Snapshot: Positive Classroom Choreography

My colleague, Susan Cherwinski +Susan Cherwinski (@SJCteach) , and I created this poster to guide student-centered, engaging classroom pedagogy and language. We plan to enlarge and distribute at some time, but for now, we hope that it will help you architect a classroom that develops student investment, happiness, and success.

Connection Counts

In education, every minute matters. Effective, regular communication serves to connect and maximize our collective efforts.

Ineffective or lack of communication fosters greater individual paths rather than collective, efficient effort and collaboration. When this happens everyone ventures out on their own often replicating efforts or even wasting time by having to backtrack due to unknown initiatives, decisions, or priorities. 

How can we ensure that our communication is clear, timely, and consistent so that everyone's efforts contribute to shared vision and goals in ways that matter? 

STEAM: Sound Exploration

Inspiration for our Sound Unit End Product Prototypes

I want to use what I learned from the Marble Maze Simple Machine exploration to inform our next investigation: Sound!

This unit was birthed last fall when a student reacted to Bash the Trash's cultural enrichment performance with the question, "When can we make instruments?"

How will I do that?

First, I need to learn a lot about sound. I'll research the topic and learn as much as I can in the next week or so.

After that, I will use back-end planning to outline the unit. I'll let the new standards lead that work in part. I've also decided that the end-product of the investigation will be to design a prototype of a playground sound installation, a sound piece that helps teachers and students communicate to one another in multiple ways.

I'll host all information on the our Sensational Science Sound webpage.

Time to dig in, learn, plan, and begin our next exploration, an exploration that incorporates the learning from our simple machine unit. Onward.

What Does a Teacher Do?

It's important to assess and evaluate your role every now and then. Looking at your role with both a broad and narrow lens helps you to chart the course with regard to your professional growth and effort. A conversation with a friend in another profession led me to this analysis today, an analysis that starts with these questions:

• What are your overarching professional and system goals?
• What efforts contribute to those goals with depth and care?

Professional Goal
To teach children well.

Focus Areas

Home-School Partnership
Working with and for families and students is a primary role of the teacher. What is the best way to support families and children? Regular communication, enlisting families as part of the learning/teaching team, and ready response are integral elements to optimal home-school partnerships. The work we do at the start of the year to establish positive home-school partnerships to serve students well benefits optimal teaching/learning throughout the year.

Knowing Children Well and Positive Relationships
The better we know our students, the better we are able to teach them. What supports this effort? At the start of the year, make time to meet with and get to know each child and family in a meaningful way. Also, early year assessments, both formal and informal, help us to understand a child's learning profile well. Further, asking students to respond to the question, "What do you wish I knew about you?" at the start of the year will help us to know what's important to a child. We might want to ask parents and guardians a similar question, "What do you wish I knew about your child?" at the start of the year too in order to focus in on important areas of a child's profile to support good teaching and relationship building.

Knowing the Content Well
You can't teach well without a deep understanding of the curriculum--that's paramount. This leads me to once again think about what teachers are asked to do. It's important to narrow teachers' competency expectations to realistic parameters. With the incredible information access today, I think it's best to support a team approach to teaching children well. The team approach would foster collaboration in ways that support individual teacher's deep knowledge in specific areas and collaboration that maximizes the collective knowledge for students' interdisciplinary study and vigorous learning experiences. Too many teacher courses, particularly at the elementary level, focus on pedagogy rather than content. I believe that content needs to be a primary focus since understanding the deep knowledge in content areas leads to good pedagogy--this prompts a change in focus, one I believe will better the work we do.

Engaging, Student-Friendly Pedagogy, Tools, and Delivery
Knowledge alone does not translate into good teaching. The way you transfer and promote knowledge is paramount when it comes to fostering an engaging, empowering educational environment. Important components of that environment include the learning experiences, manner, quality, and quantity of feedback and response, pacing and patterns, and culture and community. We can promote these components of good teaching, in part, through regular collegial share and modeling.

