Middle School Science Initiative

AAAS Project 2061 Connections

2010-06-24T12:09:00.001-07:00

As a science educator,
you may already know about AAAS Project 2061 Connections, a multi-year effort funded by the National Science Foundation to develop a collection of assessment items and other resources for middle and early high school science. Over the past few years, articles published in Project 2061 Connections have reported on their progress (see, for example, Learning from Wrong Answers, National Sample Puts Assessment Items to the Test, and Bridging Assessment Research and Practice). They are now entering the final phase of the work.

Project 2061 will soon be releasing a beta version of its Science Assessment Resources Web site. If you would be willing to review the site and provide feedback to them, please sign-up. It's easy to register as a reviewer, and, as an extra incentive, the first 100 individuals who register and then submit their review and respond to a brief online survey will receive a complimentary set of the two-volume Atlas of Science Literacy, a $99 value.

When complete, the Web site will include several hundred items for testing students understanding of ideas in 16 topics in physical, life, and earth science. The site will also provide access to national field test data on students' knowledge of those ideas and their misconceptions, along with detailed information on students' performance on each item based on grade level, gender, and primary language.

To make the site more manageable for reviewers, the beta version will include items and resources for only 4 of the 16 topics. They are looking for feedback on the following areas:

Organization of resources on the site
Ease with which resources can be located and accessed
General navigability of the site
Likely ways in which the web site will be used

If you have feedback on other aspects of the site, that would also be welcome. Providing your feedback will be simple and straightforward: the beta site includes text boxes on each Web page where you can enter your comments and suggestions; you will also be asked to complete a short survey about the site and the assessment resources.

To register, please go to http://assessment.p2061.org and follow the directions that are provided. After you have registered, you will receive a confirmation message with directions on how to activate your account and a follow up email with more details on the review process. Please review as soon as possible, but no later than July 11.

Questions? Contact:

George E. DeBoer, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
AAAS Project 2061
Phone: 202-326-6624
Fax: 202-842-5196

Opportunities

2010-05-05T13:48:00.001-07:00

Teacher Scholarships

American Honda Foundation Scholarship

The registration fee is normally $1,990, which includes hotel accommodations; however through the generous support of the American Honda Foundation we, are offering $500 scholarships for local teachers and $1,000 scholarship for residential teachers, which covers partial registration not including hotel stay. Teachers are required to pay an additional $990 or ($750 with roommate) if they choose to stay in the academy hotel. The registration fee covers Academy tuition and materials, a reception on Sunday from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, all lunches during the Academy, and a special Academy dinner. Breakfast is included if you stay at the Academy hotel. We have a limited number of scholarships available and suggest your teachers apply as early as possible. Discounted registration will be awarded to teachers on a first come, first serve basis. Space in each Academy is limited. To get into the Academy of your choice early application is recommende d.
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Excellence in Solutions for a Smarter Planet

Each of the three Smithsonian Science Education Academies is a week-long immersive science experience, including content sessions to deepen your understanding of key concepts, and behind-the-scenes access to Smithsonian collections and cutting-edge science at world-class research facilities. Three optional graduate-level credits are available for each Academy. Click here for more information.
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To register online, click here.

Click the green "Online Registration" button under Programs and Services.
To download the registration form click the PDF icon.

A Free Educational Forum

2010-04-01T07:14:00.001-07:00

A Free Educational Forum Open to the Public

Limited Seating - Register Now at www.harmonyinstitute.org

Children on a Seesaw: Balancing Nature & Science in Young Lives

April 17, 2010 at 4:00 P.M. in Harmony, Osceola County, Florida

Listen to top professionals from the CDC, Purdue, FSU, Nemours, FIT and the Cincinnati Zoo.

