dimensions of science and how they were communicated to students, parents and other stake holders with beneficial results.
5. Teachers design and manage learning environments with students so that time is available for safe extended meaningful investigations to help students learn scientific inquiry methods with a variety of tools in a variety of environments. In a manner that also nurtures positive dispositions and conceptual understandings of science content and perspectives of science by all students.
Quality management can be demonstrated in video tapes, reflections, peer and supervisor evaluations where you (the teacher) manage the entire class in a meaningful scientific investigation that empowers students with opportunities for student centered inquiry in cooperative groups where you are able to move into and out of groups as needed to focus each student's attention on learning, but the need to do so is minimal because of good proactive decision making.
6. Teachers develop communities of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social values conducive to science learning by requiring respect for diverse ideas, skills, and experiences of all students. Allow students to make decisions about the content and context of their work. Require students to take responsibility for the learning of all members of the community by nurturing collaboration among students, structuring experiences to help students increase theirs and others scientific communication abilities, and appreciation for the skills, attitudes, and values of scientific inquiry.
Abukuty to create a community of science learners is demonstrated by video, evaluations, and reflections that describe a classroom where students know how to inquire and are involved in inquiry, have proficiency in the use of process skills and abilities, know and have the attitudes that lead to successful inquiry and learning and desire to investigate and are excited about the discovers and understanding they gain of the natural world through their and their classmates investigations and sharing of ideas. They are eager to share not only what they learned about their world, but are as excited to share anything new they find pertaining to other dimensions of science as well.
Professional
1. Teachers actively participate in the development of a K-12 school
science program through truly democratic means that seek appropriate
allocation of time, resources for planning and implementing a science program,
professional development, and ongoing program evaluation.
Describe how you have been involved or will be involved in a K-12 science program (work with other faculty to plan... judge science fairs, participate in science night, support raising money for science equipment ....
2. Teachers actively investigate and reflect on science topics that are significant to the participants in the science field; using scientific methods to expand their personal science knowledge and ability to generate further knowledge while at the same time understand different perspectives of science and maintain positive attitudes towards science.
Describe what you do to learn more science. NOT as a teacher, but as a citizen. Read Discovery magazine, Scientific America, wath Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, NOVA, will conduct science experiments when you hear of an idea that you want to investigate, visit nature centers, science centers, museums, planetariums...
3. Teachers integrate knowledge of science, learning, pedagogy, and students so that science learning can be integrated with all aspects of science, different disciplines, and generalized to a variety of real life situations.
Describe the integration of science dimensions, science related to the students' world, and integration of science into other subjects. Quality descriptions include significant science from multiple dimensions. Careful not to describe activities that are questionable as to their value for students learning quality science.
4. Teachers develop professionally alone and with colleagues an appreciation for lifelong learning and professional development through research and experiential knowledge to validate and generate new knowledge about how students learn science and teachers can facilitate that learning.
Describe what you have done and plan to continue to do to develop professionally and convince me that you are a lifelong learner with a passion of learning, particularly science.
Dr. Robert Sweetland's Notes ©