The Learning Environment
The physical space and materials we use to teach well impact students' access and availability to learning. By narrowing individual teacher's content expectations we can better maximize the learning spaces. For example the science/math teacher might have a room set up for STEAM learning, while the reading/writing teacher has the room set up for English language arts study. Yet, we want to foster interdisciplinary study and work, hence unlike subject divisions that exist in some high schools, there should be an interdisciplinary flow and teamwork between and amongst the learning/teaching environments and educators to promote blended, interdisciplinary units of study and learning.

Collegial Collaboration and Contribution
Teamwork is essential to good schools. The work we do as a team to teach children well makes a significant difference in a child's experience of school. Good teamwork depends on shared protocols, values, vision, time, communication, and strategic process. I believe that many schools are at the early stages of developing structures, routines, and protocols in this regard. There is great potential for what dedicated teams with time and shared goals can do to make schools better.

Early on when I started my blog, I considered the role of the teacher. Since that time there have been many changes in education and specifically in the environment where I work--positive changes which have impacted the work we can do with and for students. Today, the areas above take precedence with regard to the teaching/learning role. The emphasis on team has replaced the focus on management, environmental design and school structure plays a bigger role in the work we do, and deep knowledge of the content we teach is even a more essential aim in order to teach well in this sophisticated, information-ready environment we live in.

Today's teacher is a skilled professional who serves students and families well with holistic goals and efforts. He/she is a lifelong learner who works to understand his/her content and students with depth and care. Teachers today work together to set goals, advocate, and collaborate around important issues with regard to student response, engagement, and education. It is a vital, interactive, deep role of care, compassion, and contribution.

With political and cultural support, the role of teacher has the potential to strengthen and invigorate community and culture in ways that benefit all. The role of teaching holds tremendous promise for our nation and world if regarded with thoughtful support and right challenge.

I am proud to be a teacher, and I look forward to using the notes above to develop my work in the days ahead. If you have thoughts to add to this post, please let me know. Together, we can continue to develop our profession with strength, contribution, and positive change.


Addition
This is a beautiful post about the role of teacher.



Notes:
David Garcia added "Intellectual Leader" to a teacher's role definition. I like that.

STEAM Open House Introduction

STEAMwork is also a bumpy road.!

I will frame family's experience of today's informal STEAM open house with the following words:

The famous inventor, Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." I'm sure that many students can identify with Edison's words today after embarking on their simple machine marble maze creations.

STEAM is interdisciplinary science, tech, engineering, art, and math blended together.

It's not your old fashion science lesson.

Instead it's an opportunity for students to work independently or with a team to explore, investigate, collaborate, design, create, and learn.

With this open ended exploration comes lots of debate, trial-and-error, success, and failure too--more failure than success.

The big push for STEAM education is that it's real-world mimicking the way that engineers design and create in companies like Google and IDEO. It's the way that true inventors work, and with invention comes frustration too. It's more failure than success, and more and more we recognize that knowing that and building strategy and mindsets to move forward with that knowledge creates students' stamina and willingness to persevere.

So as you look at the projects today, look deeply. Ask these questions as you tease out the learning.

• What part of your project are you most proud of?
• What part of your project was most frustrating?
• Tell me about your project elements?
• What helped you succeed, and what would have helped you gain greater success?
• How many times did you test your project?
• What advice do you have for someone who is doing this project for the first time?
• How could teachers, parents, and classmates have helped you with this project?

Look around the room. Notice the projects. Notice elements of projects, teams, and individual work that were successful, and notice the challenges classmates faced. Celebrate your success and hard work. This is simply one step more on your STEAM learning path, a path that we'll continue with greater strength due to the learning you've gained with this project. I appreciate your hard work, creativity, stamina, and flexibility--all vital skills for success today and in the future. I'm proud of every child in Team 12/14. I learned a lot too. 

STEAMWORK!

Tomorrow I've invited parents in to see the marble maze simple machine projects.

I hesitated to do this because the projects are not all beautiful to look at. In fact, at first glance, they look like a pile of recycled materials. Also, some of the projects don't work that well. Yet, the craftsmanship, problem solving, collaboration, and thought that went into the work was terrific. Some of the projects work in amazing ways too. Many students wanted to share.