MODERATOR

Judy Wall, MD - Medical Director, Nemours Children's Clinic

Speakers:

Dr. Alan Beck, Sc.D., Center for the Human Animal Bond, Purdue University
David E. Cook, Ph.D., Head, Dept. of Science & Math Education, Florida Institute of Technology
Anjaneyulu Krothapalli, Ph.D., Director of the Solar Research Center, Florida State University
Duncan Lester, Ed.D., Associate Director, Green Chimney's Children's Services
Thane Maynard, Executive Director, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens
Arthur M. Wendel, MD, MPH, Medical Officer, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
National Center for Environmental Health

AND DON'T MISS the 7th Annual Dark Sky Festival from 6pm-11pm (following the forum). This family-friendly festival provides the public with an introduction to the marvels of astronomy and the importance of protecting dark skies - not just for astronomy purposes, but also for the values that darkness provides to area wildlife. Harmony, America's first Dark Sky Development of Distinction recognized by the International Dark Sky Association, is located southeast of Orlando and west of Melbourne.

For more information regarding the Dark Sky Festival visit the website at www.darkskyfestival.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO PRE-REGISTER FOR THE FORUM VISIT:

WWW.HARMONYINSTITUTE.ORG

New Study

2010-03-25T10:29:00.001-07:00

New Study: Florida Teachers' Attitudes about Teaching Evolution

A new study was published in the February issue of The American Biology Teacher entitled "Florida Teachers' Attitudes about Teaching Evolution." A full summary of the paper is posted on another blog recommended to us. Check out: http://www.flascience.org/wp/?p=1178

Professional Development Opportunity

2010-03-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

Title: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and the Institute of International Education International Teacher Program

PROGRAM: Toyota International Teacher Program to the Galapagos Islands from November 20 ‐ December 4, 2010.

As stated on the Web site: "The Toyota International Teacher Program is first and foremost a professional development opportunity. Educators selected to travel on the program will be expected to be proactive and engaged in all pre‐departure, in‐country, and post‐program activities. The program is of general interest to secondary school teachers of all disciplines ‐ including, but not limited to, art, foreign languages, physical education, social studies, mathematics, science, music, English and vocational education. Previous knowledge of Latin America or environmental subjects is not a selection criterion. Instead, the program seeks teachers who are interested in learning about Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, its people, and the ecosystem of the region, and who will draw on their program experiences to enrich their teaching and professional activities."

DEADLINE: May 26, 2010

AWARD: This program is "fully funded." Expenses specific to the program will be covered by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. This includes costs of program materials, transportation, meals, and lodging.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. will also issue each participant's school a $500.00 stipend to help defray the costs of participation during the school year.

ELIGIBILITY: Applicants must meet the following requirements to be eligible for participation in the program:

•Hold U.S. citizenship

•Be employed full time as a secondary school classroom teacher or teacher‐librarian (grades 6 – 12)

•Teach in one of the 50 States or the District of Columbia

•Have at least three years of full‐time teaching experience (by the program start date)

TO APPLY: Must apply online at: http://iieteachers.org/Applicant/UserLogin.aspx?Applicationcyclecode=GPS2010

CONTACT: Call (877) 832‐2457 or e‐mail: toyotateach@iie.org

MSSI – Spring 2010 Schedule

2010-02-05T05:34:00.001-08:00

This is how the MSSI Spring 2010 schedule is starting to look like. The next webinar is scheduled for March 4^th at 4:30 PM using LiveMeeting. The institute is tentatively scheduled for May 18^th and 19^th (with May 17^th as a travel day) in Orlando; stay tuned for more details.

Webinars

1/26/10 – Corey Peloquin and Julie Ball present "Engaging Students in the Science Classroom using Podcasts, Videocasts, and Stop Motion."

3/4/10 – Beth Geils presents "Discussions Worth Having: Encouraging deeper thinking in a science PLC using the lesson study tuning protocol."

4/1/10 – Tom Baird presents "Avoiding Misconceptions When Teaching Evolution: Common misconceptions and how we can address them with students."

4/21/10 – Lois Easton presents "A Follow-up to the Introduction to Lesson Study Institutes."

5/6/10 – Craig Seibert presents "What is Inquiry Based Science?"

Institute

5/18-19/10 – "Response to Intervention for the Secondary Classroom Teacher"

Wikis!

