Science, Education, and Science Education

Three months ago, we went to school every day, concerned mostly about whether our shoes were cute and comfortable, our activities were engaging, and the copier and other technology were working.

Then, everything changed.

Now, we wonder how we will communicate and build relationships with students, if their technology is working – or if they have any technology at all, and if they have enough to eat and a safe place to live.

There are so many possible scenarios for this fall, ranging from learning to do our work in different ways to the total destruction of our public education system. It’s too early yet to know what might happen across the country. The best we can do right now is assume a variety of scenarios, and likely, more than one scenario.  Maybe it’s my current and unique situation of living and teaching in a rural area with the luxury of relatively small classes, but I’m choosing to learn new ways (at year 32) to do my job and help kid learn.

I’m considering technologies and strategies I’d previously explored but used only experimentally, and looking for new ways to infuse them in instruction, whether remote or face to face. I’m also looking for ways to make them more collaborative for both students and teachers.

Possible plans, without at this point mentioning any specific technology:

• Short, interactive videos of all content, with built-in questions for individual discussion
• Checks for basic content understanding by student-created interactions with content (pretty much DOK level 1)
  • make a video
  • slide deck of terms
  • create a website with basic info
• Opportunities for student collaboration
• Application of understanding – mini-projects, investigations, student choice, or investigations.

Considerations:

• Leveling by DOK – how will loss of 1/4 of learning last year figure in?
• Remote, or face to face, or combination of all?
• Executive functioning skills of students

Pushback:

• Will students do the out-of-class part?
• More importantly, will they have the resources and support to learn independently?

Things I won’t be doing:

• Relying on testing for summative assessment
• Enforcing strict due dates

How about you? What suggestions do you have to add to my lists?

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