As I embarked on this project for the first time, I didn't really know what to expect. I let it happen and followed students' lead. I deviated from the old-time everyone-does-the-same-simple-creation format to the new STEAM investigation and exploration format. The new format is much more real world, and richer with regard to deep thinking, creativity, communication, debate, and problem solving.

I watched and coached as students struggled with the problem which was to include simple machines into a marble maze creation. Some students readily grasped the challenge, managed their groups, and created. Others hesitated and struggled more with the task. Some projects were flimsy, but intricate. Others were simple and secure. Some students worked at home, during recess, and at lunch. Others worked only during the class periods. Some groups had terrific synergy and others were challenged with regard to supporting each others' ideas. Hence, there is great variation with the final projects.

Now that I've been through this project, I know a lot more about my young engineers and what they need for successful STEAMwork.

Groups
I let the groups happen, and for the most part this worked well. Students self selected good peers for creation. Some individuals and groups joined together or split apart during the process. In a couple of situations, this was not ideal. So next time, I'll be a bit more strategic with grouping by giving some voice and a little more direction too. Teamwork is an essential element of this project, an element more important than I originally thought.

Space
Next time I'll make sure that each group has their own building space. That's somewhat tough in my smallish classroom, but I can make it happen. We also need greater protocols to make sure that students' spaces are secure. That was complicated since there's some structural work happening in our school building which may have affected some of the displays.

Supply Boxes
Everyone will receive a supply box with essential supplies, and they will also have access to other supplies in the STEAM center. This will help everyone have access to a fair share of needed supplies.

Introduction
Like last time, I'll provide a multimedia introduction and resource web page to support the project. Many of the students who succeeded most with the project, took the time to revisit the web page and look online at project examples. The children who did this were highly motivated by the project problem.

Time
I'd like to build in more time, but time remains a premium at school, and big, rich projects like these take time. I chose to stop the project before every group had finished simply because this project could last for weeks for some students. I might scaffold the project more next time so that stage one is easy for everyone to complete and stage two is there for the taking for students who are passionate about the project.

Team Meetings
Rather than having all groups in at once during lunch and recess, next time I'd like to have some small group meetings especially with groups who are facing greater challenge during lunch time.

Parent Volunteers
This is the kind of project that would profit from parent volunteers. Next time I'll know what to expect and be able to coach parents who are willing to contribute a few hours to help out.

Sharing STEAMwork with families requires an introduction to this open-ended, real-world engineering, design work. It's not the cookie-cutter project that many recall from their own school days, but instead a free explore based on scientific principles. It's the kind of work that builds students' ability to problem solve, design, create, succeed/fail, and see learning with a new confidence and awareness, the kind of confidence we need to build in our students to make them ready for the learning ahead.

If there's space and if I'm teaching science next year, this may be the summer to read Invent to Learn and to attend the Constructing Modern Knowledge workshop. When you reach in to teach STEAM well, there's lots to learn. And if you watch the students' STEAM learning in action, you would know that this is learning worth the time and effort it takes to do it well.

Related Posts:
Marble Maze Project Films
Open House Introduction

Repetition Builds Skill: Supporting Successful Teaching/Learning Routines

Some routines that successful students employ are not employed by other students.

Why?

Simply put, there was not enough repetition, feedback, and support to establish those routines for all students.

How can we change that?

Identify the routines that successful students employ. Prioritize the teaching and learning of those routines with the entire learning community including students, family members, educators, and leaders at the start of the year. Be vigilant about coaching those routines in the first weeks of school.

Establishing successful learning/teaching routines at the start of the year is essential to student success.

Yet Another Reorganization: STEAM Lab Continues to Emerge

The workman came in to say that I had to move the cardboard from the corner so he could do his work.

The timing wasn't too bad as tomorrow after school, I'll do one more reorganization. The marble mazes will be gone and the STEAM Center is ready once again for greater organization. Working with all of these materials has been challenging this year, challenging to get the right organization, process, and routine.