2010-02-05T05:26:00.001-08:00

Wikis for Science Ed Collaboration

Source: 2/5/2010 - NSTA Reports—Debra Shapiro

Teachers and students are communicating and sharing ideas on collaborative websites called wikis that allow them to post work, comment on others' postings, and make revisions as a group. NSTA member Margie Gifford of Lebanon, Tennessee, is sold on their value. "The idea that teachers all over the world can work together and share the load is exciting to me," she says.

Gifford is one of more than 70 teachers contributing to the Science Cafés Wiki (http://sciencecafe.wikispaces.com). She learned about science cafés while attending a workshop on differentiated instruction using self-paced units—presented by Kristy Love of Houston, Texas—at the 2007 NSTA National Conference in St. Louis. Gifford describes her own version of science cafés as year-long self-paced units in which students are given a "five-course menu" with choices of different projects they can do, with each "course" addressing a different science standard.

When she offered to share her resources on science cafés on the NSTA Earth Science e-mail list in December 2009, Gifford says she received "an incredible response" for them. One came from Debbie Johnson of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. "The NSTA listserv is a great place to share ideas," observes Johnson. "Teachers, such as Margie, willing to share their ideas and hard work so that others can become better teachers, is an amazing thing." The café wiki, which Johnson set up on Wikispaces.com, "takes this cooperation a step further by allowing teachers to share specific ideas and work together to create the final products," she explains. The wiki is free and open to all teachers.

Teachers immediately began to contribute to a number of different cafes on the wiki, including an Energy Café, a Newton's Laws Café, and an Earth's Resources Café. "I checked in once a day as the site was evolving and organized the pages as they were being created so that the overall site would be user friendly," says Johnson. A wiki, she points out, is "a living document, easily accessible, ever changing, and yet always available. Teachers no longer have to be isolated in their classrooms, with only a few people in the district as a resource."

Types of Wikis

Wikis can be used in many ways, including for student engagement, collaboration on projects, and developing curriculum. "When teachers put their materials and class work online, they open their classroom for parents to connect with their children's learning," notes Johnson.

She advises teachers creating student wikis to determine how they "want the site to be used...informational, showcase of student work, homework helper, collaboration, reflection, or class record" and to consider "how they want their audience to interact within the site." For those new to wikis, "viewing how other teachers are using wikis is a great way to get started," she adds.

In her wiki for her middle school students, she says she "can provide support for my students, informally assess their understanding to help guide my instruction. Students are excited to use the computers and post, and excitement is contagious." As students "manipulate the content and create projects, they are not only deepening their conceptual understanding, but [also] applying their knowledge and using higher-order thinking skills to make connections within the material. Although they just think it is fun, they work harder when they have an audience."

But for safety's sake, students need to realize who might be in that audience. "It is essential that students understand that they are not anonymous," says Karolee Smiley, a middle school teacher from Sacramento, California. "By appearing faceless, many seem to feel they can post indiscriminately. But when students are aware that all readers will know the source of all posts and changes, students are more likely to take responsibility and post wisely."

Smiley's science class is using a wiki "to create a 'root word' library. Students are adding examples of different Greek and Latin roots and how they are used in science terminology." This is an example of "a very simple, low-maintenance wiki," she notes. She appreciates that "students can access the wiki whenever and wherever they want…on weekends, mornings, and even late night. Having open access also allows those that need more time the ability to access it as necessary."

Johnson says she has also "created a wiki for our teachers to use as a way of tracking parent contacts, conferences, conversations, and concerns for students [who] are not performing well in our classes." She believes "this has been extremely helpful" for identifying these students and providing "necessary interventions quickly."

At the high school level, biology teacher Louise Maine of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, uses several wikis with her classes. On http://mrsmaineswiki.wikispaces.com/Cells, for example, she created "Cell-vivor," a game based on the television reality series Survivor. During Cell-vivor, students advocate for one part of a cell's structure, stating reasons why the cell needs their part so much it shouldn't be "voted off."

Biology teacher Louise Maine created "Cell-vivor," an activity based on the reality series Survivor in which her students choose a cell part and explain why it shouldn't be "voted out" of the cell. Her students are using stop motion video to animate cell parts they made of clay and foam. Maine will post the videos on her Cell-vivor wiki.

