Science In-Between

This week we talk about how to think about the laboratory experience in online, remote, and mixed mode environments. What is the difference between things that can't normally be done in a classroom that you might use even in face to face environments, and things that are replacements for thing that you would have done face to face where you are using video to show the procedure of a lab and then giving students access to date. The key is to provide experiences that open up opportunities for kids to reason about phenomena, not just follow a procedure.

Here are some key resources for supporting investigations in online science teaching:

Concord Consortium

We are working on a website with an annotated clearinghouse of resources that we have vetted. Hope to have it up soon.

Things that bring us joy this week:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind

Prompted by an activity that Ollie did with one of his classes, Ollie and Scott discuss their "origin stories" and detail how they became teachers. As Scott explains early in the episode, we deconstruct these stories to examine the bigger question "What do we teach?" Students? Or content? Both?

Things that bring us joy this week:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind

First, we are in a time where there is absolutely no continuity in how class time is organized, so how do you think about structuring class. Second, we have a long-standing over emphasis in schools on curriculuar continuity - every lesson is its own thing, and this leads to its own kind of disconnection. Standardization and consistency is in tension with individuality and responsiveness. We say, just like Frozen - Let it Go. Try thinking about continuity at different grain-sizes and make your goal the development of a community of science learners. Think in new ways and free yourself of old ideas about the linearity of time.

Comma Separated Value (.csv) file

Things that bring us joy this week:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind

In this episode, Scott and Ollie discuss the Processes, Principles, and Practices that inform the integration of technology into our face-to-face, online and remotes classrooms. We share a some "design principles" about creating effective learning environments that are embedded in learning theory. We also promised that we'd include the definition of "reify" in the show notes:

reify (verb) - to make (something abstract) more concrete or real.

Things that bring us joy:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Legally_Blind)

We talk about how to think about supporting science teachers as they learn and also the complexities of managing groups of learners in a remote context. We also address some of the issues of digital records of learning and the implications of the shift to remote contexts. We recognize that getting coherence in this brave new world is hard and that technology is often built on outdated models of learning.

Things we mention:

Things that bring us joy:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Legally_Blind)

In this discussion of virtual and face-to-face grouping in science classes, Scott and Ollie examine some practices that promote more participation in online spaces. Beyond an "esoteric" analysis of online interaction, we discuss how we use different technologies to get groups of students to engage with one another and with course content.

Links to things we mention in this episode:

In each episode, we share "things that bring us joy." This week, that includes:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Legally_Blind)

We discuss the sage on the stage, the guide on the side, and our own variation the coach on the bench and what this means for who does the hard work of the science thinking in science classrooms. We also talk about how COVID is an example of how science really works, but it is happening in a public way.

Things that bring us joy:

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Legally_Blind)

As we start this adventure, we discuss the challenges facing schools and science educators during the pandemic. As we move to online instruction in more schools, what does science teaching look like? How do our roles as science teachers change? We don't necessarily have the answers but we think we're asking the right questions and offering some thoughts.

We also share "things that bring us joy." This week, that includes:

The Food Network show Chopped

Intro/Outro Music: Notice of Eviction by Legally Blind (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Legally_Blind)