So tomorrow, I'll once again shift plastic containers, reorganize shelves, and move tables around to get the room ready for the multiple science projects to come between now and the end of the school year. In a sense, the room will be turned into a multipurpose science lab with some desks and chairs for traditional learning activities too.

As we meet our standards goals in math and check off one test after another, more room in the schedule opens up to meet the many science standards that await student exploration and investigation with a blended approach including videos, hands-on study, reading, writing, and more. This is a good way to end the year :)

Visiting Scientist

Changing grades and new standards meant I had a lot of science to plan and prepare for this year. On top of lots of new math standards, the planning/preparation schedule was daunting. That's why my team wrote a grant to a local school organization to fund scientist visits. We wanted the scientists to teach both teachers and students during these visits.

We received funding for three scientist visits and contacted the local Discovery Museum's Visiting Scientist Program to staff the visits.

Yesterday was the first of three visits and it was terrific. Ms. Cooper, the visiting scientist, is a terrific teacher. She brought deep knowledge and science tools, materials, and equipment with her. The students thought it was "awesome."

So if you're trying to meet all those standards and you have a grant source available, I suggest reaching out to local museums and organizations to help you teach all that you have to teach. It's a win-win proposition.

Marble Maze: Final Official Day

The marble maze simple machine project took on a life of its own. Although today was the last official day, students implored me to keep the projects up so they could continue to build. Therefore the projects will remain up for recess and free time building and design.

If I do the project again, I'll do the following:

• Start out with the web page like I did this time. 
• Supply the STEAM center with lots of recyclables in an organized way.
• Preview the project with students who are reluctant during project work.
• Work with students to make good teams.
• Give each child a box of essential supplies including duct tape, scotch tape, popsicle sticks, wheels and wheel-like objects, scotch tape, and clear plastic overhead sheets. (Note that the duct tape created friction which often hindered the marble's ride so I'll likely look for slippery adhesive tape in the future--any suggestions?).
• Assign each group to a team "workshop area" in the classroom.

Next week students will have the chance to make their own movies of their projects.  They'll also complete reflection sheets related to their project's strengths, challenges, and learning. I'll likely share some of their comments as I use the information to further analyze the project's merits and needs for future teaching. As part of the reflection, students will be asked to screenshot one photo from their collection or the collection on the Storify below to upload to Google Draw in order to add important labels and captions to further share their project details and learning. 

Marble Maze Project Closure

Tomorrow represents our last official marble maze project day. I'll leave the projects up for another week for recess play and work. Then next Thursday we'll move the projects from the room to make room for new learning experiences.

As my blog demonstrates the project had many highs and lows--it was a challenging project to facilitate, coach, and complete, but it was also a terrific learning opportunity for the students and a learning experience that most students enjoyed. It's definitely a keeper, a project I'll improve for greater effect.

Next Thursday students will have the chance to reflect on the project. The reflections will include descriptions of their project work, collaboration, successes, and challenges. The reflection will also include a summary of the learning and ideas related to how the project could be better for future classes.

In the meantime, I'll invite interested parents to drop in to look at the projects at designated times if they're interested. We'll also share the projects with our kindergarten buddies.

True project/problem base learning is not easy teaching, but it can be rewarding and motivating for our young learners. Also it's the kind of learning that replicates the skills, mindset, concept, and knowledge students will need and use in their future.

Addition
My post-college son commented about the fact that it was good to get all students, particularly girls, involved in STEAM early. Then I read this Casap article that supports this work as well.

What Do We Measure?

Yesterday I was struck with a child's extraordinary interest and skill when it came to engineering a marble maze with simple machines. The girl demonstrated stamina, creativity, and skill that stood out amongst her peers. Yet, we don't have an official measure of these important attributes--a measure that people take note of.

Similarly another child in my midst exhibits tremendous social skills that shine amongst his peers. Not many children his age are able to navigate the social scene with the same grace, compassion, and success. Our report card has check boxes for social skills, but those skills aren't typically honored at special ceremonies or awards nights.