Maine thinks it's important for teachers to design their wikis around students' strengths and interests. For example, her students working on this year's Cell-vivor wiki have expressed no interest in using a voice thread to state their cases, so she won't use it. Instead, her students want to use "stop-motion photography," an animation technique, to support their cell part and portray its "specific actions," she explains.

She also changes each wiki's focus every year and encourages students to develop new ideas for them. She podcasts her lectures and posts them on the wiki, and her students use the wiki to show what they have learned using "animations, videos, and writing."

She advises teachers new to wikis to "consider yourself a learner" and don't feel like you must "have all the answers." The teacher's role, she says, "is not to teach [students] everything: It's to get them started" on the path to learning. This philosophy makes her and her students partners who "learn together" in groups and try new things. "I've learned an incredible amount of patience," she adds.

Wikis allow for "easy fixes" when needed, and "very rarely do you lose data," she points out. They save time by allowing teachers to create pages in advance and record all their thoughts "in one place." She says her students check the wiki when they've been absent to see what assignments they need to complete. And as an environmentalist, she appreciates how wikis reduce the need for paper.

Maine believes because wikis can teach students how to use all types of Web 2.0 media, they contribute to students' feelings of confidence and competence. She suggests giving students guidelines for using technology, "but let them know you trust them." And when her students "were inspired to create a wiki following their passions, I did encourage them," she says.

A Wiki for Undergraduates

Undergraduate students can learn how to write high-quality scientific articles and contribute them to a wiki—The Encyclopedia of Earth (EOE; www.eoearth.org)—by participating in the Student Science Communication Project (SSCP), a faculty-supervised science writing initiative. SSCP teaches students the basics of wiki writing, as well as communication, writing, and literature searching and referencing skills. While students aren't required to write for EOE, they are "strongly encouraged" to do so, says SSCP Director Emily Monosson. "Our intention [for EOE] has always been to be a collaborative site where a scientist can update or add to [his or her] own or someone else's article. If students get this experience under supervision, they may be more likely to think about collaborative writing in the future."

In the past, wiki users had to know HTML, which discouraged some faculty, scientists, and students from contributing because they were hesitant to take on something new and challenging, says Monosson. But since EOE and most wikis no longer require HTML expertise, they have become "more user-friendly," she notes. She likes wikis because "you can do so much with them," including posting images and art, which is required for EOE articles. Some students do find that a challenge, she admits, but when students choose to write about something in their professor's field, their professor can help them with the writing and graphics.

SSCP offers numerous benefits for student authors, according to Monosson. "Having a published and citable article that has been reviewed and accepted" is one advantage, she points out. "This is something they can show to others: their published work on a legitimate science site." She believes it's important for scientists of all ages to realize "it's not so intimidating to write for the public."

Monosson extols the merits of experiencing the article review process. "The feedback from students about going through that process, which can be a little scary, was really positive and…[it was] really valuable for students, to know they can write to these scientists and get feedback on their work. This is the real thing for them, not 'a report that I'll delete once the class is over,' and they are very much aware of this."

Another benefit for students is "having their articles turn up before any embarrassing Facebook photos," she quips.

SSCP is open to students nationwide; to learn more, visit www.eoearth.org/article/Student_Science_Communication_Project.

PD Opportunity

2010-02-01T10:29:00.001-08:00

Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers

Get early bird pricing if you register by May 14, 2010: Save $100

National Science Resources Center

901 D Street, SW, Suite 704B

Washington, District of Columbia 20024

202-633-2970

nsrcpdcenter@si.edu

www.nsrconline.org

Webinar Series to Begin in 2010

2009-12-21T09:42:00.001-08:00

The Middle School Science Initiative will begin a webinar series in 2010!

The first webinar will be aired live on January 26, 2010 at 3:00 PM Eastern time and then archived on the FLICC website at www.ets.org/flicc .

The first webinar will feature two middle school science teachers from the Tampa Bay area and focus on how to engage students using technology. The presenters will discuss how anyone can use podcasting, videocasting, and stop motion in their science classes.

We hope you will be able to join us for this entertaining and useful presentation!

