NECC 08 - Planning for Systemic Change - Part 2
In my previous post I outlined our plan for an environmental science year-long project with K-5 students and our initiative for attaining pedagogical changes in instruction for our team of 15 teachers. So what do we, a group of elementary teachers, do next to make our vision a reality? After our poster session on Monday in San Antonio our team of 5 met outside on a patio to escape the cold air conditioning and tackle the obstacles waiting for us in September. Here’s a summary of our collective ideas.
Team Initiative: Shift instructional practices in our school to become constructivist in nature using inquiry-based methods and increase the use of technology to facilitate learning for both teachers and students.
- Choose a professional development on-line course offered as part of the HP grant for the entire team’s participation that is tied to constructivism and inquiry. (possibly Constructing Learning Centered Environments offered through PBS Teachers)
- Plan short afterschool meetings to discuss PD coursework. Rotate the role of facilitator for each session.
- Encourage team members to inquire into the topic and ask their own questions, seek answers, and share learning with the group.
- Communicate our plan clearly with the building principal and work to tie this initiative with our annual building goals.
- Provide individual choice for professional development offerings (webinars, books, other on-line courses) in addition to the group’s on-line course.
- Use the MST room to model 5E lesson plan implementation for the first quarter. Starting in the second quarter team members can write their own 5E lessons and revise together.
- Encourage peer observations of lessons using the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool.
- Encourage and offer opportunities for co-teaching.
- Help to build background knowledge on constructivism and inquiry with video clips, short articles, etc.
- Open up all afterschool meetings to the entire faculty.
- Participate in a book study on Inquire Within by Doug Llewellyn.
- Support, model, and require the use of technology for personal learning, group collaboration and communication (Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Wikispaces, blogs, on-line courses, etc.). Offer small group sessions this summer to help get team members set up and comfortable in these environments.
- Request release time throughout the year for additional meetings and planning.
Environmental Science Project with Students: Students in 13 classrooms K-5 will be exploring and collecting data on the waterways in Webster as they assume the role of environmental scientists.
- Identify essential understandings and key concepts for K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 through examination of NYS and National Science and Math standards at our July workday (paid by district) and write pre/post and formative assessment measures for each grade.
- Use the MST room for modeling and/or co-teaching of lessons to support identified understandings as well as to familiarize and train students/teachers on the use of various technology tools to support their learning (science sensors, wiki, Tablet PC, digital camera, iPod recorders, digital binoculars, etc.).
- Assign new team members a mentor from Year 1.
- Identify key students from last year’s project work to become mentors to new teachers/classes.
- Continually reassess the role and direction of the project as students develop their own scientific inquiry investigations.
- Use Wendy’s role to connect with other classrooms (Chicago & New Brunswick so far) also participating in environmental water studies.
Our excitement that day was contagious. A woman sitting nearby came over to group and shared that she couldn’t help but listen in on our conversation. She said that our enthusiasm and collaboration during that short time was just awesome. We all couldn’t agree more and walked back into the convention center completely energized. While our plan is still in the inital stages, we’d love any feedback or new ideas to consider.