As I think about choreographing a program that teaches the whole child well, I'm thinking more about how I can recognize important skills and attributes that fall outside of the standards. If a child has an average rating on standards-based tests, yet exhibits strengths that are extraordinary and very important to real-world success and happiness, how can I acknowledge that. Also, how can I work to help students develop those non-standards-based, but critical, skills, behaviors, and mindsets?

I'm not the first to ask these questions. In fact, many are asking these questions as they craft learning/teaching programs worthy of children. As I continue to develop my skill and ability to design and deliver optimal learning experiences, I'll think about the measurements related to each area with greater depth.

Marble Maze Simple Machine Challenge Continues

I finally decided that the maze project will be completed on Friday and made more time for the project today, tomorrow, and Friday.

It was a circus-like event in the classroom as existing teams, newly formed teams, and individuals continued to craft and test their simple machine mazes. It wasn't always peaceful as some teams had arguments during the process and a few made  a few not-so-positive choices. I got a exasperated too when the creative chaos turned to cacophony.

At one point, a small group shared their finished design--it was spectacular. They were literally dancing and calling out with joy. That's when I called the principal down to take a look. The children were delighted that he was coming and rushed around putting finishing touches on their mazes in progress. Once he arrived, you could here the children calling, "Come see mine!," "See me," and "Look at this." To the students' delight, he managed to take a look at everyone's displays.

After that it was time for clean-up. In thinking about the day, I realized that these projects take on an upside down bell-shaped curve movement. First there's the excitement to get started and all the big ideas, then there's the energized effort, after that there comes a big dip--the "We'll never get there stage," and then the movement starts getting better again as student make adjustments and decisions related to the final design.  I must say I don't like the low point, but I can't imagine a creative project without one.

Tomorrow and the next day there will be some more refinement and decoration too. Mazes will get names and I'll take a photo of each one. Next week I'll make some time for student reflections, and then children will have the chance to take them home or throw them away.

Then no more big projects like this until after the tests are done sometime in mid May. As I wrote earlier these big projects and tests are not a match especially in a rom the size of my classroom. Onward.

Test/STEAM Intersection

The intersection of standardized testing and STEAM study is making my classroom uncomfortable. The types of spaces, time, and attention both need don't support one another.

Why?

First, with regard to space, the STEAM project needs lots of space for supplies, storage, and invention. The project has spread out into all corners of the room, and there just isn't a lot of space for 44 students' collaborative and individual creations--projects that are growing in all kinds of ways with lots of trial and error.

On the other hand, the testing requires me to stretch out the desks so that students can't see each others' work and so that I can get around to proctor. A room without distractions also sets the stage for good attention and test work. Also both the testing and STEAM activity take time, focus, and lots of energy. And there's only so much energy for learning in a day.

Next year, I won't match a big STEAM project with testing in the same room as it creates too much havoc with regard to moving materials, keeping students focused, and doing good work. Hence, we'll finish the STEAM project, our marble maze simple machines, by Friday, clean it up, and make the room a test-room for the next 3-weeks of testing, and then for another three weeks in May. After that we'll have the space and time for more STEAM study.

Hopefully next year's testing schedules will be set early in the year at the State level so that we can use this new knowledge and experience to create optimal learning paths that help us choreograph our learning goals, schedules, and structures well.

Messy, Messy, Messy Marble Maze Project

Not unlike the Cardboard Challenge project, the room is a big mess as students craft simple machine marble mazes. Students are using cardboard boxes, plastic sheets, string, plastic containers, and more to weave six simple machines into one marble run.

At any moment during the project you'll hear a lot of negotiation some peaceful and some not so peaceful as design teams make decisions about their mazes. There's lots of trial and error as children connect the recyclables. And of course, there's the spread of good ideas such as how to make a good screw, pulley, or inclined plane for that just right marble movement.

One child asked, "How is this science today?" I responded that it was science in action since students were doing science and math as they build their mazes by measuring, creating and adjusting simple machines, and adapting materials.

Today every team got their own maze "home" spot--a place for their equipment and project. The marble mazes are housed safely around the rim of the room.

Next week I'll introduce a rubric that outlines the project parameters.  The rubric is less for grading and more for guidance as they reach the final stages of the project. I hope to take some pictures of the work in action and copy down some of their incredible learning quotes too to document the building stage.