Institutes in Review

2009-12-21T09:31:00.001-08:00

In the Fall of 2009, FLICC – in conjunction with the Florida Department of Education – designed and delivered a series of institutes across the State of Florida focusing on lesson study. The idea was to take Professional Learning Communities to the next level by having regional personnel, district staff, and teachers trained in the art of lesson study.

So the FLICC Team, with the help of the Anchin Center at USF, set off to seven locations across the great State of Florida: the rolling hills of Ocala, history steeped St. Augustine, and centrally located Orlando; followed by the beaches of the Tampa Bay area, Naples, and Boca Raton, finishing in our capitol city, Tallahassee. A whirlwind tour to be sure.

Dr. Lois Brown Easton facilitated the sessions, tweaking the presentation as the series of institutes unfolded. Currently living in Colorado, Dr. Easton was appreciative of the opportunity to serve the educators of Florida again (not to mention the warm winter weather!). She returned to Florida after providing training for the FLDOE's Regional Assistance Centers during the summer. That session was so well received that FLICC brought her back for this series of seven institutes. These encores, of sorts, built on the summer training and organized it for training additional regional FLDOE personnel, district staff and secondary level educators.

The institutes were designed to cut to the chase and be a series of hands on experiences in lesson study. This was not a sit and get series of events. During the first experience, the unsuspecting participants were asked to teach a secondary math lesson provided by the FLICC Team. This challenged comfort levels as Dr. Easton directed one team to teach the lesson to another team of "students." This was a baptism by fire in lesson study!

After teaching the lesson, groups reconvened in a debriefing session of the lesson called a "colloquium." In colloquium, teachers, students, and data collectors share their impressions of the lesson, focusing on the content of the lesson and the student reaction to it. The key is not to focus on the teacher per se; the focus should be on the students' engagement in the lesson and their potential for learning the standard or benchmark. Lesson study never focuses on the teacher.

The second experience with lesson study was somewhat more comfortable because educators were given the choice of working on a provided lesson in their own area of expertise: science, mathematics, social studies, or English language arts. In addition, participants engaged in a broader discussion of lesson study and the data to be collected during the observation of the lesson being taught. As the sun set on the first day, participants moved from their second colloquium to a networking reception with Dr. Easton and the FLICC Team. Comfort food and conversation closed out the day.

It is said that it is always darkest before dawn and this seemed to be true for the lesson study groups. At the end of the first day, participants still had many questions about implementing lesson study in their regions, districts, and schools. How will we find the time to do lesson study? Is a lesson ever perfect? How many lessons should we work on during the school year? How do we start implementing lesson study?

Luckily, like the story of the shoemaker and the elves (you'll remember that the shoemaker cut the leather and the elves came in dark of the night and made shoes), Dr. Easton expertly cut the leather of lesson study on Day One and institute participants began to bring shape to what was laid before them as they continued to work on Day Two.

The third experience with lesson study came slightly after dawn on the second day. This lesson study experience was the group's first variation in that educators were given the opportunity to develop a lesson with likeminded content experts guided by a copy of the Next Generation State Standards for each content area. Participants set about developing lessons in science, mathematics, social studies and English language arts. Like the previous day, the group was split between those who taught their lesson and those who acted as students, followed by colloquium.

Next, a second variation of lesson study was discussed. This variation focused on the tuning protocol. The tuning protocol is the classic protocol, the one upon which most other protocols have been based. It features times when a presenter talks and is silent and times when participants talk and are silent. It provides three levels of depth: presentation → participant discussion → presenter reflection, finalized by a general debriefing that can extend the conversation about the lesson.

After the tuning protocol activity, the practice of lesson study solidified for institute participants. This foothold provided the foundation to discuss the logistics and implementation of the lesson study process. Teams struggled with the issues for their districts and schools, suggesting solutions and planning the next step to implement lesson study back home. This is when the lingering questions from the previous day were addressed and answers to the details of implementation answered.

So over the busy two day schedule, participants grew to understand the basics of lesson study by engaging in three lesson study experiences and learning about lesson study variations. Regional personnel, district staff and teachers also planned the implementation of lesson study in their respective regions, districts, and schools and discussed how they all will work together to solve any issues related to lesson study implementation.