Project base learning is messy, but important work. An open ended activity like this calls students to use creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills to craft a project that solves a problem and helps them learn valuable content principles. With that in mind, I'll accept the mess, and continue to support and develop the wonderful learning possible with a project like this.

Marble Maze Project Update #2

I really like the fact that this marble maze project has no hard, fast deadlines. It's a true learning project--a kind of "call and response" project base learning endeavor.  The students' efforts and words call, and I respond with more teaching, examples, materials, and more.

The project mirrors the natural give-and-take that is learning. The trial and error path of frustrations, breakthroughs, collaboration, and share leads all of us forward as teams of children craft imaginative marble paths that include all six simple machines.

Our next step is to seek out examples of simple machines in real time online and offline. We'll create a simple machine image file to lead our work. I started this work on Sunday at the National Gallery of Art and I plan to add students' images to the Storify slideshow I started.

We'll also continue our collection of great recyclables and our use of online videos and information to inform project sketches, plans, and creation.

Once the first leg of big tests are past, we'll have a couple of days devoted to this creative work. In the meantime, I'll do my homework too by reading more about project base learning on the well respected Buck's Institute for Education website. 

Marble Maze Project: The Journey Begins

If you look up student marble maze projects online, you'll notice that this is a popular project that spans geography and grade-levels. There's lots of information and examples online to support students' work in this regard.

Also, if you employ this project in your classroom, you'll notice terrific science learning at work as students craft mazes with multiple materials and the use of terrific science language.

That's what's happening in our learning team.

Students are using countless materials to build their mazes individually and collectively. Each maze is supposed to include at least one of all six simple machines. We have a web page resource that supports their work and continues to grow as students find more and more beneficial resources.

The project includes many learning modules including:

• Whole class share and instruction
• Creation and exploration.
• Individual research and and at-home study.

We move back and forth from one module to another as we continue this project.

Similar to all big projects, I'm making a marble maze too. I don't have a lot of experience in making so I'm spending a lot of time listening to my students and watching what they do.

Yesterday a group asked me how to make the simple screw with the materials at hand. I gave a few suggestions, but I had not made one yet. I did see one online in one of the videos available on the webpage. Soon after that, a young student proudly exclaimed, "See how I made my screw." I looked it over and got a great idea for my own marble maze. Then I crafted a screw with cardboard, paperclips, paint tape, and popsicle sticks. Through trial and error, I perfected it and then shared with students. I was so proud of my own creation, and that sense of pride and exploration gave me an inside look at what students experience as they make and create.

Our marble maze project is just starting in earnest. I expect it to last about six weeks as students craft their wonderful creations and share ideas. The synergy in the room is terrific as ideas catch on moving through the room like lightening. It's an amazing feeling to work with students in this studio-atmosphere as they learn and create. 

Have you done this project or a similar project? Do you have any resources or tips to share? What materials serve you and your students work well?

In the days and weeks to come, I'll share photos and more posts about this project. I'm looking forward to the learning to come. 

Biography Framework: 5th Grade

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom."

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver will be our first focus of the new
year biography framework. Photo Credit

In many ways, the fourth grade curriculum framework was culture. Now that I'm moving to fifth grade, I'm recognizing that a fine framework is biography.  As fifth graders continue to develop self knowledge, content, process, and "learning to learn skills," the stories of successful individuals inspire their growth. Plus, the culminating project in our school's fifth grade curriculum is a biography project. I like to have a framework or thread that pulls the year together, and I also like to start the year with a topic or project that is exciting and motivating for me too.

How will I develop this framework? I'll mostly use picture books as I match the stories of famous scientists, technologists, engineers, artists, and mathematicians to current units of study.  I'll start with one of my favorite people in history, George Washington Carver, since he is such a good match for our "Favorite Place in Nature Share."

Carver's story is a perfect story for the start of the school year too since it's a story of perseverance, strength, intellect, courage, and passion. Throughout the year I'll make a conscious effort to vary the gender, culture, and discipline of the famous people we draw inspiration from.

Over the summer, I'll read up on this topic, and spend some time organizing my biography collection. Our school has a terrific biography collection too. I'll also have students create a biography inspiration notebook where they copy quotes from the famous person we're studying, and write short reflections about the famous STEAM persons.

Note: We started the year with this idea, and we interjected stories of famous STEAM stars all year. We ran out of time, however, to reach the depth of this work that I imagined.

Science and You! Building Class Community with Science Share

I have many favorite places in nature, and one of them is the rocky
summit of Mt. Gorham in Acadia National Park. 

The curriculum and prep for fourth grade is complete, and the focus is on leading students through the end of the program with care.

For the study side of life, I find myself beginning to embark on next year's focus, the teaching of fifth grade math and science.

I took a look at the newly revised science standards draft for Massachusetts, and found the following introduction to fifth grade science:

Grade 5: Overview

 Connections and Relationships in Systems

In grade 5, students model, provide evidence to support arguments, and obtain and display data about relationships and interactions among observable components of different systems. By studying systems grade 5 students learn that objects and organisms do not exist in isolation and that animals, plants and their environments are connected to, interact with, and are influenced by each other. They study the relationships between Earth and other nearby objects in the solar system and the impact of those relationships on patterns of events as seen from Earth. They learn about the relationship among elements of Earth’s systems through the cycling of water and human practices and processes with Earth’s resources. They also learn that matter and energy cycle through plants and animals, and the ecosystems within which they live. An ability to describe, analyze and model observable components of different systems is key to understanding the natural and designed world.

As I read over this summary, I notice so many connections to the Standards of Mathematical Practice with regard to intent, vocabulary, and action.  I also note that this introduction provides a great framework with which to begin the school year. We'll begin with a focus on students' favorite places in nature.  For summer study, I'll ask students to think about a favorite place in nature--a place they will use at the start of the year to introduce themselves to the class. Then at the start of the year, we'll get to know each other and the vocabulary of the science year with a project related to our favorite natural places. 

Science and You! Our Favorite Places in Nature

Model

• model: Create a model of your favorite place in nature. Use a shoebox, drawing, clay model, fabric and/or other materials to create this model. 

Collect Data:

• evidence: List evidence (examples) as a bulleted list of 4-5 sentences that demonstrate why this is a favorite place for you. 
• observable: Observe your special place online or in real time for ten minutes--list what you observe.
• data (display data): Complete a data chart about this place listing your favorite objects and organisms in the place, and the numbers of each object.

Describe:

• relationships, interactions: Tell how the organisms (living things) and objects in this environment interact and relate. 
• patterns: What patterns do you notice? 
• elements: What elements do you notice?
• cycle: Do you notice any evidence of cycles related to the organisms, resources, or objects in this place. 
• natural world, designed world: What objects belong to the natural world, and what elements of this place below to the designed world. 

Analyze:

• components, systems, ecosystem, organism, influence: How do the organisms and objects in this place interact and influence each other as a system.  Draw a diagram to show how this ecosystem connects. 

Present Arguments with Evidence

• arguments (support arguments): Write an argument that describes why this is a great place in nature. Use the 5-paragraph persuasive structure including argument introduction, 3 specific points with supporting evidence, and a closing paragraph that sums it all up. 

Hypothesize:

• What do you think will happen to your favorite place in nature in the next year, ten years, 100 years?  
• Why do you think this will happen?
• What can we do to protect your favorite place. 

After connecting the most important vocabulary for the year's science study through this personal share, we'll then begin to tackle the essential questions below and our system-wide units one-by-one throughout the year.

Essential Questions:

• What is a system?  
• How do plants and animals connect and influence each other and their environment, and how does the environment (and the objects in it) influence plants and animals. 
• How does the relationship between Earth and nearby objects in the solar system impact their relationships and patterns of events as seen from earth?
• What are the elements of Earth's systems, and how does the cycling of water demonstrate the relationship of those resources with respect to human practices and processes? 
• How does matter and energy cycle through plants and animals, and the ecosystems where they live? 