The participants left the institutes edified and ready to implement lesson study wearing the new shoes their teams had cobbled.

Materials from the lesson study institutes are available on the FLICC website (www.ets.org/flicc ) including the following:

The Day One Packet
The Day Two Packet
A Guide to Facilitating Lesson Study
A Rubric for Evaluating Lesson Study
A Guide to Scheduling Lesson Study

2010 TAPESTRY Grants

2009-11-11T12:57:00.001-08:00

Toyota's TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers

For information on the $550,000 in grants available in 2010, please visit

http://www.nsta.org/pd/tapestry.

The deadline for entries is January 18, 2010.

NSF Evolution Resource

2009-11-06T11:34:00.001-08:00

NSF Special Interactive Report: Evolution of Evolution - 150 Years of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species"

NSF has released a new interactive website relating to 150 years of scientific thinking since Darwin's "On the Origin of the Species." The website includes topics such as Evolution, Polar Sciences, Geosciences, Anthropology, Astronomy, Biology, and a resource section for further exploration.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/ darwin/

MSPnet Location: http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/17911

2010 Summer Education Grants

2009-11-06T11:32:00.001-08:00


Deadline: January 29, 2010

Fund for Teachers Accepting Applications for 2010 Summer Education Grants

Fund for Teachers invites educators from across the United States to design and submit proposals for their own educational adventures next summer.

The program is designed to provide educators with the opportunity to pursue areas of personal and professional interest and bring their experiences back to the classroom for the benefit of their students. Eligible projects include tours, conferences, and independent studies anywhere in the world.

The program offers individual grants of up to $5,000 each and team grants of up to $10,000 each for the summer of 2010.

Visit the Fund for Teachers Web site for detailed information about the schools/districts eligible for Fund for Teachers grants and for complete application guidelines.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Primary Subject: Education
Geographic Funding Area: National

Introduction to Lesson Study

2009-11-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

The Florida and the Islands Comprehensive Center (FLICC) is delighted to be partnering with the Florida Department of Education to sponsor a very special opportunity for Florida secondary educators. FLICC will host seven opportunities in the five regions of the state to introduce a powerful strategy that will enhance professional learning communities: Lesson Study. The FLDOE has recognized that Lesson Study is a means of improving instructional knowledge while increasing collegiality among teachers and has made it a statewide priority by identifying it as a basic, first-line intervention strategy in the state's Differentiated Accountability Plan. This letter will provide details about the institute and the facilitator for this exciting event!

What: An Introduction to Lesson Study

Facilitator: Dr. Lois Brown Easton

When: Two-Day Institutes scheduled across Florida in November/December 2009

Participants: FLDOE, Regional Assistance Centers, Middle School Science Initiative (MSSI) and Secondary School Redesign Initiative (SSRI)

Institute Description

Lesson study is a potent embedded peer-to-peer professional learning strategy. It requires teachers and other educators to work collaboratively to strengthen a given lesson until it has been refined as much as possible and then teach it to get powerful data about how well the lesson works. Our facilitator, Dr. Lois Easton, is a nationally recognized expert in learning designs for adults and students. A middle school English teacher for 15 years, Easton earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. Easton has been a frequent presenter at conferences and a contributor to educational journals. She is currently co-president of the Colorado Staff Development Council. See the attached description for more information about Lesson Study, the goals of the training, and Dr. Easton's extensive background. In order to fully understand how Lesson Study can benefit you, please plan to dedicate a full two days to this experience.

Who Should Attend

Florida Department of Education representatives, Regional Assistance Center personnel, Secondary School Redesign Initiative and Middle School Science Initiative District and School participants are invited to attend. Districts may wish to strongly consider sending staff developers who can teach the Lesson Study process to others to this institute.

Registering for the Institutes

A registration form is attached with this information. All registrations will be handled through FLICC's partner, the David C. Anchin Center at the University of South Florida. Please email or fax your registration to Chris Crocco by the deadline date listed in the schedule below.