Current system-wide topics chart.

Learning by Immersion: STEAM

Ms. Cherwinski's TEAM 16 at SCRATCH Event

One part of teaching that I love is the learning--it's a sport for me, and as I look forward to next year, I look forward to investing myself in the teaching and learning of science and math with depth. This focus reminds me that there is an atmospheric dimension to learning. This is usually related to learning that is secondary, not your first purpose. First step, prioritized learning takes on a more structured, dynamic route. In the past few years, I've felt this atmospheric learning related to STEAM, and now I'm ready to pull all those pieces together as I reach forward to a primarily math and science 5th grade program next year.

Student Interest and STEAM Study
One group of students that's the most difficult to meet in elementary school is our very bright high-tech students--mostly boys and a growing number of girls who gravitate towards all things related to building, tech, and science.  These are the students who often prefer collecting worms to playing football, building with legos over table hockey, and Minecraft afterschool rather than basketball.  In the old days, these students were very resistant when it came to writing and paper/pencil tasks, but now with the onset of computers, that's not always the case as many of these students readily craft multimedia compositions using Google, Microsoft, and other apps and tools.

Similarly computers and programs such as SCRATCH and Khan Academy coding have given students like this a collaborative, creative, and challenging outlet they gravitate to with strength and learning. These students are also always creating, and if your classrooms have the materials for building and design, they find what they need to make all kinds of inventions. Next year, as I move to fifth grade science and math teaching, I hope to have an even better maker station with lots of materials for the exploration of life science, simple machines, chemistry, and more.  I look forward to lots of play and exploration this summer with that in mind, and the opportunity to seek out and study references that blend science and math teaching in interdisciplinary, real-world ways.

Colleagues, Conferences, and the News

Ms. Cherwinski's students, parents, and even one of my
students attended thanks to her invitation. 

Colleagues and leaders all around us are talking about the need for greater STEAM teaching and learning.  It's demonstrated in the news, online, and at conferences all the time.  We all see a growing number of student events, clubs, and activities rooted in STEAM.  Just last week, my next-door-neighbor colleague, Susan Cherwinski, met a number of students at MIT's SCRATCH DAY.  Not only did the students learn, but she brought back many new ideas for her classroom. One way Ms. Cherwinski shares ideas is to invite other classes in to see and learn from her students. Just this week we visited her class to learn about new ideas for our endangered species projects. The learning and creative exchange was dynamic. Later we'll visit again as her students teach mine how to use Makey Makey and other science-tech tools funded by our school's PTO to learn and explore science.

Also, just about a year ago, I had the chance to share my STEAM ideas and questions with some of the world's leading science-tech innovators at The Intersection Event  at a Google round table.  Their response to my proposal was challenging, but today, about a year later, as I think about their responses, their words hold more understanding and forward movement for me.  Similar learning came a year before that as I listened to Gary Stager explain the Maker Movement at Educon 2.4. Then recently Ms. Cherwinsk and I got more inspiration at the Poughkeepsie Day Workshop. Also, Mr. Musselman, Burlington's science teacher is a source of constant inspiration and support.

Standards, Tools, and Processes
New science standards and focus, multiple new tech tools online and off, and more readily available research and project information online is also forwarding this atmospheric learning.  Over the summer, I'll make trips to local design and engineering shops to collect good materials.  Just recently I met a materials engineer who may be a good resource with this in mind, and may be willing to come in and talk to the class next year.  I'll also spend some time reading and researching online to learn about maker stations, supplies, and activities. Online, I'll take a look at Gizmos, a study site our school subscribes too.  I'll also take another look at Tynker.  I already know that SCRATCH will be a mainstay since the students know and love it so well that they practically speak SCRATCH. I'm sure that other tools, processes and programs will come my way too.  And we'll continue this year's River study with the Audubon Association.

There is much to learn in the weeks ahead, and I plan to immerse myself in the areas of math and science as I move forward and follow my students as they move a year ahead. I'm hoping that Ms. Cherwinski and her new kindergarten assignment will buddy with us regularly to extend this exploration as well.