Schedule for Lesson Study Institutes Statewide

Training Dates

Locations

Deadline to Register for Institute

November 16-17

Region 2

Ocala Hilton

http://www.hiltonocala.com/

866-341-4793

October 30

November 19-20

Region 2

St. Augustine Casa Monica Hotel

http://www.casamonica.com/

800-648-1888

November 6

December 3-4

Region 3

Orlando Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress

http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/

1-888-591-1234

November 13

December 7-8

Region 4

Embassy Suites Tampa-Brandon

www.tampabrandon.embassysuites.com

813- 653-1905

November 13

December 10-11

Region 4

Naples Grande Resort

http://www.naplesgranderesort.com/

888-722-1267

November 13

December 14-15

Region 5

Embassy Suites Boca Raton

http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/BCTNWES-Embassy-Suites-Boca-Raton-Florida/index.do

561-994-8200

November 20

December 17-18

Region 1

Aloft Tallahassee Downtown

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3046&EM=VTY_AL_3046_TALLAHASSEEDOWNTOWN_PROP_OVERVIEW

850-513-0313

November 20

We look forward to seeing you at the Lesson Study Institute!

Lesson Study

2009-11-06T11:23:00.001-08:00

Description of Lesson Study

Lesson study is a potent embedded peer-to-peer professional learning strategy. It requires teachers and other educators to work collaboratively to strengthen a given lesson until it has been refined as much as possible and then teach it to get powerful data about how well the lesson works. In a colloquium after the lesson is taught, the teacher (who can be anyone in the lesson study group) reflects on the lesson first, and then the other members of the lesson study group share data they collected during the lesson. Lesson study groups make a decision about whether to revise the field-tested lesson and teach it again or simply apply what they have learned to another lesson.

Lesson Study Institute Goals

In addition to understanding the basics of lesson study and engaging in three lesson study experiences, participants will learn about lesson study variations. They will plan implementation of lesson study in their regions, districts, and schools, and they will work together to solve problems related to implementation.

Participants will:

Know how to do lesson study themselves and how to teach educators at their schools to do lesson study;
Understand how lesson study is a way to strengthen teaching and learning in schools, especially those that are low performing;
Know a variety of ways to vary lesson study, including writing lessons and then testing them through lesson study;
Learn about other professional learning activities related to lesson study; and
Help each other – through follow-up electronically and in person – to work with their schools to initiate and build professional learning communities with a focus on lesson study.

Introducing Dr. Easton

Lois Easton, Ph.D., works as a consultant, coach, and author. She is particularly interested in learning designs – for adults and for students. She recently retired as Director of Professional Development at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, Estes Park, Colorado. Easton was Director of Re:Learning Systems at the Education Commission of the States (ECS) from 1992 to 1994. Re:Learning was a partnership between the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and ECS. Prior to that, Easton served in the Arizona Department of Education as English/Language Arts Coordinator and then became Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and then, Director of Curriculum and Assessment Planning.

A middle school English teacher for 15 years, Easton earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. Easton has been a frequent presenter at conferences and a contributor to educational journals. She is currently co-president of the Colorado Staff Development Council.

She has published four books. Her book The Other Side of Curriculum: Lessons From Learners was published by Heinemann in 2002. She is editor of and contributor to a book published by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) in August 2004, with a second edition appearing in 2008: Powerful Designs for Professional Learning. Corwin Press published her third book, Engaging the Disengaged: How Schools Can Help Struggling Students Succeed in 2008. This book won the Educational Book of the Year Award from Kappa Delta Gamma in 2009. ASCD has just published her fourth book, Protocols for Professional Learning (2009), and she is working on two additional books.

Year 2

2009-08-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that we are about to embark on Year 2 of MSSI. This coming year promises to be a good one with three regional institutes, webinars, and, of course, district sessions with science content experts.

Institute 4 will be held in the late fall (November/December) for seven dates in five locations around Florida. We hope to have at least one in each region. Topic: Lesson Study.

Institute 5 will be held in the spring, again for seven dates in five locations with at least one institute in each region. Topic: Response to Intervention.

Institute 6 will be held at the end of the 2009-2010 school year. The number of institutes has not been determined yet, nor has the specific topic. The topic will depend on your science content or other needs. So please let us know what you need and let the year commence!